Ed Denton Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Hi all, I'm essentially a self taught soundo; everything I know is from learning on set and reading through forums such as this. I'm looking for some literature that I can read to get a more technical understanding of sound. Searching on amazon books and other sites I've found a number of books such as the sound engineers handbook, etc. However all the books I've found are either outdated (written in the DAT days) or tailored to the music studio sound engineer. Does anyone know of any good books that are aimed at the production sound mixer? Ideally I'd like information on things such as how interference tubes work, timecode operation, servo wiring of lavs, transformer vs transformerless preamps etc. The kind of thing that every Soundo should know. Obviously there's not a 'sound bible' that covers everything there is to know about production sound but if anyone knows of some up-to-date books that you have found useful then please let me know. Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProSound Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Location Audio Simplified by S. Dean Miles http://www.trewaudio.com/store/product.php?productid=768 This book is up to date and very useful. I bought a few and lend them out to various folks who ask me how to get better audio. It is a great starting point and covers thing that many people don't understand like Wireless Camera links and RF stuff. There are excerpts on Trew audio site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Steigerwald Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Obviously there's not a 'sound bible'.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProSound Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Steigs is right too I forgot the book he mentioned I have it and it is a great reference manual Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Denton Posted November 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Thanks guys those both look like great books. The location audio simplified book looks like it is exactly what I was after, very specific information about location recording. The sound reinforcement handbook looks like it's more general but appears to have some great info about dissemination of sound in other ways such as live music and room setup. I'll be putting an order in for both. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyOne Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Worked with Ralph Jones in grad school, he went to the bay area and became John Meyer's right hand for several years. A very bright guy. What's the name of Jim T's book? J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 (edited) John Fielden, a production sound mixer, has a couple of books, as well: some of the things you mentioned quickly go beyond The kind of thing that every Soundo knows, like how interference tube microphone acoustics actually work, other things are product specific like servo wiring Lectrosonics TX's (HAT -- actually just search their very informative website and FAQ's). Lists of appropriate books, including books by Tom Holeman and others have been posted elsewhere on jwsound. and lastly, remember: it takes years of experience to get years of experience! here is the klist of suggested reading I give my students (the schools ' libraries keep these books available) Stanley R. Alten, Audio in Media: Cengage Learning www.wadsworth.com. $118.39 costly, but thorough, a required text in other school’s programs, in our library David Yewdall: Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, Focal Press $37.75 John Purcell, Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Invisible Art this one covers a lot of production sound issues, and fixing them in post(paper) $49.95 Tomlinson Holman: Sound for Television and Film, Focal Press, the author is “Mr. THX”, excellent choice! $57.95* (new edition Mar 2010) Tomlinson Holman: Sound for Digital Video (paperback), Focal Press $46.95* Jay Rose: Producing Great Sound for Film & Digital Video and Audio Post-Production for Film & Video Online: http://www.dplay.com/book/index.html CMP Books, reasonably priced. $44.95 each. S. Dean Miles, Location Audio Simplified. realworldaudio (available at Location Sound – tell ‘em you’re from Columbia and they’ll give you a discount!). Official Website: www.locationaudiosimplified.com (free samples from book). $55.00 John Fielden, Roll Sound A Practical Guide for Location Sound –and-- John Fielden, Videographers’ Audio Handbook (this one is full of great tips!) www.rollsound.myplanetpress.com Edited November 22, 2011 by studiomprd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kksaudio Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 Here's another really good book for sound people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 There's a bunch of additional sound (production and post) books in a previous discussion: --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanross Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Yes the first book Whitney mention is really good. And the one John suggested. I have both of them. Great books to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 I forgot to add the most recent book, which is Richard Patton's Sound Man: An Introduction to the Art, Science and Business of Location Sound, published by Trew Audio. There's some very good stuff in there. I got a kick out of the fact that the first chapter is devoted entirely to business and how to make sure you get paid. Some very wise words in there. --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Gilchrist Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Two I'd recommend as reference material are: Handbook for Sound Engineers, Fourth Edition by Glen Ballou Sound System Engineering, Third Edition by Don Davis and Eugene Patronis Sound System Engineering's appendix on proper wiring technique and system assembly is a great resource. Both books explain acoustics, how sound propagates, musical instruments and much more. Not really how-to books but valuable resources nonetheless. Best regards, Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 John Fielden, a production sound mixer, has a couple of books, as well: some of the things you mentioned quickly go beyond The kind of thing that every Soundo knows, like how interference tube microphone acoustics actually work, other things are product specific like servo wiring Lectrosonics TX's (HAT -- actually just search their very informative website and FAQ's). Lists of appropriate books, including books by Tom Holeman and others have been posted elsewhere on jwsound. and lastly, remember: it takes years of experience to get years of experience! here is the klist of suggested reading I give my students (the schools ' libraries keep these books available) Stanley R. Alten, Audio in Media: Cengage Learning www.wadsworth.com. $118.39 costly, but thorough, a required text in other school’s programs, in our library David Yewdall: Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, Focal Press $37.75 John Purcell, Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Invisible Art this one covers a lot of production sound issues, and fixing them in post(paper) $49.95 Tomlinson Holeman: Sound for Television and Film, Focal Press, the author is “Mr. THX”, excellent choice! $57.95* (new edition Mar 2010) Tomlinson Holeman: Sound for Digital Video (paperback), Focal Press $46.95* Jay Rose: Producing Great Sound for Film & Digital Video and Audio Post-Production for Film & Video Online: http://www.dplay.com/book/index.html CMP Books, reasonably priced. $44.95 each. S. Dean Miles, Location Audio Simplified. realworldaudio (available at Location Sound – tell ‘em you’re from Columbia and they’ll give you a discount!). Official Website: www.locationaudiosimplified.com (free samples from book). $55.00 John Fielden, Roll Sound A Practical Guide for Location Sound –and-- John Fielden, Videographers’ Audio Handbook (this one is full of great tips!) www.rollsound.myplanetpress.com Tomlinson Holman (not holeman). Points off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 " Points off. " spellchecker malfunction ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 " Points off. " spellchecker malfunction ? Ah... er... I think maybe you're pointing at the malfunction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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