Comprehensive List of Books Relating to Music Production and Creative Growth

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On Composition:

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Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies - Dennis DeSantis
Amazon Link
This is a fantastic book. Each page has a general idea on boosting creativity, workflow, and designing sounds and tracks.


Music Theory for Computer Musicians - Michael Hewitt
Amazon Link
Really easy to digest book on music theory, as it applies to your DAW. Each DAW is used in the examples, so it is not limited to a specific program. Highly recommend this for someone starting out with theory to improve their productions.


Secrets of Dance Music Production - David Felton
Amazon Link
This book I recently picked up and so far it's been quite good. It goes over all the different elements of what make's dance music, and get's quite detailed. More geared towards the beginner, but it was engaging nonetheless. It is the best 'EDM specific' production book I have read.


Ocean of Sound - David Troop
Amazon Link

Very well written and interesting book on ambient music. Not only does David go over the technical side and history of ambiance and musical atmospheres, he speaks very poetically about creating these soundscapes and how they relate to our interpersonal emotions.


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On Audio Engineering:

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Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio - Mike Senior
Amazon Link
In my opinion, this is the best mixing reference book for both beginners and intermediate producers. Very in-depth book that covers everything from how to set-up for accurate listening to the purpose of each mixing and mastering plug-in. Highly recommended.


Zen and the Art of Mixing - Mixerman
Amazon Link
Very interesting read in that it deals with the why's more than the how's. Mixerman, a professional audio engineer, goes in detail to talk about the mix engineer's mindset, how to approach projects, and how to make critical mixing decisions. Really fun read.


The Mixing Engineer's Handbook - Bobby Owinski
Amazon Link
This is a fantastic companion book to keep around. Not only does Owinski go into great technical detail, he includes interviews from various audio engineers that I personally found very helpful and inspiring.


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On the Industry:

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All You Need to Know About the Music Business - Donald S. Passman
Amazon Link
This book is simply a must read for anyone hoping to make a professional career out of music, anyone wanting to start their own record label, or anyone interested in how the industry works. It's a very informative book for any level of producer, and is kept up-to-date with the frequent revisions. Buy it.


Rick Rubin: In the Studio - Jake Brown
Amazon Link
Very interesting read that is a semi-biographical book on Rick Rubin. It is not so personal as it is talking about his life, experiences, and processes. It does get quite technical when referring to the recording process, but there are better books for technical info. This is a fun read on one of the most successful producers in history.


Behind the Glass - Howard Massey
Amazon Link
A collection of interviews from a diverse range of musicians who speak about creativity, workflows, and experiences in the music industry. Really light, easy to digest book.


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On Creativity:

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The War of Art - Steven Pressfield
Amazon Link
This is a must-read, in my opinion, for any creative individual. It is a very philosophical book on dealing with our own mental battles as an artist, and how to overcome them. Definitely pick this one up, all of you.


This is Your Brain on Music - Daniel S. Levitin
Amazon Link
A book written by a neurologist on the psychology of music and what makes us attached to it. It's a fairly scientific book but it is a very rewarding read with some great ideas.


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On Personal Growth and Development:

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How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
Amazon Link
Although this seems like an odd book for a music producer, personally I think this is one of the most influential books I've ever read. Knowing how to be personable, effectively network, and form relationships is extremely important in our industry. Whether it be meeting and talking to labels, meeting other artists, or getting through to A&R, this book helps with all these areas and I suggest this book to all of you.


7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
Amazon Link
Similar to the recommendation above, although not directly linked to music, I assure you reading this book will change your views on life. It is a very engaging and practical book, and gets you in the right mindset to be successful in your life and music career. Trust me on this one and give it a read.


Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Amazon Link
You know the feeling when you're really in the groove of jamming out and all worries tend to slip away for those moments? That is the 'Optimal Experience' according to the author. This book will teach you about that experience, and how to encourage and find it in your work. This is a very challenging, immersive, and enlightening read, which deals with the bigger picture and finding happiness in your work and life. Very inspiring book that puts you in a good mindset when you're doing creative work.


The Art of Work - Jeff Goins
Amazon Link
A very fascinating book that looks at taking your passion (music in our case) and making the most of it. It guides you on how to be successful and turn your passion into your career. Some very interesting sections touching on dealing with failure, disappointment, and criticism, yet listening to your intuition and following your passion. Inspiring and uplifting book to say the least.


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Happy reading!

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You should not agree to an hourly rate as a freelance audio producer. You should have a per minute of audio rate. Rates tend to be all over the place but depending on the project you can safely ask for $30 per minute of audio. I usually ask for $50-100 per minute of audio. I highly suggest reading entirely through Game Audio by Aaron Marks. You should also write royalties into your contract. Usually a percentage of profits. 1-5% for total audio production (one person) is probably fine.

Tl;dr Only agree to hourly rates if you are hired as an in-house audio producer.

So... your only technique in mixing is moving your faders?

I don't want to sound rude, but that's not enough to get your mix to sound good. It's only going to get you a starting balance.

I'm not going to write a book here, but I'd like to give you a short overview of what concepts an average mixing process comprises of (in a nutshell and NOT comprehensive,... there's enough information out there to learn about each topic).

• Editing: check phase if you're layering instruments/recording stuff with more than one mic, clean up your tracks,...
  
• Gain staging (that's - more or less - what you're describing)
  
• Equalizing tracks
  
• Compressing tracks
  
• Panning tracks
  
• Transient shaping
  
• Sweetening the mix (room tone reverb, delay, saturation, ...)
  
  Seriously, educate yourself on mixing and your sound will get an enormous boost. There's a ton of resources out there, including some of my favorites:
  
  
• Mixing secrets for the small studio
  
• Mixing audio - concepts practices & tools
  
• Zen & the art of mixing
  
• shameless plug, but I've started a video series on mixing as well, maybe you'll find it useful: Start To Mix
  
  With regards to mastering, I would really consider sending your mix to an external mastering engineer. You will get a much better result, not only because these people specialise in what they can do, but a second pair of ears is always a good idea.
  
  Hope you find this useful & best of luck!

Here's the Vocals (Solo) section from this book:

There are as many vocal microphones as there are people singing, yet the sound totally depends upon the singer and the delivery. If the singer has bad technique, no expensive microphone or signal path can save the performance. Just like with various instruments, it really comes down to the talent of the singer more than any one thing when recording a vocal.

Considerations

• A singer who is experienced at working the microphone reacts to what he or she hears in the headphones and balances the consonants against the vowels.
  
• Decoupling the stand from the floor will help prevent unwanted rumbles. Place the stand on a couple of mouse pads or a rug for a cheap but efficient solution.
  
• A major part of the silky-smooth hit female vocal sound is singing softly and breathily, very close to the mic. To get this effect, tell the singer to close her eyes and act as if the mic is a baby's ear. This usually produces vocals that are very soft and natural.
  
• The best mic in the house doesn't necessarily capture the best vocal sounds.
  
• An easy way to have a vocalist gauge the distance is by hand lengths. An open hand is approximately 8 inches, while a fist is about 4 inches. By saying, "stay two fists away," the vocalist can easily judge his distance and usually doesn't forget.
  
• In general, vocals sound better when recorded in a tighter space. Vocal booths should be tight but not acoustically dead to the point where there is a loss of top end and air. Low-ceiling rooms can also be a problem with loud singers, as they may cause the room to ring at certain lower midrange frequencies.
  
  

  To Eliminate Pops, Lip Smacks, and Breath Blasts
  

  
  

1. Place the mic above the lips so the singer's breath is right below the capsule.
   
   
2. Move the mic up 3 or 4 inches above the singer's mouth and point it down at the lips. This also cleans up mouth noises and the nasal sound that some singers have.
   
   
3. If popping continues:
   
   

• Move the mic higher and/or farther away.
  
• Turn the mic slightly off-axis.
  
• Change the mic's directional pattern to omni.
  
  The Hanging Microphone: Everyone has seen the photos of the vintage large-diaphragm tube mic hanging upside down in front of the vocalist, but there really are several good reasons for this. Here are just a few things to consider:
  
  
• The rationale behind hanging a mic upside down comes from tube mics. The heat rising from the tube can cause the diaphragm to change temperature over time, which will change the sound of the mic. Placing the tube above the capsule will let the heat rise without passing over the diaphragm.
  
• Another thing that happens is that the vocalist sings slightly upward into the mic, which forces the airway open and encourages a full-body voice. Take a deep breath and sing a low note, start with your chin to your chest, and slowly lift your head until your chin has about a 15-degree lift. Hear any difference?
  
• Maybe even more important, the mic can be positioned so the singer is less likely to direct popping air blasts into the mic.
  
• It's also easier for the singer to read any music or lyrics since it's out of the way.
  
  

  Placement
  

  
  Technique 1: Place the mic with the capsule just about even with the singer's nose and point it down at the lips. If popping continues, turn the mic slightly off-axis. The distance will vary widely depending on the singer, the type of sound you're trying to get, and the SPL-handling capability of the mic. Somewhere between 4 and 12 inches should work for most things. To record a whisper, place the mic even closer than 4 inches.
  
  Technique 2: If the vocalist has trouble staying in the right place or wants to eat the mic, use a close mic as a decoy and put the one that you're recording with a couple of feet behind it. While the sound might be a little more distant, it will also be a lot more consistent.
  
  Technique 3: To fill out a thin-sounding voice, position a mic 4 to 6 inches below the vocalist's mouth and then aim the mic up at the lips. You'll pick up some low end from the chest cavity, but you might also pick up more extraneous noises.
  
  Technique 4: In order to try several mics to see which one will work, set up two microphones at a 45-degree angle to the vocalist so that they make up an equailateral triangle. You can add a third mic in the center as well, but be sure that the distance is the same as the other two. This also works if you would like to use a combination of microphones.
  
  Technique 5: To get a cool stereo sound, place two condenser mics 1 foot in front of the singer at shoulder height and 2 or 3 feet apart, pointing up toward the mouth. This will yield a kind of wide, thick sound that is very cool if the mix is sparse but will not do will in a dense mix, as it will tend to sound dark and full. Many singers have trouble with this configuration, so you might have to put up a close dummy mic for them to sing into.
  
  Technique 6: Using a stereo mic, run one capsule with 10 dB more gain on the mic pre than the other. Put a limiter on this one. The one with 10 dB more gain should register about 12 dB of compression when the singer gets loud. This turns down the capsule with more gain on it more than the capsule with less gain on it. The net result is, as the singer changes volume, the capsule with the best gain for the application will take precedence.
  
  Technique 7: Many vocalists are just more comfortable with a hand-held mic like they use on stage. Don't be afraid to give them an SM58 if it makes their performance more comfortable and easy. You'd be surprised how good a new 58 can sound with the right preamp.
  
  

• Variation: If the vocalist wants to sing in the control room, use this same mic but be sure that the vocalist always faces the speakers in order to eliminate the possibility of feedback.
  
  
  

sound reenforcement handbook for fundamentals

https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reinforcement-Handbook-Gary-Davis/dp/0881889008/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0881889008&pd_rd_r=CCG9CPVAPDH3ECTFGHMA&pd_rd_w=C5R8y&pd_rd_wg=5hRnU&psc=1&refRID=CCG9CPVAPDH3ECTFGHMA

system set up and optimization

https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Systems-Optimization-Techniques-Alignment/dp/0415731011/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496423594&sr=8-1&keywords=sound+system+design+and+optimization

deeper fundamentals and underlying theory behind systems,

https://www.amazon.com/Sound-System-Engineering-Don-Davis/dp/0240818466/ref=pd_sim_14_10?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0240818466&pd_rd_r=HSPA70XSS4QNR9DZF1P5&pd_rd_w=5ywPt&pd_rd_wg=X1Td5&psc=1&refRID=HSPA70XSS4QNR9DZF1P5

approachable fundamentals, but not too much deeper theory - kind of a up and running style of book

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Operators-Handbook-Guides-online/dp/1617805599/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

There's actually a lot more to mastering for vinyl than just making sure the bass frequencies are centered. There's a completely different EQ curve that needs to be applied to the master - see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_equalization

In short, you'll want a mastering engineer to do it for you unless you really know what you're doing.

EDIT: If anyone's interested in learning more about the mastering process, I highly recommend "Mastering Audio: The Art and Science" by Bob Katz: http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audio-Art-Science-Book/dp/0240805453

I'm going to disagree with a few people here. Getting an education to get a job in audio engineering is most definitely a bad idea in my opinion. Is this education worthless? No...but it's usually not worth what they're asking.

Audio engineering is a hard career to be successful in. I should know, as I've been doing it for quite some time. I've finally gotten to the point where as a free-lancer I can afford a car and house note, which is good. But there were plenty of sacrifices along the way. None of which I regret, of course. But I wouldn't have wanted to tack on extra debt going to school to get a job in a field that does not require a degree.

In all my time doing this, probably around 15 years professionally, nobody has ever asked me how to prove I know how to do this stuff. My resume speaks for itself. I've worked in studios in LA, Hawaii, Az, and now I'm a production sound mixer in Louisiana. I run sound for bands in venues around my city when I'm not on a movie. I own a recording studio for music and for foley and ADR for films. Currently, I'm on a shoot in Florida where I've been for 3 weeks. I got to shoot foley with one of the worlds greatest foley artists (Ellen Heuer). it's a great life!

My advise is do what most of my peers did. Get an internship at a studio. Or if your interested in movie work, assist a sound editor or a production sound mixer. Offer to be a sound utility for free. Or approach a local sound venue and offer to assist the live sound guy, wrapping cables and plugging in mics. Or call a local sound company that does festivals and other events, and offer to clean the snake at the end of the night.

Even if you do decide to get an education, the school will always be there, waiting for you if that's the route you decide to go. But a healthy amount of time in this field not paying for that education will both help you do better in school if you decide to go, and help guide you into a program that's right for both you and the specific set of skills you want to garnish. Or, you might find you don't need it.

The point is that yeah, just "looking things up on the internet" is not a good way to educate yourself. It's a good supplemental thing to do, to be curious and read. But hands on experience is much more valuable than any education I've ever come across in this field, and worlds ahead of just reading a book.

Now, not going to school isn't an excuse to not work. You simply have to take responsibility for your own education. Read books, talk to people who are doing the things you want to do. Learn from them. Help them, and make yourself invaluable to them. Make them wonder how they every got along without you there.

There are far too many opportunities to learn from within the industry than on the outside of it in a classroom or technical college. My career has been quite all over the map, ranging from music production to movie work. Here is a list of books that are about those various fields that I recommend.

The Daily Adventures of Mixerman - A great look at a recording session, and honestly one of the funniest books I've ever read.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Daily-Adventures-Mixerman/dp/0879309458

Zen and the Art of Mixing - mixerman

http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Mixing-Mixerman-ebook/dp/B004CYE7OU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397229955&sr=1-1&keywords=zen+and+the+art+of+mixing

Zen and the art of Producing - Mixerman

http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Producing-Mixerman/dp/1458402886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397229992&sr=1-1&keywords=zen+and+the+art+of+producing

Behind the Glass vol 1 and 2 - Howard Massey - Great interviews with producers and engineers. DEF check this one out. one of the best books i've ever read about recording.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Behind%20the%20glass

The Recording Engineer's Handbook - Bobby Owniski - General information about gear, mic placement techniques, fundmentals of sound, etc...

http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Engineers-Handbook-Bobby-Owsinski/dp/1285442016/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397230109&sr=1-1&keywords=recording+engineering+handbook

The Sound Reinforcment Handbook - Live sound techniques

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reinforcement-Handbook-Gary-Davis/dp/0881889008/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397230178&sr=1-1&keywords=Yamaha+Live+sound+manual

The Location Sound Bible - Ric Viers - Great entry into sound for TV, Film, ENG, and EPP. Pretty much covers the bases of recording on location

http://www.amazon.com/Location-Sound-Bible-Record-Professional/dp/1615931201/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397230229&sr=1-1&keywords=Location+Sound+bible

That should get you started. Whatever route you choose, good luck!

All my coworkers swear by Small Signal Audio Design.

http://www.amazon.com/Small-Signal-Audio-Design-Douglas/dp/0240521773

I personally use Cubase, but it doesn't really matter which DAW you use, as all of them can do pretty much everything you want them to do. The punch you get out of your sound is based on what hardware and plug-ins you use, and more importantly, how well you are using them. DAW's just there to be a host for those things, and all the major ones handle the recording and mixing superbly. If you do a lot of MIDI stuff, then FL Studio might be the best choice, as it has the best Piano Roll input, making MIDI composition in it very simple.

Anyways, both the software and the hardware are gonna cost you quite a lot (unless you pirate). If you want good sound, there are no alternatives. For Symphonic Metal, some essential stuff is

1. If you'd prefer to obtain your MIDI from notation, then you will need a notation software. Finale and Sibelius are market leaders. Those aren't DAWs, though, so if you want some actual good sound, you'll need to export the midi files from those after composing, and load them up in the DAW, as controllers for VSTi-s. Do note that with this method you'll have to oftentimes make quite a bit of adjustments to the MIDI in the DAW as well (changing and automating the CC options, velocity settings, absolute note length, etc.). Good thing is, both Finale and Sibelius can load up VST instruments, so you can get a good approximation of how the music's gonna sound in the DAW before actually exporting the MIDIs.
   
   
2. Good amp head and effect sims. Seriously, this day and age, DI'd guitars can do at least the same, if not more, than the mic'd up ones. The good thing is, some of the best stuff is free. Really good examples are Le Pou plugins and free TSE audio stuff. As for the non-free stuff, Guitar Rig Pro, POD Farm and Amplitube are all pretty good.
   Now, a really important thing to remember here is, if you use those plugins, turn off the Cab Simulation parts. They're usually not bad, but they won't be able to match some of the Impulse Responses you can find on the web. Which brings us to,
   
   
3. IRs and a convolution loader. IRs are basically files that describe what a specific cab and microphone placement usually does to the audio signal, and convolution loader is a plug-in that will load IRs in your channel strip. There are tons of free Impulse Responses out there, but the best ones I've ever seen, Red Wirez BIGBox series, are totally worth the money. As for the loader, the best one I've seen, Le Pou's LeCab, is totally, 100% free. Though Red Wirez's MixIR is pretty good too, and you can load up BIGBox presets in it. Note that unlike the commercial amp sims, which most often advertise themselves as the complete guitar solutions and automatically load up cab sims (which you'll have to manually disable) whenever you load an amp preset, free ones almost never do. It is absolutely normal for an amp sim to sound like shit if no cab sim is loaded. Just load up some IRs through the convolution loader and see how it sounds then.
   
   
4. Some virtual drums. They make composing drum parts much easier. Right now, the best ones out there are available as expansions for Toontrack's EZDrummer and Superior Drummer. Superior Drummer can load up EZDrummer stuff, and is much more advanced, but is quite a bit more expensive (and larger). Anyway, the two best expansions for metal are Drumkit from Hell and Metal Machine. Metal!, Metalheads and the Metal Foundry expansions are all very good as well, but those two are the ones that have actually been used on the records, and sound pretty much perfect. Also note that Toontrack sells some really good MIDI drum line packs for those, and at a pretty cheap price. If you want to get started with drum programming in an easy way, you can try those.
   
   
5. Some orchestra samples. Those will cost you an arm and a leg, and then some. Some of the best stuff out there is by the EastWest/Quantum Leap group, famous for their EWQL Symphonic Orchestra sample library. Other good stuff is Vienna Symphonic Library and Garritan virtual instruments. Really, though, there's no cheap stuff in here. If you're going for a Lo-Fi feel, though, then there's actually quite a lot out there. Just google some VST keyboards and individual instruments. Many of them are actually free.
   
   
6. (Optional) Guitar VSTis. It takes some time and effort to learn how to get them to sound like actual guitars, but if a guitarist is not around and you need to do some jamming, they're irreplaceable. The best ones out there are Shreddage 2 and [Prominy V-Metal] (http://www.prominy.com/V_METAL.htm). Nothing else can really compare with those two (though EastWest's Ministry of Rock comes pretty close). For bass, some good stuff is NI's Scarbee Rickenbacker, Prominy SR5 Rock Bass, Orange Tree Samples Rick Bass and Shreddage Picked Bass (which you can buy together with Shreddage II as a bundle). All of those are DI'd samples, so as with a physical guitar, you'll need to hook them up to the amp, cab and effect sims.
   
   That's it for the software part. Those, together with the stuff that usually comes with the DAWs (some really simple mixing plug-ins, mid-grade instrument samples and synths), and some necessary hardware (another topic altogether), should be enough for composing and recording. If you're planning on mixing by yourself, well, that's a lot of additional work. You'll need to get some mixing equipment and/or plug-ins (many producers even do mixing completely inside the computer, with no external mixing equipment). So, shameless plug of /r/audioengineering, one of my favorite subreddits. You can learn a lot about mixing and mastering in there. If you're a complete beginner in mixing, I'll suggest 5 Minutes to a Better Mix series and this little, godly book.
   
   Anyways, have fun with the music.

I don't have much experience with Garage Band, but also do not frequently hear much about its use amongst solid engineers. My first suggestion is to download another DAW before you put too much time into learning ones ins and outs, keyboard shortcuts, etc.

A solid option if you are of humble beginnings is to go with Reaper. They give you an unrestricted demo version on their website. When you inevitably love it and get the hang of it and get your paycheck do go back and pay them for their hard work making it.

Next I'd say learn to download plug-ins. There are many free options online that sound fantastic compared to even paid ones just a few years back. Browse this sub and others, and by all means I always advocate Sound on Sound because man have they got the slew of articles.

Just use the googs. Find some sites you like and learn, learn, learn. Finally when you're speaking of "prepping for release" I would say don't try to learn mixing purely on your own.

Go find someone who is willing to talk about their mixing theory and talk to them about how they go about it. Even if it's just someone from Reddit in a Skype session there are people who have done it and who do it and they're usually willing to talk. That way your questions can get some answers and you get better faster. However, if you're taking their advice make sure you hear their stuff and know you like how it sounds.

Finally, if you're pretty sure you've got the mix and want to release a few songs in an EP or good gracious even a CD (ahh!) then have a mastering engineer get their hands on it. That's how it goes. They don't have to be the $2000 a day kind of guy but someone who identifies as a mastering engineer who you research and read good things about will be helpful. Always always always listen to someone's work before having them do a service you're signed up to pay for. If they do it and you don't like it you still owe them money.

In the way of direct answers:
Q: What is the common practice to EQ'ing everything?
A: Start with subtractive EQ (cuts instead of boosts) and cut out spots that overlap on two instruments so that one shines bright and the other shimmers in the background. You want to cut out all of the sounds with EQ so they fit together like a nice little puzzle. When two instruments are competing too closely maybe shift the octave on one. (Yes, when you're the artist it pays to be thinking of EQ blends as early as the songwriting and even brainstorming process.)

Q: What sort of compression should be looked at for all the instruments?
A: It shouldn't. If you don't understand compression you will not make it sound good by flipping on compressors on everything. Tweak tweak and tweak anything and everything and go online once again and learn the compression. In the meantime put your vocals in a 2.5:1 ratio with a fast attack and medium release and barely use the compression as need and leave the rest alone. Let that mixing engineer we talked about do the compression, and ask again what their theory or ideas when setting compression are.

Q: other general 'effects' and alterations that should be made
A: Use those plug-ins we talked about. Also in the way of phasing it sounds like you don't understand phasing. I'll let you dig up the articles this time. You should have some sites you like now. Phasing is about how time and space affects the way sound waves line up with one another and also flipping the phase can do things. You'll figure that out. But in the mean time you can also play with plugins that do interesting stereo effects.

I don't really know why I chose this to respond to, but if you do these things you'll be off to a good start. If you have Half Price Books (or the Internet and a finger that can click these links) go find yourself a copy of the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook and become a master. Or Modern Recording Techniques. Or even a Dummies book. as there are good ideas everywhere. You find them by hearing things and deciding what you like and what you don't. Information is a buffet! Take what you need and leave the rest.

When you say Sound do you mean what we hear? Or do you mean Audio, which can mean almost any aspect of the technology that captures, reproduces, and reinforces sound.

Sound is an infinitely complex part of our world and because of that it can be infinitely fascinating. A really good reference is some Audio Engineers books. The one I have found to be a of great help is The Handbook for Sound Engineer.

This book is about 1200 pages of everything you could ever want to know about Audio. It doesn't delve into HiFi, but it covers room acoustics, psycho-acoustics, and almost every aspect of Audio Engineering from Microphones to speakers, and mixers to amps. However it is quite a read, but it makes a great reference text.

Another good book is the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Manual. As much as I can't stand Yamaha equipment(The LS9 console is a horrible piece of junk and sounds awful) the book they wrote is quite good. It explains the basics without getting too complicated and covers a wide variety of topics.

If you want to get more advanced such as what is a line array, I would for sure look up some of the literature from some of the manufacturers like D&B, L'Acoustics, Meyer, Martin, (Not JBL) Etc. These have to be taken with a grain of salt, because half the time its a semi-sales pitch. The Audio Engineering Society also has tons of scholarly articles, but I think you have to pay for those.

And finally I would recommend the book From Tinfoil to Stereo. It is a detailed and in depth history of the Audio Industry in the professional and consumer world. A great read for understanding how the industry was thought to never take off and then exploded almost overnight.

Mastering and Mixing are two terms that seem to get used interchangeably (especially on the music subreddits), and really shouldn't be. It's a little pet peeve of mine. Wall of text coming your way:


Mixing is the process of getting good balance and making everything sound "good" in a mix. This usually involves adding reverb, EQ, and compression. Mixing is difficult to do well, and there is a lot of room for creativity and taste. When most people say they mastered a song, they really mean they a mixed a song.

Mastering is the process of taking audio and bringing them up to commercial standards (called red book standards.) This is done with a stereo audio file, and involves very delicate EQ, and a special type of compression. This is usually the last step a track has before being put on CD and really mainly done if you expect to be releasing a physical album. It is a very difficult job (and mastering engineers get paid a lot of money for this!)

While there are a few books written on the topic, mastering/mixing music is an aural skill. Sure, you have to learn how compressors, EQ, and reverb work, but that is nothing compared to training your ears to do the job. You can't learn that in a book. It just takes practice.

Software? I personally love using Reaper for home recording.

I would recommend reading.

​

The Dance Music Manual. The producer (Rick Snowman) who wrote it has some solid credentials. Its presents the knowledge in a very approachable format and will give you a whole overview from construction of drums/melody/harmony to mixing to mastering.

​

For drums you'll want Drum Programming by Ray F Badness. This book will teach you how to create drum progressions that catch attention and don't get boring.

​

For synthesis, read SOS's Synth Secrets. Its free, and if you read it and try it out on a synth in your daw, you'll be well on your way to synthetic mastery.

This book by Bob Katz is a great reference. Honestly, I learned my process from sitting with a pro (Michael Romanowski, protege of Paul Stubblebine).

Doing the technical shit to prep a CD for duplication isn't amazingly difficult, really the key is to keep your limiter output at -.3 dB, and make sure your tracks don't get more than -3db of gain reduction through the transients and loudest parts of your track.

The art of mastering itself takes a light touch, great ears, and an excellent frequency recognition, which comes in time and with practice. A visual frequency analyzer can help, but I said recently, shouldn't be a crutch, never mix/EQ with your eyes, only your ears.

Check that book out though, its a great read, Katz can write a really informative book.

the bob katz book is great. also check out mixerman's zen and the art of mixing

Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science and Modern Recording Techniques are also good.

Absolutely. I can’t believe how far I had to scroll to find this comment.

Supplement with this one as well: Modern Recording Techniques (Audio Engineering Society Presents) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1138954373/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UVzrDbZR5H4QB

They give you a good idea of where to start if you’re new and are immensely helpful to beginners.

All of these comments are amazing and really remind me of the book The Daily Adventures Of Mixerman. If you haven't read it, please do, it's a gift to all the reasonable musicians in the world

I download short films on archive.org and mute the sound, and practice scoring to them.

I also wasn't finding much work in film, so I started writing music for indie video game developers. Winifred Phillip's book has been very useful to me (it's a big picture kind of understanding with plenty of practical advice) and I just started reading Aaron Marks' book which has some good stuff in it.

Someone also recently told me about scorbit (started by Berklee I think), which I personally haven't used much but have heard good things. You can set up a free account with them which is nice.

YouTube is filled with great (and shitty) advice. Honestly, I have more sources than I have time to explore anymore, so I'm just picking a few, and doing the hell out of them.

Also, the TigSource forums are great!

Mastering Audio by Bob Katz is a good one to have

Check out this book, I just got it yesterday and it really helps you understand what everything in the software is about and how to use it.

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Pro-Training-Series-Professional/dp/0321967593

The Logic Pro X book by David Namahdi.

Short question, with a very long answer....
Yes, mastering tracks can give you that "luster", and can definitely make your tracks louder. The first thing to understand is that signal level by no means is the only factor that contributes to loudness.

Loudness is relative - if everything is loud, then nothing is. Leaving dynamics in your track can make it sound louder than just compressing the hell out of it.

The frequency response of the human ear is level dependent. You need to check your mix at listening levels appropriate to where you mix will be heard (I've worked with one (well known) mastering engineer who works at levels I found way too high for comfort).

You'll need to learn exactly what the parameters on a compressor do. Do you really know what the attack and release times do? Not just what it says in a textbook - what their effects sound like. Set aside periods of "ear training" time. Put a compressor on your track, set up a fairly strong compression. Pick a parameter, and slowly change it. Listen to the effect it has. Write a couple of notes describing the effect (not because you'll be reading it back - writing it down will help you make a definite decision on what you're hearing, and helps you remember it).

Once you've developed your ear, try comparing different compressors (don't remember if Logic Express 8 gives you circuit type with the compressor, but if it does, start with this). A/B their effect.
(If you can't tell the difference, don't start investing in third party plugins! - Not that expensive plugins don't have their advantages, but you can spend a fortune on all the Waves, McDSP and Isotope plugins you want - if you don't have the ear, you'll just have an expensive crappily mastered track).

Then it's time to look at the tricks:
Could you set up a multi-stage compression? (where the compression ratio changes with signal level)
Do you know why to parallel compress? (where you have a compressed and an uncompressed copy of the signal (which often sum to then feed another compression stage)
Multiband compression is very common when mastering. (This is where you have a separate compression stage for each frequency range - e.g. if you use a broadband compression, and you have loads of bass dynamics, this will cause the other frequencies to pump up and down, giving a "breathing" effect (then again, this is a desired effect in some electronic tracks). Multiband compression is designed to avoid this.)

Whole books can (and have) been written on this. I'd recommend investing in http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Audio-Science-Bob-Katz/dp/0240805453 - (I'd recommend this book to any engineer, regardless of experience). This will be a much better investment than a plugin at this stage.

I'll have a word with the lecturer that runs the summer Mixing and Mastering course, get him to add a few words, but that should be enough to get you started.

The book, The Complete Guide to Game Audio (For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, and Game Developers) includes a sample

• non-disclosure agreement
  
• talent release (performers paid by you to use their performance as your "work")
  
• work-for-hire agreement
  
• audio development agreement (based on Tommy Tallarico's standard contract), and
  
• professional services agreement (basically a generic agreement you could expect to receive from a larger studio).
  
  I think the DVD that comes with the book includes PDFs of these contracts, but I'm not sure, as mine is lost in the stacks somewhere.

Trust me on this one.

Zen and the Art of Mixing

[Glen Ballou's book] (http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Sound-Engineers-4th-Edition/dp/0240809696/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=17XRBA75YDQ47T230Q36) has a lot of really good information in it. Also , this [one] (http://www.amazon.com/Timer-Amp-Optoelectronic-Circuits-Projects/dp/0945053290/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406325087&sr=1-1&keywords=timers+and+op+amps) from Forrest Mims is cheap effective. Learning some BEE (basic electronics and electricity) is a great place to start. The one /u/tvdf mentioned has a ton of useful information as well. Good luck, it's a lot of fun once you get started!

I used the same book at MCC, it's great. My instructors also recommended Bob Katz's Mastering Audio

I’m just gonna come out and say this:

Try reading an audio engineering book before buying anything.

I don’t wanna be a Jerk and post a snarky reply but these are really basic questions that could all be easily answered simply by reading a book...



https://www.amazon.com/Recording-Techniques-Engineering-Society-Presents/dp/1138954373/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1549576072&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=audio+engineering+books&dpPl=1&dpID=514099eQvRL&ref=plSrch

Feel free to ask about gear specific questions but you need to have some basic understanding about what the equipment does and how to use it.

Edit: Spelling and grammar.

My acoustical engineering bible. Buy it used. It has a topic on every acoustical engineering topic you can imagine written the leading professors in each field.

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Sound-Engineers-4th-Edition/dp/0240809696

EDIT: The book is 1600+ pages and very detailed.

Get yourself a minor in mechanical (or possibly even seismic if your school offers it). Opens up anything dealing with transducers or how sound waves behave in a medium within a space.

Maybe pick yourself up a copy of Modern Recording Techniques to get a feel for what's going on hardware wise in the field. If you want to do more with the actual acoustics side of it, then grab Master Handbook of Acoustics. As a former EE major (I split before I graduated), I've also found Practical Electronics for Inventors handy to have around, even if only as a quick reference for things. Even has some theoretical refreshers in there if memory serves me correct.

If you find that you want to get into working with instrument amplification, then I'd recommend picking up Ultimate Bench Warrior since, to my understanding, tube circuits aren't really dealt with at the university level anymore.

Hope at least something in here is helpful.

I would strongly recommend you check your local public library to see if they have a copy of this book, like my local library did: http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Audio-Getting-Professional-Recording/dp/0634009591

I ended up buying my own copy after borrowing one because it's just that good. It'll answer your question and then some.

Critical Listening Skills for Audio Professionals and the The S.M.A.R.T. Guide to Mixing And Mastering Audio Recordings are excellent for beginners, particularly because they come with an audio CD and DVD respectively to aid in the learning process. After going through those two books thoroughly I would strongly suggest you always keep a copy of Modern Recording Techniques by your side for reference. When you're ready and willing to read fairly advanced literature on the subject you should look in to a book like Acoustics, which explores the physics of sound, although it's no longer being published I'm sure there are several similar books available.

First off, good luck with your journey. There’s a frustrating learning curve, but I promise if you stick with it, you’ll eventually get it. I’m no pro mixer, but reading these books made it so less scary and now I’m generally happy with the mixes I get (yes, even in my car!)

The first two recommendations are the most obvious ones, but they’re really good.

The Mixing Engineer's Handbook 4th Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6SFVMS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ktsSCb7Z7623Z
^ this author also answers emails, which is lovely and very nice of him

Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio (Sound On Sound Presents...) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GHYQ4T1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gpsSCb8ETC058

But my more personal recommendation is the following, which is nothing but interviews with some of the top mixers:

Mix Masters: Platinum Engineers Reveal Their Secrets for Success https://www.amazon.com/dp/087639019X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ivsSCbPSJ1D0T

The interviews are very helpful. So many amateur YouTube tutorials tell you ONLY use subtractive EQing. Funny how the pros don’t agree with that...

Good luck on your journey. I hope these help! If you haven’t already, start binging on Pensado’s Place on YouTube. A lot of it will be hard to keep up with at first, but you’ll learn the language.

Give the trial a try. If you decide to stick with it, I highly recommend this book, it helped me learn ableton in a couple weeks. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1285455401

First of all thanks for taking the time and writing and detailed reply!
I've done the tutorials already, so yeah probably I will look at the synths and rums next. And from there work my up. Someone else suggested me getting a book? Should I maybe get this? http://www.amazon.com/Ableton-Live-Power-Comprehensive-Guide/dp/1285455401/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368213680&sr=8-2&keywords=Ableton+9

It's the first result on amazon, the book for Ableton 8 had an average of 4stars, so I'm not sure.

And about what I want to make, that's another problem. I am not quite sure right now. I wanted to start producing because I really enjoy music, and playing the piano. And there's a lot of music I enjoy, but I'm not sure if this is the music I want to make myself.
I don't know if this makes sense, and I tried to express myself as good as possible. But english isn't my naitive tounge though :/

Also, thanks again! :D

When I first started out, I would google/YouTube basically everything. Wish I could recommend specific YouTubers or videos, but this was a while back. Find some beginner videos on YouTube.
This looks like a pretty solid overview to Logic X.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU5XhG5Ywbk

If you want to learn absolutely everything about Logic, read this.
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Pro-Training-Series-Professional/dp/0321967593

"Zen and the Art of Mixing" by Mixerman is one of my favorite books for this topic. He humanizes the craft and makes it easy to understand for anyone at any level of expertise.

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Mixing-REV2-Mixerman/dp/1480366579

Mixing BootCamp.
http://bobbyowsinski.com/Audio_Mixing_Bootcamp.html

zen and the art of mixing
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Mixing-Mixerman/dp/1423491505

also (zen and the art of producing)

http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Producing-Mixerman/dp/1458402886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368676901&sr=1-1&keywords=zen+and+the+art+of+producing


the daily adventures of mixerman
http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Adventures-Mixerman/dp/0879309458/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368676951&sr=1-1&keywords=the+adventures+of+mixerman

bobby owinsky (has many great books)

hal leonard recording method is great (series of books)

The Berklee Press book "Understanding Audio: Getting the Most Out of Your Project or Professional Recording Studio" was highly recommended by a buddy of mine who took the course. I just ordered it yesterday.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0634009591/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are very good books on Amazon which might get you started on game audio. Some links :

Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design
A Composer's Guide to Game Music
The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, Game Developers

About the audio engines (audio middleware), the two big ones are FMOD and Wise (when the studio is not using its own middleware). There are some tutorials on Youtube which might get you started on that. It's essential to know the basics of sound integration (I mean how to use FMOD/Wise with game engines) if you want to work in video games.

Also, come join us over at /r/gameaudio

I think that this is a pretty interesting question. What it comes down to for me is this: what am I aiming to get out of this mix? Once you start to realize that it's balance; how things fit together, where they fit on the frequency spectrum, how to fit them there, what pieces contribute to which parts of the listener experience with regards to feelings etc. Once you start to figure all that out, then you start to understand how each of the tools in your kit help you to achieve that balance; subtractive EQ to create more space for other instruments, additive EQ to create tones and flavors and make things stand out more, compression to help thin things out or make them louder, reverb and other effects to give things a sense of space and dimensionality, and even using EQ or compression to do that as well, not to mention using those faders and panning and so on.

TL;DR the more you know about what it is you're trying to do and how each tool can get you there, the easier it will be.

I quite enjoyed The Daily Adventures of Mixerman. http://www.amazon.com/The-Daily-Adventures-Mixerman/dp/0879309458

If you're just starting out and want to learn the ins and outs of it, get this book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321967593/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_fNQttb0MQ3DBX

It's amazing at teaching you the basics and going into some deeper stuff that'll allow you to really go where you need to go. It's actually the only book that's certified by Apple and after you go through the book, you can go get your official Apple certification license for Logic if you ever decide to go that route.

this is the best i know of that covers many subjects in the world of audio. its directed toward sound engineers but a lot of would be of interest to you. breakdowns on things like acoustics, sound treatment, electronics, ad/da and a ton more. take a look at the table of contents. http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Sound-Engineers-Glen-Ballou/dp/0240809696

Wouldn't hurt to give producing a shot. Having good studio vibe is important for engineers or anyone who works any job in a studio setting. Producing other people's music is a fast track to learning that. Not to mention building a good network. You could get a crack at mixing the artists track to which is great practice.

If I remember correctly the books that head the most impact for me were:

http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Listening-Skills-Audio-Professionals/dp/1598630237

http://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Audio-2e-Roey-Izhaki/dp/0240522222

http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Glass-Record-Producers-Softcover/dp/0879306149

First off, don't worry about not being able to get into a post high-school audio program. If you're serious about doing it and can pay the tuition, you're in. I'd recommend checking local community colleges first, as they generally teach all or most of the same things as audio trade schools at a fraction of the price, and many offer degree programs - That said, very few people in this industry care about degrees or certifications if you can do the job (and are hard-working and easy to get along with), but a formal education is still a good idea. With any school, you will get out of it what you put into it.

A lot also depends on what you eventually want to do as a career (freelance, work in larger studio, mastering, post, etc.) but the best thing you can do is start getting hands-on experience and work to familiarize yourself with basic audio knowledge and recording techniques. This is not a career for people who sit around and wait for things to happen, so dig in, and best of luck!

The event list shows all the midi events that Logic associates with the piano roll. It's a tabular depiction of the blocks in the piano roll, along with a lot of detail. Ordinarily you don't need it, but to tweak the velocity of a single note, or to figure out why you're getting double note strikes (fer instance), it's a godsend.

You should nab Apple Pro Training Series: Logic Pro X by David Nahmani. It's a great tutorial that walks you through a mind-boggling huge set of Logic features.

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sound-Operators-Handbook-Guides/dp/1617805599

https://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Engineers-Handbook-4th-ebook/dp/B01N6SFVMS

These could be really helpful for what you’re doing. Your peers that you work live gigs with are great resources as well.
Best of luck!

Zen & the Art of Mixing

Mixing With Your Mind

Probably a little cerebral, but you said Mike Senior is too technical so maybe these are too 'heady'. I dunno, read them or don't, your choice.

They never say what SG and TG are. You are right to be baffled.

Another thing they never say is: what do they want you to connect to IC1 pin4? What do they want you to connect to IC1 pin8?

Nor do they explain why there are two different schematic symbols for "ground" -- the three parallel lines (at the junction of C1 and C2), and the down-pointed-triangle (at C8).

I think if you find these inconsistencies confusing (as opposed to infuriating), you may want to cease building for a moment, and instead, start studying. I recommend the very fine book "Small Signal Audio Design" by Douglas Self.

For a resource the Live Sound Operator's Handbook is worth a read. It won't get you the experience you need but it will lay a pretty decent foundation and you can read it while you're looking for live sound work.

Everyone I know personally who mixes for bands, including myself, started by doing grunt labor for little to no money, proved they were useful and started getting asked to go to gigs, hauled lots of boxes, wound lots of cable, and did more grunt work. Then got to mix monitors. Then eventually FOH. As word gets around town that you mix well and are reliable more jobs come your way and off you go.

Volunteer, get yourself a small PA, help a friend, whatever just find a way to start mixing bands. Jump at any chance to work with a good engineer and go from there. And don't quit your day job. :)

It's been over a decade since that class, so I don't recall what texts were used. If I remember correctly, Modern Recording Techniques contained a lot of this information.

is that this book?

A solid book for this is Understanding Audio by Daniel Thompson. Covers the basics, and not so basic info about a lot of subjects important to audio engineering. It has a couple of chapters pertaining specifically to signal flow. It is available from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0634009591/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_x2rMybMMSN74Q

I used this book when i was first getting started. I definitely think it's great to have a synth in front of you too. For me it was very much a proces of reading, feeling confused, twiddling, feeling less confused, taking what i learned hands-on and bringing it back to the book, gaining deeper understanding, then taking it back to the machine, and so on.

i started with an alesis micron and then a microkorg, and now i have graduated to modular synths, all in three years. fun times.

I started out of necessity. I owned a studio and needed to add or change the functionality of my console. It all started with a need for direct outputs. From there re-doing major chunks of internal wiring... adding a monitor send, changing how the solo worked... designing PCBs... One need lead to another which lead to this and other projects.

I made a living buying a selling gear (still do www.AudioAholics.com) Obsessing over design features was a hobby. I asked how and why about the choices people made.
I bought consoles and tape recorders and riped them apart. I Collect schematics and read them all the time.

buy this book http://www.amazon.ca/Small-Signal-Audio-Design-Douglas/dp/0240521773

Build destroy, blow up, make something for someone, make something for yourself, make a silly request of yourself and make it happen.

Never stop failing.

I am currently living this after being a stage manager for 10+ years and mostly lighting on work calls. I actively avoided audio for that time, but realizing that you need to know how to (at the very least) learn the ropes for the A2 position adds to the value of your work function. I have attached a link below to a really awesome pro audio guide that I found in my research. I’m about half way through it and I already feel more confident in my A2 abilities just from the introduction of terminology and how things operate.
My advice would be to start your research, watch someone mix a show from start to finish (including monitor and mic checks), ask questions and see if you can’t mix a prerecorded show or music. Sound can be tricky and needs real time hours thrown at it to be any good. Good luck! :)

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sound-Operators-Handbook-Guides/dp/1617805599

*Pulls up PDF of book, flips to table of contents. *

​

Yeah, just by looking at the section headings and subjects, this is all about live sound reinforcement. Not really that useful for DAW music production. Unless you're aiming to be a FOH engineer.

​

You want a good book for learning about music technology, recording, and FX? The book Modern Recording Techniques may be more in the alley of what you're looking for. I'm sure you can find a PDF of it online, but its one of the few books I recommend actually purchasing.

Highly recommend this one. I'm only half way through and learned so much so far. I'll prob need another read through.

The Mixing Engineer's Handbook 4th Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6SFVMS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_3iQBCb2M9RWM6

Also... Highly recommend the dance music manual as it has both music theory and production elements.

Black Book first

Yellow Book Second

Green Book Third

The first two can be found on Half.com quite often for cheap, the third is a new edition and worth the money.

For mixing, as already mentioned: Mixing Engineer's Handbook (Bobby Owsinski), Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio (Mike Senior) and also Mixing Audio (Roey Izhaki).

For mastering: Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science (Bob Katz)

And here are some great books that are not strictly about mixing, but which are very insightful about music production in general:

• Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (Geoff Emerick). The story of The Beatles's main engineer during their studio era (1966-1969), fascinating stuff.
  
  
• Recording Unhinged: Creative and Unconventional Music Recording Techniques (Sylvia Massy). If you are not familiar with this awesome lady, look her up.
  
  
• Behind the Glass - Top Record Producers Tell How They Craft the Hits (Howard Massey). A collection of interviews with some of the best record producers.

David Nahmani's book is a great, comprehensive and easy to follow resource. That's how I got into it!

https://www.amazon.com/Logic-Pro-10-1-Professional-Production/dp/0134185730

Here are some books I'm trying to get a hold of:

Becoming a Synthesizer Wizard: From Presets to Power User

Welsh's Synthesizer Cookbook: Synthesizer Programming, Sound Analysis, and Universal Patch Book

This is what I read after:
Becoming a Synthesizer Wizard: From Presets to Power User

Making "beats" typically requires a knowledge of much more than mere musical/rhythmic knowledge. The skilled beat maker understands how to make incredible rhythms out of unconventional-sounding and completely non-percussive sounds, in addition to utilizing the typical drum samples & conventions.

That's why I tell people in your situation - since you're already an instrumentalist - that obtaining a strong knowledge of digital audio workstation software is the most important thing to start out with.

Learn how computer music works, what the technical implications behind it include, and how to effectively edit & produce. Good books to check out are The Computer Music Tutorial (http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Music-Tutorial-Curtis-Roads/dp/0262680823) is brilliant, as is the book Critical Listening Skills (http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Listening-Skills-Audio-Professionals/dp/1598630237/ref=pd_sim_b_6).

At the very same time, experiment with software. You can basically go in three directions in the digital realm: sequencer software, DAW software, or programming languages. These suggestions are put in order of easiest to most difficult. They are also put in order of fewest possibilities to most possibilities.

Ableton Live, Pro Tools, and Max/MSP are examples of types of "instruments" every contemporary beat-maker should know how to use, though I'm sure all will differ in which they prefer for various purposes.

Best of luck man!

I used it to develop my critical listening skills for an audio R&D job back in 2007ish. I was a bit skeptical, not having done frequency training before, but it's excellent.

Training with band-limited pink noise works superbly for tuning your ear into appreciating where different bands "live" and the course progresses to boosts and cuts on real music.

Throw in some stuff on delay times, small volume tweaks and other audio effects, and it really makes for a great course. Accessible to beginners, and certainly useful for intermediate too.

I found the book Critical Listening Skills for the Audio Professional a nice complementary resource too. It covers a lot of the same ground, but with more explanation.

I would do everything that you are doing. In fact, I did that exactly. I'm assuming that the 'step further' will be to charge for it?

I mean, you could seek out an internship at a 'real' studio, but I doubt you would get it. It's a long shot.

The recording engineers handbook is a good resource. If you have other friends in bands, offer to record them for practice?

Interesting, I think Krieg is probably the example of a Wumpscut tune I'd enjoy being able to emulate.

YouTube instructional vids can be a chore to follow along with, and letting a song play in the background and trying to match the patch when you are nowhere near to begin with has not yielded great results for me just yet.

Wonder if Synth Cookbook is worth a look, or this Synth Wizard book.

Books I have read that helped me, loosely in the order I read them:

• Practical Recording Techniques By Bartlett and Bartlett. This is a more "general case" audio recording text, about sound and recording. It's less focused on the EDM trope of people doing everything on their computers, as it talks a lot about outboard processing, microphones, and such, but I think that sort of thing is actually quite helpful to know.
  
  
• Welsh's Synthesizer Cookbook by Fred Welsh. This is an overview of subtractive synthesis which goes into quite useful depth on what's going on and what you can do with it, with lots of diagrams and such. In particular he goes over using oscilloscope and sepectrum analyzer plugins to see what's actually going on with your waveform. The second half of the book is a "cookbook" full of "recipes" that are basically presets written down on paper. If you're quite comfortable with synthesis you don't need much of what it has to offer, but I thought it was great.
  
  
• The Mixing Engineer's Handbook by Bobby Owsinski. This is all about mixing. I feel like a lot of what this book offers tends to come up online as a lot of it sounded familiar when I read it, but it's still a solid text.
  
  
• The Daily Adventures of Mixerman by Mixerman. This book is pure fucking comedy - it's a series of diary entries by a supposedly respectable mixer in LA, mixing the worst band he's ever seen. It's generally understood to be fictional, but it's very entertaining and it actually goes into a lot of detail about why certain audio decisions are made, and because of this serves as a surprisingly good primer on how such a studio is run. But mostly, it's hilarious. You can read a few chapters here.
  
  
• Zen and the Art of Mixing, also by Mixerman. This one isn't fiction, or funny, but it's the same author brain-dumping all about mixing, going into the depth that I wished he did in The Daily Adventures. If you already understand the technical tools in mixing, this book is all about what goes through his head when he's mixing, and I found it to be just incredibly helpful. The author is very opinionated about some things, but he makes this very obvious.
  
  
• The Dance Music Manual By Rick Snoman. This one comes up every time someone asks for a good book on dance music. I have only skimmed it, but from what I've gathered it's all about electronic styles and is aimed squarely at the sort of person who reads this sub. I really need to read through it entirely so I can say this for sure, but a number of people have told me if you want to learn dance music and only read one book, this would be a pretty good one.
  

You have to learn how to make your own synth patches if you want half a chance at being a good producer.

I strongly recommend reading

http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Synthesizer-Wizard-Presets-Power/dp/1598635506

This book, and a lot of experimenting in my free time took me from solely using presets, to being able to make almost any sound from scratch in a summer.

There are a bunch of really good books out there for learning the basics. Try reading http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Audio-Getting-Professional-Recording/dp/0634009591

It's pretty lightweight, but gives you a good foundation, and the book is not a huge investment like a lot of textbooks can be.

http://www.amazon.com/Small-Signal-Audio-Design-Douglas/dp/0240521773

If you're having trouble finding it, send me a PM. wink wink

Yep - assuming you've got midi involved, you can change the instrument to something else.

This is kind of Logic 101 - you might want to invest in a book or two. The Logic manual is pretty dry, and overwhelming in detail. Most folks recommend reading the manual, but I found it hard to slog through. Get some time in the software, then start chewing through the manual.

I liked these two books for getting me started and wrapping my mind around the product:

Apple Pro Training Series: Logic Pro X - it's a set of tutorials you follow along that show you all the major parts of the software.

GEM: Logic Pro X - how it works - a highly illustrated manual showing how Logic works under the hood.

Also check the sidebar if you're in to video. The Mac Pro Video courses for Logic are generally very good.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk. You need to learn Synthesis in general. I could definetly tell you to try using multiple oscs that are slightly detuned, raising them an octave, and applying chorus and reverb, In addition to raising your amp attack.

But all that is useless if you don't really understand why you're doing what your doing.

Read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Synthesizer-Wizard-Presets-Power/dp/1598635506

and a synth like this will be nothing.

Thanks bradmitri! If you want a good book to learn more about width and depth, you should read The Mixing Engineer's Handbook. It has helped me a lot in terms of figuring out arrangement and how to improve my mixing.

I own sound system engineering by Don Davis but I'm sure there are alternatives http://www.amazon.com/Sound-System-Engineering-Don-Davis/dp/0240808304

Music Theory for Computer Musicians


Can't recommend this enough.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1598635034/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WgX3CbXVSZR92


He also has books on composition and harmony. These are my goto books along with

Dance Music Manual https://www.amazon.com/dp/1138319643/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6iX3CbJ2DMG77

The sidebar has allot of great information for beginners.
I'm also fond of Alan Parsons ASSR program, and you can't go wrong with a read through Modern Recording Techniques.

For me it was a combination of online resources/forums, jumping in head first on projects and reading this book cover to cover.

There's no solid books specifically on "Hip-Hop' production. The one's I've read have been hoop-lah. What you can get him is a book on software, or on a synthesizer.

If there are other books like music theory, or production in general, that may help. But I have no experience in that section. Good luck!

Modern Recording Techniques - David Miles Huber

Small Signal Audio Design by Douglas Self. This book assumes you have basic electronics knowledge, but does an excellent job explaining audio. At least check it out.

amazon

Thes ones by Brian Shepard and Snoman

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=synthesizer&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

https://www.amazon.com/Dance-Music-Manual-Tools-Techniques/dp/1138319643/

All of the DAW software does more or less the same thing. Reaper is great value but I wouldn't say it's intuitive to use as a beginner. But try out a few of them and see which one fits your way of thinking and doing things. I don't mean right away, but when you feel you're reaching the limits of what you already have. And don't feel like you have to follow an optimum path, find what's fun for you and you'll learn it as you go without even trying.

Regarding learning, I prefer books and magazines tbh. When I started seriously using Ableton I got this great book as a reference. I dunno if you'd find something similar for Music Maker, but I recommend reading the manual. Pick a concept or a device (like e.g today I'll mess with EQ's, or compressors, or samplers, or whatever), read up on it and then just experiment. You can't break anything. The concepts aren't hard to grasp if you have a good mental image of what's happening, and the experimentation will create those mental images. You'll reach a stage where you have a good idea of what turning any knob or clicking any button will do. You'll know what the manual says it does, and you'll know what it sounds like 'cos you already experimented.

That's really if you want to make your own music, if you prefer to mix and DJ that's an extra set of skills. But yeah make use of Youtube. I generally search using keywords and watch the first minute of a few videos until I find one that clicks with me. If the presenter is saying things like "You're gonna wanna turn this to 0.63" with no explanation of why, I go to the next video.

I've learned the most from macProVideo and these two books:

• Logic Pro X 10.1: Apple Pro Training Series: Professional Music Production
  
• Apple Pro Training Series: Logic Pro X Advanced Audio Production: Composing and Producing Professional Audio
  

I am Logic Pro Certified by Apple. I recommend you buy and read this book

Agreed, compression is going to be a huge part of it. Be gentle with it though. When I was first starting out I would over-compress the master track hoping to get a louder result, but I just wound up losing all the dynamics of my tracks. I would also recommend EQing. I personally prefer to EQ everything, but I'm sure there are numerous exceptions to this. Still, set a frequency range for each instrument and then sculpt out its place in the mix. You may find that you get a louder or fatter sounding snare just by hi-passing at around 500hz and hiking the gain around 2k-3k. As /u/dick_beverson said, a book on mixing is recommended. Even if you don't read it cover-to-cover, it's always good to have on hand for reference. I was assigned Modern Recording Techniques for a class in the past and I wound up keeping the book afterwards. There's still tons of information in there that I haven't taken the time to absorb. Highly recommend it.

For the technical stuff Douglas Self's books are great. Audio Engineering Explained, Self on Audio, The Design of Active Crossovers, Small Signal Audio Design.

This is the best book I’ve come across on EDM production. Lots of good info and helpful explanations of musical techniques commonly used in EDM. This is the new version, I know with the last version you could “rent” the kindle version for a fraction of the cost of owning it which is a good way to sample it before buying as it gives you the entire ebook but for a limited time.

Dance Music Manual

Maybe I don't understand what's wrong, then. I'm reading Sound System Engineering at the moment.

highly recommended, along with zen and the art of mixing

I'm a big fan of the following books

Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio

Zen and the Art of Mixing

If you are trying to mic all of your instruments, I would suggest this book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1285442016?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

Just ordered the Recording Engineer's Handbook, can't wait to get it in the mail and dive in!

Here's a link for those interested: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1285442016/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/Ableton-Live-Power-Comprehensive-Guide/dp/1285455401

I like to think that mixing is like cooking. There aren't any set rules, though there are recommendations on how to use different tools to achieve a great mix. That being said, if you want to truly learn how to achieve a great mix, it is essential to learn the basic concepts and theories to both digital sound and signal processing.

My recommendation: youtube, google (or bing if thats your style), and more youtube. Instead of searching "how to get a good mix", search "what does a compressor do", or "what is a convolution reverb". Thats much better than just blindly turning knobs by ear. Then practice, practice, practice, practice, study more, study even more, practice, practice, study, produce a banger, mix it well, put it up on soundcloud, the rest will be history- yet you're still studying and learning more.

(don't get me wrong, if you can mix by ear w/o understanding concepts then you're already miles above anyone else :)

There are so many books out there if you want to go to the more traditional route. One of my favorites is called Modern Recording Techniques by David Huber. Theres some great stuff in there and even if you're focused on edm it doesn't hurt to learn from a different perspective, its all the same concepts. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1138954373/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Engineers-Handbook-Bobby-Owsinski/dp/1285442016/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397230109&sr=1-1&keywords=recording+engineering+handbookThe

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