The Producer's Manual

I have only been reading SOS magazine about three years but have always seen it in many studios previously Now that I am recording my own music and songs, I find it reassuring that Mr White has a knack of explaining everything in a ' musically' appealing style.He always underlines the fact that the performances are of utmost importance. There's plenty to inspire , here.It's good to see someone that is prepared to talk about the arranging of a song. It makes the mind whirr and want to write and create and produce more and more. In fact, that's what his book does, it inspires.It may be aimed at the producer but really it is just as important a read for any person that is recording and writing and performing themselves. The conversational style, along with the thoughtfully laid-out pics make it the most attractive read too.It has the ' Wow, colour pics ' thing too. I think it has already helped me to communicate thoughts and ideas with other musicians when recording and writing.. It obviously is a must-buy. I have to say that I bought this in the same week as Mike Senior's book on Mixing... I don't think one can go wrong with a pairing of authors such as these.Unless yr songs truly suck

Comprehensive and concise - not often qualities found together. When coupled with an authoritative voice that is never patronising, and never preachy, you have a first rate reference manual that will give you both the knowledge and, most importantly, the confidence, to tackle recording projects - and I mean the sort of projects involving other people, not just yourself in a corner of the bedroom. I’d built a live room and mix room in my barn and invested in some high end gear but once I had my first client - a five piece, all pros, including sax and a very experienced drummer, with an album of original material, the best investment of all was this book. Where jargon and tech-speak is concerned, it speaks plain and explains. It anticipated every issue from spill to ‘mixing by committee’ and delivered so many useful hints and tips that got me through the project with plaudits. Read it first and you’ll not only look forward to taking on demanding projects but you’ll also sound like a pro yourself. The essential upgrade from simple home studio to working studio business. A book by someone who loves his job that will help you love yours.

This looks very interesting...Bought as a gift, it seems to give helpful illustrated tips and advice to the budding audio tech enthusiast. Looking forward to hearing his verdict !

Paul White has condensed a lot of technical recording techniques into this book, and has organised it well, so it is a pleasure to read. Good quality paper and lots of colour pictures only helps. As I read through the detailed advice on how to produce the multitude of sonic enhancements, it occurs to me that it could only be improved by being able to reference 'before and after' sound clips on a CD or website to quickly hear the type of result applying the technique achieves. Itching to try it all out on my own modest kit. Update 6 Feb: Just seen that Sample Magic are selling an iPad version of the book that states "where the original book could only offer visual walkthroughs, the iPad edition serves up immersive videos from Paul White's own studio supplemented with easy-to-follow commentary". Could be the ticket.

A very well written manual. A series of go to principles and more radical alternatives. Studio environment, Instrument/vocal recording, effects/processing, mixing and mastering are all covered. Clear step through examples will have you brave enough to experiment in a short time. If you have a project studio you would do well to get this - I don't have to wade through countless magazines anymore. It will teach you something new or confirm that what you are already doing is ok. I can't really quantify this last bit but It's also mercifully free from the hackneyed delivery of so many music/audio publications - a kind of writing style that seems to constantly be trying to convince you that 'I really know what I'm talking about'. For me, it just makes the book more readable, which is great as I'm constantly using it to reference as I work. I'd be happy to buy other relevant publications from this author.

I have never written a review on Amazon, but this is book is so good I just couldn't resist. I'm an amateur producer and this book really has suited my needs to teach me everything i know to get good recordings. I was looking for a one-stop-shop with human advice and this has a real mix of detail, industry knowledge and great step by step guides without being patronising. Paul uses logic as his main daw, as do I, so this is especially great if you use that, but will be applicable to you if you use Cubase, ProTools etc. My recordings have improved considerably as a result, and i keep the book continuously open on my desk for reference. I can't imagine it being bettered for this kind of 'real world' recording text book.

As a pro musician, recording is something i enjoy but have never been 100% sure if i'm doing the right thing or not. Look no further...The Producer's Manual had all the answers i was looking for to the questions i kept putting off asking and more. An added benefit, Im a Logic user and so is Paul, so it was even more useful to see the examples in a familiar environment. Not saying that other DAW users wont get a lot of useful information from this book.. Also i was surprised to see how professionally printed it was - lots of great colour photos. Sheer class !

a very thorough book but what becomes very clear its focussed on modern production which is more about samples and DAW use which goes to prove that you need to know sod all about music and its equipment to make a popular "ear worm" track from samples and plug ins! YOU CAN cheat at music if you are good with computers. see DJs turned "producers" Norm Cook et al - I must be jealous LOL.

Después de leer la serie de libros "Recording Secrets for the small studio" y Mixing Secrets for the small studio" que son lecturas sensacionales, me esperaba otro libro a la altura o similar, pero quizá algunos análisis muy optimistas me engañaron. Hay mejores libros donde gastar el dinero...

I would admit that I didn't have very high expectations, however this book covers something which you can only get by practicing, something that's never taught formally. It is not a techincal manual, but rather a list of countless ideas and hints which can be used in order to make your music sound the way you want it.

Paul White, l'auteur, est rédacteur en chef de l'excellent magazine britannique spécialisé dans les techniques d'enregistrement: Sound on Sound. Ingénieur en électronique, musicien passionné et propriétaire d'un studio, il sait de quoi il parle. Avec ce livre, abondamment illustré, il explique tout ce que doit savoir l'aspirant ingénieur du son en appartement: le choix et le positionnement des moniteurs, la préparation acoustique du studio, le choix des micros, le placement des-dits micros, l'utilisation de l'équalisation/compression/reverb, comment enregistrer tous les instruments, les principes de base du mixage, etc. Le plus: des mini tutoriels illustrés en une page qui vous permettent de comprendre en 4 images comment résoudre un problème donné. La maquette de ce bouquin est claire et agréable, les photos de bonne qualité et le texte aussi concis qu'informatif. C'est évident, ce livre unique en son genre s'adresse avant tout aux novices (enfin, il vaut mieux quand même avoir certaines bases), mais il peut aussi être utile à des home-studistes de longue date qui découvriront certainement dans ses pages des trucs qu'ils ignoraient. Un très très bon ouvrage agréable à lire et au contenu riche. Et, une fois que vous l'aurez terminé, vous pourrez ensuite vous tourner vers la "bible" du mixage en home-studio: l'exceptionnel Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio . Son auteur, Mike Senior, faisait également partie de la rédaction de Sound on Sound. Et ils s'y connaissent un peu, ces British, en matière d'enregistrement...

This book covers practically everything you need to know to record and mix music in any kind of studio. It start with some historical information that gets particularly useful when you get to the actual technical chapters. The book also presents some models of gear that is used in established studios, a subject that is too frequently left over of textbook for the sake of not naming brand, but that is actually very useful if you've never heard of Neumann, AKG or KRK! Recording of all instruments,including voice is covered with the challenges and tips that you might need to do the job. The section on mixing covers the techniques required to fine tune the recorded tracks by equalizing, compressing, correcting and even mastering the final mix. The book is very finely illustrated and when the author express an opinion, which is often the case in this almost "religious" industry, he tries to explain why things are as they are given the 150 years of history of recording audio on a reproducible medium. I especially liked the comment in the mastering part of the book : "[...] even mastering engineers themselves disagree on what their role is - and should be." The only two drawbacks I found in the book is that it would have been nice to include a companion CD or links to audio examples; and that the glossary does not mention Cakewalk's Sonar, the DAW I use and think is one of the best with ProTools, but does so of Ableton Live! The book is a little expansive, not available in digital form, but it is well worth the price, given the quality, if you want to introduce yourself to the fascinating world of music production. It will stick around in my studio as a reference for me too.

The only book with practical examples (with pictures), a bit of trivia, suggestions and logic pro screen examples. A must-have!