hularider's Full Review: Premier Development - Getting Started In Computer ...
Well, I had written an in-depth scintillating review which surely would have been a Pulitzer prize winner. But when I tried to post it, it disappeared into cyberspace. So, you're stuck with this one.
For the past several years, my friends have been asking me to record my music. After a number of failed attempts to get a band together, book a recording studio, and do all the various tasks producers do to earn their keep, I decided I would try doing it all by myself on my computer.
I quickly found that I had entered the realm of the arcane. Search engines brought up page after page of information – which I was completely unable to understand. Books on the topic read like engineering manuals for a stealth fighter. I tried pestering friends for help, but if you don’t speak the language, you can’t even ask a sensible question.
Most of my friends who earn their own livings by performing and recording music eventually quit responding to my incessant requests for more information on the subject. Fortunately, one friend continued to respond to my plaintive queries, eventually telling me that if I would just have patience, many of my questions would be answered in the book he was writing.
Eventually, the book was written and I promised Mark that if he were to sign one of his books and mail it to me, I would be sure that the check I wrote him would not bounce. The book shortly arrived from my trusting friend, and I proceeded to read it cover to cover. I even made sure the check cleared.
Dubious, but hopeful, I was soon astonished. Mark had done what I believed impossible. He had written an intelligible book on computer music.
I think Mark managed to pull that off because he is really a very fine musician, and is an excellent teacher. I know Mark is a great teacher because I’ve watched him work. In addition to his full performing and production schedule, Mark is Keola Beamer’s co-host and one of the fine instructors at the Aloha Music Camp here in Hawai`i. Back when the AMC was held on my own island (it is now on Moloka`i) I was one of their instructors, teaching Hawaiian cultural crafts. I had the opportunity to watch Mark’s students bloom from tentative shy plinkers of the `ukulele and guitar, into musicians who would take their own inventive breaks at the evening jam sessions.
So, his approach is not that of a computer geek writing for musicians, but that of a musician teaching another musician. The book also reflects his broad range of experience in producing music, as both the musician, and as the producer and engineer.
The book is clearly written, and terms well defined. It is well organized, with a table of contents that guides you like a well-drawn map.
The index is thorough and logical. If you tinker on your car, you are probably familiar with the Clymer manuals. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being completely useless, I would put Clymer about 5. I would put Mark’s book around an 8 or 9.
The four appendices include a glossary, section on buying used gear, manufacturers, and general resources. And, since, after all, this is a book on computers, the URLs for this information are included.
Mark’s sense of humor prevents the tedium with which I normally associate topics of this nature.
Illustrations, while minimal, are thoughtfully chosen and pertinent. I’m a largely visual learner, and the diagrams are a huge help. I really like the detail in the studio set-up on page 206, and will incorporate all of the suggestions into my own studio.
I would say one of the many strong points of the book is the way Mark helps the reader to develop a real understanding of what is going on inside all the electronic gear. At the bottom of page 207, he gives a great tip for how to hear your guitar (or other instrument) as if you were a microphone.
Everyone makes mistakes. Smart people learn from them. Mark is a smart people. And judging by the clarity of his troubleshooting tips, I’d say he has made his share of mistakes, and learned a lot from them. In addition to the troubleshooting tips, he also has tips that just make your life easier – the kinds of things you don’t generally find in a manual, but learn from years of doing it the hard way first.
The book won’t have you setting up and recording in a day – probably not in a week. And it does not give specifics for different digital studios. What it gives you is a good solid foundation from which to make decisions so you can choose the components of your digital studio. It gives you the language and knowledge base to ask the right questions.
When I get my studio built, I'll update this and let you know how well I could actually apply the information. But, on first read, I think it is a great book, and I don'146t think you'll find more good solid information for your dollar anywhere else.
UPDATES. . .
8/14/06 OK - I said I'd post updates on how well I can apply the knowledge in the book. Here is the first update - YAAAAY!!!! I can understand more of the stuff in the websites on home recording now! HOOORAAAAYYYYY!!!!!
Free standard shipping on orders above $199. General Book (not sheet music). With Softcover. 7.5x9 inches. 342 pages. Published by Cengage Learning. ...More at ActiveMusician
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