Best Production Reference Guides

nospin · Post by **nospin** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:43 am

thought it'd be a good idea to hear what some of your best resources for various info about making music were. books, website, or magazines.

personally i'm a big tape op fan. if you're not familiar its a magazine dedicated to diy recording and independent music. lots of good interviews, reviews, and stories. includes a lot of styles of music, electronic music and hip hop is represented from time to time, but could be more in my opinion. best part is, (in the united states anyway) it is a free subscription!
http://www.tapeop.com

i've had a lot of books over the years, one that sticks out in my mind as real good, easy to understand, is a book called "the art of mixing."
this book takes a different approach than a lot of other ones i've read.
it explains in detail about the three dimensional field that you have to work with, and has visual representations of how a lot of different styles of music are mixed. it also goes through all of the studio effects that are available to you, and how they help position sounds in that 3 dimensional field. i wouldnt hesitate recomending this one to anybody. had to pick it up for school a couple of years ago, and still come back to it.
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mixing-Record ... 312&sr=8-2

anyway, list your favorites here. if theres some good responses, maybe a sticky?

Sharmaji · Post by **Sharmaji** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:13 pm

tape op is great, really informative, but totally indie-rock central. Lots of good input, positive ideas and general bits about music/mixing though. That mag is a completely necesarry part of recording music.

Lee Perry's "People Funny Bwoy" is another one that's not about production but about what makes production-- the (in the case, nutter) person behind the board.

deadly_habit · Post by **deadly_habit** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:59 pm

tape op is only production mag i get (mainly due to it being free)
but far as production i've been trial and error and a->b referencing for years
oh and a spectral analyzer running at all times
that and reverse engineering sounds
dunno if thats what ya meant op

decklyn · Post by **decklyn** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:10 am

Good topic idea.

www.computermusic.co.uk offers some good tutorials for free.

http://www.mix-buss.com/ is great too.

deadly_habit · Post by **deadly_habit** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:45 am

dare i say it doa's the grid has covered alot too

wascal · Post by **wascal** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:10 pm

This is always useful to have knocking around:

decklyn · Post by **decklyn** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 5:08 pm

Thanks wascal!

untold · Post by **untold** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 8:10 pm

nice thread

if you can get past all the "how do I sound like noisia" posts there is some amazing wisom on the grid at dogsonacid. Check the Q&As, also dnb wiki is worth a look

as for books

Mixing with your mind
Michael Paul Stavrou
interesting techniques and ways to approach mixdown and production. The best explanation of use of compression I've read.

http://www.mixingwithyourmind.com/

Mastering audio
Bob katz

Centered around mastering but really well written and loads of the content applies to mixing as well

http://www.digido.com/

Creative Recording 1: Effects and Processors
Paul White

Maybe a bit biased towards live music but in-depth explanation of use of effects

Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming
Jim Aikin
Good explanation of types of synthesis and when best to use them. Its also got a chapter called wobble.

http://musicwords.net/books.htm

Introducing music
The most concise, non-bullshit primer on music theory I've found

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Introducing-Mus ... 700&sr=8-1

decklyn · Post by **decklyn** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 3:59 am

Bob Katz is my hero.

subframe · Post by **subframe** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:20 pm

Huber's Modern Recording Techniques is invaluable, if only for the couple of pages on reverb.

mudfoot))) · Post by **mudfoot)))** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:42 pm

Here's one I found useful: http://tweakheadz.com/

mrhope · Post by **mrhope** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:08 pm

Electronic Musician magazine: http://emusician.com/

A lot of it is gear reviews, but they have regular articles about the basics of mixing in all aspects.

subframe · Post by **subframe** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 5:39 am

oh yeah, don't forget gearslutz. As the name implies, it's pretty gear-oriented, and the signal-to-noise is not what it once was, but some of the pros on there lay down some knowledge on the regular. If you can find e-cue's old posts about auxing drums, they're worth the time to read.

nospin · Post by **nospin** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:44 am

are there any real helpful forums out there?

all my locals are completely dead.. i searched DOA a little and found a handful of things... EM411 is the best i've found, but seems to be really gear/software oriented questions...

i guess maybe anyone with real knowledge is off making tracks instead of chattin up forums...

also, if anyones got any new books/mags to add, shoot

kato! · Post by **kato!** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:54 am

Well friends I'm proud to let you know about this, "mixing with your mind" by Michael Paul Stavrou, it will blow your mind, every pre conception about sound and engineering you have had, forget it, this book will blow it away! It is a wonderful must have piece of writing!

martello · Post by **martello** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:23 am

http://www.soundonsound.com/

Best Production Reference Guides

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