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Was having a look in Waterstones and there was a massive selection of books on music production, can anyone recommend any books they've used and were actually helpful

"the Computer Music Tutorial" - by Curtis Roads.

It is a bit old school (I think from 1995?) and not very easy to track down. It also is a beast at 1100+ pages. But it is by far the best book of its kind ever written... and pretty much the only one worth buying.

If you want to really know and understand electronic audio inside & out, it is the one to get.

Bob Katz Mastering Engineer's Handbook or something like that

Definitely agree about anything Bob Katz related... but most of his stuff is online as well? I have downloaded a bunch of his articles, didnt realize he had a full book.

Mastering Audio I believe is the name of that book, and it is invaluable for anyone writing, recording, mixing, or mastering music at home. Also big up to Sterling for getting my Welsh's Synthesizer Cookbook last year for xmas, also recommended reading.

PM me for some goodness, if by goodness you mean a book that you can read on the computer. or put a book title and "torrent" in goggle.

mad ep wrote:"the Computer Music Tutorial" - by Curtis Roads.

If you want to really know and understand electronic audio inside & out, it is the one to get.

x5!

£40 of amazon.

Loads of books can be found on warez sites these days. I'd stick to reading forums like http://www.harmony-central.com/ , http://studio-central.com & http://www.soundonsound.com/forum for learning about music production methods.

However, the book mentioned above will teach you the history of computer music. It explains plainly every aspect of every production process & effect out there! Actually the only book I'd actually recommend buying!

Also check if your interested ---> http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?t ... highlight=

Thanks for the heads up in books, probably go for the 1100 page one then onto bob katz

"behind the glass"-- interviews w/ producers. about 10 years old; it's interesting, as it's from a time when people were either on the fence or just starting to move over to digital audio from tape and adat... my how things have changed.

(not about dubstep at all, but definitely a great read).

hmmm as far as production-specific books go, i dunno. I've got a great one called "music engineering" that's all about the real nuts-and-bolts of analog and digital audio. Ie, how a compressor actually works (and how a vca circuit is different from an el-op, and why they sound different), how sampling actually works, what goes on in those PC boards, etc. fascinating but extremely nerdy.

for production skills-- i keep a copy of "keyboard chords for working musicians" handy. extremely dull and exactly what you think it is, but a goldmine for figuring out voices.

Likewise, i keep a copy "music theory and harmony for the musician" by the bedside table. sometimes you need the 5th of the 5th.

for production inspiration: the fela kuti biography, the lee perry biography "people funny boy," the hiphop verbal bio who's name i forget but has a great white cover w/ text in yellow and red, a book called "dub" that came out last year, ravi shankar's autobiography...

Really glad people have mentioned bob katz's book-- when i read the bits of it online, it made me think wow... people who read this are going make better-sounding stuff. the more that knowledge is out there, the better for all of us. excellent work.

otherwise-- the logic manual is fantastic. bit of a beast but excellently edited and touches on everything-- editing, synthesis, etc.

The Bob Katz book sounds pretty interesting. I think I'll pick up a copy.

Actually- I do have another suggestion when it comes to recording / audio....

http://www.tonmeister.ca/main/textbook/ ... _link.html

and that is the textbook one of my former teachers wrote (is writing, he isn't 100% done yet... maybe 97%). I can honestly tell you that Geoff Martin is one of the smartest people I have ever met, has some of the best ears I have ever come across, and knows how to 'put it plainly' better than anyone I have ever met. He was my electronics teacher when I studied Sound Recording & Digital Media at McGill University... and probably the most responsible for me being able to understand any & all of this field... Last I heard he was hired by Bang & Olufsen for research & development.

It is $40 Canadian for over 1000 pages as a d/l .pdf. and $15 of that goes to charity (Canadian Cancer Society), so it is hard to argue with that- when the UK price ends up being £22. It focuses more on the theory & recording side (and doesn't really touch much on DAW production)... however, if you understand the founding principals, you can understand anything else in this field, plus have a broader base to build from.

Just another thought... and one I recommend full-heartedly.

TeReKeTe wrote:"behind the glass"-- interviews w/ producers. about 10 years old; it's interesting, as it's from a time when people were either on the fence or just starting to move over to digital audio from tape and adat... my how things have changed.

(not about dubstep at all, but definitely a great read).

hmmm as far as production-specific books go, i dunno. I've got a great one called "music engineering" that's all about the real nuts-and-bolts of analog and digital audio. Ie, how a compressor actually works (and how a vca circuit is different from an el-op, and why they sound different), how sampling actually works, what goes on in those PC boards, etc. fascinating but extremely nerdy.

for production skills-- i keep a copy of "keyboard chords for working musicians" handy. extremely dull and exactly what you think it is, but a goldmine for figuring out voices.

Likewise, i keep a copy "music theory and harmony for the musician" by the bedside table. sometimes you need the 5th of the 5th.

for production inspiration: the fela kuti biography, the lee perry biography "people funny boy," the hiphop verbal bio who's name i forget but has a great white cover w/ text in yellow and red, a book called "dub" that came out last year, ravi shankar's autobiography...

Really glad people have mentioned bob katz's book-- when i read the bits of it online, it made me think wow... people who read this are going make better-sounding stuff. the more that knowledge is out there, the better for all of us. excellent work.

otherwise-- the logic manual is fantastic. bit of a beast but excellently edited and touches on everything-- editing, synthesis, etc.

Been working throught the manuals! They are written really well, easy to understand as well

TEQH wrote:

TeReKeTe wrote:the logic manual is fantastic. bit of a beast but excellently edited and touches on everything-- editing, synthesis, etc.

Been working throught the manuals! They are written really well, easy to understand as well

Any one got the 2nd edition hardback of the Pro Tools 3 manual??

Jokes

The Reason manual is fairly informative and simply to read I reckon

Im talking 'bout the logic 8 ones!

great book. quite expensive, especially if you dont record (half the book!) but the other mxing bit is gold. not (very) technical at all, more about how to get your mind working to mix. loads of sick tricks, and the ONLY way to set compressors ive come across that works.

Im going to get the katz book next, fuck a PDF, need to read it on paper IMO. Theres also a mixing handbook by bobby owalski (sp?) thats been recommended before.

:thumbu

Not technical but currently getting huge amounts of inspiration from 'African rhythm and African sensibility'. Very well written.