Shaping Sound in the Studio and Beyond: Audio Aesthetics and Technology

Audio, in all its forms, is a combination of aesthetics and technology. An audio engineer without any sense of aesthetics could successfully run current through a console, but would be unable to judge if the resulting sounds were effective for the application. Similarly, someone with a well-developed aesthetic sense who possesses no technical knowledge would fall short trying to make great audio, since he would have an idea in mind but be unable to execute it. Shaping Sound in the Studio and Beyond takes a unique approach to teaching audio by presenting both the aesthetic and technology elements of recording audio in one text-- it helps you understand the technology while helping you train your standards of what good sound really is. No other book on the market takes this unique and comprehensive view to teach audio production. Topics covered include basic audio theory, microphones, speakers, amps, digital audio, MIDI, audio editing, signal processing, mixing, sound design, and much more. There's also a chapter that defines recording industry jobs available and offers helpful tips about how to get them and keep them. Exercises at the end of each chapter help reinforce the concepts learned. This is an ideal introduction to studio recording and audio production for anyone interested in pursuing these careers, as well as for home recordists and practicing audio engineers and musicians who want to make the most out of their equipment, or improve their communication skills in the studio.

Longtime music business professional Gary Gottlieb refers to himself as a music generalist. A professional musician since age 13, he worked in radio on and off for 25 years, and was a music critic for 9 years. As a recording engineer and music producer in New York, Gottlieb's long and distinguished career includes work with numerous Grammy Award winners and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. His credits as a sound designer include off-off-Broadway productions, along with community and college theatre productions throughout New England. Along with his history as a music critic and entertainment writer for the Deerfield Valley News in West Dover, Vermont, and a disc jockey for WEQX, a major modern rock station in Manchester, Vermont, Gottlieb owned and operated a mobile DJ service and was a Venue Director for numerous X Games and Winter X Games for ESPN. In 2002 he accepted a position as Professor of Audio Production at Webster University in St. Louis, where he now runs the Audio program.