Hey all.

This fall I am to begin enrollment in a year's worth of math courses so I will qualify for entry into the Electrical Engineering program at the University of Portland about a year from now. The problem is, I also want to supplement my education with the basics of audio engineering, but there aren't any audio engineering courses I can take.

Luckily, my good friend Martyn has a 2" 24-track, a couple tape 8-tracks and a handful of microphones. He hasn't really recorded any bands other than his own in a while but he wants me to learn how to work on all his equipment, which I would love to do (I taught myself to build DIY audio kits this year and kinda picked up the bug for this sort of work). I would be willing to do maintenance on his gear in exchange for recording experience.

At the moment, I only want to take my schooling far enough to be an electrical techincian so I can read schematics, troubleshoot and fix amps and possibly build my own kits, but as I said before, I would also like to supplement my learning with the technical side of audio engineering so I can be more resourceful in a studio environment.

Is there any recommended texts or literature on the subject of audio engineering I can read in lieu of taking a course? I'm willing to go into the studio blindly, but I don't really feel comfordable learning from somebody who may not have the more technical side down himself.

If I have been unclear in any respect, I'd be glad to elaborate.

Thank you.

lurk around here and use the search function. i can't even begin to describe how many invaluable tid bits i've picked up from randomass threads on these forums.

i have in my notebook some book titles written somewhere, but i am not at home right now. i suppose i will dig them up when i get home if you like

Hey,
First off, congratulations. Getting my EE from the U of P was a goal of mine several years ago; one which went nowhere pretty fast.

the first few things that come to mind are:
Handbook for Sound Engineers by Glen Ballou
I have the third edition, which I think is the most recent, but they're all great- probably the most comprehensive book of its type, kinda pricey, but you'll keep it forever.

The Recording Studio Handbook John Woram. - A great, semi-technical overview of the recording process. It might be out of print and is a bit dated, i.e. analog, but totally relevant to everything but ProTools.

Mastering Audio by Bob Katz - a more recent book that deals with a lot of digital stuff, and has some great ideas I've not seen anywhere else.

There is a book published by Yamaha that is fairly common and contains a lot of the same information as the first book.
Since you're in Portland, if you aren't already familiar with the Audio section at Powell's Technical Books, you should be. That's where I got all of the above and several others.

One of the things you'll figure out fairly quickly once you get into the actual electrical part of your education is that (analog) audio electronics isn't really any different from electronics in general: amplifiers, noise, bandwidth, distortion, impedance, et. al. are universal topics in electronics. Between the microphone and the speaker it's not sound, it is just electricity.
You might have already had that mini epiphany, but it's neat when it happens and worth repeating.

That said, does your friend have the manuals for his tape machines? Those, especially for the more "pro" 24 track machines, are little audio engineering courses in themselves. Sit down with one, read it cover to cover, then go through the entire alignment calibration procedure, and do it again. Practical experience like that is invaluable.

I hope that's in the ballpark of what you were asking for. Good luck and have fun.

-tim

thebookofkevin wrote:i have in my notebook some book titles written somewhere, but i am not at home right now. i suppose i will dig them up when i get home if you like

If you could dig these titles up, I'd really appreciate it.

beckertronix wrote:Hey,
First off, congratulations. Getting my EE from the U of P was a goal of mine several years ago; one which went nowhere pretty fast.

How far did you go in the program? I don't really want to work at Intel, so I figured a B.S. would be more than enough for what I want to do. I've also considered the engineering course at PCC, after which I'd transfer to UoP, or possibly transferring to the Oregon Instritute of Technology. Any advice regarding this would be swell.

beckertronix wrote:Since you're in Portland, if you aren't already familiar with the Audio section at Powell's Technical Books, you should be. That's where I got all of the above and several others.

I go there weekly looking for used Audio Amateur Press titles. Of course, this is the "Valve Electronics" section. Now that I have some titles, I can browse the Audio section. Thank you.

beckertronix wrote:
That said, does your friend have the manuals for his tape machines? Those, especially for the more "pro" 24 track machines, are little audio engineering courses in themselves. Sit down with one, read it cover to cover, then go through the entire alignment calibration procedure, and do it again. Practical experience like that is invaluable.

I'm going to see him in about an hour, so I'll ask him about his equipment and manuals (I cannot recall the specific models of his mastering deck, 8-tracks, 24-track, etc). I'm sure he'll love to talk about his gear.

beckertronix wrote:
I hope that's in the ballpark of what you were asking for. Good luck and have fun.

-tim

Yup. Exactly what I needed. Don't hesistate giving me your two cents.

a good book that I have is called "Mixing with your mind"
it uses a lot of weird analogies that just made the penny drop for me
I guess it can be a little vague and "zen" at times but it's good how it doesn't just go "do it this way"
it's not gear specific either so you can apply the principles to all sorts of equipment

it's worth it for the chapter on using compressors alone which where a complete mystery to me. before I read this book I'd just kind of guess the settings.

beckertronix wrote:Mastering Audio by Bob Katz - a more recent book that deals with a lot of digital stuff, and has some great ideas I've not seen anywhere else.

i still haven't looked for my old notes, but i know for a fact that this book was on the list. i haven't read it, but it was on the list.

i'll look for my notes now.

Found this out a little bit ago:
My friend's 2" 24-track is an Otari MTR 90 II & he's got the manual.

I'm gonna photocopy the manual, try to absorb it, and then convince him to start recording again.

Brinkman wrote:At the moment, I only want to take my schooling far enough to be an electrical techincian so I can read schematics, troubleshoot and fix amps and possibly build my own kits, but as I said before, I would also like to supplement my learning with the technical side of audio engineering so I can be more resourceful in a studio environment.

If this is literally true an EE program may not be the way to go. It's overkill...and expensive.

You could do the above on your own with with a year or twos worth of dedicated part-time self-study, some good books, and some test equipment, parts, and prototyping boards. Or a DeVry kind of thing might be more on target.

I second the Handbook for Sound Engineers. Quite a handbook, this thing weighs a ton! The book goes through everything, electronics, acoustics, microphones, analog tape machine and what not. I bought it for maybe 40 dollars on ebay.
I haven't read "mixing with your mind", though my brother did, and he liked it.

eliya

My encyclopaedia I mean Handbook for sound Engineers was great. It covers a lot of stuff that went out of vogue wit hteh advent of digital. But is now making its way back into practice. Mine was stolen several years ago!