-
I need to learn audio stuff. Ty–is your book for beginners (me)?
I’m an editor, and I need/want to learn more about audio. I know the absolute basics–enough to do my job. So I’m looking for book and/or websites that will give me a good understanding of the basics and then some.
While I’ll never be an audio engineer or professional sound guy, I’d like to learn some theory, not just instructions like “run the mic to x, run that to y, adjust your levels to z, etc…”.
I want to learn how to capture quality sound, how to edit sound, the differences between mics, when to use a certain mic over another, mixers, etc…
Ty–it looks like your book covers a lot or all of this. Is it written for beginners, or would I do best to learn the basics somewhere else then move up to your book? Any direction you guys could give me would be great–I read this forum on a regular basis, but a lot of times I have to google half the thread to learn what some of this stuff is you’re talking about!
Thanks in advance,
Michael.
-
4 Replies
-
Hello Michael and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.
Well there is a good amount of “this into that”, but there’s also a lot of “why and why not”, “when and when not” and “what if.” Mics and their uses are described. Different shooting scenarios are discussed. And there’s a hidden video!!!
I was going for explaining things in simple terms so you didn’t have to Google to find out what something meant and then forget where you were by the time you found out.
It’s entirely about production and NOT about postproduction. That’s another book I need to write. Someone PLEASE give me 10 chapter headings (as in what do you want to know) and I’ll see if I can get that going.
Someone asked recently when it was last updated. That was sometime the middle of 2007.
The concepts don’t change much. I added some gear to the buying guide.
Tell you what. If you absolutely HATE the book, I’ll meet you at NAB and take it back and buy you a drink. (This is a one time offer, good only until the sun sets over the yard arm in Key West. Call right now so you don’t forget.) 🙂
Regards,
Ty Ford
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar -
[Ty Ford] “there’s also a lot of “why and why not”, “when and when not” and “what if.””
That’s exactly the stuff I’m most interested in. It’s great to know I plug A into B, but it’s more important to understand why. Like they say, give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.
[Ty Ford] “It’s entirely about production and NOT about postproduction.”
Also exactly what I need. When our client’s budget doesn’t cover hiring an audio guy on set, it’s up to me. I can fiddle around in post to do a little fix here and there, but I’ve noticed a huge difference in quality between the audio I capture during a shoot and the audio a real sound pro does. I need to learn more about capturing good audio at the outset–I hate trying to “fix it in post”.
[Ty Ford] “Tell you what. If you absolutely HATE the book, I’ll meet you at NAB and take it back and buy you a drink. (This is a one time offer, good only until the sun sets over the yard arm in Key West. Call right now so you don’t forget.) :)”
If I can convince my boss to send me to NAB, I’ll buy you the drink just to say thanks for the time you put into these forums. Even if I hate the book! 🙂
I’m going to order the book today. Thanks Ty. As soon as I’m done reading it, I’ll make a list of postproduction audio questions so you can write another and I can buy it too.
Michael.
-
Ty,
Book came this weekend, read it all immediately. It’s an excellent resource–thanks for writing it. Had a chance to compare your list of suggested equipment to what we have at work–turns out we have some nice stuff!
Your description of the different mics was great–we have a studio mic here that can switch between Omni, Hyper cardioid, and figure eight. I set it up today and can finally understand what they are and when to use them.
Again, great resource and please keep writing them. I’ll keep buying them.
Thanks,
Michael.
-
Michael,
Thanks for your kind reply and endorsement.
If you do get to NAB this year, I’ll still buy you that drink.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up