
Mstation Book Reviews
pre Dec 04 reviews are here
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Sun, 06 Jul 2008
Eddie Bazil, Sound Mixing Tips and Tricks, PC Publishing No matter how knowledgable you are, there is usually always something new to be found in these sorts of books - ways of getting a balance, small technical details, or even ways of looking at a problem. Eddie Bazil takes us through his way of doing things by first looking at what he thinks is good; then the listening environment; personal preparation; tools; headphones and speakers; noise; and then a whole bunch of things to do with the mix. The rub comes when we consider where he's coming from which is basicly that of an engineer who's being paid to capture whatever's going as best he can. This constitutes a certain way of looking at things and a certain way of judging things that might not be helpful for home studio people for example, or for project studio people involved with working bands. The first rule, or anti-rule, for such situations is ... make a virtue of necessity! In other words if you have gear that produces distortion, use it! That sort of creativity is hard to teach but it's the product of attitude and an open mind... and good ears and instincts. Also in that line is a pronouncement about genres - does the recording actually fit?! This kind of thinking is quite valid at times for a certain sort of band but completely antithetical to the great hordes of artists who don't want to fit at all! And then there's the use of Cubase for examples. Well, hmmm, who uses Cubase in a pro environment? Having said all that, there's plenty to take on board here, but, as with any book of this sort, or perhaps any factual book, slavish copying just makes you ... a slave. (John Littler)
Various, Hackerteen: Internet Blackout Vol 1 O'Reilly This is the start of a series of manga-style graphic novels that is aimed at kids and hopes to make them aware of various online issues including malware and the potential theft of democracy by corrupt voting machine manufacturers in conjunction with sleazy politicians. The drawing style is simple and effective and the message pretty obvious but the names!! These really are super-lame: hackerteen? Hackerrip?? Ugren? Yago might have been clever if ... And is US19.99 a little expensive for a fairly incomplete story (continued in vol 2)? It is nicely produced though - certainly not a cheap comic book.
Wallace Wang, My New Mac: 52 Simple projects to get you started, No Starch Press |