Sound Studio, 7th Edition

Sound Studio, 7th Edition

by Alec Nisbett
Released July 2003
Publisher(s): Routledge
ISBN: 9781136116858

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

This classic work has inspired and informed a whole generation of artists and technicians working in all branches of the audio industry. Now in its seventh edition, The Sound Studio has been thoroughly revised to encompass the rapidly expanding range of possibilities offered by today's digital equipment. It now covers: the virtual studio; 5.1 surround sound; hard drive mixers and multichannel recorders; DVD and CD-RW.

Alec Nisbett provides encyclopaedic coverage of everything from acoustics, microphones and loudspeakers, to editing, mixing and sound effects, as well as a comprehensive glossary.

Through its six previous editions, The Sound Studio has been used for over 40 years as a standard work of reference on audio techniques. For a new generation, it links all the best techniques back to their roots: the unchanging guiding principles that have long been observed over a wide range of related media and crafts.

The Sound Studio is intended for anyone with a creative or technical interest in sound - for radio, television, film and music recording - but has particularly strong coverage of audio in broadcasting, reflecting the author's prolific career.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Dedication
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Table of Contents
  7. Introduction
  8. About the author
  9. 1 Audio techniques and equipment
    1. Studio operations
    2. The sound control room
    3. Studio layout for recording
    4. Studio communications
  10. 2 The sound medium
    1. The nature of sound
    2. Wavelength
    3. Waves and phase
    4. Waves and obstacles
    5. Energy, intensity and resonance
    6. Overtones, harmonics and formants
    7. Air resonance
    8. The voice
    9. The human ear
    10. Sound volume and the ear
    11. Loudness, frequency and hearing
  11. 3 Stereo
    1. Two loudspeakers
    2. Reduced loudspeaker separation
    3. Alternatives to two loudspeakers
    4. Hearing and stereo
    5. Microphones for stereo
    6. Stereo compatibility
  12. 4 Studios and acoustics
    1. The range and function of studios
    2. Noise and vibration
    3. Reverberation
    4. Coloration
    5. Studios for speech
    6. General-purpose sound studios
    7. Music studios
    8. Dead pop music studios
    9. Television and film studios
    10. Acoustic treatment
    11. Using sound absorbers
    12. The use of screens
    13. Altering the acoustics of concert halls
    14. Acoustic modelling of studios
    15. Acoustic holography
  13. 5 Microphones
    1. Microphone properties
    2. Directional response
    3. The frequency response of practical microphones
    4. Proximity effect
    5. Cardioid and hypercardioid microphones
    6. Switchable microphones
    7. Highly directional microphones
    8. Noise-cancelling microphones
    9. Microphones for use in vision
    10. Boundary microphones
    11. Personal microphones
    12. Radio microphones
    13. Contact and underwater microphones
    14. Directional characteristics of A and B stereo pairs
    15. Windshields
    16. Mountings
    17. Cables and connectors
    18. Microphone checks
    19. Lining up a stereo pair
  14. 6 Microphone balance
    1. Stereo microphone balance
    2. The balance test
    3. Visual conventions for microphones
    4. Multimicrophone balance
    5. Artistic compatibility: mono, stereo and surround balances
  15. 7 Speech balance
    1. Microphones for speech
    2. Interviewing with a hand-held microphone
    3. Three or more voices
    4. Studio noise
    5. Handling a script
    6. Speech in stereo
    7. Boom operation
    8. Slung and hidden microphones
    9. Microphones in vision
    10. Using gun microphones
    11. Using personal microphones
    12. Radio drama
    13. Open-air acoustics
    14. Stereo drama
    15. Stereo drama problems
    16. Audience reaction
  16. 8 Music balance
    1. 'Natural' balance
    2. Music studio problems
    3. One microphone or many?
    4. Individual instruments and groups
    5. Violin, viola
    6. Cello, bass
    7. More strings: acoustic balances
    8. Electric guitar family
    9. Grand piano
    10. Piano and soloist, two pianos
    11. Upright piano
    12. Harp, harpsichord, celesta
    13. Piano accordion
    14. Harmonica
    15. Woodwind
    16. Saxophones
    17. Brass
    18. Percussion, drums
    19. Singers: solo and chorus
    20. The orchestra
    21. Orchestra: spaced microphones
    22. Pipe organ with orchestra
    23. Orchestra with soloists or chorus
    24. Opera
    25. Classical music in vision
    26. Televised opera
    27. Popular music
    28. Larger groups
    29. Multimicrophone layout
    30. Popular music in vision
  17. 9 Monitoring and control
    1. Quality and the ear
    2. Loudspeakers
    3. Monitoring layout
    4. Control consoles and racks
    5. Digital conversion
    6. Automated and digital consoles
    7. Channels
    8. Group and master controls
    9. Faders
    10. Stereo image controls
    11. Tracklaying, multitrack recording and mix-down
    12. Control console checks
    13. Monitoring sound quality: noise
    14. Hum
    15. Distortion
    16. Crosstalk
    17. Subjective quality checks
  18. 10 Volume and dynamics
    1. Meters
    2. Line-up tone
    3. Multitrack meters
    4. Controlling stereo
    5. Programme volume: relative levels
    6. Maximum volumes
    7. Dynamic range and compression
    8. Compression of music
    9. Compression: speech and effects
    10. Compressors and limiters
    11. Compressor design and use
    12. 'Gating' background noise
  19. 11 Filters and equalization
    1. Filters
    2. Graphic equalizers
    3. Telephone effects
  20. 12 Reverberation and delay effects
    1. AR feeds in the console
    2. Real reverberation
    3. Analogue AR
    4. Digital AR
    5. Using AR on speech
    6. Delay-related effects
    7. Changing pitch
    8. Sampling
  21. 13 Recorded and remote sources
    1. Live-and-insert programmes
    2. Preparing recorded inserts
    3. Cueing play-in
    4. Remote sources
    5. Clean feed and multi-way working
    6. Telephone circuits in radio and television programmes
  22. 14 Fades and mixes
    1. The fade in radio drama
    2. Mixing in effects
    3. Fades in television and film
    4. Theme and background music
    5. Mixing from speech to music
    6. Joining music to music
    7. Adding speech to music
  23. 15 Sound effects
    1. The conventional use of effects
    2. Surrealistic effects
    3. Spot effects
    4. Doors
    5. Footsteps
    6. Telephones, bells and buzzers
    7. Personal action effects
    8. Gunplay
    9. Creaks, squeaks, swishes, crackles, crashes and splashes
    10. Horses' hooves
    11. The recorded sound picture
    12. The use of recorded effects
    13. Recorded effects in stereo
    14. Changing the pitch of an effect
    15. The recorded effects library
    16. Acoustic foldback
    17. Effects for television and film
    18. Footsteps in vision
    19. Wind, rain and fire in vision
    20. Sound equipment in vision
    21. Television sports and events
    22. Sound effects on film
  24. 16 The virtual studio
    1. MIDI plus audio
    2. Plug-ins
    3. Control surfaces
    4. Digital problems
  25. 17 Shaping sound
    1. Musique concrète
    2. Electronic sources
    3. New laws for music
    4. Animated sound
  26. 18 Audio editing
    1. Retakes and wildtracks
    2. Tape editing
    3. Rough editing
    4. Fine editing
    5. Finding the exact point
    6. Editing sound effects
    7. Editing music
    8. Hard disk editing options
    9. Digital projects and editing
    10. Play-out systems
  27. 19 Film and video sound
    1. Time code
    2. Picture and sound standards
    3. Choice of location
    4. Film and video sound recording
    5. Film and video recording routine
    6. Film and video documentation
    7. Videotape editing
    8. Digital video editing
    9. Rough and fine cutting
    10. Shot list, commentary and music
    11. Tracklaying
    12. Conforming sound and picture
    13. Post-synchronization
    14. Mixing sound for picture
    15. Film sound editing
  28. 20 Planning and routine
    1. Planning: radio or recordings
    2. Television planning
    3. The television director
    4. The television designer
    5. Planning microphone coverage
    6. Preparations for rehearsal
    7. Line-up
    8. Production timing
    9. Cueing methods
    10. Cueing applause
    11. Documentation
  29. 21 Communication in sound
    1. Sound and the imagination
    2. The audience
    3. If there's no picture - where is everybody?
    4. The time factor
    5. Understanding and remembering
    6. The communication of ideas
    7. Pace
  30. Glossary
  31. Bibliography
  32. Index

Product information

  • Title: Sound Studio, 7th Edition
  • Author(s): Alec Nisbett
  • Release date: July 2003
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781136116858