Front Cover 1
Title page 4
Copyright page 5
Table of Contents 6
Listing of Exercises 10
Foreword 13
Endnotes 16
Preface 17
From the First Edition 17
Purpose 18
Acknowledgments 22
Introduction 23
Overview of Organization and Materials 24
Part One. Defining the Art of Recording: The Sound Characteristics and Aesthetic Qualities of Audio Recordings 24
Part Two. Understanding the Mix: Developing Listening and Sound Evaluation Skills 25
Part Three. Crafting the Mix: Shaping Music and Sound, and Controlling the Recording Process 26
Accompanying CD 27
Establishing an Accurate Playback of Recordings 28
Summary 28
Part One Defining the Art of Recording: The Sound Characteristics and Aesthetic Qualities of Audio Recordings 30
1 The Elements of Sound and Audio Recording 32
The States of Sound 32
Physical Dimensions of Sound 34
Timbre 35
Space 39
Perceived Parameters of Sound 44
Pitch 45
Loudness 47
Duration 48
Timbre in Perception 50
Spatial Characteristics 52
Interaction of the Perceived Parameters 59
Summary 63
2 The Aesthetic and Artistic Elements of Sound in Audio Recordings 65
The States of Sound and the Aesthetic/Artistic Elements 66
Pitch Levels and Relationships 67
Traditional Uses of Pitch 68
The New Pitch Concerns of Audio Production 69
Dynamic Levels and Relationships 71
Traditional Uses of Dynamics 71
New Concepts of Dynamic Levels and Relationships 72
Rhythmic Patterns and Rates of Activities 74
Sound Sources and Sound Quality 75
Spatial Properties: Stereo and Surround Sound 77
Two-Channel Stereo 78
Surround Sound 84
Conclusion 88
3 The Musical Message and the Listener 90
The Musical Message 90
Musical Form and Structure 92
Musical Materials 94
The Relationships of Artistic Elements and Musical Materials 95
Equivalence and the Expression of Musical Ideas 97
Text as Song Lyrics 99
Literary Meaning 99
Structure and Form of Song Lyrics 100
Texts and Music in Combination 101
The Listener 102
Knowledge 104
Experience 104
Expectation 106
Analytical Reasoning 107
Active and Passive Listening 107
Hearing Mechanism Condition 108
Target Audience 109
Conclusion 109
Part Two Understanding the Mix: Developing Listening and Sound Evaluation Skills 112
4 Listening and Evaluating Sound for the Audio Professional 114
Why Audio Professionals Need to Evaluate Sound 115
Talking About Sound 116
The Listening Process 118
Critical Listening versus Analytical Listening 119
The Sound Event and Sound Object 120
Perspective and Focus 121
Multidimensional Listening Skills 123
Distractions 123
Personal Development for Listening and Sound Evaluation 124
Memory Development 124
Success and Improvement 125
Discovering Sound 126
Summary 127
5 A System for Evaluating Sound 129
System Overview 129
Sound Evaluation Sequence 132
Graphing the States and Activity of Sound Components 135
Time Line 136
Vertical 137
Axis 137
Multitiered Graphs 138
Graphing Multiple Sound Sources 139
Plotting Sources Against a Time Line 141
Notating Sounds in Snapshots of Time 142
Summary 143
6 Evaluating Pitch in Audio and Music Recordings 147
Analytical Systems 148
Realizing a Sense of Pitch 149
Recognizing Pitch Levels 150
Pitch Area and Frequency Band Recognition 153
Pitch Area and Pitch Density 158
Melodic Contour 160
Graphing Material against a Time Line 160
Listening and Writing 161
Melodic Contour Graph 162
7 Evaluating Loudness in Audio and Music Recordings 167
Reference Levels and the Hierarchy of Dynamics 168
Reference Dynamic Level 169
Performance Intensity and Dynamic Markings 170
Dynamic Levels as Ranges 172
Determining Reference Dynamic Levels 173
Program Dynamic Contour 175
Musical Balance 178
Performance Intensity versus Musical Balance 180
8 Evaluating Sound Quality 186
Sound Quality in Critical Listening Contexts 187
Sound Quality in Analytical Listening Contexts 188
Sound Quality and Perspective 189
Evaluating the Characteristics of Sound Quality and Timbre 190
Defining a Time Line 191
Defining the Four Components of Sound Quality Evaluations 192
Process of Evaluating Sound Quality 196
Sample Evaluations 198
Summary 202
9 Evaluating the Spatial Elements of Reproduced Sound 205
Understanding Space as an Artistic Element 206
Perceived Performance Environment 206
Sound Stage and Imaging 207
Environments of Individual Sources 209
Distance in Recordings 211
Directional Location 212
Stereo Sound Location 213
Distance Location 217
Understanding Distance Location 218
Evaluating Distance Location 221
Environmental Characteristics 224
Evaluating Environmental Characteristics 225
Environmental Characteristics Graph 230
Space within Space 232
Surround Sound 236
Format Considerations 236
Evaluating Location in Surround Sound 238
10 Complete Evaluations and Understanding Observations 253
Pitch Density and Timbral Balance 254
Pitch Density 254
Timbral Balance 256
The Overall Texture 259
Relationships of the Individual Sound Sources and the Overall Texture 262
The Complete Evaluation 268
Elements To Be Evaluated 269
Observing the Roles and Interaction of Elements 270
Stream of Shifting Focus and Perspective 272
Using Graphs for Making Evaluations and in Production Work 276
Summary 276
Part Three Crafting the Mix: Shaping Music and Sound, and Controlling the Recording Process 282
11 Bringing Artistic Judgment to the Recording Process 284
Part Three Overview 284
The Signal Chain 285
Guiding the Creation of Music 288
Summary 289
12 The Aesthetics of Recording Production 290
The Artistic Roles of the Recordist 291
The Recording and Reality: Shaping the Recording Aesthetic 292
Sound Stage and Environments 292
Musical Balance and Sound Quality 294
The Recording Aesthetic in Relation to the Performance Event 295
Production-Transparent Recordings 296
Spatially Enhanced Production-Transparent Recordings 296
Enhanced Performances 297
Created Performances 299
Altered Realities of Music Performance 300
Summary 303
13 Preliminary Stages: Defining the Materials of the Project 304
Sound Sources as Artistic Resources, and the Choice of Timbres 306
Performers as Sound Sources 307
Creating Sound Sources and Sound Qualities 307
Environmental Characteristics 308
Nonmusical Sources 308
Microphones: The Aesthetic Decisions of Capturing Timbres 309
Performance Characteristics 310
Microphone Placement 316
Stereo and Surround Microphone Techniques 321
Equipment Selection: Application of Inherent Sound Quality 324
Technology Selection: Analog versus Digital 324
Selecting Devices and Models 325
Monitoring: The Sound Quality of Playback 327
High-Quality Playback System 328
Loudspeaker and Control Room Interaction 329
Near-Field, Direct-Field and Room Monitoring 331
Monitor Levels 333
Headphones 334
Summary 335
14 Capturing, Shaping and Creating the Performance 339
Recording and Tracking Sessions: Shifting of Focus and Perspectives 340
Analytical Listening Concerns 341
Critical Listening Concerns 342
Anticipating Mixdown During Tracking 344
Signal Processing: Shifting of Perspective to Reshape Sounds and Music 346
Uses of Processing 346
Listening and Processing 347
The Mix: Composing and Performing the Recording 348
Composing the Mix: Presenting, Shaping and Enhancing Musical Materials 350
Crafting Musical Balance 353
Pitch and Sound Quality Concerns in Combining Sound Sources 355
Creating a Performance Space for the Music and the Recording 357
Performing the Mix 363
Summary 364
15 The Final Artistic Processes and an Overview of Music Production Sequences 368
An Overview of Two Sequences for Creating a Music Recording 369
Multitrack Recording Sequence 369
Direct-to-Master Recordings 370
Editing: Rearranging and Suspending Time 373
Identifying Edit Points 374
Editing Techniques and Technologies 376
Mastering: The Final Artistic Decisions 378
Assembly 379
Editing 380
Adjusting Timbral Balance 380
Adjusting Dynamic Levels and Relationships 382
Coding 383
The Listener\u2019s Alterations to the Recording 383
Concluding Remarks 384
CD Contents and Track Descriptions 388
Glossary 398
Bibliography 409
Discography 416
Index 418