Surround Associates - Books and DVDs

The Recording
Engineers Handbook
(Thomson Course Technologies/ArtistPro Publications)

Everything you always wanted to know about tracking in stereo and surround. Includes sections on the history of classic microphones, condenser mic fallacies and getting the most from a vocalist, plus secrets of mic placement and choosing the right mic. There's also several different miking techniques for just about every instrument as well as a special section on studio drum tuning by "The Drum Doctor" Ross Garfield.

Includes interviews with Grammy winning engineer's like Al Schmitt, Ed Cherney, Steve Albini, Michael Beinhorn, Frank Fillipetti, Mack, Eddie Kramer, and more.

Brand New!!
The Mixing
Engineers Handbook 2nd Edition
(Thomson Course Technologies/ArtistPro Publications)

A lot has changed in the recording industry since the first edition was published seven years ago, so the 2nd edition provides completely new and updated information about the things relevant to today's mixing including tips for getting a loud mix, mixing for Internet distribution (including MP3 encoding, streaming audio and extensive audio codec details), and surround sound mixing.

There's also a completely new chapter on how to get the most from mixing inside your computer (In The Box), besides a new section on the bass/drum relationship and how to make this difficult part of mixing easy.

The book wraps up with 22 insightful interviews with the top engineers from all genres of music, including George Massenburg, Allen Sides, Bruce Swedien, Eliot Scheiner (new), Andy Johns, Nathanial Kunkel (new), Jimmy Douglass (new) and many more.

All of the things that the first edition was noted for are still there (and updated too), including the history and evolution of mixing, the six elements of a mix, the rules for arrangement and how they impact your mix, the signs of an amateur mix, where to build your mix from, mixing tips and tricks for every genre of music, the secrets of EQ and the "magic frequencies", tips and tricks for adding effects, effects layering, and much more.

The Mastering
Engineers Handbook
(Thomson Course Technologies/ArtistPro Publications)

Featuring a section entirely dedicated to surround sound mastering and asset preperation. Other topics include mastering tips and tricks, how CD's work, vinyl mastering, typical mastering signal paths plus a section on surround sound mastering and DVD prep.

The book also contains interviews with some of the most renowned mastering engineers of our time including Doug Sax, Bernie Grundman, Bob Ludwig, Glenn Meadows, and many more.

Bobby Owsinski and Surround Professional Magazine Release the "How To Set Up Your Surround Studio" Instructional DVD.
Everything you need to know to get mixing in surround now.
"Setting Up Your Surround Studio," a DVD-Video/ROM disc featuring renowned producer/engineer Bobby Owsinski, is the quickest and most effective way for the studio owner, engineer, musician or producer to get up and running in 5.1 surround sound.

Designed to answer all of the "How To" questions that engineers face when tackling their first surround session, this unique disc not only provides a peek into actual surround tracking and mixing sessions, but contains many essential "hands-on" tools such as surround track sheets, media prep worksheets, channel ID's and calibration tools as well. The DVD-ROM portion of the disc also contains PDF files of the important elements for hard copy referral.

Among the topics covered include:

History of surround sound.
Different types of surround.
How to choose the right monitor system for your application.
The lowdown on bass management.
The Monitor Controller.
Why just any sub won't do.
Fast and easy speaker calibration that works every time.
The truth about 96k and the traps to avoid when using it.
How to get extra surround mileage from your existing stereo console.
Mixing in surround; how the program guides your placement.
Why mixing to picture is different than music.
Why different channel assignments exist.
Why proper documentation is more essential than ever before.
How to prepare your media to avoid problems down the line.
What you need to know about authoring, pre-mastering and digital encoding.

PLEASE NOTE: This DVD was produced in 2001 and even though most of the information on the disc is timeless and is still essential to setting up your surround studio, some things have changed - like the fact that you no longer have to off-load to a DA-88, and dipole monitors are rarely used in surround studios any longer. So we've decided to make this a no-brainer by lowering the cost to $9.95. Just pay a small postage fee for USPS Media Mail and you'll have tool that will be useful in your studio for a long time (just the calibration signals alone are worth it).