New Book Sheds Light on Creating Home Recording Studios
 September 17, 2002
A technical expert has simplified the confusing process of buying
recording equipment and setting up a home recording studio for hobby or
business purposes. John J. Volanski, an electrical and audio engineer, has
written a new book entitled Sound Recording Advice to help guide neophytes
and even those with some audio recording background in the set up and
operation of a home recording studio. The book is being released in October
of 2002 and is being published by Pacific Beach Publishing.
The art of making quality recordings goes far beyond plugging a microphone
into a tape deck and pushing the RECORD button. Adding confusion to the
process, technology has now provided more ways than ever to record audio:
multi-track cassette decks, multi-track reel-to-reel decks, multi-track
MiniDisc recorders, multi-track disk-based and tape-based digital recorders,
and even home computers with audio interface cards. If you add to that a
bewildering array of digital and analog mixers, power conditioners, reverb
and echo signal processors, equalizers, enhancers, synthesizers, samplers,
amp and speaker modelers, and products to tame unruly acoustics, then you
have a nearly vertical learning curve for any musician or hobbyist
interested in recording audio at home.
Despite the daunting challenge, more and more people are now interested in
making their own audio recordings at home rather than paying for time in a
professional recording studio. These interested people include high school,
college and private music students, singing groups, bands of all types
interested in making demo recordings to interest record companies,
individuals wanting to record advertising jingles or other commercial
material, people developing slide shows or multimedia shows with audio
content, authors recording audiobooks, and the hobbyists who simply enjoy
recording their own musical creations at home.
The popularity of home computers has also fueled the interest in home
recording. With new wideband networking available in the form of DSL
(Digital Subscriber Line) and Cable Modems, more and more people are trading
recordings over the Internet. Properly configured home computers can now be
used to record and mix multi-track audio (and video), send and received
compressed audio over the Internet, and act as desktop music jukeboxes. Of
course, with this increased technical flexibility comes an intimidating
array of alphabet soup such as AES/EBU, CD-RW, DAT, DAW, dB, EIN, EMI, EQ,
ESD, IEEE-1394, MIDI, MP3, MOV, PCM, RFI, SCMS, SMPTE, S/PDIF and USB. What
does all this stuff mean? What do I do if I just want to record music as
quickly and inexpensively as possible? WHERE DO I START? HELP!
The reason that John J. Volanski wrote the book Sound Recording Advice is to
help people get started recording their own music at home. The book is a
thorough yet simplified guide on how to overcome the steep learning curve of
setting up a home recording studio. It reads easily and covers all aspects
of recording including power, ground, acoustics, studio layout and
furniture, what new and used equipment to buy and where to buy it for lowest
prices, how to record various instruments and then mix, bounce tracks and
generate a master recording. The 336-page book also includes hundreds of
other important tips, including info on how to make and modify some of your
own equipment and troubleshoot studio problems.
John J. Volanski is an electrical engineer with additional training in audio
engineering. He has operated his own home studio for over 20 years where he
has gained expertise in how to set up and operate a home recording studio.
He has done technical writing during most of his professional career,
including writing articles for Electronic Musician and Avionics magazines.
As part of his professional engineering career, he has designed and
developed many electrical and audio systems concerned with avionics, Virtual
Reality (including a patented motion-base VR system), commercial
entertainment, and surveillance.
Sound Recording Advice can be purchased from the author's web site at www.johnvolanski.com. It is also available by check or money order
from Pacific Beach Publishing, P.O. Box 90471, San Diego, CA, 92169, bookstores (through wholesaler Baker &
Taylor), or online from Amazon.com.
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