Customer Reviews

Mixing Engineer's Handbook

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bobby Owsinski's book is great for the beginners. But regarding the new elecronic era, as a professional I could not get what I wanted, especially regarding the mixing of non-standard sounds and effect processing. Because in our age the mixing business is evolving through an area where electronics is the fighting arena. That's why I give three stars, good for beginning but not for pros.

Many people will tell you that there is no one way to mix a project, and I agree after having read The Mixing Engineer's Handbook. With that out of the way, I didn't take much from this book. Basically it has interviews with most(many) of the worlds best producers, all of whom explain how they approach various projects, and they all basically say "depends on the project!!". They discuss techniques that are commonly used when mixing but the book doesn't really do a very good job explaing how to set up your studio hardware/software to employ these techniques. If you want to add an arsenal of tricks to fatten your mixes I would imagine there are better books out there. Considering that there is no one way to skin the mixing cat, I would suggest seeking something thats a bit more technical,one that explains bussing, panning, reverb, compression etc in more detail.

This book takes you through the six (6) steps on how to succeed with a great mix. * Balance - the volume level relationship between musical elements * Frequency Range - having all frequencies properly represented * Panaorama - placing a musical element in the sound field * Dimension - adding ambience to a musical elememt * Interest - making the mix special

Within each step the author also has put in comments from famous producers like Bruce Swedien, David Sussman, George Massenburg, Joe Chiccarelli and more covering the actual topic. A good thing because you get the feeling that the methods in the book also has a practical use and that they work. And they do! Each step has it's own chapter and is filled with tips and tricks both from the author and the producers.

A chapter explaining the basics of mixing in surround is included in the book too. Though the author is not going into any depths it's good to get started on the topic. Some links to websites about surround mixing are there so maybe there will be more in future releases of this book.

At the end of the book there is a chapter with exclusive interviews with 20! top producers. The interview questions are connected to the 6 steps you learned earlier in the book so it is a very good finish. The questions can be like "Where do you build your mix from?", Do you use a lot of compression?", What's is your approach to panning?", "Do you have any listening tricks?" and lots of others.

Well, what can I say. I have improved my mixing skill a lot by reading this book. It is so great because you know other people are doing successful hitmusic using the methods described in this book. You don't get anything for free without practice but you know you are on the right track! I don't give it five stars, just 4 because I feel that a CD-rom with audio examples connected to the book would be awesome here! Maybe in the future? I seriously recommend this book!

Johan Salomonsson, Sweden Email: cwd@swipnet.se

It is worth buying just for those two or three magic tricks you may have been missing from your mix. But its also a fun read, full of interviews that give you a broad spectrum of opinions and war stories from some of the industry's best. Good nerdy discussions/debates on things like modern compression techniques. This book can really fill in the gaps for you and get you caught up with the big boys at the mixing console.

This book does not tell you specific mechanics of how to do a mix: after all, that's the signature of the engineer. Rather, it explains the mechanics of the tools you'll be using to do your mixes. In addition, it's filled with interviews with a variety of top-notch engineers in a variety of different musical genres. You'll find that the insight that they provide will become invaluable when applied to those genres in which they specialize. Lots of tips and tricks reside in these pages as well as a variety of methods whether they are considered to be generally acceptable techniques or not. Covers a wide scope and provides a good knowledge base for the beginner/intermediate without bias to particular techniques.

"Mixing Engineer's Handbook" teaches what the engineer greats of various genres do to get great mixes. It has really helped me understand different approaches to mixing, as well as taught quite a few nice tips and tricks. I learned a lot from it, even though I have been recording and mixing professionally for over 10 years. In my bookshelf there are a LOT of books abour recording and mixing, and this one clearly stands out as the best. Another good book I'd like to recommend is "Professional Microphone Techniques", which also features a a nice chapter on EQing. The interviews have also been a great help when making purchase decisions for new studio gear.

Upon deeper inspection of the contents of this book, I had to change my review. I am finding this book absolutely phenomenal.
I thought at first that there were too many interviews (nearly half the book) and not enough real tips and guidelines. I was wrong. The first half of the book gives some good starting points and tips (EQ settings, Compression ratios/settings, mixing in effects etc...) What I have found to be almost more valuable are the interviews. They are full of tips and "here's how I achieve this sound" type of comments.

This is only my second day I've really been digging in to this book and applying it to my work. I've already seen drastic improvements. I wish I had found this book when it first came out! This is cetainly not the end all solution to every recording question you may have, but I have found this book to be worth every cent I spent on it.

This book is really about the things that top mix engineers say they pay attention to most in mixing. It gives the reader insight into the ideas that have moulded their thinking, and listening skills. Equipment lists are supplied, but there is not a lot of discussion about how to set up the gear in detail. This is a good thing, because a book can not deliver the kind of understanding that listening to recordings can give. You can easily get the CDs that are discussed to hear what each mix engineer is talking about. There is more than enough information to duplicate some of the best mixes ever made if you want to.

If you are constantly searching the net, or magazines for mix trix, and you want the best collection of these tricks available, stuff people hang out in studios for months, or years to acquire, then this book is for you.

It is not a real "handbook" in the traditional sense of the word (i.e. a handbook used by mixing engineers), but rather conceptual ideas that point out the key elements of mixing for the beginner.

The reality of this book is that the content is based on a series of pretty informative interviews that are transcribed verbatum in 2nd half of the book. The first half of the book is the author's summary of the usable data culled from the interviews, and presented in a organized fashion.

The 6 aspects covered (that comprise a good mix) should certainly help beginners start thinking about mixing in ways that don't ordinarily occur to beginners. In essence, what this book does best is to tap into the experience of very experienced engineers, and then present "what the experts do" in various scenarios.

There are NOT so much specifics as there are general guidlines. It is not so much "step-by-step instructions" or "hard reference" as it is a "starting point." There ARE useful things like where to start the mix from, and tables that show where to find the EQ frequencies that effect different instruments--for example, to bring out the slap sound on a bass guitar. Further guidlines suggest, which effects and settings (in broad terms) to use to emphasize/de emphasize other aspecs.

I'm a beginner, and it has been a good resource for me.

The highlight of this book would be the interviews of each mix engineer. I felt I got more out of the conversations between the author and the various engineers than anything else, because the advice is more in context.