Product Description

This completely updated edition of the bestselling Mastering Engineer’s Handbook provides a thorough exploration of the mastering process for virtually any kind of audio program, utilizing insights from the world’s top mastering engineers. The book is a treasure-trove of knowledge, with an overview of the history, tools, and philosophy behind mastering as well as complete reference information for all audio delivery formats in use today. Peek inside a top-flight mastering house and see how their methods can now be yours. Explore the secrets of making hot masters, the rules of compression and frequency balancing, and how to mix with mastering in mind. Investigate how optical discs, such as CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, and beyond, work and how they’re made. Discover the trick to making great-sounding MP3s and streaming audio. Examine multichannel surround mastering for film and television. You’ll even relive mastering history with a separate chapter about mastering for vinyl and how records are pressed. Throughout the book, legendary mastering engineers share experiences, tips, and tricks with you through every step of the process. The final section of the book features interviews with mastering giants such as Bernie Grundman, Bob Ludwig, Glenn Meadows, Doug Sax, and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #257373 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 274 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781598634495
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
A longtime veteran of the music industry, Bobby Owsinski has produced and composed for records, DVDs, motion pictures, and television shows. One of the first to delve into surround-sound music mixing, Bobby has worked on more than 200 surround projects and DVD productions for such diverse acts as Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, The Ramones, and Chicago, among many, many others. Currently a principal in the music production house Surround Associates and content creator 2B Media, Bobby has also penned several hundred articles for many popular music and audio trade publications and has authored books that are now staples in audio-recording programs in colleges around the world. A frequent moderator, panelist, and program director of a variety of music and professional audio industry conferences, Bobby has served as the longtime producer of the annual Surround Music Awards and is currently an executive producer for the Guitar Universe and Desert Island Music television programs. He is also a partner in the popular Asia Los Feliz restaurant in Los Angeles, and he serves on the board of directors of the Media Entertainment Technology Alliance.

Customer Reviews

Interesting read, but out of date and not very helpful
This book does not outline the steps involved in the mastering process. It is just some interviews with different mastering engineers. Instead of talking about how they go about mastering a project or what they listen for, they brag about their cool customized gear and how little signal processing goes between the source and the final output. Yet at the same time saying how much they are improving the sound.

You get the history of mastering.
You get how they schedule their day.

I was hoping for more of a real "handbook".

Very good, but not great
This is the companion volume to "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook" by the same author. The format is the same, solid help for common problems and tasks, with interviews of many of mastering's top guns. However, compared to the mixing book, the advice here is a little less specific, a little more vague. It's helpful, to be sure, but there's more philosophy and less applied science.

Also, I was disappointed that a significant amount of material in this book was literally cut and pasted from the mixing book. I felt like I had bought only half a book, or that I had bought some of the same book twice, or something.

Despite these minor flaws, this IS a good book, and I'm not disappointed at all. And the interviews are wonderful.

The Truth
The honest truth is that if you want a book telling you how to master and how to apply mastering to your work...THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU. YOU'RE BETTER OFF GETTING THE BOOK BY KATZ!!! For beginners that don't have a clue where to start this book is for you. Throughout the book Bobby O explains the entire mastering from how it's done to the equipment used, how the equipment works and precautionary measures to take before mastering your work. I see why people got pissed off with this book because they wanted to know how to master their project...but instead bobby o. tells you the theory behind mastering for example, how various equipment work, mastering for different media as well as what to buy what the equipment does and the effects they have on the mix. I would recommend this book to anyone that is hesitant about mastering or doesn't have a clue about it. This book will inform you of the process from how it's done to the equipment used and so on...so that in the end you can make your decision on whether or not you want to master your own projects. Awesome book.