Book for creating/producing a song,step by step with a DAW?

[MarshallHeart]

I'm looking for a pro level book or "manual" which guides me step by step to the whole production process of a given song/excercise ("project") ?

that would include:
-re-recording all the tracks step by step by myself (guitar,drums,keys,bass) with the given plug-in instruments and/or my own guitar gear/gear
-setting all the plug-in fx
-mixing
-mastering

 

[MarshallHeart]

I'm looking for a pro level book or "manual" which guides me step by step to the whole production process of a given song/excercise ("project") ?

that would include:
-re-recording all the tracks step by step by myself (guitar,drums,keys,bass) with the given plug-in instruments and/or my own guitar gear/gear
-setting all the plug-in fx
-mixing
-mastering

I guess this is great:


but not yet "it"

 

[MarshallHeart]

I guess this is great:


but not yet "it"

PS:I'm experienced with DAWs and know a lot about production...but that don't mean you can make it "pro"

 

[kbold]

YouTube is your friend.

 

[Deeve]

@braveheart Reverb.com's section for pro-audio production includes tutorial resources.
One of the brand-name author/creators I'm familiar with is Craig Anderton.
That said, I've still got to wait for my metal-head nephew to come into town to tie it together for me.
Looking forward to other suggestions.
Peace - Deeve

 

[MarshallHeart]

@braveheart
That said, I've still got to wait for my metal-head nephew to come into town to tie it together for me.
Looking forward to other suggestions.
Peace - Deeve

I don't get that one...(???)

 

[jvin248]

I don't get that one...(???)

... nephew, who happens to be a metalhead, is 'a wizard with computer software' ... probably because he's a kid.


The keys I've seen: careful placement of the mic to the cabinet speaker cone, mic the drums and drum room to blend, then minimal manipulation in the software. Avoid compressing the compression of the compressed tones (see youtube "the loudness wars").

Rick Beato has some recording advice videos
Sylvia (something) has a more hands on recording channel including alternative methods
How to set up your recording studio monitors for post-processing, including use of noise traps on the walls and ceiling and carpeted floor

I have found huge improvements in a raw recording in just using Audacity with cleaning up noise, light reverb, panning, and doubling. The more manipulation with a bigger DAW, the more manipulated the sound gets.

You don't need to spend thousands on the gear and software ...





.

 

[Deeve]

... nephew, who happens to be a metalhead, is 'a wizard with computer software' ... probably because he's a kid.


The keys I've seen: careful placement of the mic to the cabinet speaker cone, mic the drums and drum room to blend, then minimal manipulation in the software. Avoid compressing the compression of the compressed tones (see youtube "the loudness wars").

Rick Beato has some recording advice videos
Sylvia (something) has a more hands on recording channel including alternative methods
How to set up your recording studio monitors for post-processing, including use of noise traps on the walls and ceiling and carpeted floor

I have found huge improvements in a raw recording in just using Audacity with cleaning up noise, light reverb, panning, and doubling. The more manipulation with a bigger DAW, the more manipulated the sound gets.

You don't need to spend thousands on the gear and software ...





.

@jivin248 - Correct, and the "kid" is 35, if I remember correctly.
He's working on his CPA cert, active in the Reserves and happens to enjoy the heck out of metal.
We've recently re-connected and we're earnestly trying to guide the musical tastes of each other.
I, for one, am glad to hear another perspective, even if the cookie-monster vox still don't make any sense to me.
The lad also has some tech skills and has patiently been guiding my DAW set up, when he's not been busy helping me relocate appliances.
Yeah, that and sorting through a ton of YT links (including a hysterical metal version of baby shark)


Peace - Deeve

 

[Digital Larry]

Having spent the last month messing around with Linux audio apps, I'll weigh in with my overblown opinion. The nice fellow in the video above says "you won't spend any money. You will spend time. After that you'll be free". That's a lovely sentiment and it's sort of true.

To the extent that there are cross-platform tools like Ardour, Reaper, Audacity, etc. then you're getting the same features you'd have on a commercial OS.

There are also some really powerful tools out there, and I used a couple of them quite a bit to evaluate how they might make parts of my life easier.

#1 SooperLooper - I won't go into it much, but this is an example of a program for which development has largely stopped. The developer still has a forum but there's not much going on there.

#2 Hydrogen drum machine - works pretty well for coming up with basic patterns. This one does seem to be kept alive by the open source development community.

I used these just to let me capture riff ideas easily from the guitar.

I also checked out a lot of other types of apps, and many of them are attempts at doing the same thing, for example a Sound Font player plugin. How many different versions of that does one need?

I checked out "luppp" - a looper that sort of apes the Ableton Live grid paradigm - but is almost impossible to use for anything other than experimentation as all configuration is done by editing text files. The MIDI mapping configuration is huge and poorly documented. This is an example of a program that had a promising start and then fizzled.

You can't really tell whether a given app will be a waste of time until you try it. So, if you value your time at $0, then go for it. I value my time at a much higher rate, and I don't always follow my own advice, but 4 hours spent trying to figure out whether or not something works well, only to conclude that it doesn't, is not my idea of time well spent.

TL;DR summary.
If you like playing with computers, and don't mind being frequently sidetracked by setup or interoperability issues, Linux might be OK. If you stick with a single monolithic program like a DAW rather than trying to connect things together like I did, you'll avoid some frustration.

 

[KCKC]

Not a book but a great series, "Recording Your Band" by Kenny Gioia for Reaper. Should be applicable to any DAW.

I have found all his vids really "click" with me. No fluff, gets right to the point and each vid is approx 12-15 min. I believe.

YMMV,

KC

 

[fendrguitplayr]

I'm looking for a pro level book or "manual" which guides me step by step to the whole production process of a given song/excercise ("project") ?

that would include:
-re-recording all the tracks step by step by myself (guitar,drums,keys,bass) with the given plug-in instruments and/or my own guitar gear/gear
-setting all the plug-in fx
-mixing
-mastering

Check out Barnes & Noble, I've seen several good ones there.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Peachpit (www.peachpit.com) publishes guides for for Pro Tools and Logic Pro.

 

[niilolainen]

I really like this book:
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/mixing-secrets-small-studio

I have a long-term project ongoing to create my own personal workflow based on the lessons learned here. Especially if most of your work happens "in the box" it could be a comprehensive and useful for you. Although it spends a lot of time talking monitors and acoustics, which I skipped (I have a desk in the bedroom and have to do everything on headphones), But many "a-ha" moments and a good reference.

I also own this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001T4YU3O/?tag=tdpri-20

It looks really promising, but even though I have had it for a while I haven't got around to studying it much.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Not a book but a great series, "Recording Your Band" by Kenny Gioia for Reaper. Should be applicable to any DAW.

I have found all his vids really "click" with me. No fluff, gets right to the point and each vid is approx 12-15 min. I believe.

YMMV,

KC

He knows his stuff inside out. Of the little I've watched, I've found that, like lots of video tutorials, he talks too slowly and shows things too quickly for the way I learn things. I'd rather have a book that I can read at a normal speed in a normal way.

There are some likely-looking books mentioned above. Have you picked software yet? I used to do a lot of graphic design, and the only tutorial books or manuals I liked were from the Peachpit Visual QuickStart series. They hold your hand through everything.

They have books on several versions of Logic Pro and Pro Tools. If you're using either of those, the Visual QuickStarts are well worth the investment.

 

[Mark E Rhodes]

Not a book but a great series, "Recording Your Band" by Kenny Gioia for Reaper. Should be applicable to any DAW.

I have found all his vids really "click" with me. No fluff, gets right to the point and each vid is approx 12-15 min. I believe.

YMMV,

KC

I've learned a lot from Kenny's tutorials. He talks slow but he moves pretty fast. I've learned a lot from his videos.

Though I'm old school and still like to have some things in book form. I have printed a few 3-5 page 'cheat sheets' covering basics and shortcuts. I find them very helpful. The memory ain't what it used to be....

 

[jaxjaxon]

You will want to start off with the type/brand of DAW you use and go from there.