The Ultimate Live Sound Operator's Handbook (Music Pro Guides) Paperback – August 1, 2011

I am a university music professor. While the bulk of my work involves performing and teaching, I also spend a lot of time helping with various audio needs within our School of Music. Thirty years ago I toyed with the idea of becoming a professional sound engineer. I bought many of the best books in the field of audio at that time and have recently bought a few newer ones. I have learned many things from my books over the years (and from mixing hundreds of performances). Many audio texts are filled with high–end math and physics equations/formulas that are not always needed for folks who want to learn to set-up and run audio systems (big and little) and get a good sound from them. For years a text has been needed to fill an obvious void—a text that explains complex concepts in easy–to–understand terms; a text that includes some of the basic physics and electrical engineering—but in a digestible, pragmatic way with plenty of charts, diagrams, and other visual aids. This book meets ALL of those needs and more. The text also contains access to online audio files so students can listen to examples of eq change, dynamics application, etc. The writing is clear, comprehensive, and very accessible. And though a lot of math has been left out, all the ESSENTIAL details of managing and mixing live audio are included. I highly recommend this text. If you can only afford one, get this one.

This book is the shizzle. I am pretty much a self-taught sound person who at this point has way more questions than answers. If, like me, you have a general idea of what sounds good and what sounds nasty, as well as a strong desire to learn more but no resources beyond a circle of other self-taught sound people with vastly different opinions and ideas on how to get good sound, this book is for you. I found Bill Gibson's straightforward, patient, small-word, and helpfully redundant writing style and textbook layout to be spot on and just exactly what I was looking for. Like bringing water to the desert. The best part was that it gave me a conceptual framework to organize what I already know, or thought I knew, and gave me enough information to be comfortable with diving deeper into the minutiae with other resources. More than just a textbook you read cover-to-cover and then never crack again, this has already become a handy resource I refer back to before during and after every gig. And that's BEFORE we get to the accompanying CD! The sound samples were an excellent companion to the text and perfectly illustrated all of the concepts on the book.My favorite quote: "If you are a sound operator and you never have volume or sound complaints, then you're very good, very well-liked, very diplomatic, or very scary-looking."

I love how this book is written- organized, matter-of-fact, and with technical illustrations. It's a great place to start if one is trying to learn how to control a feedback issue in a PA. Also, it comes with a DVD of .mp3s of examples of different things such as, *what* it sounds like to boost the highs at 16khz, or what a "60-cycle hum" sounds like. The examples are very helpful and should not be ignored or not purchased, in the case of a used book. It's worth the book to get the companion DVD. Together they've become valuable tools in my daily work life.

Lots of great tips for the beginner, especially if you are new to mixing and/or unfamiliar with various instruments. Doesn't get too technical which is a pro and a con. My favorite part was the first section which listed all the skills required and is a good synopsis of what it is to be a live sound engineer.

I recently took an online course in audio engineering. It was only a 3 month online course, so obviously a bit limited in what was covered. however, it did cover a lot of areas. I got this book because I wanted to learn even more. I have always believed that if you really want to learn something well, no matter what the subject matter, you should try to learn from multiple sources. This book is actually a great extension for the course I had taken. It even covers a lot of the material my course did.I purchased this from amazon for $26 but the cover price is actually $39. Great deal! Lots of great illustrations for the purpose of driving various concepts home. I highly recommend it for any musician looking to either improve his live sound or produce quality home studio recordings.

Excellent guide for any musician that wants to know more about how to make their live performance better for the audience. I had to take over the live sound for my band and this book was an immense help! Easy to follow guidance to get great live sound but also dives in deep if you wish to explore the intricate world of sound reinforcement. I find myself going back to it over and over to dial in specific instrument frequency settings and effects parameters. Highly recommended!

Great reference book. Look things up or just spend a few hours and read it. Make notes in the front, mark it up and so on so you can reference what you need to know quickly. This author knows what he is writing about.

Comprehensive. yet easy to understand. Sound advice and prioritization of your efforts to develop the skills and techniques to provide quality sound.