Three years in the making, Home Studio Recording, The Complete Guide offers a comprehensive and up-to-date reference for current music production paradigms.
The 450-page compendium of practical, applicable information covers studio archetypes, home studio creation and optimisation, the stages of production (preproduction, recording, mixing, mastering and release), the gear and techniques needed at each stage, and the roles of producers and engineers, plus legal and distribution considerations at the release stage. It is the work of producer/engineer/musician Warren Huart and co-author Jerry Hammack.
Huart has spent decades refining his understanding of music recording and his Produce Like A Pro channel on YouTube commands an audience nearing 700,000 subscribers, alongside his online Produce Like A Pro Academy and Pro Mix Academy. Hammack, meanwhile, is also a producer, mixer, recording artist and author of the critically acclaimed The Beatles Recording Reference Manuals.
Home Studio Recording, The Complete Guide offers a comprehensive and up-to-date reference for current music production paradigms.
‘I started touring professionally at 16 as a musician. I was literally the musician who was recording his own demos, then recording his own band, and eventually recording major label artists on gold and platinum projects,’ Huart says. ‘I’ve worked in the big studios, but I’ve always owned a home recording studio. The way I came up was the non-traditional way, and it’s now the only way.
‘I’m still working in traditional studios, but 95 per cent of my work is in my home studio. And that is true with every single producer and engineer I know. It’s just a reality.’
Hammack also began his own self-taught audio path at 16, and along with production, he brings deep experience with independent distribution. ‘His Beatles series is the go-to reference for engineers and producers who want to know how the Beatles got that particular sound on any song they recorded,’ Huart says. ‘Together, we spent three years ensuring that Home Studio Recording, The Complete Guide truly is complete and accessible for engineers and producers of any skill and knowledge level. We included information based on our combined experience and perspectives and insights gathered from Produce Like a Pro interviews and conversations with hundreds of the best producers and engineers in the world. In a single volume, we cover everything that every recording text talks about and more, modernised, with real-world context.’
Home Studio Recording can be read end-to-end as a logical progression for building a sweeping recording knowledge base, or, by way of its extensive indexing, it can offer answers to questions in the heat of production.
In the title’s foreword, producer Jack Douglas says ‘you will find nearly all there is to know about the recording of music and the art of sound. Warren and Jerry generously share their years of experience, philosophy and mental preparation, giving both newcomers and working producer/engineers incredibly valuable and practical information.
‘This book will reside on my shelf alongside the other classics: George Martin’s Sound Pictures, Al Schmitt On the Record and Geoff Emerick’s Here, There and Everywhere.’
Home Studio Recording, The Complete Guide is available now via its own website and Amazon for US$59.99 in softcover and US$69.99 in hardcover.
