Audio productions are made or broken by the quality of the recording engineer's ears. The ability to properly discern sounds, identify subtle problems, and act accordingly to apply the necessary fix makes all the difference in the quality of the final tracks and master. The good news is that these crucial skills can be learned. The ability to instantly identify frequencies, hear hidden distortions, and instinctively reconcile conflicts in the EQ of instruments, audio elements, vocals and more are traits of those who have mastered the art of audio production. The best engineers have trained their ears to immediately recognize audio problems that the consumer and those new to recording arts would likely not hear, but that, if left unresolved, would result in an amateurish final product. For more than two decades, students of F. Alton Everest's Critical Listening and Auditory Perception courses have rapidly developed these skills by using the intense lessons found in this book and on the CD. Unfortunately the books and CDs included with the course were usually too expensive for aspiring engineers to purchase and were often available only in colleges, universities, or school libraries. Now for the first time these indispensable training sessions are available with this release of Critical Listening Skills for Audio Professionals. Through hundreds of illustrations and an accompanying disc containing high-resolution MP3 files with nearly five hours of narration of the entire course, you can acquire the audio discernment skills of a seasoned recording engineer by studying this course at your own pace, in your own home.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 16 Ratings

CD corrupt - 2008-08-13
Reviewer Rating:
Another review mentioned that the CD was corrupt. I hoped to get lucky and ordered it anyway but, alas, the CD delivered to me was corrupt, too. The book looks good but it is pointless without a CD. Has anyone figured out how to get a working CD?

Supplied CD Uses Wrong Media - 2009-03-02
Reviewer Rating:
A clearly well written book. The CD supplied is a CD-RW which does not play on certain brands of CD player (like my Sony). A CD-R would have been a better choice of media. Listening on a computer with earphones does not work well as that hardware introduces distortion which defeats the purpose of the otherwise excellent descriptions. Without CD-R media, the book for me is of limited value.

Nice course for mixing engineers - 2009-08-30
Reviewer Rating:
I learned a lot about how the our ears interpret sound. It trains you to be able to discern different parts of the frequency spectrum and various anomalies like distortion and comb filtering. I needed to prepare for some upcoming studio time in which I will be co-mixing a new album entitled "Plastic Palm Tree Paradise". Look for it April 2010 and the first single January 2010.

Audio listening skills for the professional and learner - 2009-06-14
Reviewer Rating:
Always good to find a product that challenges the learning curve and this book is one that has stood the test of time. A great addition to my library of skills development as a performing musician and producer

Affordable Technical Training in Audio - 2009-01-12
Reviewer Rating:
This book/cd is amazing. With specific exercises to help you identify frequency ranges, shelving and hi/lo pass filters, thd and lots more. College level work book and exercises to get you thinking about your audio from a solid foundation.
I wish I'd found this book 15 years ago! Excellent. Highly recommended to anyone looking to get into recording/audio as a hobby or career.

Browse Similar Topics

Top Level Categories:
Multimedia

Sub-Categories:
Multimedia > Audio