Zen and the Art of Recording

An excellent and well-written collection of everything one should know in order to begin recording music, and an awesome read even if you have been in the music industry for years, and think you know what you’re doing! Mixerman (Eric Sarafin) is one of the most knowledgeable people in the business, and he’s got the resume to back it up. His personality alone – which he sprinkles throughout the book – is reason enough on its own to read this, as well as his other publications – which go hand-in-hand with this book. I could not find a better book (or series of books) currently in existence, when it comes to recording music, whether you’re a seasoned professional or just becoming interested. This book (and all of his books) are great even if you are just writing or playing music, and the knowledge, insights, and information contained within the series are absolutely priceless. You would be hard pressed to find a better or more entertaining book series which provides so much essential information, delivered in a to-the-point no-B.S. fashion. Highly recommended and equally appreciated! Be sure and read his other books for the full experience!

This is foremost a book for aspiring professional recordists. It's a book mentoring you through the transition from amateur recordist to professional. It also contains a lot of information about recording, including some invaluable maxims and insider tips that can help even us amateurs record better music.Mixerman uses a charmingly informal tone, which makes reading this book very easy. He does tend to repeat himself and go on tangents, though it's sometimes a worthy repetition or diversion.If you're like me and you wanted to know how to record your own music more effectively, this book will definitely help you but it's not FOR you. Take what you can from the glut of information provided in the book, and the stuff that doesn't seem like it pertains to you, the amateur or musician-first-who-just-wants-to-record-good-music...well, take that with you too. It might help out someday.

All of Mixerman's "Zen and the Art of..." books are extremely useful references. Great explanations of both the technical and the musical side of recording. Useful for someone making a home recording with a few mics or a studio engineer with full access to to any piece of gear they could ever want. An unfiltered plethora of information gathered from real experience in the music industry. Get away from know-nothing, know-it-all youtubers and read this.

Mixerman is an engaging writer and I enjoyed reading the book. I got some insight and tips out of it (IE record aggressively, take lots of notes, take your time in capture and don't plan on 'fixing it later') but I'm choosing between recording vocals on an SM58 that kinda smells like beer, an SM58 that was probably used as a hammer at one point, or an SM58 covered in lipstick stains. I don't have the luxury of choosing between a Neumann U67 vs. a Telefunken 251 and running it through high quality analogue compressors and mixing desks. He's writing to his experience, which is great, but it's of limited use to a home studio engineer.

If you are serious about recording in the real world then i highly recommend you buying this book...if not it's still a highly entertaining and informative and a good read none the less . Mixerman is not one to bull**** and tell you what you want to hear but rather what you need to hear. The fluffy stuff does not help anyone at the end of the day and actually can hurt records and your career in short and longterm. Buy it, you won't regret it.

The Kindle edition includes 13 videos, 7 videos contain useful information, and he wasted 6 videos trying to be funny. People buying this book want useful info, not a comedy act. They should charge less for the kindle edition.

What a awesome book. It’s more artistic then technical. Very good book.

Zen & the Art of Recording is great! Mixerman takes you through the process in a detailed way, without being overly technical. I dug the videos too!

Having read the other books before I found myself quickly reading through them again after this one. I really enjoy the writing style and although at times there are contentious points they only serve to help me not get stuck in a certain way of doing things. I think this is the best of the three in terms of helping you think about how a production should come together and how that can be set out right from the beginning if you record in a manner that always keeps the bigger picture in mind. Definitely a must for the collection and works well with the others.

Really enjoyed his perspective on recording. He's opinionated, but always makes it clear that it's fine to disagree with his methods.

A Must for recording engineers at any experience level!

Great insight into the mind of a pro audio engineer! Fun read ;-)

The final piece in a precision engineered and colourful jigsaw. Well done Mixerman, you've done it again, and the grammar is superior to that of Fifty Shades of Grey.