welcome

Question

7

8

Hi everyone,

I'd like to create this thread that would be like a library for sound designers/audio post people. The principle is as basic as 1 post = 1 resource, so each book/webpage can be voted for and we can build up a library/ranking. My understanding of several discussions going on on the Internet is that going to a good school is important, that practicing is key, but the entry point is always reading the appropriate assets.

Great assets, this is what should be in here! So post about something that impressed you even as an experienced designer, or you think is worth reading for beginners.

IMPORTANT NOTE: answers should posted on behalf of the community wiki so that your reputation is not artificially increased using the work of someone else.

edited Jul 14 2010 at 21:48

Justin Huss

community wiki

5 revisions, 2 users
Justin Huss 100%

1

Anyone else feel weird about earning reputation points for recommending someone else's hard work? It's clearly an effective way to vote and sort the answers, but seems unfair somehow. – Steve Urban Jul 14 2010 at 20:54

Should I make this a community wiki? I never really understood what it was for, now it makes sense... any chance a modo can change the owner of a post? – Justin Huss Jul 14 2010 at 21:32

Alright just changed it to community wiki... doesn't seem to affect the reputation I got though... modo please. – Justin Huss Jul 14 2010 at 21:34

Thanks Steve, I'm feeling kinda bad though :D – Justin Huss Jul 14 2010 at 21:49

Yeah, I actually hit the reputation cap today and earned the mortarboard badge. While that's cool, it wasn't really earned. In fact I don't know if the system works like this, but I've changed them all to wiki's. If anyone voted my submissions up today, vote them back down, and then up again for the wiki. Otherwise I might delete them all and add them back again. – Steve Urban Jul 15 2010 at 3:14

show 1 more comment

Jay Jennings · Answer 1 · 2010-07-14 14:30:14Z UTC

10

The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, by David Lewis Yewdall, MPSE.

alt text

Not only does the author outline many invaluable techniques and principles used daily in film post-production, but also laces the book with interviews and stories from professional sound editors and designers that accurately capture the true essence of the craft.

answered Jul 14 2010 at 14:30

Jay Jennings♦
11.5k●1●8●36

	+1 to practial art of motion picture sound. – VCProd Jul 14 2010 at 15:09
	Just as a note, Amazon states there is a Fourth Edition of this book coming out at the end of the year. Source: amazon.co.uk/Practical-Art-Motion-Picture-Sound/… – Audious Sound Jul 14 2010 at 15:18

Justin Huss · Answer 2 · 2010-07-14 17:08:42Z UTC

The Sound Effects Bible (Ric Viers)

alt text

I find this book is a lot of techy/geeky talk about mics and recorders, miking techniques and sound effects editing. A few anecdotes here and there make easy to read you're looking forward to the next one. Maybe the summary will tell you more!

Steve Urban · Answer 3 · 2010-07-14 14:35:29Z UTC

Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema (David Sonnenschein)

Still haven't gotten all the way through this excellent book as I have to pause, take a step back, and try to practically implement everything David mentions before moving on to the next chapter, page or even paragraph. But everything I've read in it has helped me better understand the role and power of sound for picture.

Steve Urban · Answer 4 · 2010-07-14 15:58:04Z UTC

8

DesigningSound.org DesigninSoundHeader

If you haven't been to DesigningSound.org yet, go. Now. The rest of this will still be here later.

answered Jul 14 2010 at 15:58

Steve Urban

community wiki

VCProd · Answer 5 · 2010-07-14 15:14:14Z UTC

6

Dialogue Editing for Motion Pitctures by John Purcell

A bit dated now, but has a lot of really good workflow descriptions and information.

alt text

answered Jul 14 2010 at 15:14

VCProd
2,751●3●12

This book should be at the top of the list. – Sean Apr 8 at 15:53

Utopia · Answer 6 · 2010-07-14 18:08:43Z UTC

http://soundworkscollection.com/

5 to 10 minute profiles with true behind-the-scenes looks at the top film sound designers in the industry.

It also has award speeches and interviews you would never see anywhere else.

I've seen every one of these like 3 times.

45 minute sound panel for Avatar...

Sound profiles from each of this year's Academy Award nominated films for sound...

30 minute interview with the sound team from The Hurt Locker...

30 minute talk with Randy Thom...

The place is a gold-mine for tips, tricks, workflows, etc.

Justin Huss · Answer 7 · 2010-07-14 15:41:07Z UTC

5

FilmSound.org (Sven E Carlsson)

alt text

A giant web resource if you're after definitions, articles, interviews... Sven E Carlsson was awarded the Sound Wave Award 2004 for this website.

answered Jul 14 2010 at 15:41

Justin Huss

community wiki

1

I like this site although it tends to stagnate for extended periods. – Jay Jennings♦ Jul 14 2010 at 17:09

It's a little hard on the eyes too, though I've probably been spoiled by too much web2.0 exposure. – g.a.harry Mar 27 at 15:29

Justin Huss · Answer 8 · 2010-07-14 17:07:03Z UTC

5

Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen (Michel Chion)

|::|

The greatest theory book I've ever read, it'll tell you everything about the terms and their meaning, insisting on the nuances one should see in film sound. This will perfect your understanding of film sound and give you a vocabulary for interesting discussions :)

edited Jul 14 2010 at 17:07

Justin Huss

community wiki

	i found this book very hard to read, but its by far the best sound book I have read – Haydn Payne Jul 14 2010 at 17:13
	very hard to read, yes. immediate impact from first couple of pages tho. – georgi.m Jul 14 2010 at 17:46
	Yeah I can relate to that: hard to read :) But it's worth the pain! – Justin Huss Jul 14 2010 at 18:07

Noiseboy · Answer 9 · 2010-07-14 18:25:25Z UTC

3

alt text

Essential resource for all things foley.

answered Jul 14 2010 at 18:25

Noiseboy
293●1●7

Steve Urban · Answer 10 · 2010-07-14 15:44:19Z UTC

2

The sound-article-list yahoo group.

A non-tech oriented forum "for promoting and encouraging the art of creative film sound design." Activity is a little slower on sound-article-list than sound_design, but the contributions are typically worth the wait.

answered Jul 14 2010 at 15:44

Steve Urban

community wiki

Justin Huss · Answer 11 · 2010-07-14 16:50:34Z UTC

2

Sound for Film and Television (Tomlinson Holman)

alt text

Film and TV sound are explained from many point of views; theoretical (acoustics, psychoacoustics), production and postproduction techniques.

answered Jul 14 2010 at 16:50

Justin Huss

community wiki

JM · Answer 12 · 2010-07-14 19:17:52Z UTC

2

Audio Postproduction for Film and Video (Jay Rose)

alt text

A good book for just starting out in the audio postproduction world.

answered Jul 14 2010 at 19:17

JM
231●1●5

Steve Urban · Answer 13 · 2010-07-14 15:37:45Z UTC

The sound_design yahoo group.

"This Sound Design discussion list is an open forum about Sound design tips, techniques, theories and solutions for both Film and Interactive Media."

The discussions, talent, and helpful attitude of the forum members is really inspiring, both from a creative and professional standpoint.

Justin Huss · Answer 14 · 2010-07-14 16:56:55Z UTC

Sound for Picture: Film Sound through the 1990s (Tom Kenny)

alt text

This book is an interesting collection of interviews and discussions addressing the sound design in specific movies of the 90's like Terminator 2, Jurassic Park or The Beauty and the Beast. You can read about the work of Gary Rydstrom, Walter Murch, etc.

Justin Huss · Answer 15 · 2010-07-14 16:57:38Z UTC

1

Film Sound (Elisabeth Weis, John Belton)

alt text

From what I remember, this book is a gathering of articles/interviews/critiques/analyses of the sound design for various movies.

edited Jul 14 2010 at 16:57

Justin Huss

community wiki

Enrique Amicolo · Answer 16 · 2010-12-17 10:29:25Z UTC

Designing Sound for Animation

This is a very well written introduction to sound design for film. And while the book focuses on animation, it is also very relevant for traditional narrative film. The author has a real talent for getting to the basic essence of things. A very practical book!

Justin Huss · Answer 17 · 2011-04-04 06:33:41Z UTC

SOUNDSCAPE: The School of Sound Lectures 1998-2001

Edited by Larry Sider, Diane Freeman and Jerry Sider

alt text

Republished September 2010 by The School of Sound

Collection of Lectures Covering a wide variety of topics relating to sound and picture. Definantly worth ithttp://www.schoolofsound.co.uk/content/book.htm!

alansende · Answer 18 · 2010-07-21 00:54:00Z UTC

Traité des objets musicaux (Pierre Schaeffer)

Schaeffer

Not exactly a sound design book, but very interesting approach to sound objects and their relationships. The book explains different types of listenings and proposes a classification of sounds by type and morphology.

This theory derives from german phenomenology and it's the founding text of Musique Concrète in France.

I don't know if there are translations in english. I have read the spanish version, a translation of the original work of Schaeffer in frech.

Very recommended reading!

Justin Huss · Answer 19 · 2011-03-26 23:51:15Z UTC

Audio Post Production for Television and Film - An Introduction to Technology and Techniques (Hilary Wyatt, Tim Amyes)

alt text

I have found myself reading this book a lot recently. It provides an insight into ADR work (which I was originally interested in) though I am enjoying reading -- again -- about all aspects of audio postproduction in details. The book makes it seem like you could blindly trust it your freshly-out-of-production film and that it'll come out as good as it'll ever be.

For what it's worth I find it easier to read than Yewdall.

georgi.m · Answer 20 · 2011-03-27 02:10:13Z UTC

Film, a Sound Art

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Film-Sound-Art-Culture/dp/023113777X/

Chion's music may be hard to swallow, but this book is well engaging and easy to read (especially compared to Audio Vision)

alt text

and The Conversations

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conversations-Walter-Murch-Editing-Film/dp/0375709827/

Not so much a sound design book, but a true source of inspiration. Very grateful to the people I first borrowed it from. They lurk around here.. :]

alt text

Chris · Answer 21 · 2011-04-04 07:48:36Z UTC

0

The book of life is an amazing resource.

answered Apr 4 at 7:48

Chris

community wiki

	Where, pray tell, does one find this book on sale? :P :) – Andre Feldmann Apr 4 at 11:29
	Everyone has a copy unless you're going to hell! – Chris Apr 4 at 17:01
	hahahahahahahaahaha – Enrique Amicolo Apr 24 at 15:08

Sean · Answer 22 · 2011-04-08 15:59:42Z UTC

0

Pro Tools Surround Sound Mixing Great book to understand how Pro Tools addresses Surround Sound and how to setup outputs.

Pro Tools Surround Sound Mixing

answered Apr 8 at 15:59

Sean

community wiki

Audio Postproduction/Sound Design resources you’d recommend

22 Answers

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged sound-design literature book education recommendations or ask your own question.

welcome

SSD is a Q&A site encompassing all the wonderful disciplines of sound design:

as long as it involves sound design it is welcome here!

SSD SoundCloud Group

get connected

with SSD

with Andrew Spitz