The Blackbird Academy Foundations: Must-Know Audio and Recording Principles

by Kevin Becka, Blackbird Academy

The Blackbird Academy Must-Know Audio and Recording Principles is designed to build your music engineering and audio production skills. The principles are directed at beginners to more advanced music creators, remixers, musicians, songwriters, singers, and those curious about what it takes to record, overdub, and mix quality music. Those who aspire to music, from ages 10 and up, will gain operational skills and understanding of basic to advanced recording concepts



• Signal flow

• Microphone recognition and advanced placement

• The keys to achieving great results when recording

• Essential analog and digital gear used in audio production

• Using a digital audio workstation

• Understanding analog to digital, and digital to analog, conversion

• Using plug-ins and analog processing when recording, overdubbing, and mixing

• Developing software skills, such as tuning processing, editing, and mixing

• Console basics and operation

• Using auziliary tracks and buses

• Using shortcuts to build speed

• Learning how to listen

• And much more!



Those more advanced will also achieve benefits from reading what was written around the gear and workflow at Blackbird Studio, the world-renowned production facility located in Nashville, Tennessee. Blackbird has produced hundreds of hit records from a variety of artists, including Taylor Swift, Jack White, Martina McBride, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, and many more. Readers will learn an impressive range of valuable information only known in the inner circles of production at the heart of Music City USA.

88 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2017

Reviews

[Bobby Z. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I needed: a clear and concise introduction to recording.

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really delivers the foundations as promised. For students attending the Blackbird Academy or any similar recording institution (are there any similar?), I would rate it a 5 as it provides insight into the technologies and best practices used in professional recording. While it doesn't go into depth on the how and why, it provides a competent foundation that students can safely stand on. It does provide the correct starting points and leads requires further resolution that would need be provided on the journey. It is a start and does inspire more questions. For example, the short section on phantom power provides direction for when to and when not to apply such power but doesn't dive into the reasoning or consequences of misuse.

For other readers seeking a comprehensive guide to professional recording, this title will provide an outline as opposed to a final solution. With that said, it does provide a solid starting point for those self learners seeking to discover traditional pro studio technology. Some of the DAW based examples need updating, but the analog info is spot on.

Regarding how to learn recording techniques, understand that is a ongoing topic. A topic based on all of the different engineers that have tracked before us - the innovators that have experimented, found things that work, and still seek to improve the process.

From my view, the authors and editors of this book did a great job assembling and reducing this volume into a powerful condensation of hard-earned knowledge. The reader will need to actively become engaged in the recording process, ask and find the answers to many more questions about the materials presented here to gain the final benefit.