Provides advice on which audio software and hardware to purchase, which is most suitable for your latest project or how best to move between platforms mid-project. The guide offers authoritative information and comparison between the systems currently available to help inform your own decisions.

From the author of the best selling title, Pro Tools for Music Production.

The Book of Audacity is the definitive guide to Audacity, the powerful, free, cross-platform audio editor. Audacity allows anyone to transform their Windows, Mac, or Linux computer into a powerful recording studio. The Book of Audacity is the perfect book for bands on a budget, solo artists, audiophiles, and anyone who wants to learn more about digital audio. Musician and podcaster Carla Schroder will guide you through a range of fun and useful Audacity projects that will demystify that geeky audio jargon and show you how to get the most from Audacity. You’ll learn how to: –Record podcasts, interviews, and live performances –Be your own backing band or chorus –Edit, splice, mix, and master multitrack recordings –Create super high-fidelity and surround-sound recordings –Digitize your vinyl or tape collection and clean up noise, hisses, and clicks –Create custom ringtones and sweet special effects In addition, you’ll learn how to choose and use digital audio hardware like mics and preamps, and tune your computer for flawless audio performance. You’ll also find out how to package your work for digital distribution, whether you want to share a podcast through iTunes or sell your own CDs. Become your own producer with The Book of Audacity. The fun starts now.

Industry experts predict that a CD-ROM drive will soon become standard equipment on any PC. This book tells you what you can do with a CD drive, how to decide what to buy, and where to buy one. It explains in informal, nontechnical language--complete with easy-to-follow diagrams--how to install your CD drive. Includes a free CD-ROM packed with several hundred megabytes of useful software.

Along with a computer, an audio interface provides the all-important hardware foundation for computer-based recording. Written in a clear, practical, non-intimidating style, this book helps musicians choose, apply, and get the maximum performance from all types of audio interfaces.

Foundations of Music Technology explores the core concepts of music technology and its uses as a mechanism to facilitate musicianship in a way that is accessible to all students--from the musician with limited technology skills to the technology expert with little knowledge in music notation. The text uses a free, customized software application for Mac or PC in order to demonstrate fundamental concepts of music technology germane to all professional applications like recording, synthesis, digital notation, MIDI, automating effects, acoustics, and more. With the concepts grasped using this "software-independent" approach, students can then transfer those learned skills over to the software of their choice.