Preface

Welcome to the updated, 2017 edition, of ‘Sound Foundations’.  I have added some new material relating to the subject of ‘true 1000 Ohm guitar inputs’ which I added to the start of this guide, just in case you haven’t bought an audio interface yet.

And if you haven’t decided which Digital Audio Workstation to use, I have really HUGE news.

I have spent years working with different DAWs. Different software. I compiled a huge pile of notes on different DAW’s from Pro-Tools to Garage Band. And then I started working with Reaper. And I fell in love. It is the most affordable DAW. It comes with everything you need. Very powerful, great sounding, fully functional, and user-friendly plug-ins.

Only when you download the default Reaper program you are facing something like Adobe After Effect’s black screen. Where to start. Yes, the learning curve can be a little daunting. Setting up the configuration was, like any labor of love, often frustrating.  As was finding third party ‘free’ software that fills out Reaper to make it a fully blown, ‘plug-and-play’ DAW with all the VSTi’s you need to record bass, drums, some orchestration, and really modern synth sounds.

The CIA and Mossad left me alone long enough to complete this task.

I am happy to announce that since publishing this guide I have completed ‘Optimal Reaper’, a guide to the TROONATNOOR DAW of choice, ‘Reaper’.

I have made ‘Reaper’ as ‘plug-and-play’ as possible. As ‘pretty’ as possible. As ‘user-friendly’ as possible. As ‘functional’ as possible. As ‘easy to learn’ as possible.

I have done this not by merely writing up a guide, but by building the ‘Optimal Reaper’ configuration, which contains Track Templates, FX Chains, and ‘FREE’ software. In fact you can plug it in, and start recording and mixing piano, synth, bass guitar, cello, violin, flute, and an entire drum kit, using nothing more than your computer keyboard, and a copy of Reaper.

Remember you can download Reaper and try it for free. Many people have ‘tried’ it for years. So you will certainly have time to use it, for free, and decide if it is right for you, before paying a single cent. But I hope you do buy it. A student license costs around 60 dollars. And Reaper really is packed with a host of software that will let you do everything from analog to MIDI conversion, to ‘auto-tuning’ your vocals. It comes with really powerful and high quality EQ’s and compressors.

In fact Reaper proved ideal for teaching and learning all the processes explained in this guide. Anything that this guide covers can be practiced, and refined, using Reaper, and the plug-ins that come with the 60 dollar student / small-business license.

And I mean FANTASTIC plug-ins. I LOVE the ReaEQ, the multi-channel compressors, the ReaTune  (analog to MIDI converter which lets you play any VSTi using a standard electric guitar, not to mention guitar tuner),  the Reaper equivalent of ‘Auto-tune’, and so much more.

You can really gain a deep understanding of Side Chaining, parameter automation, compression, EQ, and all the things that often sound so daunting, but, with the right explanation, and the right plug-ins, can soon become intuitive.

So download Reaper today. And get a copy of ‘Optimal Reaper’. It is the ideal companion to this guide. As Reaper is the ideal DAW, as far as I am concerned, for teaching and learning everything related to Audio Engineering.

You can buy it at any of the usual e-book online retailers. Or email me markusrehbach@yahoo.com  for a discount deal.

And if you are a school or other educational organization, you can contact me about bulk orders. My aim was to produce a complete, theoretical, and practical, Audio Engineering course.

With the addition of ‘Optimal Reaper’, I have attained this ambition.

And now you can attain your own musical ambitions, using the two ‘Sound Foundations’ guides.

If anyone is interested in starting up a charter school, or Audio Engineering school, or Summer school for Film and Sound, (using Adobe After Effects and Reaper as its main software), please contact me.

Oh, and please consider a vegan lifestyle. For as Obadiah warns us ‘As you do unto others, so shall be done unto you’. And he wasn’t just talking about other ‘Jews’. Nope. He was referring to all sentient beings in the universe, and that even includes ‘Goys’.

So now onto this guide.

This guide really is the equivalent of a complete course in Audio Engineering.

Use this guide along with the user manual of whatever DAW you decide to use.

I would recommend Reaper if you are a student or otherwise qualify for their 60 dollar license. Use it along with Audacity, and you will have pretty much everything you need for both MIDI and live recording, editing, mixing, and mastering.

I believe you will learn more useful information in this guide then you will at any Audio Engineering course offered anywhere in the world, at any price.

I do not know of any equivalent guide or on-line Audio Engineering course on the market today.

I would be surprised if even the most experienced of Audio Engineers and teachers do not find some new and useful piece of information, or explanation of something they already (thought) they understood.

Before you invest thousands of dollars on a course in Audio Engineering, read through this guide.

If you are the sort of person who can learn things by themselves, then you will probably find that you don’t need to attend any expensive courses.

At the very least it will allow you to evaluate the course you plan to enroll in.

And it will provide a great reference source once you start your course, and then later as you put everything you have learned into practice.

I would be happy to advise anyone considering setting up a new school, and willing to allow me to design a complete curriculum.

Any course I would in future design, or teach, would be based on what is already in this guide. So in my honest way, I am really offering you, for what you paid for this guide, the same information you would otherwise be compelled to pay thousands of dollars for, at any school I will in future either teach at, or set up myself.

I myself completed an Arts Degree, a Graduate Teaching Diploma, and a Diploma of Audio Engineering. Since then I have taught all over the world, from Australia, to South Korea, Poland, Moscow, London, and all over Germany.

I have been constantly updating and expanding my knowledge and understanding over the last 25 years.

I wrote this guide firstly for myself, as a reference. It is the result of years of hard work.  Years of trying to get my head around the facts and how they interact. Years of frustration and irritation with poorly presented explanations of audio engineering phenomena. Years of trying to completely understand my material. Years more of seeking the best way to explain what I came to understand to others.

I am now pleased to present this guide to you.

You will be surprised at what difference a knowledge of microphone placement, room acoustics, and fundamental recording, mixing, and mastering skills can make.

Don't rush into buying any new gear until you have grounded yourself, using this guide, in the theory and practice of recording, mixing, and mastering.

Before your next purchase of anything from a guitar cable, to microphones, to monitors, to software, or a new computer, read through the more technical chapters at the beginning.

Those chapters will inform you about what to look for in gear, and why. You could end up saving a tonne of money on things you thought were worth it, but really are not. You can then invest this money in gear that can make all the difference, and actually do the job you demand of it.

Please recommend this guide to your friends. I am not willing to spend a tonne of money on marketing and presentation that add nothing to the value of the book for the user, but do add a zero to the end of the price.  

The only way this guide will continue to evolve, is by word of mouth marketing.  I will be able to re-invest any money I make on the guide in improving the guide, beginning with diagrams and videos.

It is nothing less than a complete course in Audio Engineering. Superior, I believe, to anything else on offer, and at a ridiculous fraction of the price to you.

You may be surprised at how cheaply you can set up a home studio and get results that rival most budget recording studios. If you are making great music, you don’t need more than that.

However if you are aiming for a highly commercial over-produced studio sound, then at some point you are either going to need access to a few pieces of state of the art gear, by renting them, or at least be willing to hand over your final mix to a mastering professional. There are limits to what you can do with basic equipment.

But it is really a question of what sound you are going for. Lots of successful artists have taken the low tech, low production approach, and have gained millions of loyal fans.

The fact is that some of the best modern recordings have been done with a few cheap mic's, in mono, using tiny guitar amps, very few effects, and little EQ. The musicians were simply top notch, and able to play as a band. They usually had years of live experience behind them. They didn’t rely of weeks of re-takes, over-dubs, and post-recording editing....