Good Reading Suggestions

[The Culprit]

I've recently been feeling the urge to do some studying so registered on Coursera for a course named Fundamentals of Audio and Music Engineering. It's looking like a good place to spend some productive hours, covers a lot of things I have a very basic knowledge of but would like to improve on.

My first issue is the requirement of a good knowledge of complex numbers. After an hour or so on YouTube I've come to realise that I must not have been in that day at school 20-odd years ago

So basically I'm looking for a good way of getting my head around this conundrum. I know if I persevere I'll get it eventually, but it would be good to find something that explains it all in a way that suits me.

But not just complex numbers. Any general content to do with room acoustics, electronics in music, microphone design...anything geeky like that. I know Google is my friend and all that, but specific recommendations are always good.

[James Perrett]

If you are using complex numbers it sounds like you are going in at a fairly deep level. At that sort of level the standard electronics book recommendation is The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill. For audio I would also suggest looking at anything by Douglas Self. It may also be worth going through the Wireless World archives on the World Radio History site

https://worldradiohistory.com/Wireless_ ... gazine.htm

as the Doug Self book that I have is essentially a collection of his Wireless World articles from the 1990's.

[The Culprit]

Hi James. Honestly I didn't expect that level of detail, I thought it would be a fairly entry to mid level course given the wide-ranging subjects. I did some electronics in my late teens/early 20's but never to any sort of advanced level. Thinking maybe I should be looking elsewhere for learning before tackling a course like this.

Had a look at that Wireless World site....that is excellent. Magazines dating back to the early 1900's. I'll check some of them out tomorrow, thanks.

What about acoustics, have you any good suggestions in that area? I peeked at your own site too, that wee outbuilding looks ideal for the work you do. I would love to build something like that one day, already have the practical build-skills for it but really would like to learn more about the way sound works in a room, rather than just knowing to put bass traps in corners and panels at mirror points etc.

[James Perrett]

What about acoustics, have you any good suggestions in that area? I peeked at your own site too, that wee outbuilding looks ideal for the work you do. I would love to build something like that one day, already have the practical build-skills for it but really would like to learn more about the way sound works in a room, rather than just knowing to put bass traps in corners and panels at mirror points etc.

I'm hoping that others might be able to chime in with some acoustics books as I don't have as much personal experience with them though I actually found some of the BBC technical papers to be very useful when building my studio - the name G.D. Plumb sticks in my mind for some reason. I also had some very useful advice and tips from Max (Studio Support Gnome). And I had also read quite a few articles by Phillip Newell in Studio Sound over the years (which are also available at the World Radio History site).

[DanDan]

The Master Handbook of Acoustics by Alton Everest is THE BIBLE. Written without diminishing the Science, with a passion to share with the newbie. That said I still use it for Reference. Aunty of course published all her R&D https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/arc ... actice.pdf

[The Culprit]

I'm hoping that others might be able to chime in with some acoustics books as I don't have as much personal experience with them though I actually found some of the BBC technical papers to be very useful when building my studio - the name G.D. Plumb sticks in my mind for some reason. I also had some very useful advice and tips from Max (Studio Support Gnome). And I had also read quite a few articles by Phillip Newell in Studio Sound over the years (which are also available at the World Radio History site).

Cool some useful pointers there for reference at a respectable hour. Thanks James appreciated.

The Master Handbook of Acoustics by Alton Everest is THE BIBLE. Written without diminishing the Science, with a passion to share with the newbie. That said I still use it for Reference. Aunty of course published all her R&D https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/arc ... actice.pdf

This sounds like the one one I'm looking for Dan, again I'll check this out tomorrow. Cheers mate.

[Hugh Robjohns]

My first issue is the requirement of a good knowledge of complex numbers.

I haven't actively used complex numbers since my university days. It's worth having a handle on the concept, of course, as they are floating around in all aspects of engineering, but unless you're designing stuff from scratch and need to do the fundamental maths you'll probably never actually use them in earnest.

I'd second the recommendation of the Master Handbook of Acoustics. Expensive and hefty, but still the bible on the topic.

[The Culprit]

I haven't actively used complex numbers since my university days. It's worth having a handle on the concept, of course, as they are floating around in all aspects of engineering, but unless you're designing stuff from scratch and need to do the fundamental maths you'll probably never actually use them in earnest.

I'd second the recommendation of the Master Handbook of Acoustics. Expensive and hefty, but still the bible on the topic.

Cheers Hugh, I'll maybe revisit complex numbers down the line, if the situation demands it. Think it's a case of putting in the graft rather than any sort of quick hack to get around it!

That Everest book is now on my list, along with the other suggestions from the kind folk above you in the thread

[Drew Stephenson]

Just a third for the Master Handbook of Acoustics.
Though I bought it on Hugh's recommendation so I'm not sure if that counts more or less?

[Hugh Robjohns]

The fact that you didn't send it back is probably more meaningful!

[The Culprit]

It as only a matter of time till the aggro started

[Drew Stephenson]

The fact that you didn't send it back is probably more meaningful!

On my reference shelf with post-its sticking out.

[Funkyflash5]

Any idea if there's much of a difference between 5th and 6th editions of the Master Handbook of Acoustics? I can get the 5th edition right away for half as much as the 6th, but I'd put the 6th on my watchlist if it's a major update.

[Hugh Robjohns]

The Seventh edition is due in October, so it might be wise to continue saving for a few month and buy that.

I think the 6th edition added more on home studio acoustics and construction, but that's hearsay rather than based on a hands-on review.

I still rely on the 4th edition here...

[Mixedup]

Any general content to do with room acoustics, electronics in music, microphone design...anything geeky like that.

It's a big topic... the list could be endless... and I'll hold up my hands and say that while I've read a lot I'm crap at this stuff in practice

But, as well as the other recommendations above...

Richard Brice's books are a great way to dive into a broad cross-section of audio gear.

And Douglas Self's Small Signal Audio Design is essential reading

And some reading up on both power-supply design and filtering is probably a good idea too, if you've not gone there already.

[The Culprit]

It's a big topic... the list could be endless... and I'll hold up my hands and say that while I've read a lot I'm crap at this stuff in practice

Haha yeah I get that, it's a pretty extensive warren

Acoustics is probably my main pursuit the now, would like to be ready for if I ever find the means to build a wee studio. That said those Richard Brice books do look excellent, they are definitely on the list.

Thanks to all of you for your help

[merlyn]

My first issue is the requirement of a good knowledge of complex numbers. After an hour or so on YouTube I've come to realise that I must not have been in that day at school 20-odd years ago

If you've got some spare time you could learn complex numbers and how they apply to waves. If you learn this you will have a good understanding of phase. At the very least this will mean you can have a laugh at some of the questions about phase, like "How do I get the bass in phase with the drums"

If complex numbers were covered at your school it would be the arithmetic and algebra of complex numbers, which is a necessary background, but it's not obvious how that relates to waves. That's more advanced and is in this equation :


A complex number can represent a sinusoid, and when doing this the vector in the complex plane is called a phasor :



By Gonfer at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.p ... d=11313700

Learning how complex numbers relate to waves would be relevant to acoustics because you can use the e^i*theta notation for sound waves. Phase angle now makes sense because it's the angle between phasors as can be seen here with three phasors producing three sinusoids with different amplitudes and phases :



By Gonfer - en wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7026837

Learn this and be forever entertained by the endless questions about phase.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Nice graphics!

[The Culprit]

My first issue is the requirement of a good knowledge of complex numbers. After an hour or so on YouTube I've come to realise that I must not have been in that day at school 20-odd years ago

If you've got some spare time you could learn complex numbers and how they apply to waves. If you learn this you will have a good understanding of phase. At the very least this will mean you can have a laugh at some of the questions about phase, like "How do I get the bass in phase with the drums"

If complex numbers were covered at your school it would be the arithmetic and algebra of complex numbers, which is a necessary background, but it's not obvious how that relates to waves. That's more advanced and is in this equation :


A complex number can represent a sinusoid, and when doing this the vector in the complex plane is called a phasor :



By Gonfer at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.p ... d=11313700

Learning how complex numbers relate to waves would be relevant to acoustics because you can use the e^i*theta notation for sound waves. Phase angle now makes sense because it's the angle between phasors as can be seen here with three phasors producing three sinusoids with different amplitudes and phases :



By Gonfer - en wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7026837

Learn this and be forever entertained by the endless questions about phase.

Wow this is...complex

Thanks for taking the time to post this, excellent reference point to be aware of