Quote:Original post by Jay Taylor
Hi.

Are there any good books on sound design out there anybody could recommend? For the beginner.

Have you tried the ones in the book section? There's over 20 of them on various audio topics.

http://www.gamedev.net/columns/books/books.asp?CategoryID=5

Quote:Originally posted by Kryzon
Meaning, it's full of [mostly] useless BS.
Where are the technique books?

Kryzon- What a moronic statement to make! The book is generic in the sense of certain very specific areas to game audio design for several reasons:

1) It would make the length of the book much, much longer than needed if the author choose to write a "how to" for every DAW application out there. Many times there are limitations set in place by the publisher and besides, many consumers get intimidated if they see a 800+ paged book.

2) It would leave out some users if he only supported a few applications. "Aw man, he only covers Logic Pro and I use Sonar! I guess I can't buy this book!" So instead of isolating some readers from the onset, he has chosen to make it more generalized and applicable to a wider range of readers.

3) A "how to" guide to sound design isn't the function or end goal of the book. It is an introduction and is meant to cover all kinds of disciplines and topics.

I'll have you know that this was the first book I read before starting my push towards making this dream job a reality. Many of the skills and lessons I learned from this book helped me reach this goal. Have you even read the book?

To everyone else: If you're wanting books that cover sound design then I suggest:

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

Exploring Sound Design for Interactive Media
by Joseph Cancellaro

A side note: reading a book on sound design isn't going to give you as much as if you just spend some time working with audio and plug-ins. Sure it is good to know the theory behind certain acoustic principles or what kinds of plug-ins to what do an audio file, but unless you can hear the difference.... then you're not really advancing your skills as an audio designer.

I would spend time taking sounds and applying an FX (or several) to it. See how many different sounds you can get out of it. Then try blending various sounds together. Have fun with it! Experiment or try to create a certain sound out of source files completely unrelated! Take out the audio of a trailer or scene of a video game or film and put in your own sound design. Then share it with the forum for feedback and ideas. These methods will help you grow so much faster than just reading a book alone. You have to be hands one to really learn and develop with audio- at least that is my take on things.

Thanks,

Nate

That is an EXCELLENT suggestion! I found the Ben Burtt commentary fascinating!

Nate