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Rating: 
Summary: excellent introduction to mastering
Review: Craig Anderton has been writing on home recording technology for years, and his knowledge and writing ability are well respected within the home recording industry. I found this book useful because, as a self-producing musician, I master my own recordings. For example, I realize now that I should have compressed a bass line on one of my songs on my last CD. Craig's explanation of mastering is at his usual high level, i.e., clear, concise, and logically organized. My sole complaint about this book is that the font and page size is HUGE, as if the intended audience was senior citizens. It would have been better to use a regular font and a smaller page size, so that the book size would have been smaller, and the book's price would have been cheaper.
Rating: 
Summary: Too small and basic
Review: Despite the price, this book is tiny. It is only 41 pages and has an insultingly large typreace. This would be a great book for about $.... It is more like a children's coloring book. For anyone who has ever used audio software, bypass this book. The information is very basic. Opening a plug-in and playing with different parameters will provide more information and knowledge than is offered in this book. Quoted directly from page 21, "If the bass isn't loud enough, boost the low frequencies." Or from page 24, "Compare your work with something that sounds great, and come as close as you can." Thanks for the insight. This is a perfect example of he perils of buying a product via the internet. If I had seen the book in a retail store, I could have passed and found a book more suitable fo me. This may be a good introduction for someone who's never done any audio work but it doesn't justify a $... pricetag. It should be a low priced pocketbook, at best.
Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners
Review: If you've never mastered any audio before and want to know what it is, this book will give you a great start. The best part of the book are the audio files. Mr. Anderton takes one of his songs through the mastering process step-by-step. After each step is a separate audio file so you can hear the difference each step made. If you already have audio editing software, you can try to duplicate what he's done to make it a more hands-on book. The next best thing about this book are the references to software out there that are available for beginners. iZotope's Ozone, for example, is a standout. I only have two gripes. The first is the song used for mastering is techno and I'm more of a hard rock guy. Of course this is very subjective. The other gripe is the exact setting on some of the mastering steps wasn't specified. This would've made it easier to try and duplicate the steps. Overall, I highly recommend it to those wanting to start with audio mastering.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the beef?
Review: It's basic. No, I mean *really* basic. I'm not sure who the target audience for this book is. Maybe folks who might be mastering an audio project, but who don't know what the audio spectrum is, or how parametric equalization works, or exactly what a compressor is. To be fair, it does bill itself as "The
absolute beginners guide...", but frankly I have a hard time understanding how anyone could get to the point where they have a CD to master without a better understanding of audio concepts than this book gives. I read the whole thing (48 pages) in one sitting, without straining, and did get a few tidbits that will help me, but in my opinion it largely missed the mark. The whole book might make a good basis for a chapter in an absolute beginner's guide to digital recording. I know Craig Anderton can do better than this. Wishing I'd bought something else...
Rating:
Summary: Missed the Target
Review: It's basic. No, I mean *really* basic. I'm not sure who the target audience for this book is. Maybe folks who might be mastering an audio project, but who don't know what the audio spectrum is, or how parametric equalization works, or exactly what a compressor is. To be fair, it does bill itself as "The
absolute beginners guide...", but frankly I have a hard time understanding how anyone could get to the point where they have a CD to master without a better understanding of audio concepts than this book gives. I read the whole thing (48 pages) in one sitting, without straining, and did get a few tidbits that will help me, but in my opinion it largely missed the mark. The whole book might make a good basis for a chapter in an absolute beginner's guide to digital recording. I know Craig Anderton can do better than this. Wishing I'd bought something else...
Rating:
Summary: Where is the beef?
Review: This book from cover to cover is no more than what an introduction would be. I did not find anything in this book that taught me one thing beyond the most basic information there is. I find it insulting the author thinks he has offered something useful to the readers. I use it as a place mat, it is the most valuable use for it.
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