5 comments about On the Sensations of Tone.

1. Helmholtz's Sensations of Tone became an almost instant classic in the study of hearing when it was published in 1863. It combined the physics, physiology and psychological aspects of hearing in an attempt to explain the origins of musical harmony and dissonance. Though not easy reading, it is accessible to the non-specialist. However it also provides an important historical resource for the specialist and helps one to understand the origins of so much of contemporary hearing research. Indeed, in many ways Helmholtz reads more like a contemporary than a long-past founding father. The appendices provided by the translator are helpful as well. Finally, the inexpensive paperback edition from Dover makes this book an excellent bargain.



2. This is worthwhile for the reasons already cited (so I need not rehearse them), but it is important to recognize that much of it has been superceded or disproved. I hope those prospective purchasers who have found their way here are aware of Juan Roederer's THE PHYSICS AND PSYCHOPHISICS OF MUSIC--very much recommended!



3. I found two misprints:

   Page 412, last equation on that page, x_2 = -b/(2a). ... : On the right-hand side, there are five terms. Terms number 2 to 5 have to be multiplied by b. In term number 3, replace u^2 by v^2.

   Page 417, second of the two equations, r_p = 16 B' B" . ... : The second of the two brackets in the denominator must be squared.

   These two misprints occur also in the German original, possibly since 1863.




4. This book is of historical interest only, I think; it's very well written, but a lot of its content is mind bogglingly outdated, ancient. If you need a readable quick intro into sound, read Jeans's book (the first part of it is updated Helmholtz). Then, if you still need to (as in "know specifically what I'm after and it can be found only in Helmholtz"), you can pick this book; but otherwise, resorting to modern literature will be a much better investment of your time.



5. Part 1 discusses how tones may be perceived as built up by the base tone and the "harmonic upper partial tones". These upper partial tones are what distinguishes different instruments and they determine the "quality of the tone"; e.g. "if only the unevenly numbered partials are present ... the quality of the tone is hollow, and, when a large number of such upper partials are present, nasal", etc. (p. 119). Helmholtz's model of the ear has it that there is a spectrum of hairs in the ear, each with its own mode of vibration. When we hear a tone it is decomposed into its partials through "sympathetic resonance" of the corresponding hairs, and it is this information--i.e. essentially Fourier coefficients--that is sent to the brain. Part 2 discusses the theory of consonance. Again, the Fourier analysis point of view is the key. The consonance or dissonance of two tones is determined by the interaction of the partials of the tones, giving mathematical precision to the idea that "two consonant tones flow on quietly side by side in an undisturbed stream; dissonant tones cut one another up into separate pulses of tone" (p. 226). Thus one can claim that "ultimately, then, the reason of the rational numerical relations of Pythagoras is to be found in the theorem of Fourier, and in one sense this theorem may be considered as the prime source of the theory of harmony" and so "the enigma which, about 2500 years ago, Pythagoras proposed to science ... 'Why is consonance determined by the ratios of small whole numbers?' has been solved by the discovery that the ear resolves all complex sounds into pendular oscillations ... and that it regards as harmonious only such excitement of the nerves as continue without disturbance" (p. 229). Part 3 studies scales; quoting from the conclusion: "the construction of scales ... is a product of artistic invention, and by no means furnished by the natural formation or the natural function of our ear, as it has been hitherto most generally asserted. Of course the laws of the natural function of our ear play a great and influential part in this result; these laws are, as it were, the building stones with which the edifice of our musical system has been erected, and the necessity of accurately understanding the nature of these materials in order to understand the construction of the edifice itself, has been clearly shewn by the course of our investigations upon this very subject. But just as people with differently directed tastes can erect extremely different kinds of buildings with the same stones, so also the history of music shews us that the same properties of the human ear could serve as the foundation of very different musical systems." (p. 366).

3 comments about How To Make A Noise.

1. I reviewed this book for Wusik Sound Magazine issue 017.
   
   Having read a plethora of synth programming manuals, I am absolutely certain that this is the best of the class.
   
   Do not make the mistake of considering this to be another synthesizer programming manual; rather, it is THE synthesizer programming manual. It's complete and detailed coverage of synthesizer components and synthesis methods will make it the de-facto standard for every book in this category.
   
   Rather than waste time on tech speak or complex calculations about the intangible things going on under of the hood of various synths, the book focuses on using the controls provided on a synth to get the sound you want. For example, when explaining filters, the book explains how to use the controls to craft your sound instead of explaining the mathematics governing the controls.
   
   No matter what your expertise level, this book has something to offer. I highly recommend it.



2. So I just received my copy of this book and was very disappointed to find out that many of the examples in this book were created on 6 different software synths - Cameleon 5000, Rhino, Surge, Vanguard, Wusikstation and Z3TA+. While several of these are available as demo versions, the main synth that is used throughout the book for examples, the Z3TA+ is for PC only. That leaves me, a Mac user S.O.L.! The author seems to believe that it's not absolutely necessary to have his tools in order to try out some of the ideas. I completely disagree!! First, when I buy a book, I read the entire book, learn the entire book and come away with a new set of tools, I'm not really interested in learning SOME stuff. Second, some of the examples in this book use parameters from the various synths above that do not exist in any of my software synths. I have Absynth, FM8, Massive, Thor and Subtractor. For example, in the making a kick drum section, the book tells you to tweak the 'slope' setting of the envelope - this is an extra feature of the Z3TA+ envelopes. Instead of ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release), it has DASDSR (delay, attack, slope, decay, sustain, release). Many software synths do not have these additional envelope settings - so right away, I am not getting the same sound as the book when trying to follow the kick drum example. Another instance in this same kick drum tutorial is the use of the "Pitch EG" setting. Since again, this is a feature of the Z3TA+, I have no idea what this parameter is but if I'm trying to learn how to make sounds, I need to know ALL the parameters I am tweaking and why so that I can use what I learn in the real world on any synth. Over and over again, this book refers to the above software synths when giving examples, many times asking you to tweak parameters that are exclusive to those synths. So how am I going to learn? I have no intention of trying to follow the examples in the book on a demo version that times out after 15 minutes. Quick! Quick! Change those parameters before the program quits - and once you open it again, you won't be able to go back to what you've just done because you can't save anything in a demo version.
   
   Which brings me to another point, I have a decent computer that I use for music and I'm extremely careful about what I put on it. Downloading demos from a company I've never heard of, is something I would NEVER do.
   
   Another minus for me - the author offers sonic examples of the sounds he makes in the book for a purchase price of an additional $10! I'm sorry but if I'm buying your book, I think you might be decent enough to give me the sounds for free. As in the excellent Power Tools for Reason (Kurt Kuraysaki) book, where you not only get the patches/audio files needed for free on a CD, but you also get templates and a whole host of other very useful tools to assist in the examples in the book and for use on future projects. So between not being willing to use demos and not having the additional $10 soundfiles, I'll be fairly lucky to take away 25% of what this book is trying to convey.
   
   NOTE: There should be a sub heading somewhere with the description of this book on Amazon that makes it clear that most of the practical examples in this book are directely related to 6 specific software synths.
   
   So - if you own a PC, don't mind going to 6 different websites, downloading 6 synth demos (that last anywhere from between 15-30 minutes before timing out), that don't allow you to save what you've just created and are willing to spend an additional $10 so you can make sense of the examples in this book - then this is the one for you!!!
   
   If you're looking for an indepth guide that explains sound design on a synth with the usual parameters, 3 or more oscillators, 2 or more modulation envelopes (that are standard ADSR), a couple of filters and traditional raw waveforms, not custom waveforms that are exclusive to the abovementioned synths used for some of the demos - then this book is not for you.



3. This book is straight down to business. By page 6 I knew that I had my hands on something informative and intuitive - in fact on page 6 you are already making sounds (albeit simple). The complexity of the science behind making sounds that are usable is spelt out in plain english - without the fluff that I've found in some other books of similar shapes and sizes.
   
   Every one of the 277 pages are filled with usable knowledge that you could apply to just about any genre. In my opinion, Simon Cann has written a book on sound generation acrobatics! pure gold!
   
   The only thing that shocked me as soon as I opened the book was that it recommended spending $10 US to download the patches that accompany the material in the book. Because I'm stingy, I decided not to buy them, but I've found programming them myself more educational and fun. I also have the flexibility of learning all of the techniques in my favourite synths so that I can start to recognise the different colours that each delivers when programmed in similar fashions.
   
   I would recommend perhaps for the beginner to download the patches as it will save a lot of time in deciphering the interface on the synths, but the book is most definately complete without the patches.
   
   If you are a dance music producer, either in a project studio, home studio, or a composer(DnB, House, Pop, anything that needs original synth sounds), then this book is compulsory reading - and money well spent, because you can read it over and over, because I believe (like any great piece of art) you'll get something new out of it every time.
   
   There are no diversions in the book - meaning every word is 100% relevant to sound design.
   
   I've paid $60-$100 for far less useful books on sound engineering and design.
   
   Learn how to make the sound you hear in your head by understanding how sounds interact through structured listening and exercises.
   
   Thank you Simon Cann.
   
   
   

5 comments about Producing Great Sound for Digital Video.

1. Audio is really important, and this book will make sure you get incredible sound at every shoot. I really recommend this book!



2. This book is a top shelf resource. It is useful to both novices and those with more experience. Starting with the very basics, and that does involve some physics, it works its way through virtually all aspects of sound production for digital video.
   
   Do not be fooled. You are not going to learn much to improve the built in recording that comes with your camera. The author is unapologetic in his broad condemantion of the built-in stuff in terms of both quality and usablility. He goes into the reasons and gives a bit of advice on making the most of what you have but this is not what the book is about. Instead, it is about exactly what the title claims. Unfortunately, this is seldom if ever achieved with the built in stuff.
   
   After going over some of the basics of sound and recording, different types of equipment are described in terms of suitability to task and cost. After that, the actual use of this equipment is considered in a variety of situations. The book is not just concerned with equipment and its use, however. There are chapters on editing and even on the use of prefessional talent. In short, the assumption is that you want to get good quality audio for your video production. The author then describes how to do exactly that in a variety of settings. Unfortuately, doing the job sometimes takes a bit more effort than just pushing the record button on the camera. It also take a bit more money although it does not have to take a great deal more. It depends on what type of sound is needed and how you are going to use it.
   
   If all you want is to catch the background sound in a home video, spend your money on something else. If you want to learn how to get the best possible sound for your particular need and preserve that sound to use with video, you need this book.



3. I've often been taken in by large reference books that promise to be a comprehensive guide to a subject, but turn out to be a lot of filler (screen shots of PC applications, or an excuse for the author to give lots of less-than-useful anectodal stories, etc.)
   
   Not so with Jay Rose's 'Producing Great Sound for Digital Video' book. This informative guide covers a lot of ground, including sound theory, equipment explanations and use, and techniques for sound production including NLE tips, audio mixing, mic use etc. The great thing about this book is it is written with the expectation that your sound production values should be professional, but it's still accessible to hobbyists and those on a budget.
   
   While I think novices to the field of sound engineering (like myself) probably benefit most from this work, I think a lot of the material here is useful to the video production community as a whole. I learned a lot from this, great work.



4. Where do I start? In a nutshell, this book *IS* the only book to have on sound if your only buying one. No lie. My background... 20 years ago I used to be the "The Amp Dr" fixing commercial PA systems, amps, etc. I have a much better background on sound than most, I was an electrical engineer after that, designing power supplies, and other analog interfaces to digital equipment. Most of that has been dormant for the last 20 years, but I recently decided to make documentaries, and as two of my first projects deal with music, sound seemed pretty important. I got several books on sound, I figure buy six, one has to be good. You can save your money, this book was the one in six.
   
   Knowing audio but NOT audio for video, one of the most important things I discovered is that a professional quality product (video) can only be made with good sound.. If you think you $2 -$10K pro-sumer camera is going to deliver it with the standard mic turn on "auto level", you're really wrong. Half of good sound is the absence of sound, or at least the absence of unintended sound. Insuring good sound is more work than it sounds, but the quality and impact of what I am shooting now is significantly better than before. Otherwise, its' all like home videos, maybe pretty shots and cleverly edited, but still seems like home videos. It all becomes much clearer after reading this book.
   
   When I picked up this book, it was a mental orgasm. Not only does this guy know his stuff, even more importantly, he knows how to communicate it. The way it was written, I was easily able to skip over the stuff I didn't want to review, and go straight for the meat. It is meaty. Almost EVERYTHING I wanted to know was here. I did end up going back just to see how he explained the basics.. great! One of the things I liked about his style, is some authors will tell you something is bad or wrong, with no explanation.. Jay give you good examples.. the CD recording with the book is worth it's weight in , he give examples of proper recording and bad recording (with explanations). You can actually hear it as oppose to read an explanation and take it on faith. Borrow money if you have too.. but buy it.
   
   My message to Jay:
   If you read this Jay, I have a few requests. (1) Don't let this book go out of date. Please do you SNR and distortion measurements on some of the new HD cameras. Given the bit resolution is now even less with HDV (12 bits (HDV) vs 16 bits (DV)), I think dual systems are even more important to cover in greater detail. (2) Update with some of the new digital recorders that are replacing DATs (3) Thanks for a great book!



5. for anyone that wants to have a professional approach to digital video this is a good book.

No comments about The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction.

5 comments about Mastering Music at Home.

1. I love this book! Even though I don't plan on mastering my own epics, just reading through the how's, why's and interviews with the name players in this book, makes me look at my tracking and mixing in a much different way. If I can make better tracks to start with using the techniques gleaned from this book, then the true masters (or masterettes) will have an easier and hopefully more dynamic time when working with my songs.



2. Whether you want to learn to master your home recordings or not, this book is a must-have for any home studio. The information in this book will give you a good understanding of just what mastering entails which can translate into you making better recordings in the first place, so you would benefit even if you ultimately have your recordings professionally mastered. However, the focus of the book is to help you to learn to master recordings yourself!
   
   Author Mitch Gallagher manages to demystify much of the art of mastering. He has a knack for presenting technical information into laymen's terms in a way that does not water it down. His writing style keeps it interesting too, which is a neat trick for so technical a subject.
   
   There are interviews with pro mastering folks loaded with insight and tips. But not only do you get to read about these tips and techniques, but you get to hear them to! The included CD contains samples of music these folks have mastered. Even more cool, the pre-mastered songs are also included, so you can hear the difference. Plus, you can try to master these tracks yourself and see how close to the pro masters you can get them to sound!
   
   There's even a section on Separations Mastering, where groups of tracks (e.g. guitars, bass, drums, vocals) are mastered individually before summing. It's a very flexible technique, and Mitch interviews the premier pioneer of it, John Vestman. The CD contains a sample of a track done with Separations Mastering along with the raw separation tracks for you to practice on.
   
   Regardless if you want to master tracks at home or just improve your home recordings, this book will give you a great understanding of what mastering is, and what can and can't be done with it. And it manages to do this in an easy-to-read style that is both informative and enjoyable.



3. this book clearly defines basic mastering techniques such as compression, equalization, etc, along with some general methodology for each. the interviews with well-known mastering engineers are also helpful.



4. This book is clearly for the practicing musician and home studio owner who wishes to take to make their mixes sound more like a record.
   
   Mitch Gallager explains mastering in a really easy way using understable terms. He actually lists the process in the first chapters - unlike many other mastering books which scatter them around in the text: Editing song head and tails, Correcting and enhancing the frequency balance, Applying compression, placing the album's songs in the best order, Adjusting relative volume levels between songs, Maximizing the overall volume levels, etc.
   
   He then goes explaining the basics of sound - just enough to understand the principles and what gear to use; both hardware and software. What I really liked was the list of both audio editors and DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations - like Pro Tools or Cubase) to choose from and the way he so easily describes the advantages of each of these in just a few paragraphs. He also lists different types of plug-ins to be used when doing mastering, albeit the list is by no means exhaustive.
   
   There is a couple of very interesting chapters on separation mastering which might be worth the book price alone. In separation mastering you are creating 4 stereo tracks: Drums, Bass, Vocal and the rest of the instruments. Hence it is easier to avoid the compromises you need when just using a stereo track - like when de-essing the vocals which also will affect the cymbals. When using separation mastering you can simply apply the de-essing on just the vocal stereo track. The author interviews the two people who defined this idea. I'm absolutely going to try this one out! Separation mastering is best handled inside the DAW - which means a working in a already comfortable workspace.
   
   There are a total of 5 interviews of mastering engineers in the book. I found these quite valuable as they had a lot tips, tricks and secrets to reveal - mostly on the process. The final master is also explained along with using the ISRC code to identify your music digitally.
   
   Now, there is only one chapter (chapter 10) which explains the nitty gritty of mastering. And it is only 18 pages long. Granted, mastering is an art and it is hard to give a precise list of what to do, where to apply EQ, compression and soforth, but a few more examples wouldn't go amiss.
   
   Nevertheless, this is an excellent buy if you want to learn more about mastering music and to improve your mixes. You won't become a pro mastering engineer after reading this (obviously you need to practice!), but you will probably cover the ground inbetween professionally mastered records and no mastering at all. And that's a start.



5. Unless you have ZERO background in sound reenforcement, live sound, or home/studio recording, this book will provide no information of value to you. It's also poorly organized and indexed and doesn't provide the reader with easily navigable and usable content.
   
   It's like being in the room with someone who knows a little more than you, theoretically, but has no practical wisdom to impart that can specifically help you in any given situation... and who won't shut up.
   
   You have to read every word of the guy's book to get even the smallest bit of information.
   
   I recommend the Hirsch and Heithecker book.

5 comments about Building Valve Amplifiers.

1. I'm dissapointed with the book as it does not give us enough information on holistic aspects of Tube Amp building as it contain too much of unnecessary basic information and pictures. I think it's good for an overview for valve amp building theory but not practical.



2. 
   It is a good book directed to beginners. You will find there many advices on how to plan an amp lay out and hints on metal working.
   Don't expect to find there math based circuit analysis for the advanced experimenter.



3. This guy builds beautiful one-off tube amps. Amazing. The section on suspending the first stages of a tube amp to reduce microphonics using the elastics from you knickers pays for the book, right down to the calculation of the required mass for the circuit. I think everyone who want to build tube circuits will find some wacky techniques of interest.
   
   The book has nothing to do with tube amp theory. It's all about how to make a chassis with the required holes, wiring, grounding, etc.
   
   Lovely.



4. This book does give hints about proper consruction techniques but it is NOT about building a complete amplifier of any sort. It would be a good book to have on the shelf; it is not the first one to buy.



5. For your own good, don't take the advice of people saying that this book is "great for beginners" etc. A background in electronics will help you, but an understanding of general amplifier design, practices and layout is assumed by the author and this book may be over your head at parts otherwise. Also, the author is british, so he'll write something like HT and you may not know that that means high tension which is britspeak for high voltage.
   
   Also, I was hoping to get a solid guide on circuit design as well as amplifier construction and layout, but the circuit design is almost completely absent. Perhaps this is too much to ask for... after all it's "Building Valve Amplifiers" not "Designing Valve Amplifiers." If you want to design and build an amp, this book is only the second half of the solution.
   
   With that said, it is probably one of the best resources once you reach the build phase of your project. The author gives numerous valuable tips to avoid humming, distortion, shocks, and all other negativities that can occur with tube amps.

5 comments about The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret.

1. This is an excellent book. I bought it hoping it would give me (a retired electrical engineer with more than a dozen patents) some understanding of the telephone's genesis, which I knew to be a complicated tale with claims that Bell didn't deserve the credit. Frankly I was hoping for a good story and Shulman delivers. He lays out the twists and turns of this story in a remarkably clear narrative, but this is not just another retelling of the telephone story.
   
   Shulman started working on this book only because he made a startling discovery in Bell's lab notebooks. He found that Bell's sketch of his first (functioning) telephone transmitter was nearly identical to a sketch drawn by Elisha Gray in his (supposedly) secret filing with patent office a month earlier. And even more suspiciously Bell had drawn the sketch in his notebook just days after returning from Washington where he had conferred with his patent lawyers and the patent examiner. Shulman has researched in depth if, how, who, and why fraud was committed in the patenting of the telephone, with close attention to how things were later explained in court depositions and testimony. The picture Shulman draws is very convincing that major hanky panky (fraud) occurred in Bell's patenting of the telephone. Shulman lays out the case that Bell had a strong motive (love first, money second) to go along with the fraud, even though he many not have initiated it, and as Shulman argues, his shame and need to conceal his use of Gray's idea nicely explains many of his later actions that have always been puzzling. It all hangs together very well. The case for patent fraud is overwhelming, and Shulman draws the appropriate conclusions.
   
   So is Bell essentially just a crook who stole Gray's design and deserves no credit? Well it's easy to jump to this conclusion after reading this book, but there's another side to this story. For starters read the Wikipedia article: 'Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell Telephone Controversy'. It explains, based on facts fully consistent with Shulman's book, why (in their opinion) Bell did not steal Gray's invention. My opinion, after reading Bell's patents, researching the design of the first US telephones, and doing some reading of Bell's notebooks (available online from the Library of Congress) is that while it appears that Bell stole Gray's idea in the legal sense (via patent fraud), he didn't steal it in the engineering sense.
   
   The undisputed fact is that Bell and his partners started the telephone business in the US with a Bell designed electromagnetic telephone. By modern standards it was primitive (weak, distorted, and only good for 10-20 miles or so), and it lasted in the marketplace less than two years before being replaced by a telephone much closer to modern phones with a variable resistance carbon transmitter. On the other hand the Bell design was simple (it was a combo receiver/transmitter), easy to manufacture, and most importantly it worked well enough so that thousands of people put down their money to buy or rent one.
   
   Note Bell's electromagnetic telephone design was indisputably his own design. It had nothing to do with the famous seven (disputed) paragraphs written in the patent margin, which described the concept of a variable resistance transmitter. The variable resistance transmitter required another year of development work (by Edison, Blake and others) and was not introduced into the market (by Western Electric) until about a year after Bell's phone business began.
   
   So did Bell 'invent' the telephone? The early phone (and associated telephone exchanges) were the work of Bell, Edison, Blake, and others, but Bell by using a simple, low performance design of his own was able to get to market a year ahead of his competitors and get the US telephone business off the ground. So if there is to be a 'single' inventor, Bell (by virtue of his being first) is the inventor of the telephone.



2. What an interesting story! And how dismaying it is to read how the honorable Alexander Graham Bell compromised himself, and then managed to suppress the truth from his mind in order to enjoy the fruits of his actions. He was in love with the daughter of a powerful lawyer, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who saw the opportunity to achieve his own agenda by using Bell's invention. Bell was a teacher of the deaf and knew acoustics. He recognized that "undulating currents" were the key to carrying voice via electrical circuits, but did not know how to implement it until he saw a sketch by Elisha Gray, made available to him surreptitiously by the nefarious manipulations of his mentor and future father-in-law, Hubbard. Seth Shulman takes us along in his personal experiences in pursuing the facts, which lead inexorably to the conclusion which he did not want to believe -- that Bell had stolen the basic method of creating a telephone and received the most valuable patent of all time. In fact, Shulman shows that Philipp Reis in Germany had a working telephone in 1863, thirteen years before March 10, 1876, when the story of legend has it that Thomas Watson heard Bell's voice in the first telephone call. I recommend that you join Shulman in his personal adventure and read this most interesting story.



3. The more ridiculous the conspiracy theory, the more people buy into it. The real coverup is not Bell's but the author's. He selectively omits or downplays the following facts: 1) Elisha Gray did NOT file a patent application for the telephone--the same day or ever. A patent application--such as Bell's--was for a completed invention. What Gray filed was a "caveat," a description of a concept that had not yet resulted in an invention. Caveats are no longer permitted and ignorance of the difference between the two types of documents plays into author Shulman's hands. 2) Gray himself long made no claim that he invented the telephone. In fact, he wrote a congratulatory letter to Bell stating that a "mere idea" should not be "dignified with the name invention." 3) All Gray really claimed--long afterwards--was that Bell had improved upon the telephone by borrowing Gray's idea of using acidified water in the transmitter. But Bell had already been experimenting with acidified water and had described its use in a multiple telegraph patent description a year earlier. 4) Bell never used acidified water--the only idea Gray actually claimed was stolen--in his patent application, his 1876 public demonstrations, or his 1877 commercial telephones. So what was "stolen"? All American heroes have had their faults, but creating artificial scandals that libel them posthumously is reprehensible.



4. The central thesis of this book - that Bell stole the intellectual property needed to complete the telephone, was thoroughly destroyed in the review in the Spring / Summer issue of American Heritage magazine by another of Bell's biographers and a physicist who has written on early telephones.
   
   They make two points. First, the central piece of evidence was manufactured for use by the Pan-Electric company, which had corrupted key members of Congress and the Cleveland Administration. These issues were litigated and rejected by courts during Bell's life time, and are not new. Next, the document that Bell supposedly copied dealt with an irrelevant technology that ultimately was never used in the final product.



5. Shulman presents a compelling case for revisiting Alexander Graham Bell's claim as the "inventor" of the telephone. Granted, today "Ma Gray" just doesn't have the same ring(tone), and Shulman's evidence may raise as many questions as it answers. Nevertheless, this is a fascinating read, and Shulman has done more than a modicum of "homework" on the subject. If you've ever been tempted to think history boring, you haven't read this page-turner.

2 comments about Automating with STEP 7 in LAD and FBD: SIMATIC S7-300/400 Programmable Controllers.

1. Anyone involved with exploring the world of Step7 would do well with this book.
   I have been involved with PLC technology since 1979 and even today there are too few available reference manuals.
   Franky I am disappointed with the Step 7 products particularly the software. I find it primitive in many ways and much more difficult to use than it needs to be.
   Programmers should spend their time solving automation problems not struggling with the intracacies and peculiarities of the platform.
   If you program with Step 7 or plan to, this book will save you a lot of headaches since little in Step 7 is as intuitive as Allen Bradley or Modicon.



2. I found this technical book only in the amazon web site. then i bought immediately it. the book arrived fast at my home. but more fast of the prevision time, and with a good package.
   
   thanks Amazon.

5 comments about Introductory Guide to High-Performance Audio Systems: Stereo - Surround Sound - Home Theater.

1. This is a very good book on explaning equipment options and definitions of new audio terms. However, quite redundent.



2. The author does a very credible job at covering the universe of high-end audio. It's a very good companion to the first book which was geared towards experienced audiophiles. This book is designed to be more of an introductory 'course' to music lovers who may not yet be 'hooked' on the joys and frustrations that come with the hobby but it does include sufficient new or different thoughts and comments so as to appeal to more experienced audiophiles as well. Whether you start with this volume or Harley's first and more in-depth book, if you love music and have not experienced high-end audio - get one of the books, read it - get some great stereo gear (and the books guide you in how to choose)and dive into your favorite recordings. You'll discover great new sounds you may not have ever heard before.



3. The book is very informative, but can be used as guideline only.
   I will take it as " Dummy for Audio system "



4. I found that chapter 12 answered my questions on room design for optimal acoustics, and speaker placement. If you would like to gain audiophile knowledge this is definitely the book for you.



5. The author is very knowledgeable about audio and video systems. It is very helpful for people looking to buy an audio system. HIGHLY RECOMENDED!

5 comments about Architectural Acoustics (J. Ross Publishing Classics).

1. I'm a architecture student and I think this book is like a bible of acoustics in architecture. It brings detailed info for designing places with good acoustic performance whit various technics and for the most different type of places like a simple residential to auditoriums and concert rooms. I have other acoustics books (like William Cavanaugh's) and they always make mention to David Egan's book. If you're in search on books about architectural acoustics, I think that must be the first one to buy. It's a must have in any architect biblioteque.



2. I am an acoustical consultant... I have read a lot of books onarchitectural acoustics. I found this book unique of its kind. The concepts are introduced by plenty of figures and illustrations with informative text that make the discussed subject easy to read and comprehend especially by the architects. Writing on the figures and using checklists added a lot of understandibility. Also the text itself is informative and directly address the subject. In other words, the book is excellent and comprehensive.



3. Since first encountering Egan's text a little more than 20 years ago, I've continued to return to it for solid information. Complex material is presented in a way that allows me to apply it to unique conditions at hand. Some of the world-class acoustics consultants with which we've had the privilege to work rely on Egan to help communicate complex ideas. Without compromising too much real technical nuance, the ideas are so clearly communicated that I was able to offer the book to members of a church in eastern Europe working to improve the condition of their worship space.



4. Even after having collected and read quite a few of the modern textbooks on architectural acoustics, Egan's Architectural Acoustics (1988 hardback edition in my case) still stands as the most accessible first foray into the subject. I frequently use this book in my consulting practice when I need to illustrate a fundamental concept, such as sound isolation, auditorium shaping, or the basic acoustical conditions necessary to support various styles of music. Even though the binding has mechanically failed, I have not yet been able to bring myself to part with the book long enough to have it rebound. Perhaps the new softcover binding will actually hold up better to repeated reading, as this book will surely receive and deserve!



5. Over the years I have bought two text books on this difficult subject, and never could get past more than two chapters. In contrast, this book is both readable and extremely well organized with a summary of the main points at the end of each chapter. For any formulas used in the text, he defines the symbols along with the formula. No looking back to early chapters.
   
   Highly recommended.