The Handbook of Recording Engineering is a logical outgrowth of the
first two editions of Sound Recording. The ten years since the first
edition have seen no slackening in the development of recording
technology, and they have wit- nessed an almost phenomenal growth in the
teaching of recording and audio engineering at all academic levels. The
earlier editions of Sound Recording have been widely used as texts at
all educational levels, and it is the author's intent in the Handbook of
Recording Engineering to produce a book which is even more suited to
these purposes. At the same time, the book has been organized as a true
handbook, which presents of reference material in easily accessible
form. a broad array The organization of the book is unique in that it
progresses as the signal transmission chain itself does-from the
recording venue on through the micro- phone, transmission channel, and
finally to the listening environment. The first six chapters thus form a
logical sequence, and the author recommends that in- structors using the
Handbook follow them accordingly. Chapter One presents a discussion of
acoustical fundamentals, including an introduction to some basic
psychoacoustical considerations having to do with performance spaces.
Chapter Two covers the basic operating principles of mi- crophones,
while Chapter Three extends the discussion of microphones to cover the
entire range of stereophonic imaging phenomena.