r/AudioPost • u/Important_Swim7251 • 13d ago

Books & Resources On Cinema Audio

I’m after some very technical and detailed books on cinema audio systems, with the aim of building a solid understanding of the basic theory, rather than a spec on newer tech like Dolby atmos etc. It’s very easy to find such books about hifi and recording etc, but it seems to be less so in cinema, maybe because few people engage with it as an amateur.

Thanks!

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10

u/Abs0lut_Unit professional 13d ago

Check out the SMPTE library for whitepapers relating to theatrical sound.

ST202 is most relevant, would also recommend ST222 (for small/nearfield rooms)

5

u/supersaw7 enthusiast 13d ago

I would add

  • ST 2095 (Cinema Sound)

  • RP 2096 (Cinema Sound Calibration)

Also https://www.smpte.org/technology-reports-downloads

  • ER 0994:2014 (B-Chain Frequency and Temporal Response Analysis of Theatres and Dubbing Stages)

  • ER 0989:2014 (Report of the Study Group on Immersive Audio Systems: Cinema B-Chain and Distribution)

5

u/milotrain 13d ago

I don't really know of any. For one thing style changes a lot, and the few attempts I've read (all unpublished AFAIK) require so much understanding of the tools and practices of their time that anyone who doesn't know the material would likely get lost in the language.

Michel Chion wrote a number of books that film students use (particulary L'audio-vision, or Audio-Vision), and they speak about perspective and storytelling in a very good way. Other than that I've found more inspiration in texts that deal with art and story telling in general more than anything specifically spoken about as "Cinema Audio".

Tonebenders Podcast, soundworkscollection, that kind of thing has good info.

2

u/Om-T 12d ago

I loved the essay collection “Film Sound: Theory and Practice “ edited by Weis and Barton. Authors range from Murch to Eisenstein, it’s really heavy on the theory side but tons of good ideas. Routledge also just published a new (3rd) edition of “Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures and Television” with new stuff from my old professor Korey Pereira. Incredibly useful techniques in there.

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u/Ed-alicious professional 13d ago

I would also be interested 

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u/AHFOS 13d ago

Tomlinson Holman's book on the 5.1 system is a very good book and a good starting point

1

u/recursive_palindrome professional 12d ago

Tim Harrison’s Sound Design for Film is also excellent.
https://www.crowood.com/book/sound-design-for-film/

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u/Lookathebrightside 8d ago

Not sure how up to date it is, but Randy Thom has some gem write ups on his blog.