The Audio Theater Guide

This is a comprehensive guide to audio performance--radio, voice-overs, commercials, live theater, cartoons and more. Topics include microphone acting; vocal effects; writing scripts; manipulating emotions through sound; valuable tips for the director; a long list of sound effects and how to do them; and a series of commercials, scenes and sketches for practicing one's skills.

Expanded and revised to cover recent developments, this text should tell you what you need to know to become a better listener and buyer of quality high-fidelity components. New sections include: super audio CD; high-resolution audio on DVD; and single-ended amplifiers.

In 12 fact-filled chapters--covering everything from stereo to multichannel music to home theater--discover how to choose the best components for the money, how to match components fore the best sound, and how to set up and fine-tune a system for maximum performance.

Home theater is the union of big-screen television and surround sound. But how can an average person navigate the maze of audio/video technologies that go into a home theater system? For answers, turn to Mark Fleischmann's Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video and Audio Systems, now in its fourth edition, thoroughly revised and updated for 2005. The book weighs the pros and cons of new HDTV technologies including DLP, LCD, plasma, and tube-based sets. It explains the differences between Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, and other surround formats. And it covers all formats under the sun including DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, SACD, HDCD, MP3 -- and the thorny subject of copy protection. The book also explores often ignored topics such as buying a DTV antenna, power-line accessories, and cables. A richly detailed connections chapter tells how to hook up every component and how to solve common problems. By knowledgably guiding readers through the briar patch of video and audio technology, Practical Home Theater has become the standard reference work for home theater buffs. Future annual editions will continue to track changes in home theater technology.

Verbal descriptions of life have been around for centuries, but the digital age has made access to those descriptions even more important. Dr. Joel Snyder, an audio description pioneer, has created a book and website offering the first overview of the field, including its history, application to a range of genres, description of training techniques, and list of resources. Audio description brings the visual world to life, making theater productions, television shows, films, visual art and events accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. Describers employ succinct, vivid, imaginative words to convey visual images those with sight take for granted. Although countries worldwide have taken up the cause, the United States has fallen short on research and institutions to study the field. Dr. Snyder’s book helps fill in some of those gaps. “For decades, Joel Snyder has combined his astonishing command of language with his keen attention to detail to create word pictures that stir the mind’s eye, especially for patrons of the arts whose physical eyes cannot see. [...] His book has been long-awaited, and no doubt will become the standard for prospective audio describers around the world.” -Kelsey Marshall, Founding Director of Accessibility, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC Dr. Joel Snyder is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers,” a pioneer in the field of audio description, making theater events, museum exhibitions, and media accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. Since 1981, he has introduced audio description techniques in 36 states and D.C. and in 35 countries. He holds a PhD in accessibility audio description from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Dr. Snyder’s company, Audio Description Associates, LLC (www.audiodescribe.com) uses audio description to enhance a wide range of arts projects including video and film, museum exhibitions, and live events. As Director of Described Media for the National Captioning Institute, he supervised the production of descriptions for Sesame Street and dozens of feature films and nationally broadcast television; his descriptions can be heard at Smithsonian Institution exhibits, the Getty Museum, the Albright-Knox Gallery, and throughout the country at National Park Service visitor centers. As Director of the American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project (www.acb.org/adp), Dr. Snyder voiced description for network coverage of President Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and 2013, and recently produced the first-ever audio-described tour of The White House. The ADP website is the nation’s principal provider of information and resources on audio description.

Includes complete explanations of HDTV, surround sound, DVD, THX, and all the latest technologies.

The one and only book on successfully staging amateur productions. In this book, drama teachers and community directors are given everything they need to know about picking the right show; licensing, casting, and budgeting; organizing a schedule; costumes, makeup, staging, lighting, and music; tickets, fundraising, programs, cast parties, and more. Illustrated with help plans and photos from actual productions. • Perfect for nonprofit organizations’ fundraising theater events and community theater groups • Complete with an extensive resource section • Illustrated with help plans and great photos from actual productions

With thousands of outlets worldwide and growing, audio drama is the new frontier in storytelling. From family dramas tales to epic space battles and period pieces to large-cast musicals, it is a medium without limits, because the audience creates the visual world in their mind. In Stories Told through Sound, audio-dramatist Barry M. Putt, Jr. lays out the essentials of the form in an engaging, easy-to-understand manner. He offers dozens of tactics and strategies: the top reasons audiences don’t connect with a character and how to avoid them, ways to create exciting plot twists, career pitfalls to watch out for, and how to draft a dynamic marketing plan that will keep your work in the forefront of any industry professional’s mind. It includes tips from a number of top-tier professionals to help give a deeper understanding of how to find success in a new and exciting creative industry. Dust off that story idea you’ve been wanting to develop and learn how to craft an engaging script that can become a fully realized production. In audio drama, everything is possible!