Sign up ×  I'm new to the world of sound recording, and one of
my questions is: What are some good ways to develop "critical
listening skills"?  While I realize that "listening" is highly
subjective, I'd like to learn to discern the more subtle
characteristics of various sounds and become conversant in the
"language" of audio professionals in order to adequately
communicate about the things that I hear.  Are there any book/cd
combos out there that would walk you through the differences in
sounds? Or perhaps any educational websites? What about other
methods? How did you personally "train your ears" and how would
you recommend that someone else go about it?  share|improve this
question  6 Answers 6  Listening is like any other skill:
Reading about it helps, but practicing it is everything.
Another well-regarded technique is sitting somewhere and writing
down every sound you hear. I take that a step further create a
description for each sound, both on a technical and emotional
level. This can be done in a wood