I prefer James Anderson's "An Introduction to Neural Networks". I think it is better suited for someone coming from the physical, mathematical, or neuro- sciences.

You will need to train anything that does a decent job, especially in a non-standard environment. I'm not familiar with the hood environment, but if it introduces noise or otherwise changes the signal that's getting to the mike (compared with being outside the hood), then your software will do better if you train it while in the hood. Otherwise it's very likely to be a frustrating experience for you.