hey all
Well i have left over book vouchers from christmas..
Can anyone recommend a good book on the subject?
I would be happy with a fairly in depth read

Thanks

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/allsynthsecrets.htm

Thanks chris..
I'll take a look at those alrigh,read some already..
Looking for a hard copy too, since i have vouchers..

Cheers man!

"The Computer Music Tutorial" is THE source for the theory behind synthesis and audio DSP

You can preview it on books.google.com:

http://books.google.com/books?id=nZ-TetwzVcIC&dq=computer+music+tutori al&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=NSFWS6WwI5Lu0gTewPGzCg&sa=X& amp;oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CB4Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=&f=f alse

And buy it in all good book shops and on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Music-Tutorial-Curtis-Roads/dp/0262680823

--------------------
Kevin Nolan,KNECT.
www.knect.ie

Quote Kevin Nolan:

---

"The Computer Music Tutorial" is THE source for the theory behind synthesis and audio DSP

You can preview it on books.google.com:

http://books.google.com/books?id=nZ-TetwzVcIC&dq=computer+music+tutori al&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=NSFWS6WwI5Lu0gTewPGzCg&sa=X& amp;oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CB4Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=&f=f alse

And buy it in all good book shops and on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Music-Tutorial-Curtis-Roads/dp/0262680823

---

Thanks Kevin

You guys will be surprised but this topic of sound design and sound synthesis books has been a place to build a fight club here.

Anyways, I'll back the same books I mentioned earlier in that fight club thread: 'Sound Synthesis and Sampling' by Martin Russ, if I'm in a budding phase of synthesis.
And thereafter I'll graduate to,
'Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds: The Sound of Music (Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing)' by James W. Beauchamp
Also,
'The S.M.A.R.T. Guide to Mixing and Mastering Audio Recordings' by Bill Gibson.
I also refer to Bob Katz and documents of Berkley University - which one can dig online.

For sound design there's this

--------------------
I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over
Twitter

For amazingly useful in depth coverage of analog synthesis try to find the rare publication
The Complete Guide to Synthesizers by Devarahi.
Other useful books include:
Electronic Music by Allen Strange,
Synthesizer Basics by the editors of Keyboard Magazine, and
Synthesizer Techniques by the editors of Keyboard Magazine.

The Allen Strange book is available for about US$15 as a download on the Primis website (McGraw Hill academic books for higher education site). Or US$90 secondhand from Amazon if you really must have a hard copy (it's out of print).

--------------------
Instant gratification is actually pretty good. It's fast as well.

If your interested in sound design and synthesis from a computer music perspective, I would recommend "Designing Sound" by Andy Farnell:

http://aspress.co.uk/

Also check out "computer music" by Dodge and Jerse:

http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Music-Synthesis-Composition-Performance/dp/ 0028646827

I prefer this one to Curtis Road's book, because it has a lot less outdated information.

oli

--------------------
my plugins www.olilarkin.co.uk.

Uhhh! If a strong foundation build with mathematics and some analytical approach of engineering has driven you to synthesis then I must recommend this haven of digital signal processing.

--------------------
SoundCloud

Can anyone help me out with this Contemporary studio plugins, designed through unconventional methods.

--------------------
SoundCloud

thank you all
but which one is better for a complete beginner to analogue modular systems?
i just read the Gordon Reid Synth Secrets and it's the best so far )

Quote Psychopat:

---

thank you all
but which one is better for a complete beginner to analogue modular systems?
i just read the Gordon Reid Synth Secrets and it's the best so far )

---

You had just read one of the best source of electronic sound synthesis tutorial (Although its funny that even after it has been more than a decade since these articles were published, they are still called secrets).

And if you have already finished reading Gordon Reid then you must not still be a complete beginner to analogue modules. For further reading I'll recommend - 'Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds: The Sound of Music (Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing)' by James W. Beauchamp, which I had already mentioned in this thread earlier.

I enjoy these secrets as well. Learnt a lot from these.

--------------------
SoundCloud

Ironically most musicians starting out with modular synths in the early days did so on a ‘suck it and see’ basis, and discovered many useful things by accident


Martin

--------------------
YewTreeMagic

Quote Martin Walker:

---

Ironically most musicians starting out with modular synths in the early days did so on a ‘suck it and see’ basis, and discovered many useful things by accident

---

Fully agreed, Martin. Funniest part is that when you have so so many tutorials in videos and books, you may start feeling that music is methodical and formulaic, which is fatal.

Trial and error technique gives lot of space for innovation. I might forget lot of things that I read, but I'll never forget what I'll figure out on my own.

--------------------
SoundCloud

This is a tutorial wot I writ for Alesis for newbies to the Alesis Fusion.

Analogue Synthesis Tutorial

Although written for Fusion users, it isn't at all 'Fusion-centric' but a real back-to-basics breakdown of what each module does and why and applies to ANY analogue synth, modular, pre-patched, VA, hardware, software, whatever.

I gather some universities use it on their courses... so I've been told.

--------------------
Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Quote hollowsun:

---

I gather some universities use it on their courses... so I've been told.

---

Fame at last eh Steve?

And you're contributing to the education of the nation


Martin

--------------------
YewTreeMagic

Quote Martin Walker:

---

Ironically most musicians starting out with modular synths in the early days did so on a ‘suck it and see’ basis, and discovered many useful things by accident

---

When a synth voice had essentially 4 controls, you could work that way. Though I wish someone had told me the concept of balancing other settings so that 99% of a given knob's travel wasn't "dead space" (have I explained that clearly?) a little sooner. Much the same idea as gain staging through a mixer channel. I suppose you MIGHT work it out for yourself, but a little tuition avoids a lot of dead ends.

Once FM synthesis arrived, I think the chance of doing anything useful by pure intuition effectively vanished! Let alone the incredibly powerful but almost impenetrable VAST synthesis engine on my Kurzweil keyboards. Getting anything out of that without "standing on the shoulders of giants" would be highly unlikely!

Nice, that juno 6 drawbar organ preset i just had a go at on my juno-60 and as i thought, it was exactly the same as one i'd already done

--------------------
www.myspace.com/michaeldow www.myspace.com/portasoundband

Quote Exalted Wombat:

---

Quote Martin Walker begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting:

---

Ironically most musicians starting out with modular synths in the early days did so on a ‘suck it and see’ basis, and discovered many useful things by accident

---

When a synth voice had essentially 4 controls, you could work that way. Though I wish someone had told me the concept of balancing other settings so that 99% of a given knob's travel wasn't "dead space" (have I explained that clearly?) a little sooner. Much the same idea as gain staging through a mixer channel. I suppose you MIGHT work it out for yourself, but a little tuition avoids a lot of dead ends.

Once FM synthesis arrived, I think the chance of doing anything useful by pure intuition effectively vanished! Let alone the incredibly powerful but almost impenetrable VAST synthesis engine on my Kurzweil keyboards. Getting anything out of that without "standing on the shoulders of giants" would be highly unlikely!

---

Exalted, I think once you get a bit tech anal, like some of us here, then the VAST engine becomes a dream to use.

FM is another ballgame entirely and requires the use of heavy drugs and a social problem.

TBH, I love FM too.

--------------------
Samplecraze
Stretch That Note

Quote Martin Walker begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting:

---

Ironically most musicians starting out with modular synths in the early days did so on a ‘suck it and see’ basis, and discovered many useful things by accident


Martin

---

I lost a few girlfriends that way.................but did learn a thing or two.



--------------------
Samplecraze
Stretch That Note

Quote Zukan:

---

Quote Martin Walker begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting:

---

Ironically most musicians starting out with modular synths in the early days did so on a ‘suck it and see’ basis, and discovered many useful things by accident


Martin

---

I lost a few girlfriends that way.................but did learn a thing or two.

---

Epic... LOL.

--------------------
SoundCloud

--------------------
YewTreeMagic

For synthesis - Roads' "Computer Music Tutorial"
For sound design - Sonnenschein's "Sound Design"

--------------------
Sound Effects

I found "The synthesizer cookbook" a very very good read for getting your head round the gritty nitty.
A lot of books these days are written on the computer musician basis and look at particular pieces of software and how to program them.
Also, depending on what synth your using, it may be that there's an "unofficial" guide to it (I know that yamaha had the joy of Ex fr their ex range" and I'm sure they're must be others)

I agree with the trial and error bit, but a good book as well, will help get results (or at least start experiments) that bit quicker

--------------------
MV8000, Arturia Origin, Korg Z1, Waldorf Blofeld, Access Indigo Virus, Alesis Micron, Quasimidi 309 & VP9000
Logic 8 - Vangaurd, V-Station

Hey, I am using Free Piano Lessons, which will show you how you can become the piano player of your dreams through a technique using chords and a combination of piano chord progressions and fun piano playing styles using your ear and your brain..

Hope this will helps you too..!!!

also I need some good tips and technics about sound designing and synthesis modelling.until now I have downloaded many e-documents and articles but they all are telling about mathematical or schematical structures for bowed strings and wind instruments.I throughly understood the theory but I need something more likely hardware based practical applications about modelling synthesis...I have KORG M3 with RADIAS board...

Designing Sound" explains the procedural approach to next generation real-time audio, for games, interactive applications and computer animation. Weighing in at 650 pages this extensive work is possibly the best value textbook published on the subject. "Designing Sound" is essential to all sound technology students and practicing sound designers.

Synth Cookbook by Fred Walsh!
This helped me SO much...
I was lost in Massive, Thor, etc....

BIG BIG HELP!

Just in case anyone gets confused looking for this, it's actually Welsh's Synthesiser Cookbook:

More details here: www.synthesizer-cookbook.com


Martin

--------------------
YewTreeMagic

Quote gryfyx:

---

For further reading I'll recommend - 'Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds: The Sound of Music (Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing)' by James W. Beauchamp, which I had already mentioned in this thread earlier.

---

just for the record, beauchamp was professor of EE at my undergraduate alma mater (University of Illinois) and very competent, so i'm sure the book is quite good. he was also a true, utter, and complete bastard. he sold me a manual for $75 (in 1981 that was a lot of dosh to a poor student) to one of the very first digital synths which had been developed at UIUC but only after taking my money did he tell me that access to the synth was limited to his grad students. sneaky, lowdown, and underhanded about sums it up. come to think it, probably was a forewarning for my future experiences in graduate school and music ;-)

oh well.

ps: i suspect the bk is way more maths oriented than the OP is looking for. fourier analysis, bode diagrams, etc. then again, i could be wrong. i was about beauchamp back '81 ....

d

--------------------
"Patsy had the drug tolerance of Keith Richards and the moral rectitude of Brian Jones." - Dr. Walter Bishop, "Fringe"

My personal favorite is "Programming Synthesizers" by Peter Gorges. It's tough to find the English version, but it's well worth it if you do.

--------------------
SYNTORIAL - The Ultimate Synth Tutorial