GOOD LEARNING BOOKS ON SYNTHESIS?

Needs2Know · Post by **Needs2Know** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:09 am

does anyone know of a really really good book that explains everything synthesis?

manuals often provide some info but im looking for something more in depth and focused to teaching the reading all about electronic synthesis and sound.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:54 am

I found this to be the resource which managed to get me to understand synthesis properly... http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:GqE ... =clnk&cd=7

trip_out · Post by **trip_out** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:58 am

How to make a noise

moscom_musik · Post by **moscom_musik** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:35 am

Hi,

you can also ckeck synth secrets on Sound on Sound Website :

http://www.soundonsound.com/search?page ... ummary=Yes

The first articles deal with basics of synthesis, and then they go further, looking at how to synthesize different types of sounds, like brasses, strings, drums, etc.... Very instructive !!

Needs2Know · Post by **Needs2Know** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:43 am

wow both of these are good sources. but the first is all about the Andromeda. I dont have one ..(yet). i can still learn about some synths from the site. downloaded some clips from the A6 and they sound so cool. wish i had 5g to pluck down for one

drumroll57 · Post by **drumroll57** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:23 am

Roland Corp. had a pretty amazing 4-book series in the early 80's, called "The Synthetiser"

Two of them, "Practical Synthesis For Electronic Music" (Pt 1 & 2) are an absolute must for anyone truly interested in this.

They're long out-of-print but really worth it for someone with more than a passing interest in this sort of stuff. The kind of books you will keep for life....

They include many patches and examples, most of the things covered were designed to be made with a Roland System-100 modular, but you can easily adapt them to whatever analog synth you may have.

Krugger · Post by **Krugger** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:34 am

1 word: Wizoo

You'll love it. You get a free synth with the book to work on as you read.

Chapter 1 gets you working the synth straight away and it's never a boring read. You read a bit, you tweak a bit and it's great fun way to learn.

http://www.wizoobooks.com/
Book is: Programming Synthesizers by Peter Gorges

This was recommended to me on the forum months back and I thought I'd share the info back

Enjoy

b0unce · Post by **b0unce** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:01 pm

the manual that comes with a nord modular is a big book on synthesis, and the nord modular is a pretty sweet instrument......between the book and the modular environment the synth provides its a great way to learn

Benshik · Post by **Benshik** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:47 pm

i found wikipedia to be a good starting point...
but since technical reading bores me to death, at some point i felt i needed to stop reading and start practicing, so i bought programs such as tassman and reaktor. i played around, downloaded a whole plethora of synths, checked whats under the hood...
for me, that was the absolute best way to learn about synthesis. otherwise, i guess id still be scratchin my chin...

Needs2Know · Post by **Needs2Know** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:13 pm

thanks everyone but im going with Krugger's suggestion: Wizoo for starts. $30 though hope its worth it. those Roland books look like some serious reading. maybe alittle too much reading seeing as how i dont have a Rolland 100 modular or whatever. Have any of you seen the Andromeda's manual? I'm going to be getting a virus here soon and I know how much reading thats going to entail so i want something i can get finished with in a couple months. Thanks Krug

bigbadotis · Post by **bigbadotis** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:21 pm

I always thought the Reason manual was great. Since you have it, just learn what every knob on the Subtractor does and you'll have a pretty good foundation in subtractive synthesis.

Cone · Post by **Cone** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:56 am

Krugger wrote:http://www.wizoobooks.com/
Book is: Programming Synthesizers by Peter Gorges

Another recommendation for Gorges' book. I had read earlier some of the articles that the book is compiled from, but I didn't take it seriously enough. Maybe the humor attempts turned me off. Based on your post I actually ordered the book, and it is quite useful.

I was concerned that the SoundForum Synthesizer wouldn't run on Mac OS X, but there is actually a modern version based on Reaktor 4, called SoundSchool Analog, downloadable from NI using the username and password from the book. Sorted!

So, skip the jokes (except the descriptions of the factory bank sounds...) and it's a very useful book on sound design, though it admits to being light on theory. I like it better than Simon Cann's "How to Make a Noise", which spreads it too thin between many different synths.