The Synthesizer

Author: Mark Vail
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199334854
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 427

Book Description
Electronic music instruments weren't called synthesizers until the 1950s, but their lineage began in 1919 with Russian inventor Lev Sergeyevich Termen's development of the Etherphone, now known as the Theremin. From that point, synthesizers have undergone a remarkable evolution from prohibitively large mid-century models confined to university laboratories to the development of musical synthesis software that runs on tablet computers and portable media devices. Throughout its history, the synthesizer has always been at the forefront of technology for the arts. In The Synthesizer: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding, Programming, Playing, and Recording the Ultimate Electronic Music Instrument, veteran music technology journalist, educator, and performer Mark Vail tells the complete story of the synthesizer: the origins of the many forms the instrument takes; crucial advancements in sound generation, musical control, and composition made with instruments that may have become best sellers or gone entirely unnoticed; and the basics and intricacies of acoustics and synthesized sound. Vail also describes how to successfully select, program, and play a synthesizer; what alternative controllers exist for creating electronic music; and how to stay focused and productive when faced with a room full of instruments. This one-stop reference guide on all things synthesizer also offers tips on encouraging creativity, layering sounds, performance, composing and recording for film and television, and much more.

Synthesizer Evolution

Author: Oli Freke
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781913231064
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description
From acid house to prog rock, there is no form of modern popular music that hasn't been propelled forwards by the synthesizer. As a result they have long been objects of fascination, desire and reverence for keyboard players, music producers and fans of electronic music alike. Whether looking at an imposing modular system or posing with a DX7 on Top of the Pops, the synth has also always had an undeniable physical presence. This book celebrates their impact on music and culture by providing a comprehensive and meticulously researched directory of every major synthesizer, drum machine and sampler made between 1963 and 1995. Each featured instrument is illustrated by hand, and shown alongside its vital statistics and some fascinatingly quirky facts. In tracing the evolution of the analogue synthesizer from its invention in the early 1960's to the digital revolution of the 1980s right up until the point that analogue circuits could be modelled using software in the mid-1990's, the book tells the story of analogue to digital - and back again. Tracing that history and showing off their visual beauty with art-book quality illustrations, this a must for any self-respecting synth fan.

Synthesizer Basics

Author: Brent Hurtig
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 9780881887143
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 140

Book Description
Here is the fundamental knowledge and information that a beginning or intermediate electronic musician must have to understand and play today's keyboard synthesizers. This basic primer, newly updated from the classic original edition, offers step-by-step explanations and practical advice on what a synthesizer is, the basic concepts and components, and the latest technical developments and applications. Written by Bob Moog, Roger Powell, Steve Porcaro (of Toto), Tom Rhea, and other well-known experts, Synthesizer Basics is the first, and still the best, introduction available today.

Analog Days

Author: T. J PINCH
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674042166
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Book Description
Tracing the development of the Moog synthesizer from its initial conception to its ascension to stardom in 'Switched-on Bach', this text conveys the consequences of a technology that would provide the soundtrack for a chapter in cultural history.

Interpreting the Synthesizer

Author: Nick Wilson
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 9781527550025
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 170

Book Description
This volume examines the synthesizerâ (TM)s significance for music and culture, with a range of contributors providing historical, musicological, practical and theoretical perspectives. The synthesizer as an instrument has evolved rapidly over the last 50 years, conveying different meanings in musical culture at various times in its history. For example, post-punk and new wave acts used synths to signify their embrace of futurism and modernity. Earlier psychedelic bands used the instrument to sonically represent mind expansion while prog acts signposted their lineage to the classical avant-garde. Techno artists used synths to escape the strictures of acoustic music in parallel with rave cultureâ (TM)s desire for escapism from the mundanity of daily existence. It is now seemingly ubiquitous in modern pop music production.

The Synthesizer

Author: Mark Vail
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199334862
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 427

Keyboard Magazine Presents Vintage Synthesizers

Author: Mark Vail
Publisher: Backbeat Books
ISBN: 9780879306038
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 341

Book Description
A guide to vintage synthesizers, including history since 1962, and featuring interviews with designers, tips on buying and maintaining vintage synthesizers, pricing and production information, and more.

Synthesizer Technique

Author:
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 9780881882902
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 124

Book Description
Score

Steal this Sound

Author: Mitchell Sigman
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1423492811
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 156

Book Description
A single-volume guide to recreating 100 top-selected synthesizer sounds from hit songs provides illustrated two-page spreads that list details about how the sound was originally created on professional-grade synthesizers and how to create the same sounds today using modern plug-ins and readily available software instruments. Original.

Analog Synthesizers

Author: Mark Jenkins
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 113612277X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
In this book, the technical explanation of the nature of analog sound creation is followed by the story of its birth and its subsequent development by various designers, manufacturers and performers. The individual components of analog sound creation are then examined in detail, with step by step examples of sound creation techniques. Then the modern imitative analog instruments are examined, again with detailed instructions for programming and using them, and the book is completed with appendices listing the major instrument lines available, hints on values and purchasing, other sources of information, and a discography of readily available recordings which give good examples of analog sound synthesis. The CD which accompanies the book gives many examples of analog sound creation basics as well as more advanced techniques, and of the abilities of the individual instruments associated with classical and with imitative analog sound synthesis.