The Synthesizer

Mark Vail is the best explainer and historian of music synthesizers that I know. I highly recommend this book, which is a whole lot of fun to read.

Auteur
Building on his life-long interest in music, Mark Vail discovered synthesizers in 1973 and bought his first in 1976. After earning an MFA in electronic music in 1983, he served on the editorial staff at Keyboard magazine from 1988 to 2001. The author of Vintage Synthesizers and The Hammond Organ: Beauty in the B, Mark is internationally acknowledged as a foremost authority on synthesizers.

Texte du rabat

Electronic music instruments known as synthesizers have been around since the 1950s, but the past few decades have seen their capabilities expand exponentially and their forms shape-shift from room-filling grandeur to sophisticated applications that run on pocket-sized phones and MP3 players. This book reveals the history, basics, forms, and uses of this astonishing instrument.

Contenu

FOREWORD BY MICHELLE MOOG-KOUSSA ; PREFACE ; ABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE ; 1. TRENDSETTING ALL-STARS ; 2. ACOUSTICS & SYNTHESIS BASICS ; REAL-WORLD ACOUSTICS ; TYPES OF SYNTHESIS ; AUDIO SOURCES: OSCILLATORS, NOISE, & MORE ; VCAS, ENVELOPES, & LFOS ; ENVELOPE FOLLOWERS & PITCH-TO-VOLTAGE CONVERTERS ; FILTERS ; EQS & FILTER BANKS ; ANALOG SEQUENCERS ; ARPEGGIATORS ; REVERB ; ANALOG DELAY ; DIGITAL DELAY ; LOOPERS ; OTHER EFFECTS ; 3. CHOOSING YOUR SYNTHESIZER(S) ; WHAT'S YOUR BUDGET? ; MUSICAL TASTES & GOALS ; HARDWARE VS. SOFTWARE ; PORTABILITY & POWER ; PROGRAMMABILITY: PROS & CONS ; EXPANDABILITY ; AS OTHERS HAVE DONE ; PERSPECTIVE ; MODULAR SYNTHESIZERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY ; AN OVERVIEW ; MODULAR SYNTH SHOPPING ; MORE ON EURORACK MODULAR ; MORE ON FRACRAK MODULAR ; MORE ON SERGE MODULAR ; CONNECTIVITY ; CONVINCING ANALOG & MIDI SYNTHS TO COEXIST ; MIDI-TO-CV CONVERSION ; CV-TO-MIDI CONVERSION ; CONTROLLERS ; SYNTHS & CONTROLLERS WITH KEYBOARDS ; ALTERNATIVE CONTROLLERS ; WIND CONTROLLERS ; TOUCH CONTROLLERS ; HAND-HELD CONTROLLERS ; STRUCK CONTROLLERS ; CONTROLLERS FOR MICROTONAL TUNINGS ; 4. COMPOSITION, PROGRAMMING, & PERFORMANCE TECHNIQUES ; COMPOSITION ; SCORING TO PICTURE ; COMPOSING FOR LIVING ART ; FOLLOWING THROUGH ON A THOUGHT ; SAGE ADVICE FROM A MASTER ; SCORING WITH INTENT, EVEN WHEN INTIMIDATED ; PATCHING, A.K.A. PROGRAMMING ; ENCOURAGING SYNTHESISTS' CREATIVITY ; WHEN & HOW TO EXPERIMENT WITH SOUNDS ; THE GOOD & BAD OF NON-PROGRAMMABILITY ; PROGRAMMING FOR PROGRESS ; FUN WITH MODULAR SYNTHS ; LAYERING SYNTH SOUNDS ; PROGRAMMING FOR EXPRESSION ; PERFORMANCE ; TOOLS OF THE TRADE ; DEPENDENCE ON THE TRIED & TRUE, BUT MOVING FORWARD ; MODULAR APPARITIONS ; DEFYING THE DEPENDENCE ON VISUALS ; 5. RECORDING THE SYNTHESIZER ; AS IT WAS & HOW IT'S BECOME FOR THE SWITCHED-ON INNOVATOR ; SERIAL VS. RANDOM-ACCESS MEDIA ; STRATEGIES FOR RECORDING FILM & TV SCORES ; HARNESSING THE POWER OF MODULAR SYNTHS WITH ABLETON LIVE ; AUTOMATED MIXING ; OUTBOARD PROCESSING: PREPARING AUDIO FOR RECORDING ; RECORDING DIRECT & EXPANDING FOR SURROUND-SOUND ; APPENDIX: SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY, MUSEUMS & FILMS, MANUFACTURERS, BLOGS, DEALERS & STORES ; INDEX