Resources for Synthesis and Electronic Music
Free Books
- Brian Eno's oblique Strategies - for when you're stuck in a rut
- The Book of bad Ideas - a compilation of Synthesizer tricks from the Muffwiggler Forum
- The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music - This book by Miller Puckette, the inventor of Pure Data and later Max/MSP, is full of important theory and ideas for sound design, even though it's targeted at the computer program Pd.
- Computational Music Synthesis - is another deep dive into the theory and mathematics of sound and synthesis.
- Musical Applications of Microprocessors - a work from 1985 by Hal Chamberlin,
- Learn Music with Synthesizers - although from 1974, this book is a great resource for beginners and more advanced synthesists.
- Music beyond Airports - appraising ambient music - a collection of articles about ambient music, what it is, who's doing it and how to do it "right"(?)
- Composing with Tape Recorders - a book about Musique Concrete by Terence Dwyer
Other Books
- Patch & Tweak - a very nice "coffee table" book chock full of tips and ideas mostly on how to create sound with various Eurorack modules
- Arduino for Musicians - exploring the world of DSP programming on the Arduino
Charles Platt is an author to look into if you are wanting to get into electronics and make your own modules:- Amazon UK Author Page : Amazon USA Author Page
Music News/Advice Websites
- Sound On Sound Synth Secrets - a 63 part series of articles that explore sound and synthesis in great detail. This is a must read!
- Patch Ideas for Doepfer Systems - while not in book or article format, this website has so many interesting patch ideas that it makes it an invaluable resource.
- 12k principles for minimal, ambient music - 12 short principles that are worth meditating over to maybe incorporating into your approach to making music
- Latest AE News, usually on the forum first though!
- Wiki Page for DIY Info
- Useful guide to synthesis focussing on Eurorack modular but applies to all
YouTube Channels
https://www.youtube.com/c/loopop - Excellent Equipment Reviewer with good hints and tips.
https://www.youtube.com/c/sonicstate - Very good news channel/webite with reviews.
https://www.youtube.com/c/The5thVolt - Carsten is the Admin of the Forum, and produces many videos about the AE Modular as well as producing music (as the 5th Volt). Several of his videos are included on relevant pages in the Wiki.
https://www.youtube.com/c/flx04 - Felix does mostly his own music videos (as Tuesday Night Machines) but has done a series of useful videos on synthesis as well. A couple of his videos are in the Wiki too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCFWDU6OVj0 - Synth etc News/Review Youtube channel, better than most... This is his AE Modular Review from 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/c/mylarmelodies - Excellent Modular Synthesis guidance/info and music, especially... You Can't Have Too Many VCAs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKT5MAW1RlA - interesting live modular (Eurorack) patching demo (over an hour!)