Synthesis and sound design book?

[soundbyter]

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

[Binks]

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

[busamania]

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...

[CraigCyril]

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.

[vinnyprez]

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

BIG BIG HELP!

[Martin Walker]

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

More details here: www.synthesizer-cookbook.com

Martin

[dubbmann]

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

[Hanley]

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.

[djames123]

This book 100%

...and was spam, so I deleted the link MW

Seven links advertising the same book!!

[SEG]

Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers
Applications of Digital Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics
Creating music and sound for games - G.W. Childs
Designing Sound - Andy Farnell

good ones

[Martin Walker]

Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers

I've got that one too - good read!

Martin

[Zukan]

I had one of the best books ever written but I can't remember what it was called?

The book covered basic repair procedures (soldering bus bars, cleaning contacts etc) and was a great resource for quickly accessing the various menu options on different synths.

I think it's this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Troubleshootin ... 0830639217

A little lateral, I know, but one helluva resource book to have.

I shall leave now. I'll pop back later to make sure you're all funky n' ting.

[Martin Walker]

I had one of the best books ever written but I can't remember what it was called?

The book covered basic repair procedures (soldering bus bars, cleaning contacts etc) and was a great resource for quickly accessing the various menu options on different synths.

I think it's this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Troubleshootin ... 0830639217

A little lateral, I know, but one helluva resource book to have.

I shall leave now. I'll pop back later to make sure you're all funky n' ting.

If (as that Amazon link suggests) 2nd hand hardback copies of that book are now selling for £272 then it might be cheaper to pay someone to fix your synth for you!

Martin

[Ben Asaro]

I quite like Syntorial. It's an app that contains something like 200 lessons that walk you through every aspect os synthesis. There are periodic quizzes and reviews and it is quite thorough. The price for entry is high but it does have a lot of value in fact, and you can try tye first 20 lessons (I think) for free.

Also, there is a two part video on YouTube by MatrixSynth that is the old instructional video feom the 80s on synthesis design. It was by the NY School Of Synthesis back in the day. Well worth a watch if only for the instructor's super thick Long Island accent!
It's very educational as well.

[Guest]

I recommend "Secrets of Analog and Digital Synthesis" but if you can't get the book.... search Youtube and you will find the video that came along with the book..... even if you watch the video without the book you will learn a lot.

Also I recently started making Youtube videos for my patches.... so whether you are using analog modular ... or a Roland FA-06 workstation.... you will find patches that you can try out.

https://www.youtube.com/user/stephenmendes1

[Guest]

"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+tutorial&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=NSFWS6WwI5Lu0gTewPGzCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CB4Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

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

Thank you for sharing!

[dannyrichardson]

I am a huge fan of Bob Welsh's Synthesizer Cookbook. It has a great breakdown of synthesis and goes deep into filters and oscillators.

[vartika579]

You can buy this book:- Creating Sounds from Scratch: A Practical Guide to Music Synthesis for Producers and Composers.

[N i g e l]

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..

I still need to map out my strategy on the back of an envelope before starting on VAST campagain but there are plenty of really good VAST video tutorials online...

For FM,
play with 1 oscillator/operator and get to know the sound
play with a 2 operator stack and get to know the sound

that goes along way down the road to familliarisation and it is so much easier to play around with the sound these days using knob box controllers.

It starts to get more experimental with taller operator stacks but a lot of sonic complexity comes from having parallel stacks rather than maxing out the number of operators in one stack.

Theres a good pdf describing modern harmonic based FM synthesis using a scope & frequency analyser [ now more accessable as they are available as DAW tools]

http://www.javelinart.com/FM_Synthesis_ ... uments.pdf

[N i g e l]

oops....best give credit where its due .....

FM Synthesis of Real Instruments (and any other type) by Thor Zollinger (2016)

http://www.javelinart.com/FM_Synthesis_ ... uments.pdf