Synthesizer books

Books about using synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments. For these about Synth DIY electronics see Synth DIY books, and for more general books about electronics electronics books.

The A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers Part One: A-M by Peter Forrest
Susurreal Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0-9524377-2-4 The ultimate analog synth catalogue part one.

The A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers Part Two: N-Z by Peter Forrest
Susurreal Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-9524377-3-2 The ultimate analog synth catalogue part two.

Advanced Programming Techniques for Modular Synthesizers edited by James J. Clark
2003. Online at nordmodularbook

Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer by Trevor Pinch
Harvard University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-674-01617-3, 384 pages

Analog Electronic Music Techniques in Tape, Electronic and Voltage-Controlled Synthesizer Studios by Joel Naumann and James D. Wagoner
1985, ISBN 0-02-873140-9

Analog Synthesis: The Newbie Guide by Reinhard Schmitz
Music Sales Ltd, 1999, ISBN 3-927954-37-3, 85 pages. Archived online via Wizoo Publishing GmbH

An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronics by Daphne Oram
Anomie Academic, 2016, ISBN 1910221112, 160 pages Galliard paperbacks, 1972, ISBN 0852491093, 145 pages

The Art of Electronic Music by Tom Darter and Greg Armbruster
1983/1985, ISBN 0-688-03106-4

A synthesist's guide to acoustic instruments by Howard Massey
224 pages, Amsco, 1987, ISBN 071191124X

The Complete Guide to Synthesizers by Devarahi
Prentice Hall, 1982, ISBN 0-13-160630-1, Available at The Snowfields

Creative Synthesizer Technique by Adam Holzman
Mel Bay Publications, 2020, ISBN 1513465031, 80 pages

The Development and Practice of Electronic Music by Jon Appleton and Ronald C. Perera
Prentice Hall, 1975, ISBN 0-13-207605-5, 208 pages Especially chapter 4 by Joel Chadabe on The Voltage Controlled Synthesizer. In some ways similar to the Strange book, although not as extensive.

Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, Controls by Allen Strange
288 pages, McGraw-Hill Inc., 2nd revised edition, 1982, ISBN 0-697-03602-2 The 2nd edition has much more information than the 1st.

Illustrated Compendium of Musical Technology by Tristam Cary
Faber & Faber, 1992, ISBN 0-571-15251-1, 544 pages. Simultaneously published in the US by Greenwood Press under the title Dictionary of musical technology, ISBN 0-313-28694-9.

Keyfax Omnibus by Julian Colbeck
MixBooks, 1996, ISBN 0-918371-08-2 Fairly comprehensive compendium of reviews of synths, samplers, organs and key controllers, from the Farfisa Compact circa mid-sixties, to the mid-nineties. Easy and fun to read, and a great reference. Nearly every entry has a B&W photo. Also look out for earlier editions from the eighties, where more obscure stuff is included.

Die Klangwelt des Musiksynthesizers – Die Einfuehrung in die Funktions – und Wirkungsweise eines Modulsynthesizers'' by Dr. Bernd Enders
Franzis Verlag, 1985, ISBN 3-7723-7761-0 or ISBN 978-3-7723-7761-7 also at epos.uni-osnabrueck.de

Learning music with synthesizers by David Friend, Alan R. Pearlman and Thomas Piggot
Publisher: H. Leonard Pub. Corp, 1974,, 213 pages, Available at The Snowfields

Midi For Musicians by Craig Anderton
AMSCO Pubs, 1986, ISBN 0-8256-1050-8 May be considered a bit dated now. The full MIDI spec is in the back of the book.

Music and the synthesizer by Bruce Graham
Argus Books, 1980, ISBN 085242695X, 142 pages

Music, Physics and Engineering by Harry F. Olson
Dover Publications Inc, 2003, ISBN 0486217698, 480 pages

Notes on Modular Synthesis by Peter Elsea
From lulu.com

"A solid primer with many of the fundamental synthesis building blocks. It is module-agnostic, and evergreen stuff that will apply toward really any approach to synthesis."

The New Complete Synthesizer by David Crombie
Omnibus Press, 1986, ISBN 0711907013, 112 pages A moderately technical but very clearly written book on how synthesizers work, highly recommended.

Patch & Tweak - Exploring Modular Synthesis by Kim Bjørn, Chris Meyer
Bjooks Media, 2018, ISBN 9788799999514

A beautiful coffee table book, useful if you're starting out in modular synthesis but not not much depth for the experienced user. It describes the building blocks for particular functions and includes interviews with well known modular builders and artists, as well as some patches to try out.

Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming by Jim Aikin
2004, ISBN 0-87930-773-0

The Prophet from Silicon Valley: The Complete Story of Sequential Circuits by David Abernethy
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015, ISBN 1-5121-9832-3, 274 pages

Push Turn Move - Interface Design in Electronic Music by Kim Bjorn
Bjooks Media, 2017, ISBN 9788799999507

Refining Sound – A Practical Guide to Synthesis and Synthesizers by Brian K. Shepard
Oxford University Press, 2013, ISBN 0-19-992296-9

Synthesizer Basics edited by Brent Hurtig
GPI Publications (Hal Leonard Pubs), 1984, ISBN 0-88188-714-5 Brilliant collection of articles that first appeared in Keyboard Magazine, most of them are by Robert Moog from the late 70s giving lucid explanations on topics such as Loudness and Attack Shaping,  Principles Of Voltage Control, Phasers etc.

The Musical Art of Synthesis by Sam McGuire and Nathan van der Rest
Routledge, 2015, ISBN 1138829781, 390 pages

The Synthesizer by Roland Corporation
2nd edition, Roland Corporation, 1979,, 4 volumes, paperback Electronic Music, Multichannel Recording and Practical Synthesis books

Synthesizer: So funktioniert elektronische Klangerzeugung by Florian Anwander
PPV Medien GmbH, 2019, ISBN 3941531700

The Technique of Electronic Music by Thomas Wells
2nd edition, Macmillan USA, 1981, ISBN 0-02-872830-0, 304 pages. Available at Archive.org

Vintage Synthesizers by Mark Vail
Miller Freeman, 1993, ISBN 0-87930-603-3

Welsh's Synthesizer Cookbook: Synthesizer Programming, Sound Analysis, and Universal Patch Book by Fred Welsh
3rd edition, 2006,, 128 pages Great for bread and butter type stuff. Definitely more Moog based patches as opposed to Buchla/Serge etc. Has things like strings, bass, bells, leads, pianos etc.

Sound and synthesizer theory

 * Advanced Programming Techniques for Modular Synthesizers, Clavia Nord Modular manual however it applies to all synths.
 * An Introduction to the Serge Modular Music System by Rich Gold, with Darrel Johansen and Marina LaPalma, also relates to synths in general
 * ARP 2600 Owners Manual, also relates to synths in general
 * Buchla music easel manual, also relates to synths in general
 * Digisound Step by Step Guide to Synthesis
 * Fundamentals of Music Technology: Subtractive Synthesis with audio samples
 * Nord Modular G2 Workshops and tutorials, also relates to synths in general
 * Sound On Sound magazine's Synth School (archived)
 * Sound On Sound magazine's Synth Secrets - archived
 * Synth Secrets by Gordon Reid, Sound On Sound, May 1999 to July 2004 - compiled to .epub

Patching

 * Newb looking for 'Patching for dummies' kind of thing

Music technology

 * Basic Music Technology I & II

Lists of books on other sites

 * Books worth reading at Synthesizers.com
 * Detachment 3 Laboratories, The Master Synthesizer Book List r1.1
 * Doepfer Musikelektronik A-100 Further Reading
 * Fred Wilder's Reading List
 * PatchPierre BookTips
 * Magnus Synth Book Page
 * Music From Outer Space:Suggested Reading
 * Synth Books at MATRIXSYNTH
 * Synth Books at www.snap-dragon.com
 * Synth/MIDI/Analog/Acoustic Bibliography by Mark Frazer Bower
 * The Synthesizer Network Literature, CD´s and Videos page, from 2011
 * Music Thing Modular Reading List