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

Analog Synthesizers: Understanding, Performing, Buying by Mark Jenkins

Routledge, 2019, ISBN 1138319368

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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

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, ASIN B0006CEUL2, 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.^[2]

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."^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[2]

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, ASIN B001E88X88, 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^[2]

Welsh's Synthesizer Cookbook: Synthesizer Programming, Sound Analysis, and Universal Patch Book by Fred Welsh

3rd edition, 2006, ASIN B000ERHA4S, 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.^[1]

References

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Mod Wiggler Wiki:Bibliography and Reading Materials (View authors).

^ ^a ^b ^c Mod Wiggler forum: Newb looking for 'Patching for dummies' kind of thing
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The Synth-diy Archive, SDIY Wiki – books, April 2013
^ Beginner friendly video about basic utilities: mixing/attenuating/inverting/offset - with patchtips!, Mod Wiggler forum, September 2020
^ The ABCs of Synthesizers by Steven Powell, Music Educators Journal, Vol. 74, No. 4, pp. 27-31, Sage Publications, Inc. Dec. 1987
^ Patch and Tweak book?, Mod Wiggler Forum, October 2020

External links

Anything in-depth worth reading and longer than a page or two.

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