books on modular synthesis

microjackson · Joined: Aug 24, 2005 Posts: 9 Location: St. Louis, MO, USA

hi,
i recently acquired a nord micro modular. i have been through the manual a couple times, been through the online guides, and have read the wizoo guide for it. but i seem to just be expirementing without really knowing what im doing. is there any decent books on modular synthesis that is good for beginners? please don't say the computer music tutorial Smile

thanks,
dennis

blue hell · Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2005 5:01 pm Post subject:

Sorry can't help you with a book title, just wanted to say hi & welcome.

What sort of knowledge are you after, physics oriented, music oriented, or something different maybe ?

microjackson · Joined: Aug 24, 2005 Posts: 9 Location: St. Louis, MO, USA

hello,
i guess i am looking for a book that i can walk myself through. hmm. maybe something that gives me examples of what each module can do? it would be nice to find a book that says something like " to make a bass sound, use a sine wave mixed with a sawtooth wave". sounds stupid i guess, but i'm not really getting anywhere with the method i am using now. i would like to have some sort of idea of what something might sound like before i make it.

thanks for the welcome, i have been reading a lot of posts for about a month and it seems like a very intelligent and nice community.

bye,
dennis

seraph · Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 12:27 am Post subject: Re: books on modular synthesis

Mohoyoho · Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 5:30 am Post subject:

Many have stated the manual for the Arp 2600 explained subtractive synthesizers really well. The Arp wasn't modular but the principles are still the same. I believe you can download the manual at Wayoutware.com who are now creating a reportedly fine softsynth emulation of the Arp.

Also I have found Arturia's Moog Modular V2 soft synth and manual to be an excellent teaching device in understanding modular synths. Granted, it's a little more money than a book, but you end up with a soft synth that sounds amazingly close to a Moog.

deknow · Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 6:29 am Post subject:

...you can also find manuals for other "non modular" analog style synths. most of these have block diagrams, and you can easily make these layouts to get an idea what is going on (there is a reason that the non modulars are set up the way they are..they are very useful).

the oscillator->filter->amplifier setup is pretty standard, look at some more sophisticated synths (evolver, microkorg, or any "analog modeling synth"), and try to build aspects of those....you will learn a lot.

deknow

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

Here's a list of books in print and hosted online:

http://www.synthesizers.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.Bibliography

If you know of any others - please add them to the wiki.

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

...there's also a tutorial page with some links to getting started with modulars type guides. There's also one in the process of being written at synthesizers.com (which is a current hardware modular manufacturer...)

http://www.synthesizers.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.Tutorials

microjackson · Joined: Aug 24, 2005 Posts: 9 Location: St. Louis, MO, USA

thanks guys,
hopefully i will soon be posting nice patches Smile

bye,
dennis

Clack · Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 3:55 pm Post subject:

These sound on sound ones are pretty good goes quite far to explain whats happening but a bit confusingly worded sometimes, I havnt got through much of it but it seems good

http://www.soundonsound.com/search?page=3&Keyword=%22synth%20secrets%22&Words=All&Summary=Yes

theres 3 pages i took you to the beggining which starts at the end!