<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Not enough depth for the money.
Review: If you know *anything* at all about subtractive synthesis (VCO/VCF/VCA/LFO/etc) then this is NOT the book for you. If you are an absolute beginner and have never played with a synth before, then this will provide a "20,000 foot view" into the various functions, techniques and terminologies of synthesis. In a colorful style, the author covers numerous topics including vintage synths, analog sound design, controllers, sequencers, effects devices, but does so at the expense of depth. There's more color than content, and in some cases, the author's opinions reveal some inexperience. Primarily, this book teaches terminology - further research is left as a homework assignment for the reader. The author's on the right track however, he just needs to add the necessary depth to a second edition (and fix the grammar!) thereby tripling the number of pages.
Rating:
Summary: Not enough depth for the money.
Review: If you know *anything* at all about subtractive synthesis (VCO/VCF/VCA/LFO/etc) then this is NOT the book for you. If you are an absolute beginner and have never played with a synth before, then this will provide a "20,000 foot view" into the various functions, techniques and terminologies of synthesis. In a colorful style, the author covers numerous topics including vintage synths, analog sound design, controllers, sequencers, effects devices, but does so at the expense of depth. There's more color than content, and in some cases, the author's opinions reveal some inexperience. Primarily, this book teaches terminology - further research is left as a homework assignment for the reader. The author's on the right track however, he just needs to add the necessary depth to a second edition (and fix the grammar!) thereby tripling the number of pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good Overview of Subtractive Synthesis
Review: Schmitz' book is a concise introduction to all of the bits and pieces that are necessary to understand subtractive (i.e., analog) electronic sound synthesis, particularly in consideration of synthesizers - both as hardware and software - which employ this method. With his tongue firmly in cheek, Schmitz shows you a little history (e.g., the pandemonium of the Telharmonium), covers all of the basics (VCOs, LFOs, filters [coffee and otherwise], modulation, etc.), and whets the appetite for advanced concepts and techniques. He keeps the general tone of the book very simple, so it truly merits the title of "newbie guide" - but someone like myself (who has been tinkering around with such things for two years) will find many nice refreshers and reminders to bring one back to center (after one's been doing a little too much mind-bending modulating ;-). Additionally, the companion CD provides excellent audio examples of all of the significant analog-synthesis aspects that are mentioned in the book. My only complaint is that, in this book being a "newbie" guide, one is soon left wanting of a source that digs even deeper into the same material. Wizoo should do a more advanced guide along the same lines - I, for one, would look forward to such a thing! Also, if you have Bitheadz' _Retro AS-1_ software synth, then this book would serve as a better introduction to the program's components (and its functional concepts) than does the program's own actual manual.
Rating: 
Summary: Great introduction to analog synthesis
Review: This is a must-have book for those who want to learn about the mysterious abbreviations like LFO, VCO, VCA, VCF, etc. I found almost all the answers to my questions about analog synthesizers. The book is pretty short (120 pages), but very descriptive and information rich. Audio CD with examples is very helpful too.
Rating:
Summary: Great introduction to analog synthesis
Review: This was a great book for me to learn the ways of Analog Synthesis. I am sixteen years old and this book made it pretty easy to learn everything about the Analog world. The one thing I did notice was that you can not just sit down once a week and read this. Especially towards the end with the advanced techniques, which require you to know most of the information throughout the book. The other feature that I really liked was the audio CD. It was really great in helping me try and almost visualize what they were talking about. I would suggest this to a person at any age who is interesting in this field. Although Analog synthesis doesnt seem to be a popular field with teenagers. :)
Rating: 
Summary: No real info
Review: You'll learn more about the author's "pet peeves" than you will about Analog Synthesis. I read it twice thinking may be a missed something the first time. Perhaps if you take the subtitle "A Newbie Guide..." VERY literally it might be OK, but this book offers less info than than most Synth manuals (and that's saying something). Save your money and check out the Web there are several sites that provide way more info than this book does.
Rating:
Summary: No real info
Review: You'll learn more about the author's "pet peeves" than you will about Analog Synthesis. I read it twice thinking may be a missed something the first time. Perhaps if you take the subtitle "A Newbie Guide..." VERY literally it might be OK, but this book offers less info than than most Synth manuals (and that's saying something). Save your money and check out the Web there are several sites that provide way more info than this book does.
<< 1 >>
|
