Does anyone know of any good books on audio synthesizer circuit design.
I’m an EE major and i would like to build a synthesizer for my senior design project. I’ve built a basic setup using Radio Shack parts (555’s, 741’s, etc.) but I want to build something with more stability and style!
I own theory books including Sergio Francos excellent book on op-amp and IC design. But i would like to find a book which gives a more detailed design description of actual circuits used in audio synthesizers.
Tube based synthesizer design would be another cool way to go!
I’m also a engineer major (computer engineering / computer science…but close enough) and am interested in this stuff as well.
I just ordered a used copy of the “Musical Applications of uP’s” for fairly cheap (hardcover, $15, Amazon marketplace or whatever).
Is the Art of Electronics worth the $50 or so? It looks like it was published in 1989 so it seems like it could be very outdated. Is there something similar that’s more recent?
Anyway, back to the EE homework (currently learning about op-amps, comparators, ADC/DACs, etc…)
I am an analog IC designer and love synths too. I built many of my own synths and effects. The best place to start looking is at patents (Moog’s and ARP’s especially). A good website to reference them from is Don Tillman’s site (http://www.till.com/articles/index.html). Another place is old service manuals and schematics for synthesizers. For example, you can Google ‘minimoog schematics’ and learn stuff from there.
Another great resource is Bernie Hutchins’ Electronotes http://electronotes.netfirms.com/. These were newsletters that went out in the 70s and 80s with articles about circuit designs for musical applications (mainly synths) Although a bit expensive, the material in there is well worth it. Some of the parts referenced and used in the circuits may be obsolete, but you can still find many of them or substitute a newer equivalent.