Moog Music Forum

As an alternately enthralled / delighted / sometimes bewildered newbie, I feel I would benefit from reading about analogue synthesis principles in a little more detail in order to get on to the next stage in my learning curve. Can anyone recommend any good, plain language books on the subject? Bearing in mind I am A) A drummer; B) A Limey; C) Middle-aged; and D) Not a physist, I would greatly appreciate any ideas you guys might have. My experiences so far have led me to believe that to make any further progress I need more of an idea of basic principles. While I really enjoy experimenting, I've discovered that my Voyager tends to guard its secrets jealously....from time to time, I could swear it is either hibernating or perhaps even laughing at me! At other times, it astonishes me, so a more informed aproach might help.(My system comprises; Voyager; VX 351;CP 251; Ring Mod.; Phaser; Analog Delay.) Thanks.

I learned by far the most I Have learned from the Tom Rhea authored MicroMoog manual. He worked with Bob (developed the Crumar Spirit with him as well as many other things in is own right), was a physicist and engineer and his manuals are such that everytime you pick them up you will learn something.

The nomenclature of Analog Synthesis is so voluminous that approaching the subject from a beginners standpoint (like me) with little to no knowledge of the fundamentals of electronics (like me) can be extremely intimidating and makes for a high learning curve. Once you become familliar with the terminilogy, everything else comes with lots of time, and many hours on the toilet with the manuals.

THe Tom Rhea MicroMoog manuals (as well as other resources) can be found here.
http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/s ... omoog.html

I would start with the MicroMoog manual, maybe see if you can find a minimoog manual by Rhea as well. Then of corse all of the current Moog Music Manuals can be found on their respective product pages, and those (specifically the cp251, the Ring Mod) will provide lots of supplimental information. Be sure to read the Voyager manual too.

Then, After you paruse the MicroMoog manual, head on over to moogarchives.com, click on Instruments, then Modules, and then on the right you will see a list of most of the Modules that Moog offered. When you pick a module, it will give you a functional description and a Musical Application of each module, which will definately give you some ideas. Not only that you will love checking out their site if you haven't spent hours oogling the vintage synth porn that is there.

Then, if you still want some information, feel free to ask questions here as there are individuals here that are engineers and musicians and have spent countless hours helping me and other people learn about the Principles of Analogue Subtractive Synthesis.

Theres also the Analog Cookbook, which is a recipe book for sculpting sounds. It shows which waveshapes are best to use for which sounds. You can find it here

http://www.synthesizer-cookbook.com/


Im sure that there are other resources like other companies instructional manuals and other online resources that people can give you that I can't think of, but Id start there and thats enough to last you for years.

Good luck!


Eric

The instruction manual for the Nord Modular G2 is amazing.

It is an incredable resource for modular synthesis knowledge. I took it everywhere I went for an entire year.

You can download it free here: (towards the bottom)

http://www.clavia.se/main.asp?tm=Support&clsm=Downloads

The Logic Pro manual has great tutorials, even if you don't have the software.
Manuals of all shapes and sizes are your friend! (except if they are from roland or other asian companies who poop on a piece of paper and call it a manual!)

BWAHWAHWA!

Man you know what pisses me off? Its when you get a nice and thick manual and you think to yourself "Wow, this must be informative" and you see that it consists of 40 pages, two of which are english and 2 pages for 19 other languages.

Thanks Moog for making damn good manuals.

Many thanks to all of you for your responses. This lot should be a great help. The Voyager manual is great as far as it goes - I just need a bit more detail. As for indecipherable Asian manuals and their strange, mutated language...I 've just had an LG air-con / heat pump installed; the gear is great, but getting the best out of it is made almost impossible by a mixture of "Translation-ease" and some sort of assumption that you are psychic! Great product let down by thoughtlesness - but hey, I'm getting there! But as for the Moog, my best discovery so far has been with the VCOs off and the filter oscillating. But this has proved to me that the way different controls work with each other can be bewildering; on the one hand, it is stunning what can be done; on the other hand, you might never find it except by accident, unless you have a clear understanding of how things interact, hence my quest for further reading. Modules react differently depending on what you put into them, obviously, so I'm alternately amazed by some things and frustrated by others. Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement.

I'd recommend Allen Strange's Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls (either 1st or 2nd edition. Both are excellent). I second the Nord Modular manual. Each module is thoroughly explained and is transferrable to analog technique. Arturia's Moog Modular V manual is excellent. The Voyager manual also contains a nice intro to analog synthesis.

-andrew bunny

Hey Nick:

I found long time ago this paper of a great interest, as an introduction. I don¡t know what's your tech level, but I don't think its too difficult to understand:

http://electronotes.netfirms.com/TOPOMSS-Ch1.PDF


Hope you enjoy !

nick braithwaite wrote:Many thanks to all of you for your responses. This lot should be a great help. The Voyager manual is great as far as it goes - I just need a bit more detail.

I'd suggest asking questions about the details. No matter how simple or basic you think your question may be I'm sure many will learn along with you. Just pick a subject that you want to learn more about and let the forum chew on it until it makes sense to you. Then go on to the next detail.

nick braithwaite wrote:I feel I would benefit from reading about analogue synthesis principles in a little
more detail in order to get on to the next stage in my learning curve. Can anyone
recommend any good, plain language books on the subject?

Hi Nick,

Having been an Associate Professor of Music Synthesis at Berklee College and the University
of St. Francis, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone reading this forum:

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Tools-Synth ... 0879307730

It was written by Jim Aikin, former Editor-In-Chief of Keyboard Magazine.

I was hired by Jim to proofread and fact check the book before it went to press, so I can honestly
say that I believe everything written in it.

Here are all of the articles from the Sound on Sound "Synth Secrets" series written by Gordon Reid over a period of about 5 years. It takes you from the very beginning, through just about every conceivable aspect of synthesis you can imagine. I've gone through parts of it, and find it to be pretty detailed and informative. Not only will you get detailed explanations of the controls and concepts, but you'll also get tutorials on how to build different types of sounds, as well as informative explanations of different synths down through the years, including the Hammond organ, which is actually an additive synth in it's own right.

This link will take you to a page listing all of the the articles and their links. The articles are in descending order by date, so start at the bottom, and work your way up!

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/allsynthsecrets.htm

I hope this helps!

Bob

Thanks for taking so much time and effort to help. Much appreciated. To answer feran, my tech level is modest, to say the least! I just tried to post a response and managed to lose it I'll try again later.....

_DemonDan_ wrote: I was hired by Jim to proofread and fact check the book before it went to press, so I can honestly say that I believe everything written in it.

Somehow, I wish you were the one who proofread the CP-251 manual

To be thoroughly holding with index and thumb finger of left hand whilst with turning motion the fastener drive tool suitable.

Gotta love 'Chinglish'!

Just Me wrote:To be thoroughly holding with index and thumb finger of left hand whilst with turning motion the fastener drive tool suitable.

Gotta love 'Chinglish'!

Check out http://www.engrish.com/