good books/sites for synth electronics

Tim (good enough for analog) Servo sent the following in to the SDIY list. I asked him if I could put it up here and he gave me the OK.

"For learning basic electronics and finding some fun circuits to play with, I'd recommend any of the Forrest Mims "Engineer's Notebook" series.

http://www.forrestmims.com/
http://www.forrestmims.com/engineers_mini_notebook.html
http://www.radioshack.com/pwr/product-reviews/Toys-Games/Hobby-projects-kits/RadioShack/p/2102913-Electronics-Learning-Lab.html

For more thorough electronic theory, "Art of Electronics" by Horowitz and Hill.
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521370957

Also try the "Op Amp Cookbook," "IC Timer Cookbook" and others by Walter Jung.
http://www.amazon.com/Op-Amp-Cookbook-3rd-Walter-Jung/dp/0138896011

For a great collection of synth circuits and some theory behind them, "Electronic Music Circuits" by Barry Klein. Highly recommended, and Barry is even a list member.
http://members.cox.net/barryklein/em.htm

Electronotes. You will love this. Guaranteed. If you don't want to pop for the entire collection, at least get the "Preferred Circuits Collection."
http://electronotes.netfirms.com/


I also sell reprints of several books by Thomas Henry that concentrate on one specific chip (e.g. 3080 OTA, or 566 VCO) or one type of synth circuit (e.g. Drum Circuits or Noise Circuits) through Magic Smoke Electronics at www.lulu.com/magsmoke


You will definitely want to get yourself a decent meter. I have one that was less than $100 and does capacitance and frequency readings. Not super accurate, but VERY handy. Also, do yourself a favor and get an oscilloscope. You can easily get by with an older model with lower bandwidth (5 or 10MHz is good enough for analog synth stuff), although a dual trace model is recommended. Again, you can often find a used
model for less than two or three hundred, and a scope will make diagnosing and troubleshooting SO much easier.

And welcome back to synth building!

Tim (good enough for analog) Servo"

Note the Atari Punk Console comes from Forrest Mims' designs.

Update: be sure to see the comments below for more recommendations.

Waldorf Largo Comes with Free Version of D-Pole

via andrew

"Just got my Waldorf Largo about an hour ago. Yeah, it's frakking awesome! I know you're loving that Blofeld, too! Anyway, just wanted to let you know that the Largo CD also comes with The Waldorf Edition LE (lite versions of Attack and Wave 2.v, full version of D-pole). I've been wanting to try out the 2.v (this version has 8 voices + 1 MIDI channel), so it's a very nice bonus!"

very cool

OCTAVE KITTEN

via this auction

"The Kitten offers two mixable modulators on both the VCO and VCF. The Axxe? No way. The Kitten's oscillator has three mixable waveforms, plus independent sliders for 2 suboctaves! The SH-09? Nope. The Kitten's filter is more ballsy and can be modulated by the oscillator! Korg MS-10? Not even close. The Kitten has just as many interface jacks and sounds much bigger. Overall the sound of this synthesizer is unique and high quality; it offers lots of flexibility for its size."

x0xb0x - Best TB-303 Replica

via this auction

click the top two images for larger shots. Note the clear back on the bottom shot.

Curtis vs radio demo

Curtis vs radio demo from strange agency on Vimeo.

"Curtis granular synthesizer is finally live on the App Store! Here's a medley of tweaks to live radio recordings."
Note I created a Curtis Granular label below. Click it for more and be sure to see this post.

Spoke drum machine prototype

Spoke drum machine prototype from strange agency on Vimeo.

"first demo of Spoke, coming to iPhone!"

Sound Scope Pro video theremin

Sound Scope Pro video theremin from strange agency on Vimeo.

"A preview of the upcoming pro version of Sound Scope with completely rewritten audio engine, kuzmoscillator modulator, more range, and higher resolution!"
You can find the free version on iTunes here:

Sound Scope Space demo

Sound Scope Space demo from strange agency on Vimeo.

"The software formerly known as Sound Scope Pro has been dubbed Sound Scope Space. It nears release, and we tremble with anticipation!"

SouthPole ​Expedition ​Part ​2: ​Modulation ​Mixing ​and ​LFOs on AudioMulch

via AudioMulch
"In part 1 of this series about AudioMulch's SouthPole contraption I presented the basics of resonant lowpass filtering. I gave an example of using AudioMulch's automation system to create rhythmic patterns of filtering by automating SouthPole's Base Frequency, Resonance and Gain. If you haven't read it you might want to check out part 1 here. This week's post picks up the story with an explanation of SouthPole's modulation mixing system. Then we'll look at some examples using SouthPole's LFOs (low frequency oscillators) to create various types of time-varying filtering."

Adaptation of the lowpass gate circuit from the Buchla Music Easel

"To learn more about these kinds of circuits, check out my lectures for my class on "Electronics for Music Synthesis:" users.ece.gatech.edu/~lanterma/ems I discuss the Sallen-Key filter topology in Lecture 21. I think I talk about the Buchla circuit in Lecture 22, but I don't remember for sure now."