Computer Sound Synthesis for the Electronic Musician

Miranda, Eduardo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 024051517X ISBN 13: 9780240515175

Publisher: Focal Press, 1998

Introduce computer sound synthesis techniques and synthesis programming to students, researchers, musicians and enthusiasts in the field of music technology.

Miranda examines a variety of synthesis techniques and illustrates how to turn a personal computer into a powerful and flexible sound synthesiser. The book also discusses a number of ongoing developments that may play an important role in the future of electronic music making, including the use of Artificial Intelligence techniques in synthesis software and parallel computers.

Computer sound synthesis is becoming increasingly attractive to a wide range of musicians. The sound processing power of the computer is increasing and any personal computer will soon be able to run software in real-time, capable of synthesising sounds using every possible technique.

The art of sound synthesis is as important for the electronic musician as the art of orchestration is important for symphonic music composers. Those who wish to create their own virtual orchestra of electronic instruments and produce original sounds will find this book invaluable.

The accompanying CD-ROM contains examples, complementary tutorials and a number of synthesis systems for PC and Macintosh platforms, ranging from low level synthesis programming languages to graphic front-ends for instrument and sound design. These include fully working packages, demonstration versions of commercial software and experimental programs from top research centres in Europe, North and South America.

Review:

'Extremely readable and comprehensive coverage of the audio synthesis domain ... will empower the reader to get a deeper (and better) understanding of their synthesis instrument. The addition of several software synthesis applications makes this worth the price alone ... this was exactly what I needed to begin designing new synthesis instruments ... great book.'
Reader review from Amazon.com

'...an excellent source of ideas for creating innovative sounds for my mixes and multimedia works.'
Reader review from Amazon.com

From the Author:

Brief description and suggested readership
The art of sound synthesis is as important for the elctronic musician as the art of orchestration is important for symphonic music composers. Those who wish to create their own virtual orchestra of electronic instruments and produce original sounds will find this book invaluable. It examines a variety of synthesis techniques and illustrates how to turn a personal computer into a powerful and flexible sound synthesiser. A CD-Rom with tutorials is included in the book.