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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
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5.0 out of 5 stars Circuit Benders Rejoice!
I can't control my astonishment that a dusty old technology like analog synth is getting a fresh new makeover courtesy the practical genius of the Music from Outer Space (MFOS) master himself: Ray Wilson. Feed your synth addiction (and it really is that as you probably know): get this quick!If you still smile with admiration at Vangelis in Blade Runner, you're going to love this book! Wilson one ups the old art of producing wonderful synth on a budget (taking apart and putting old toys back together with SFX or musically bent circuits, for example!) by "legitimizing" DIY synth with everything you need to understand the real circuitry behind both digital and analog synth, all the way up to CMOS chips.As part of the acclaimed MAKE series, this book of course is project oriented, giving ALL the steps for a middle function, and quite complex, MFOS synth. But way beyond that, Ray shows all the components for much simpler sound, PLUS the modules you can use to build a truly professional $10,000 synth SYSTEM-- or even a whole synth studio-- on a tight / DIY budget. The building blocks are here; he challenges us to take them as far as we want!For point of view, I'm a music and circuit lady at payroy dot com and evaluate new scores of synth for patentability. That's right, when Wilson says you can not only create pro synth DIY but also profit, he's not kidding. The combination of circuits and music is literally being reborn, with some of the "old" music circuit books selling for hundreds as folks jump into the new wave of patent opportunities. Beds alone are making significant royalties for DIY synth basement composers today, from movies to commercials, due to web propagation of your reputation and talent, regardless of where you are or where you got your synth.The three biggest plusses of this wonderful text are: 1. Wilson goes far beyond the usual sound effects and sci fi capacitor changes to show the circuits that exactly mimic orchestral level compositions 2. The whole text is hands on with decades of practical advice packed into each comprehensive page, including time and money saving tips on how to avoid ruining a project with too high voltage on a low voltage chip, as just one example 3. There is an ideal blend of theory, circuits and components, beginning as if you're new to the field, but going all the way to complete, modular, professional level synths and composition-- an amazing feat for $20 in a 160 page book.Perhaps most importantly, Ray was careful to generalize all the information-- from components to circuits to technique-- so you get the skill to advance quickly to much bigger and more robust units if you wish. On the other hand, the book's main project (the MFOS Noise Toaster) is FAR from simple. Wilson even says that although it's rudimentary to advanced engineers, they still love building it due to the memories it brings back AND the principles it reinforces about how variations change sounds, as well as the subtle contributions of individual components, designs and circuits.In fact, I just read a new patent by an "amateur" who invented a cricket chirp synth that acually brings crickets out from hiding-- he's negotiating selling it to a pest company for over $12 million US right now!! Yes, the toaster works with white noise loops too, so we're talking SFX here as well, not only music, and Wilson shows how to adjust the circuits (and WHY) to change that white noise to a bomb blast effect, for example. Take your new blast SFX, combine it with a blastcode animation (a Maya plugin), and earn extra income from your hobby!Finally, us benders will now also understand WHY changing that capacitance completely morphed our virtual woodpecker into a virtual intruder alarm or canary! Personal tip: I often buy electronics for a buck at the dollar store and bust them up for their components. I priced one calculator/timer reverse engineering project at $9 in current part costs vs. a buck at the dollar store (probably silver prices alone). With Wilson's help here and on his MFOS website, I can use Mouser online to get what I need at about the same savings, with no wasted parts!And yes, I DID build the toaster and yes, it DOES work-- Make's proofing worked and of course Ray, via his many magazine and blog articles, knows better than to recommend or teach untested designs!!! Highly recommended for teens forward, but recommend a basic electronics book first if you're new to electronics, including Make's own version: Make: Electronics (Learning by Discovery). I don't support or recommend publishers, but O'Reilly IS consistenly high quality in editing/ proofing first editions, and this shows in both of these titles.EMAILERS: In answer to all the frequent questions (thanks for asking!) about digital and "professional" texts in this field, the best by far in your humble reviewer's opinion is Cipriani: Electronic Music and Sound Design - Theory and Practice with Max/MSP - volume 1. It covers many aspects of Digital Signal Processing AND programming as well.Library Picks reviews only for the benefit of Bolo shoppers and has nothing to do with Bolo, the authors, manufacturers or publishers of the items we review. We always buy the items we review for the sake of objectivity, and although we search for gems, are not shy about trashing an item if it's a waste of time or money for Bolo shoppers. If the reviewer identifies herself, her job or her field, it is only as a point of reference to help you gauge the background and any biases.
5.0 out of 5 stars Gateway to DIY Synths
if you are an electronics hobbyist, and you have any interest in music of any kind, and you've been trying to figure out how to come up with electronics projects to help you learn and give you things to build, the world of DIY synth is for you! This book includes many common synth components, with schematic diagrams and explanations of how they work; Ray Wilson explains components and their characteristics and why they were chosen, a lot of fundamentals of electronics, tools and equipment, troubleshooting, enclosure fabrication, and oh yeah he walks you through the building of the MFOS Noise Box (i'll let you look that up). This book changed my entire outlook on life and is making so many things i never understood about electronics suddenly click into place in my mind. For example, i'm finally understanding the power of and uses for op- amps, Ray dedicates a whole chapter to this topic and boy am i glad he did. This book is a treasure of valuable info, get the hard copy so you can mark up the schematics with your own notes as you learn. This book keeps blowing my mind and i can't recommend it enough
4.0 out of 5 stars Synth 101
This book is an interesting find. Written by Ray Wilson,this book introduces the reader to electronic music synthesis. Being produced by a Webzine and the souce material being a readily available website,this book more than anything else projects that it is a tangible collection of a website writings rather than any sort of dry technical or reference manual. While a lot of this book seems to be advertisements for MAKEzine, Music From Outer Space and the Noise Toaster,Mouser Electronics or even RadioShack-this book is a nice add to any diy synth enthusiast's library. Be aware that the book assumes you have at least some diy or elementary electronics expeirence and have purchased a PCB or kit from the website. However,rather than explaining any of the assembly process it explains the theory and building blocks of electronic music synthesis in general.It also does a good job explaining the electronic theory of the functioning of each of the building blocks that compose the Noise Toaster itself. The book does also takes steps at assisting you if you have none of these things.The best part about the book is a large section introducing various parts and circuits to the reader to experiment with. One walks away with a great companion to the process of making that particular homemade synth design OR a distillation of ideas and parts lists that with a reader could easy dream up their own synth. The biggest flaw with this book is suggesting that with the inclusion of the segmented schematic or PCB images is that the reader can walk into the nearest Radioshack and walk out with all the components to build the Noise Toaster. The problem with this is this project is EXTREMELY dependent on having four of a certain component, a 2N5457 JFET Transistor,which aren't easy to find. This again leads the reader online to one of the list of electronics component suppliers presented in the book or the Music From Outer Space website where they can be purchased. The problem is the same for the included circuit schematics and parts lists included to experiment with,leading the reader again online to one of the electonics components suppliers.On the whole,this book may have felt like a website I could hold in my hands,but is still a rather nice find for my collection and am thankful for my purchase. I would definitely recommend to other readers,but only in a physical medium-not an eBook. This would be a terrific gift for any DIYer, synth enthusiast, electronics hobbyist, or even electronics professional. Enjoy your reading and enjoy the awesome electronic sounds you can make.
Good book until the cat wee'd on it
Will buy again.I only got half way through but it was interesting and informative.
Topp
Tipptopp!
Great job!
I like so much this book, Ray Wilson is an extraordinary person, who shows lots of passion and love for the stuff he creates. In this book you can find a very helpful guide to your first approach to the building process of an analog synthesizer, not only an ''how to'' but also a ''why is that''. Ray Is a very inspiring synth maker, he doesn't wait to describe to you the technique of materially make and build, but also lots of circuit's simple explanation and tips and tricks. A great journey into good sounds and sincere and passionate attitude towads the subject. Great book.
La base des synthés analogiques
Mon seul regret : qu'il ne soit pas traduit en français.
Tough but worth it
First of all this book is very generously priced - you get a lot of good information for £11.50, I think I would happily pay double that.If you are a fan of Nicolas Collins book "Handmade Electronic Music" and are looking for something new and more advanced to get into, then this is the perfect book for you. If you want to get into circuits and building electronic music from the ground up then I would read Collins book first:Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware HackingI gave 4 stars because at times I thought the layout of the book was poor, it could have done with a little more editing in my opinion to make some concepts easier to grasp.My only other criticism is that I found Ray's language impenetrable at points, but you shouldn't let that put you off, build the circuits in the book, modify them and adapt them, you will find that they are very flexible!One more note, I noticed another review here that criticised the book for having a large section on the Noise Toaster instrument, but really, this section is great as Ray explains the instrument part by part, and I will let you in on a secret - you can pull each module out of the Noise Toaster and build it as a stand alone - I have made a standalone active low-pass filter from the notes that runs from a single 9v battery!(Edit: I decided to bump to 5 stars, there really is nothing else like this book on the market to my knowledge, my negative points don't detract from the useful content in this book)
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Make: Analog Synthesizers: Make Electronic Sounds the Synth-DIY Way
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Visit the Make Community, LLC Store
Make: Analog Synthesizers: Make Electronic Sounds the Synth-DIY Way
AED16324
Quantity:
Order today to get by 7-14 business days
Delivery fee of AED 20. Free for orders above AED 200.
Imported From: United States
At BOLO, we work hard to ensure the products you receive are new, genuine, and sourced from reputable suppliers.
BOLO is not an authorized or official retailer for most brands, nor are we affiliated with manufacturers unless specifically stated on a product page. Instead, we source verified sellers, authorized distributors or directly from the manufacturer.
Each product undergoes thorough inspection and verification at our consolidation and fulfilment centers to ensure it meets our strict authenticity and quality standards before being shipped and delivered to you.
If you ever have concerns regarding the authenticity of a product purchased from us, please contact Bolo Support. We will review your inquiry promptly and, if necessary, provide documentation verifying authenticity or offer a suitable resolution.
Your trust is our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining transparency and integrity in every transaction.
All product information, images, descriptions, and reviews originate from the manufacturer or from trusted sellers overseas. BOLO is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an authorized retailer for most brands listed on our website unless stated otherwise.
While we strive to display accurate information, variations in packaging, labeling, instructions, or formulation may occasionally occur due to regional differences or supplier updates. For detailed or manufacturer-specific information, please contact the brand directly or reach out to BOLO Support for assistance.
Unless otherwise stated, all prices displayed on the product page include applicable taxes and import duties.
BOLO operates in accordance with the laws and regulations of United Arab Emirates. Any items found to be restricted or prohibited for sale within the UAE will be cancelled prior to shipment. We take proactive measures to ensure that only products permitted for sale in United Arab Emirates are listed on our website.
All items are shipped by air, and any products classified as “Dangerous Goods (DG)” under IATA regulations will be removed from the order and cancelled.
All orders are processed manually, and we make every effort to process them promptly once confirmed. Products cancelled due to the above reasons will be permanently removed from listings across the website.
Description:
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Reviews:
5.0 out of 5 stars Circuit Benders Rejoice!
I can't control my astonishment that a dusty old technology like analog synth is getting a fresh new makeover courtesy the practical genius of the Music from Outer Space (MFOS) master himself: Ray Wilson. Feed your synth addiction (and it really is that as you probably know): get this quick!If you still smile with admiration at Vangelis in Blade Runner, you're going to love this book! Wilson one ups the old art of producing wonderful synth on a budget (taking apart and putting old toys back together with SFX or musically bent circuits, for example!) by "legitimizing" DIY synth with everything you need to understand the real circuitry behind both digital and analog synth, all the way up to CMOS chips.As part of the acclaimed MAKE series, this book of course is project oriented, giving ALL the steps for a middle function, and quite complex, MFOS synth. But way beyond that, Ray shows all the components for much simpler sound, PLUS the modules you can use to build a truly professional $10,000 synth SYSTEM-- or even a whole synth studio-- on a tight / DIY budget. The building blocks are here; he challenges us to take them as far as we want!For point of view, I'm a music and circuit lady at payroy dot com and evaluate new scores of synth for patentability. That's right, when Wilson says you can not only create pro synth DIY but also profit, he's not kidding. The combination of circuits and music is literally being reborn, with some of the "old" music circuit books selling for hundreds as folks jump into the new wave of patent opportunities. Beds alone are making significant royalties for DIY synth basement composers today, from movies to commercials, due to web propagation of your reputation and talent, regardless of where you are or where you got your synth.The three biggest plusses of this wonderful text are: 1. Wilson goes far beyond the usual sound effects and sci fi capacitor changes to show the circuits that exactly mimic orchestral level compositions 2. The whole text is hands on with decades of practical advice packed into each comprehensive page, including time and money saving tips on how to avoid ruining a project with too high voltage on a low voltage chip, as just one example 3. There is an ideal blend of theory, circuits and components, beginning as if you're new to the field, but going all the way to complete, modular, professional level synths and composition-- an amazing feat for $20 in a 160 page book.Perhaps most importantly, Ray was careful to generalize all the information-- from components to circuits to technique-- so you get the skill to advance quickly to much bigger and more robust units if you wish. On the other hand, the book's main project (the MFOS Noise Toaster) is FAR from simple. Wilson even says that although it's rudimentary to advanced engineers, they still love building it due to the memories it brings back AND the principles it reinforces about how variations change sounds, as well as the subtle contributions of individual components, designs and circuits.In fact, I just read a new patent by an "amateur" who invented a cricket chirp synth that acually brings crickets out from hiding-- he's negotiating selling it to a pest company for over $12 million US right now!! Yes, the toaster works with white noise loops too, so we're talking SFX here as well, not only music, and Wilson shows how to adjust the circuits (and WHY) to change that white noise to a bomb blast effect, for example. Take your new blast SFX, combine it with a blastcode animation (a Maya plugin), and earn extra income from your hobby!Finally, us benders will now also understand WHY changing that capacitance completely morphed our virtual woodpecker into a virtual intruder alarm or canary! Personal tip: I often buy electronics for a buck at the dollar store and bust them up for their components. I priced one calculator/timer reverse engineering project at $9 in current part costs vs. a buck at the dollar store (probably silver prices alone). With Wilson's help here and on his MFOS website, I can use Mouser online to get what I need at about the same savings, with no wasted parts!And yes, I DID build the toaster and yes, it DOES work-- Make's proofing worked and of course Ray, via his many magazine and blog articles, knows better than to recommend or teach untested designs!!! Highly recommended for teens forward, but recommend a basic electronics book first if you're new to electronics, including Make's own version: Make: Electronics (Learning by Discovery). I don't support or recommend publishers, but O'Reilly IS consistenly high quality in editing/ proofing first editions, and this shows in both of these titles.EMAILERS: In answer to all the frequent questions (thanks for asking!) about digital and "professional" texts in this field, the best by far in your humble reviewer's opinion is Cipriani: Electronic Music and Sound Design - Theory and Practice with Max/MSP - volume 1. It covers many aspects of Digital Signal Processing AND programming as well.Library Picks reviews only for the benefit of Bolo shoppers and has nothing to do with Bolo, the authors, manufacturers or publishers of the items we review. We always buy the items we review for the sake of objectivity, and although we search for gems, are not shy about trashing an item if it's a waste of time or money for Bolo shoppers. If the reviewer identifies herself, her job or her field, it is only as a point of reference to help you gauge the background and any biases.
5.0 out of 5 stars Gateway to DIY Synths
if you are an electronics hobbyist, and you have any interest in music of any kind, and you've been trying to figure out how to come up with electronics projects to help you learn and give you things to build, the world of DIY synth is for you! This book includes many common synth components, with schematic diagrams and explanations of how they work; Ray Wilson explains components and their characteristics and why they were chosen, a lot of fundamentals of electronics, tools and equipment, troubleshooting, enclosure fabrication, and oh yeah he walks you through the building of the MFOS Noise Box (i'll let you look that up). This book changed my entire outlook on life and is making so many things i never understood about electronics suddenly click into place in my mind. For example, i'm finally understanding the power of and uses for op- amps, Ray dedicates a whole chapter to this topic and boy am i glad he did. This book is a treasure of valuable info, get the hard copy so you can mark up the schematics with your own notes as you learn. This book keeps blowing my mind and i can't recommend it enough
4.0 out of 5 stars Synth 101
This book is an interesting find. Written by Ray Wilson,this book introduces the reader to electronic music synthesis. Being produced by a Webzine and the souce material being a readily available website,this book more than anything else projects that it is a tangible collection of a website writings rather than any sort of dry technical or reference manual. While a lot of this book seems to be advertisements for MAKEzine, Music From Outer Space and the Noise Toaster,Mouser Electronics or even RadioShack-this book is a nice add to any diy synth enthusiast's library. Be aware that the book assumes you have at least some diy or elementary electronics expeirence and have purchased a PCB or kit from the website. However,rather than explaining any of the assembly process it explains the theory and building blocks of electronic music synthesis in general.It also does a good job explaining the electronic theory of the functioning of each of the building blocks that compose the Noise Toaster itself. The book does also takes steps at assisting you if you have none of these things.The best part about the book is a large section introducing various parts and circuits to the reader to experiment with. One walks away with a great companion to the process of making that particular homemade synth design OR a distillation of ideas and parts lists that with a reader could easy dream up their own synth. The biggest flaw with this book is suggesting that with the inclusion of the segmented schematic or PCB images is that the reader can walk into the nearest Radioshack and walk out with all the components to build the Noise Toaster. The problem with this is this project is EXTREMELY dependent on having four of a certain component, a 2N5457 JFET Transistor,which aren't easy to find. This again leads the reader online to one of the list of electronics component suppliers presented in the book or the Music From Outer Space website where they can be purchased. The problem is the same for the included circuit schematics and parts lists included to experiment with,leading the reader again online to one of the electonics components suppliers.On the whole,this book may have felt like a website I could hold in my hands,but is still a rather nice find for my collection and am thankful for my purchase. I would definitely recommend to other readers,but only in a physical medium-not an eBook. This would be a terrific gift for any DIYer, synth enthusiast, electronics hobbyist, or even electronics professional. Enjoy your reading and enjoy the awesome electronic sounds you can make.
Good book until the cat wee'd on it
Will buy again.I only got half way through but it was interesting and informative.
Topp
Tipptopp!
Great job!
I like so much this book, Ray Wilson is an extraordinary person, who shows lots of passion and love for the stuff he creates. In this book you can find a very helpful guide to your first approach to the building process of an analog synthesizer, not only an ''how to'' but also a ''why is that''. Ray Is a very inspiring synth maker, he doesn't wait to describe to you the technique of materially make and build, but also lots of circuit's simple explanation and tips and tricks. A great journey into good sounds and sincere and passionate attitude towads the subject. Great book.
La base des synthés analogiques
Mon seul regret : qu'il ne soit pas traduit en français.
Tough but worth it
First of all this book is very generously priced - you get a lot of good information for £11.50, I think I would happily pay double that.If you are a fan of Nicolas Collins book "Handmade Electronic Music" and are looking for something new and more advanced to get into, then this is the perfect book for you. If you want to get into circuits and building electronic music from the ground up then I would read Collins book first:Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware HackingI gave 4 stars because at times I thought the layout of the book was poor, it could have done with a little more editing in my opinion to make some concepts easier to grasp.My only other criticism is that I found Ray's language impenetrable at points, but you shouldn't let that put you off, build the circuits in the book, modify them and adapt them, you will find that they are very flexible!One more note, I noticed another review here that criticised the book for having a large section on the Noise Toaster instrument, but really, this section is great as Ray explains the instrument part by part, and I will let you in on a secret - you can pull each module out of the Noise Toaster and build it as a stand alone - I have made a standalone active low-pass filter from the notes that runs from a single 9v battery!(Edit: I decided to bump to 5 stars, there really is nothing else like this book on the market to my knowledge, my negative points don't detract from the useful content in this book)
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