Electronic music instruments weren't called synthesizers until the 1950s, but their lineage began in 1919 with Russian inventor Lev Sergeyevich Termen's development of the Etherphone, now known as the Theremin. From that point, synthesizers have undergone a remarkable evolution from prohibitively large mid-century models confined to university laboratories to the development of musical synthesis software that runs on tablet computers and portable media devices. Throughout its history, the ...

Now fully updated, The Hammond Organ: Beauty in the B traces the technological and artistic evolution of the B-3 and other tonewheel organs, as well as the whirling Leslie speakers that catapulted the Hammond sound into history. You'll discover the genius that went into the development of Hammond's tonewheel generator, drawbar harmonics, percussion, scanner vibrato and other innovations, as well as the incredible assistance Don Leslie provided for Hammond by creating his famous ro...

In Recasting Welfare Capitalism, Mark Vail employs a sophisticated and original theoretical approach to compare welfare states and political-economic adjustment in Germany and France. He examines how and why institutional change takes place and what factors characterize economic evolution when moving from times of prosperity to more austere periods and back again. Covering the 1970s to the present, Vail analyzes social and economic reforms, including labor policy, social-insurance, and ant...

How to Make a Noise: Analog Synthesis looks at creating sounds using analog synthesis techniques. Analog synthesis works by taking a sound source and shaping it with a filter. This is a simple but powerful technique which allows you to create the warm, rich, energetic, and commanding sounds, and with some care you will find tones with detail, complexity, and delicacy. You will have heard these techniques used on many recordings and will immediately recognize the sounds they produce. After ...

Why do professional recordings sound "bigger than life"? Are there special microphones and secret techniques? Or is it somehow the magic of the "big studio"?Learn how to improve your tracks (without spending big bucks on gear) with "Pro Techniques For Home Recording". This eBook covers every step in home music production from setup to mixing and mastering. Complete with audio examples.

Frequency modulation synthesis is capable of creating a broad, detailed, highly nuanced range of tones which can be controlled with a fine level of detail. The technique starts with a simple wave—usually a sine wave—which is then modulated by another wave. The interaction between the two (or more) waves creates and shapes the sound over time. FM synthesis offers an infinite range of possibilities and permutations: it is this range of choices which gives the broad array of tonal nuances tha...

Sample-based synthesizers can be used to create the sound of a full orchestra or individual instruments. They can replicate the sound of a full drum kit, delicate vintage gear, and specialist instruments. Samplers allow one musician to play the bagpipes, a shamisen, a lute, and a whole orchestra, all at the push of a button. As well as offering the facility to recreate the sound of real instruments with a high degree of sonic fidelity, sample-based synthesis also allows real sounds to be u...

Creating Sounds from Scratch is a practical, in-depth resource on the most common forms of music synthesis. It includes historical context, an overview of concepts in sound and hearing, and practical training examples to help sound designers and electronic music producers effectively manipulate presets and create new sounds. The book covers the all of the main synthesis techniques including analog subtractive, FM, additive, physical modeling, wavetable, sample-based, and granular....

Refining Sound is a practical roadmap to the complexities of creating sounds on modern synthesizers. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of learning to create sounds on a synthesizer is understanding what all the individual synthesizer components contribute to the complex finished sound. Author and veteran synthesizer instructor Brian K. Shepard draws on his years of experience in synthesizer pedagogy in order to peel back the often-mysterious layers of sound synthesis one-by-one. T...

A very common socialist claim is that the free market leads to economic monopolies, and it is the governments' duty to protect consumers from "unreasonably" high prices set by monopolists. The purpose of this essay is to explain in simple words, why consumers should not be protected from the market, but rather from state monopolies.Consumers must not be protected from Microsoft and Facebook, but they should be protected from public utilities, or any other state monopolies. This doc...

From the author of the critically acclaimed Elvis Presley biography: Last Train to Memphis brings us the life of Sam Phillips, the visionary genius who singlehandedly steered the revolutionary path of Sun Records.The music that he shaped in his tiny Memphis studio with artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Ike Turner, Howlin' Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash, introduced a sound that had never been heard before. He brought forth a singular mix of black...

What happens in Spain, among the euro zone's largest economies, matters. Its high unemployment (over 26%), burgeoning public debt, and banking crisis will be formative for the zone's future. In Spain: What Everyone Needs to Know, a timely addition to Oxford's acclaimed What Everyone Needs to Know series, veteran journalist William Chislett provides much-needed political and historical context for Spain's current economic and political predicament. Chislett recounts the country's fascinatin...