Difference between revisions of "SDIY books"
m>Tim Stinchcombe
Another small booklet by Thomas Henry. This one shows how to use the NE570 chip not only as a compressor/expander, but includes other circuits such as an envelope follower and a VCA.
=== More Advanced Electronic Music Projects, R.A. Penfold ===
Bernard Babani, 1986, ISBN 0859341488, 'BP174', 78 pages.
Typical Babani pocket-book. This contains slightly more advanced/complex circuits than its predecessor, ''Electronic Music Projects'', BP74 (q.v). Amongst the circuits here: a simple phase shifter; BBD-based flanger/chorus/vibrato unit; a ring modulator; and the latter part of the book details a 'percussion synthesizer', though this doesn't appear to use the more traditional method of 'pinging' a resonant filter, so heaven knows what it would actually sound like... Many of the circuits make use of the now obsolete LM13600 OTA, and so presumably would need some small adjustments to use the LM13700 instead.
=== Musical Applications of Microprocessors, Hal Chamberlin ===
1.1 Advanced Projects for the Electric Guitar, J. Chatwin
1.3 Build a Better Music Synthesizer, Thomas Henry
1.4 Electronic Drum Cookbook, Thomas Henry
1.5 Electronic Music and Creative Tape Recording, M.K. Berry
1.7 Electronic Music Circuits: The Reprints Vol 1, Thomas Henry
1.9 Electronic Music Learning Projects, R. Bebbington
1.10 Electronic Music Projects, R.A. Penfold
1.11 Electronic Synthesiser Projects, M.K. Berry
1.12 Electronotes, ed. Bernie Hutchins
1.13 Making Music with the 3080 OTA, Thomas Henry
1.14 Making Music with the 566, Thomas Henry
1.15 Making Music with the NE570 Compander, Thomas Henry
1.16 More Advanced Electronic Music Projects, R.A. Penfold
1.17 Musical Applications of Microprocessors, Hal Chamberlin
1.18 Noise Generator Cookbook, Thomas Henry
1.19 Op-Amp Cookbook, Walter G. Jung
1.20 Small Signal Audio Design, Douglas Self
1.21 VCO Chip Cookbook
Advanced Projects for the Electric Guitar, J. Chatwin
Typical Babani pocket-book. Whilst primarily aimed at the guitarist (wah wah, distortion, tremelo etc.), there are comprehensive treatments of two delay cicuits in here: an analogue BBD one (MN3102/MN3207); and a digital one (HT8955).
Build a Better Music Synthesizer, Thomas Henry
Tab Books, 1987, ISBN 0830602550, vii+167 pages
A proper hardbound book by Thomas Henry. Perhaps understandably there is some commonality with the information in this book and many other of Thomas Henry's smaller booklets. The book explains how to put together a complete snythesizer, including things like the PSU and the case. It contains circuits for most usual synth components, VCO, VCA, VCF etc., but unfortunately is a little dated in that many of them are based around hard-to-get chips, like the CEM3330, CEM3340, SSM2056, SN76477 etc. There is also an introductory chapter on what a synthesizer is and what the major components of one are.
Electronic Drum Cookbook, Thomas Henry
Originally Midwest Analog Products, 2002, v+50 pages; now available from Magic Smoke Electronics
This booklet from Thomas Henry is about twice the size of the smaller ones. It contains a lot of basic information about how to synthesize drums, and as well as several filters/tone generation circuits, it also includes a simple VCA, PSU, white noise generator, percussive-type envelope generator, and even how to build a simple drum pad using conductive foam.
Electronic Music and Creative Tape Recording, M.K. Berry
Bernard Babani, 1978, ISBN 0900162724, 'BP51', 87 pages.
Typical Babani pocket-book. About half this book is about recording on tape, and splicing etc. to manipulate the sound, but there are also lots of very simple circuits of a VCO, VCA (MC3340), and other effects like fuzz etc. One of the more complicated circuits seems quite out of place, a diode ladder filter - this book is the source of the circuit found in several places on the net: Modulus newsletter and The Free Information Society
Electronic Music Circuits: The Reprints Vol 1, Thomas Henry
Midwest Analog Products, 2002, 162 pages.
This is a larger comb-bound book from Thomas Henry, and consists of reprints of 38 articles from old newsletters of the 70s and 80s, such as Electronotes, Polyphony and Electronic Musician. It has circuits of many components familiar in synths, e.g. VCOs, VCAs, VCFs, envelope generators, and also less usual ones like BBD delays, drum circuits etc. (It is not believed that a 'Volume 2' has ever been produced.)
Electronic Music Learning Projects, R. Bebbington
Bernard Babani, 1993, ISBN 0859343294, 'BP329', 114 pages.
Typical Babani pocket-book. The circuits in here are at a very introductory (e.g. schoolboy) level. They include several oscillator circuits (including a very Stylophone-like one), and others like a metronome etc. It is clearly not intended as a book of serious synthesizer circuits, though doubtless one or two could be adapted for such.
Electronic Music Projects, R.A. Penfold
Bernard Babani, 1980, ISBN 0900162945, 'BP74', 106 pages
Typical Babani pocket-book. The circuits in this book are mostly fairly simple, and many are aimed at the guitarist: wah wah, fuzz, sustain etc.; there is actually a circuit for a spring reverb unit (though there doesn't appear to be anything like a specification for the spring tank itself); a Stylophone-like 'Stylus Organ'; the most synth-like circuit is a 555-based oscillator, but it isn't voltage-controlled.
Electronic Synthesiser Projects, M.K. Berry
Typical Babani pocket-book (note the non-conventional spelling in the title). It contains details for a basic synth, but again uses some now hard-to-get chips, namely the SN76477 'single chip synth' and a TDA1022 BBD delay. other circuits include a 4017-based sequencer, 8038 and 555 VCOs, and a logic-based ADSR.
Making Music with the 566, Thomas Henry
Another small booklet by Thomas Henry. This one has lots of circuits and detail around the 566, a 'function generator'-type chip (which unfortunately was made obsolete ages ago I suspect). The booklet shows how to hook one up as a VCO which gives all the major waveforms, sine, tri, ramp, square etc., and also others like a noise circuit.
Making Music with the NE570 Compander, Thomas Henry
Originally Midwest Analog Products, 1998, viii+19 pages; now available from Magic Smoke Electronics
More Advanced Electronic Music Projects, R.A. Penfold
Typical Babani pocket-book. This contains slightly more advanced/complex circuits than its predecessor, Electronic Music Projects, BP74 (q.v). Amongst the circuits here: a simple phase shifter; BBD-based flanger/chorus/vibrato unit; a ring modulator; and the latter part of the book details a 'percussion synthesizer', though this doesn't appear to use the more traditional method of 'pinging' a resonant filter, so heaven knows what it would actually sound like... Many of the circuits make use of the now obsolete LM13600 OTA, and so presumably would need some small adjustments to use the LM13700 instead.
1st edition good too..
VCO Chip Cookbook
SMS Electronics, 2007, vi+118 pages. According to this electro-music.com thread (pay attention to the dates!), it looks as though Magic Smoke/Lulu will make this book available again at sometime in the future.
A larger-than-usual offering from Thomas Henry. It includes detail on how to use three VCO chips: the 566, 8038 and XR-2206. Some of the information is taken from Making Music with the 566 (q.v.), but there is much more here besides, including exponential conversion, triangle-to-sine waveshaping etc.