#1

Does anyone know of good resources (online lectures, books, documentaries, or otherwise) for learning the engineering behind synthesizers, like circuity and all of that?

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#2

You could start here:
http://electronotes.netfirms.com

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#4

I remember Olivier from Mutable Instruments saying somewhere that he learned a lot from online course materials of this one EE professor from Georgia Tech:

Actually did some quick googling:

His name is Aaron Lanterman, hereā€™s his website - http://lanterman.ece.gatech.edu

Course sites:

http://lanterman.ece.gatech.edu/ems10/

http://lanterman.ece.gatech.edu/ems10/

I tried watching some of the lectures, but it went a little too fast for my understanding of electrical engineering.

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#5

Just seconding the Electro Notes documents. Itā€™s been recommended to me various times.

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#6

Lots of circuits here:
https://www.cgs.synth.net/
http://musicfromouterspace.com/

Kits:


https://modularaddict.com/

Forum:
http://electro-music.com/forum/forum-112.html

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#7

This is how I started: http://www.nicolascollins.com/handmade.htm

http://loliel.narod.ru/DIY.pdf

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#8

You didnā€™t specify your level with this stuff, so here are some resources:

Basic:

Forest Mims ā€˜getting started in electronics.ā€™ - a nice review book, in notebook format. Starts basic butā€¦ basics are good.

Forest Mims Engineers Notebook.

Make: Analog Synthesizers. Ray Wilson. (of Music from Outer Space). Basic-ish.

Foundations / Wide Ranging:

Practical Electronics for Inventors. Scherz and Monk.

A bit more eclectic:

Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking. Nic Collins.

Crazy old Reference:

Musical Applications of Microprocessors. 1980. Hayden Books. Hard to find but lots of good old stuff.

I have all of these if you want more info on any.

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#9
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#10

Seems that a bunch of us all posted Nic Collinsā€™ book at nearly the same time.

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#11

I hit post 2nd. I get the silver medal?

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#12

If you have the time, an electrical engineering degree helps :wink:

But seriouslyā€¦ @jonas mentioned MI, all the schematics for those modules are available so itā€™s useful to study them or any other schematics available online. The book ā€œThe Art of Electronicsā€ is pretty great too, but you need to be comfortable with a fair bit of math to get the most of it. Math helps in general with circuit design though :slight_smile:

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#13

I love that book and read it from cover to cover. Collins courages experimentation and has such a great diy spirit. Lots of fun breadboard + simple things to try.

This ubuweb page has a bunch of old papers and curiosities: http://www.ubu.com/emr/index.html

#14

Also, check out Collins youtube-channel, heā€™s great!

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#15

Going to resurect this thread rather than start my own. Iā€™ve been considering modifying some circuits in some modular gear.

Is there anyone with a decent knowledge of electrical engineering who would be willing to let me PM some noob-ish questions about whatā€™s going on in a schematic to help make sense of a few things? :pray:

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#16

Unfortunately my own electrical engineering education left me with a lot more practical knowledge of software design than circuit design, but I feel like a circuit design/troubleshooting help thread would be something Iā€™d intently eavesdrop on.

#17

Yeah, a general thread seems like it could be useful as well. This has some overlap with the Hardware Design thread as well. Maybe a general thread Q:A thread would be useful as well?

#18

Iā€™m an EE. I work in RF power generators but I can try to answer some questions.

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#19

You can just ask in this thread! No question is too basic. We all start somewhere! And in a few years when your module business is thriving, weā€™ll have this as a testament to that :slight_smile:

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#20

Ask away. Iā€™m an EE also and Iā€™ll throw my hat in the ring.

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#21

my good friend + fellow circuit bending wizard and noiser will molasses actually compiled a fantastic list of electrical engineering books/guides with relations to synths - https://textuploader.com/1an76

definitely give his instagram a browse too - we share a lot of the same design philosophies, tho heā€™s more willing to coat things in ā€œshrek greenā€ spraypaint - https://www.instagram.com/molasses_llc/

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