BookTip XIII: Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer

I have had 2 whole weeks off from work this holiday season, so i had enough time to read a few interesting synth-related books.

The first one i read was 'Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer' by Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco.
It's a very interesting book (368 pages) that was published in 2004, and that tells the story about Robert (Bob) Moog, synthesizers from the mid-60s to the mid-70s in general and about the Moog company and its products.

The book has a foreword by Bob Moog himself (he passed away a year after the publication of this book) and the writers have spend a large amount of time and effort into making it.
The book is filled with stories by musicians, technicians and other pioneers from that era where everyone seemed to share a same passion for analog synthesis.

The list of interviewed people for this book is too large to mention, but it includes people like Don Buchla, Suzanne Ciani, Keith Emerson, Rachel Elkind, Tom Oberheim, Alan Pearlman (from ARP) and many more.
That's a very impressive list, and the whole book is written in a chronological style, filled with many anecdotes and interesting facts, what makes it fun and easy to read.
A must-read in my humble opinion, if you are interested in this kind of stuff, of course...

Info: http://books.google.nl/books/about/Analog_Days.html?id=3hjvWzkMK-sC …
Harvard University Press, 15 nov. 2004 - 368 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0674016170

Find my earlier BookTips HERE
My next BookTip will be published somewhere next month.

Booktip II - Vintage Synthesizers by Mark Vail

Another interesting read; 
The subtitle of this book: “Groundbreaking instruments and pioneering designers of electronic music synthesizers” explains a lot about the content...

This neat 300-page book, written in 1993 by Mark Vail, one of the writers of Keyboard magazine, is a very complete overview of 30 years of synthesizer history - from 1962 until 1992.
The book is full with background-stories and funny anecdotes by designers and early users and it is loaded with nice (mostly black and white) pictures.

The buying guide, the giant glossary and the comprehensive index in the back of the book make this book an unmissable read for anyone interested in (analog) synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines.

ISBN: 0-87930-275-5
More info at http://www.markvail.com/

Booktip I - Analog Synthesizers by Mark Jenkins

Analog Synthesizers - Understanding, Performing, Buying - by Mark Jenkins

One of the most interesting books about synthesizers and synthesis is probably this one by Mark Jenkins, has 336 pages, and was published in 2007

The book starts with basics like 'what is analog' and goes through the aspects of analog sound by the hand of the different components of a synthesizer.

A large part of the book is about the history of synthesizers, and there are also a lot of interviews; with Robert (Bob) Moog, Keith Emerson, Hans Zimmer, Rick Wakeman, Jean-Michel Jarre and many more.

The book is complimented with a lot of nice black/white pictures and also includes a tuition and sound-sampling CD with over 30 different analog synthesizers, spread over 79 tracks

ISBN: 978-0-240-52072-8