Welsh’s Synthesizer Cookbook

If you ever find yourself googling “how do I make a ______ sound” this book is for you. Whether you’re just starting out or a synth expert, this cookbook is an essential tool for anyone interested in sound design with techniques that can be applied to any synthesizer.

Learn about subtractive synthesis, how to analyze sound and reverse engineer to recreate any sound without sampling, and get the most out of your synthesizer.

The first section explains the parts of an analog synth using harmonic and waveform analysis to understand exactly what each parameter does.

The second section shows how to use freely available harmonic and waveform analysis software to analyze and recreate patches from other synths, sounds from songs, and the synthesis of acoustic instruments.

The third section contains 102 universal patch recipes that are based on harmonic analysis and will create sounds that perfectly replicate acoustic instruments.

This book covers: oscillators, filters, envelopes, LFOs, keyboard expression, synthesis through harmonic analysis and reverse engineering; recipes for strings, woodwinds, brass, keyboards, voice, tuned and untuned percussion, leads, bass, pads and sound effects patches.

128 pages, softcover, 3rd edition

Written and published by Fred Welsh in 2006