Oh wow. I can check out a digital copy of this from my local library (and just did). Thanks for the recommendation, @dan.tilley !
I expect by now you “met the end” reading this book. Either at the last page…or before.
Franz Kafka has a whole genre named after him, ‘Kafkaesque’, described in terms generally pretty much in line with your conclusions.
The term "Kafkaesque " is used to describe concepts and situations reminiscent of Kafka’s work, particularly Der Process (The Trial ) and Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis ).[265] Examples include instances in which bureaucracies overpower people, often in a surreal, nightmarish milieu that evokes feelings of senselessness, disorientation, and helplessness. Characters in a Kafkaesque setting often lack a clear course of action to escape a labyrinthine situation. Kafkaesque elements often appear in existential works, but the term has transcended the literary realm to apply to real-life occurrences and situations that are incomprehensibly complex, bizarre, or illogical.
Not that I’m currently reading all…but I tend to re-read books and stuff to pickup new insights/understanding that I simply missed or did not understand when reading them before…
Anyway…
Some random reading list on (modular) synthesis/synthesizers. Some beginner stuff, some more advanced (whatever that even means…).
Some are actually product specific manuals…but offer great general applicable info (e.g. Nord Modular, Access Virus). Or written towards a specific product/technique (e.g. ‘FM’ on a Yamaha SY77/99).
- Iain Sharp - Modular Synthesizers Using VCV Rack FOR ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS
- James Cark - Nord Modular Book (2003)
- Michael Hetrick - Modular Understanding : A Taxonomy and Toolkit for Designing Modularity in Audio Software and Hardware
- Muffwiggler Community - The book of bad ideas V2
- Nord Modular English User Manual v3.0 Edition 3.0
- Peter Edwards - CO LABORATING WITH music, invention and electricity (2014)
- Jim Aikin - Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming
- Robert Chowning - FM Theory and Applications
- Rolf-Dieter Lieb and Ulf Kaiser -A Guide To Modular Worlds
- Sebastian Menno - Modular-Synthesizer (Deutsch/German)
- Mark Prendergast- The Ambient Century From Mahler To Moby
- Trevor Pinch Frank Trocco - Analog Days
- Access Virus User Manual
- Herbert Janssen - SY Programming
And of course Gordon Reids Synth Secrets, a legendary (5 years, monthly) series of articles that appeared in Sound On Sound Magazine.
But…there’s other very usefull series there too on many subjects (e.g. on Buchla 200e, history, techniques etc.). Some dated, but much of the older information is still relevant today (or at least interesting…) https://www.soundonsound.com/series
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Finally finished Dance Dance Dance (ダンス・ダンス・ダンス, Dansu Dansu Dansu) by Haruki Murakami.
Now onto Nemesis Games
#5 in the The Expanse series of sensible space operas.
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Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual by Bill Mollison a great book from the 80s that teaches the concept of Permaculture,. apparently hard to get now, however likely a PDF online somewhere,. .
Since we are in the Lounge and we can have “Off-topic conversations tangentially related to synthesizers, software, and music…”
Very tangentially…
I very much valued historian Yuval Noah Harari’s comprehensive and actually pretty consistent and concise overview of mankind’s travels towards becoming the ‘dominant species’ on this fragile earth. Very much about on how shared ideas and values are the main driver behind our ablility to cooperate in large anonymous groups towards huge successes (and alas…failures…).
As allways, trying to interpret and learn from history will stir up all sorts of controversy. But, personally I can pretty much relate to the general views and conclusions. Even without extending these ideas toward his consequent book Homo Deus. Just mentioning any concept of any deity will generally soon derail many open conversations, ignoring/disqualifying (m)any other rationales or values expressed…
Anyway…
Yuval Noah Harari - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
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I found this very interesting article
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I don’t know if this is of interest to anybody but this book is £54 everywhere, but Attack, which has it at £32: Synth Gems - An Exploration Into Vintage Synths – Attack Magazine
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Even more Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore
… the days of him using modular synths are long gone.
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Interesting that a sound engineer would mention Apple Music (and their ignoring of the Atmos standard with Apple Spatial), but not even mention the large availability of Atmos on the Tidal streaming service, and that android phones like Samsung have Atmos support. Or maybe it was lost in the edit.
With Atmos, the final render of the positional data is done targeted to the device, adjusted for the hardware, which is one of the things that makes it different from previous surround implementations.
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Reading a 3 book serie called Spectres: short thoughts written by artists about music concepts, mainly oriented to experimental and music concrete. (including emilie Gillet, Eliane Radigue) These are the most inspiring books I read on the subject. The kind of book where you don’t really learn anything, but you just want to close it and go to your instruments! The books can be read alone or as a serie of 3 , in any order, started on any chapters.
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For anyone into Sci-fi and space opera, I would recommend this long running series by G. S. Jennsen.
I read a lot of Sci-fi and this series stands out. It’s not quite Ian M Banks level but it is very good. It deals with some pretty crazy concepts even by sci-fi standards and the scale is epic. It’s been going for 7 years and is on book 19 out of what will be a 22 book series in total I think - so getting close to the end now. It just keeps getting better. The first book is free.
That’s the best. Inspiration is one of the most precious resources in the universe.
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seems only 1 and 3 are available, sadly but great recommend, will keep eye out for 2
I bought the 3 in a row, but they really works as separated books
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Babylon’s Ashes by James S. A. Corey, #6 in the The Expanse series.
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