Music Book Reviews

Good Vibrations, by Mark Cunningham, is a fun and frustrating ramble through the history of record production. It offers insight into the production of some of the most significant pop records in history, including Pet Sounds, Telstar, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Dark Side of the Moon, Bohemian Rhapsody and many more.
The book […]

Rhythm Science, by Paul D. Miller, AKA DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, is a fascinating and challenging book. It explores Miller’s ideas about Rhythm Science - the creation of art from the flow of patterns in culture.
The book focuses on the role of the DJ as a metaphor for the artists in today’s culture. DJ’s […]

The Techno Primer is an excellent introduction to techno styles and technology. The author, Tony Verderosa, performs a one-man live techno/remix act, known as VFX, and obviously knows his topic. The book comes with a multimedia CD that has examples of many techno styles, along with some video clips of the author performing and demo […]

With this book, Eric Tamm takes one of the deepest looks ever put to paper about an electronic musician.
Tamm’s book, Brian Eno: His Music and the Vertical Color of Sound, is divided into two main sections. The first is a review of Brian Eno and his work in the context of modern music. This looks […]

This book is an excellent introduction to the world of software synthesizers by long-time Keyboard columnist Jim Aikin. For anyone new to computer-based synthesis, this book will provide a basic understanding of the ideas of software synthesis. It also reviews many of the most popular software synthesizers.
Software Synthesizers: The Definitive Guide to Virtual Musical Instruments, […]

This 1997 release by Martin Russ is one of the best introductions to synthesis and sampling in print. It discusses both analog and digital synthesis concepts and sampling in a fairly non-technical fashion, making it a great way to expand your understanding of synthesizers.
Sound Synthesis and Sampling is extensively illustrated with diagrams that help make […]

Electronic Music Pioneers, a book by Ben Kettlewell, is a popular history of electronic music. Kettlewell covers the highlights of recent electronic music history, and does it in an easy-to-read fashion.
The book features interviews with many of the artists and synth designers that have been influential in shaping the world of popular electronica in the […]

This sprawling book traces the development of ambient music over the past 100 years, from composers like Mahler and Satie, to current musicians like Moby and Aphex Twin. It covers a huge amount of territory, and serves as an easy introduction to many of the significant composers and musicians of the twentieth century.
The Ambient Century: […]

Craig Anderton
No writer has done a better job of covering the do-it-yourself world of music electronics than Craig Anderton. He’s written for a variety of music magazines, and covered everything from soldering cables to patching virtual synthesizers.
Electronic Projects for Musicians is a great introduction to the DIY world. The Internet has made it possible to […]

This massive book is biblical in proportion, but unfortunately does not qualify as the bible for electronic music fans.
This guide to electronica is nearly 700 pages long, and it manages to cover a great deal of territory. The emphasis is one reviews, and the guide manages to fit in about 600 pages of music reviews. […]

by Mark Vail
There are many books about synthesizers and electronic music, but Mark Vail’s Vintage Synthesizers is one of the best.
Vintage Synthesizers collects articles originally written for Keyboard magazine by Vail and others. The articles cover notable synthesizers and the companies behind them. In doing so, Vail tells the stories of the people that created […]

Frank Samagaio
Back before samplers made the scene in the 80’s, the Mellotron ruled as a source of “lifelike” playback of prerecorded sounds. The Mellotron Book takes you back to the early days of sampling, and explores the unique qualities of this strange instrument.
The Mellotron is a keyboard that basically has a tape player assigned to […]

Edited by Peter Shapiro
Modulations serves as a good introduction to the various genres of modern dance electronica. It was was written to accompany Iara Lee’s 1998 film of the same name. It is written in a hip style by people you can tell really love electronica. It is stylishly put together, and includes many great […]

Frank Trocco, Trevor Pinch
This book is a must-buy for any synth-fan or electronic music lover.
This book tells the history of the origin of the synthesizer. But it doesn’t just tell the dates and stories. Instead, it gives you insight into the people that built the first synthesizers. It gives you a feel for the times, […]