Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the Companion Website
Introduction: Getting the Most Out of This Book
1: Synthesis and Synthesizers: Digging Beneath the Surface of Your Synthesizer
2: Oscillators: Mining the Raw Materials of Your Synthesizer
3: Oscillator Combinations: Creating Exotic Compounds from Your Raw Materials
4: Amplitude Envelope Generators: Shaping Your Sounds
5: Audio Filters: Refining the Color of Your Sounds
6: Internal Modulation Sources: Dynamic Shaping of Your Sounds
7: External Control Sources: Shaping Your Sounds with Playing Techniques
8: Effects Processors: Polishing Your Sounds
9: Putting It All Together: Creating and Refining Your Own Synthesized Sounds
Appendix I: Further Reading and Information
Appendix II: Suggestions for the Instructor
Index

About the Author

Brian K. Shepard is Professor of Audio Design Practice and Assistant Dean of the USC Iovine and Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation at the University of Southern California. For more information, visit his website at briankshepard.com.

Reviews

"Shepard employs an inviting and accessible writing style to explain advanced topics in a way that is easy to understand. This book demystifies many of the topics of synthesis that can be confusing to people."--VJ Manzo, Assistant Professor of Music Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and author of Max/MSP/Jitter for Music
"Refining Sound is an approachable introduction to the secrets of synthesis. The companion website is chock full of tutorials, making this well organized book a handy reference for either self-study or in a course."--Mary Simoni, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, University of Michigan, Dean, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
"In Refining Sound, Brian Shepard provides a deeply valuable and sorely needed resource for the musician seeking to understand sound design. In clear language, he thoroughly explains and illustrates concepts that could be tedious and overwhelming for most readers, and does so from the perspective of the musician rather than the mathematician or physicist. I'm sure we will use this book as the primary text in our synthesis classes for years to
come."--Scott L. Phillips, PhD, Co-director of Music Technology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
"Brian K. Shepard's book on synthesizers and synthesis is one of those rare volumes which is comprehensive in its explanations of the history of synthesizers and electronic
music in general that makes for a jolly good read. For enthusiasts and professionals alike, this book is the best I've read in years. Thoroughly recommended!"--J. Peter Robinson, Composer
"I'd venture to say that even veterans will find a few interesting facts here that were previously unknown to them...a first rate source of instruction for those with no knowledge or just partial knowledge of subtractive synthesis. Additionally, I can't imagine a better textbook to use in a formal class."--Sound Bytes