How to make a noise: Free Book

[bluebyte]

Thank you for making your free book available. It is very helpful and thanks to it I feel I gain the real sound-design foundation. I am sure the commercial version is even more fantastic, and will be a good buy for people interested. Regards

[Rob Munro]

wow thanks very much for the instruments

[PAZ]

just got the book today got it off amazon looks good

thanks

[junk music]

Thanks!

[om]

Nice one Simon, I bought a copy.

[jedilaw]

The book looks very nice. I requested a link to the free downloadable version a couple of days ago. Looking forward to perusing this one once the linky-loo arrives.

-JL

[Buffer]

Thanks for this Simon. This looks excellent at first glance. Very generous of you to give it away free.

I came to late to the party. The book is not any longer for free!

[keldon85]

Thanks for this Simon. This looks excellent at first glance. Very generous of you to give it away free.

I came to late to the party. The book is not any longer for free!

According to the website (and the email I just received) ......... it is still FREE!!!

[Arkaic]

I'll be honest, I strongly dislike this book.

It's too frustrating to use when you don't have "his" plug-ins. I don't want to have to be constantly translating plug-in language when I'm trying to do an example or learn a technique. Also, its aggravating when he references patches that I didn't pay for or I don't have the plug-in for.

The book would be much more effective if it applied a universal approach, where you you could use your synthesizer of choice (provided it's the right synthesis type).

[Simon_Cann]

I'll be honest, I strongly dislike this book.

Then don't read the free version and don't buy the hard copy. Or am I just being sensitive...

How to Make a Noise was specifically designed to be illustrated with patches made in specific synthesizers. If you don't like this approach, that's fine--that's your choice and I won't disagree with it--but it seems to me to be a bit extreme to "strongly dislike" a freebie because it doesn't feature your preferred synthesizers.

Can I suggest you wait until next year and then check this out: http://noisesculpture.com/synthwiz.html This book will focus much more on the general principles of synthesis and so you might find it can be applied more easily. However: (1) it will have synthesizer-specific examples (because you can't illustrate sounds without making a choice) and (2) it will cost. If you make sure your name is on my mailing list, I'll drop you an email when it's out (alternatively, pre-order it at Amazon).

Cheers

Simon

[koolkeys]

I'll be honest, I strongly dislike this book.

It's too frustrating to use when you don't have "his" plug-ins. I don't want to have to be constantly translating plug-in language when I'm trying to do an example or learn a technique. Also, its aggravating when he references patches that I didn't pay for or I don't have the plug-in for.

The book would be much more effective if it applied a universal approach, where you you could use your synthesizer of choice (provided it's the right synthesis type).

Maybe Simon will do another version just for you, and give it to you on a silver spoon?

I'm half-kidding, and half not. Seriously, what's the big deal about him using specific plugins? Many people prefer that method because you can literally see what he is talking about on a plugin, instead of just hearing him talking about random terms. And there are thousands of synths out there. He just happened to pick a few of the most popular ones at the time of writing. Ones that also have a free demo so you CAN follow along.

It's a FREE gift. It is really worth being so harsh over because it didn't program YOUR synthesizer for you? Is it so bad that you had to tweak the knobs yourself?

Maybe a little bit of an overreaction, both on your side, and maybe on mine. But I just think it's a bit silly to complain in THAT way about a freebie. You could have just said that his approach was harder for you to follow, included a frowning smiley face, and moved on.

Brent

[whyterabbyt]

I'll be honest, I strongly dislike this book.

And Im not keen on your music. Cruel life, innit.

[Arkaic]

I'll be honest, I strongly dislike this book.

It's too frustrating to use when you don't have "his" plug-ins. I don't want to have to be constantly translating plug-in language when I'm trying to do an example or learn a technique. Also, its aggravating when he references patches that I didn't pay for or I don't have the plug-in for.

The book would be much more effective if it applied a universal approach, where you you could use your synthesizer of choice (provided it's the right synthesis type).

Maybe Simon will do another version just for you, and give it to you on a silver spoon?

I'm half-kidding, and half not. Seriously, what's the big deal about him using specific plugins? Many people prefer that method because you can literally see what he is talking about on a plugin, instead of just hearing him talking about random terms. And there are thousands of synths out there. He just happened to pick a few of the most popular ones at the time of writing. Ones that also have a free demo so you CAN follow along.

It's a FREE gift. It is really worth being so harsh over because it didn't program YOUR synthesizer for you? Is it so bad that you had to tweak the knobs yourself?

Maybe a little bit of an overreaction, both on your side, and maybe on mine. But I just think it's a bit silly to complain in THAT way about a freebie. You could have just said that his approach was harder for you to follow, included a frowning smiley face, and moved on.

Brent

I never said I wanted him to write a book specifically for me, I just said that I wished he used an approach where his examples could be applied to most synthesizers out there, rather than being specifically focused on a select few. And then some of the plug-ins, take Zeta for instance, don't even work on a mac, which alienates not only myself but many other users out there.

Also, I didn't want it to program my synthesizer for me. However, when he gives a step-by-step tutorial, I'd like to be able to follow along without needing a specific synth so that the process can be learned and translated across different synthesizers.

And I had bought the book, not downloaded it for free. It had gotten great reviews from everyone on here, so I'd figure I'd support the author and buy it.

I am giving criticism, which is not something that should be mocked like some of you seem to enjoy. If I had simply said "This book sux" and left, then it'd be warranted. But, when I still give reasoning for my opinion, and someone replies with an insult like "Well, I don't like your music", it's entirely uncalled for. I'm on this board because I want to learn, not to be mocked (and, wyterabbit, it's obvious your comment wasn't meant to be constructive). It just leaves me with an impression that some of you are complete assholes and that I shouldn't even bother with this topic/board.

Simon was nice enough to at least respond without being personal, and I hope that what I've said is at least considered in his mind. Not everyone has to love someone's work. But seriously, f**k off if you guys are get personal with me.

[koolkeys]

Sorry, but there are just better ways of expressing it. Granted, I didn't know you bought the book. But you DID know going in(or at least should have, based on the free version and the description) exactly what to expect.

If you discount KVR because of this one thread, you would be selling it short. But all in all, it's just my opinion on how you expressed your opinion. Nothing was meant in a personal way, and I mean that. My apologies if I misunderstood where you were coming from.

Brent

[Simon_Cann]

Simon was nice enough to at least respond without being personal, and I hope that what I've said is at least considered in his mind.

I take your comments seriously: that is why I responded.

However, you may not be aware that the book was originally written in 2004 and at that point it was purely focused on PC-based synthesizers. When I updated the book last year and made the hard copy version available, I included another synthesizer (Surge) which is available in Mac and PC formats. Also, in the intervening period, some of the other synths had been made available in Mac format.

I included Mac-based synths as a direct result of feedback.

I just said that I wished he used an approach where his examples could be applied to most synthesizers out there, rather than being specifically focused on a select few.

I would argue--and this is my perspective that I fully understand you may disagree with--that the principles in the book can be applied to most synthesizers out there. Look at the chapters: they cover envelopes, filters, oscillators, modulation, and frequency modulation. These are all pretty universal concepts that apply to most synthesizers.

While it does not coincide with your experience, I have heard from many readers who have felt able to apply the principles set out in the book to other synthesizers.

You single out Z3TA+ which is definitely a PC-based synth. I think if you go back and look at the book again you will find that most of the Z3TA+ techniques can be directly applied to Surge (which is available in Mac format too).

However, when he gives a step-by-step tutorial, I'd like to be able to follow along without needing a specific synth so that the process can be learned and translated across different synthesizers.

Let me flip this one for a moment and ask a question of you. How would you--in practical terms--write a book about creating sounds in a manner that could be applied to most synthesizers?

I'm serious about this. When writing about sound, I don't understand how you can write about anything other than specifics. To write about generalities--especially when you are talking about something as abstract as sound--is to make the topic applicable to no one. How can a book that is applicable to no synthesizer on the market be more applicable than one that is applicable to the five most popular synthesizers on the market (at the time of writing)?

As I say, this is a serious issue for me. I've mentioned my next synthesizer book (http://noisesculpture.com/synthwiz.html) and I'm keen to incorporate any feedback from my previous books. As you have seen, I did incorporate people's comments when there was the (correct) view that I had excluded Macs.

I have another very real and very practical difficulty where I would like your input: each specific synthesizer sounds different. Try it for yourself: get three synthesizers from three different manufacturers and set up a patch where you run a sawtooth wave into a 24 dB filter and modulate the filter with an envelope.

Then try and get EXACTLY the same sound on all three synthesizers. To my mind if you can't hear sonic differences, then you need to check your ears.

If you can't create a sound that can be replicated completely on any synthesizer, then how do you describe it in a book? How does the reader know when they are hearing the sound as you intended? The job is already tough enough to explain in words how to create a sound on a specific synth--if you move a knob or two by a few percent, you can make a huge difference to the sound?

If there's a practical and credible way to resolve this conundrum, I'd love to hear it.

All the best

Simon