Sleeve notes
The writing on the back of the sleeve: who made the record, who played on it, who wrote it, and which instrument that actually is.
History
A short history of the synthesiser
From a 200-tonne dynamo to motorised knobs: the synths that changed things, in date order, with what each one added and what the jargon (voltage control, FM, wavetables, virtual analogue) actually means.
SynthesizersStage Keyboards
Listening
30 famous synth hooks and the synths that played them
From 'Jump' to 'Thriller' to 'Levels': the synth parts everyone knows, the instrument behind each one, where it sits in synth history and which plug-ins and keyboards get you the sound today.
SynthesizersMIDI Keyboards
People
The people who invented the synthesiser
Profiles of the engineers behind the instruments: Moog, Buchla, Oberheim, Dave Smith, Kakehashi, Chowning and more. Who they were, what they built, and what we still use because of them.
SynthesizersStage KeyboardsOrgans
People
Forty players who shaped the sound
Ten each in bass, piano, synth and keys, and production: the session musicians, sidemen and producers behind records you already know, what they actually played, and what you can hear.
SynthesizersStage KeyboardsOrgansSoftware Synths
Listening
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a Rhodes?
How to tell a Rhodes from a Wurlitzer, a clavinet from a guitar and a Hammond from a Vox or a Farfisa by ear: what each one sounds like, what to listen for, and the songs and players that made them famous.
Stage KeyboardsOrgansSoftware Synths
Songwriting
10 songs you might not know who wrote
From 'Thriller' to 'Umbrella': the songwriters behind records you know by heart and the musicians hiding in the credits.
Stage KeyboardsOrgansSynthesizers
Songwriting
Covers that buried the original
Ten songs where the famous version is not the first one: who had it first, who took it over, and what changed in between. Both recordings on every card, so you can hear what the cover did.
Stage KeyboardsOrgansSynthesizers
Looking for the other sort of reading? Guides — how-tos that join the dots between categories: what to buy, how it plugs together and what goes wrong.