Music and the Synthesiser
by Bruce Graham
Published by Argus Books Ltd.
Price £4.25

The unfortunate thing for anybody writing a book concerning synthesisers is, that by the time the research is completed, the manuscript edited and then published, some parts of the book become out of date. This is what has happened to Music And The Synthesiser, not only has the author taken his base-line from synthesisers that are not readily available and purchased on the open market but he has neglected the Japanese syndrome which was quite apparent and increasing when he researched this project.

If, as Mr Graham implies the book is 'written with the beginner in mind' the transition of relating his ideas to those instruments that a virgin synthesist could understand yet afford would be a very tedious process.

That is not to say however, that this manual is without its merits. The author glides through the history and the explanations of the synthesiser with comparative ease. He then begins to develop further the basic elements of synthesis and their physical relationships. When advancing to the chapter regarding Patching, Signals, Voltage Control and Notation, we are attaining a much higher level than proposed, mainly because there are no synthesisers commercially available which use this type of pin patching, unless second hand. In addition to this, the synthesiser notation used is not seen in today's owners manuals and setting charts, though the explanation of modules in the next chapter seems useful.

MrGraham writes also on peripheral units, the use of tape recorders with a synthesiser, this being an extremely important and viable concept today and a helping hand to the newcomer in synthesis. The remaining chapters are all useful in guiding the beginner and intermediate in relating electronics to musical form.

Music And The Synthesiser is a good guide but not mentor, the explanations are valid, healthy and correct, yet the author lets himself down terribly in his glossary, which should be one of the most important parts of a book such as this, when he states that a flanger is 'an electronic phaser'.

Adventures with Microelectronics
by Tom Duncan
Published by John Murray Ltd.
Price £3.25

It has often been said that book critics only draw attention to an author's shortcomings, totally failing to point out the attributes and unprecedented parts of the text, but with this book that is impossible. Tom Duncan has made a perfect job in both the layout and description of each project represented. The book is aimed at the non-technical but again the author has not been frightened to use up-to-date devices (in particular CMOS IC's) which, as the title suggests, are the theme of the book. A good start is made by giving a brief resume of all the components necessary to construct the circuits given as examples in each chapter. All the circuits are constructed on Bimboard Building Blocks, a description of which is given in the second chapter. This is followed by a chapter analysing in laymans terms the anatomy and uses of the silicon chip. Each of the ensuing chapters revolves around a different electronic project all of which are cheap and simple to construct.

The format which Tom Duncan uses to represent each project is particularly good. A list of the components required follows a short description of the circuit. This is succeeded by the circuit diagram which is quite graphic in its representation. Next comes a step by step guide to construction leaving no room for error. Notably explicit is the overlay of the circuit on the Bimboard again ruling out the possibility of making a mistake.

The book's only real 'letdown' can be found in the section of text entitled 'How It Works'. This tends to be a common misgiving in books designed for the uninitiated - perhaps the beginner would grasp the subject faster and progress to a more technical level if more attention to detail was paid in describing how the circuit really operates. It is only fair to say though that this section does improve progressively throughout the book. Each chapter ends with a few ideas to try out and some suggested alterations to the original designs. These are not fully defined leaving enough detective work for the readers appetite to be whetted but not satiated.

Elements of Electronics
A set of four books by F. A. Wilson
Published by B. Babani Ltd
Books 1,2,3 Price £2.25 each
Book 4 Price £2.95

Having read these books, one's immediate impression is that they are out of the paperback class. They really constitute the sort of invaluable textbook that can be relied upon in every situation and contain much of the information necessary to generate a deeper understanding of all that crops up in the electronics field.

Individually the four books describe the simple electronic circuit and components, alternating current theory, semiconductor technology, and microprocessing systems and circuits.

My initial complaint, having read the books, was that the author has overrated the powers of the microprocessor, and underrated the powers of the human brain. However, although this is still my indictment, in retrospect the series as a whole will certainly find a home in my bookcase. The abundance of correct formulae and notation throughout the text provides useful reference information.

In brief, the books progress through from; an explanation of the electron and electric current, the sources of electricity, how this applies to the simple electronic circuit, the forces at work within this circuit, the relationships between the components in the circuit, what happens to the circuit if any part of it is altered, waveforms and their effects, time constants, the atom, diodes, transistors and the uses thereof, computers, computer systems, and what makes the computer tick.

Each book is well equipped with appendices, all delving deeply into the mathematics required to elucidate the preceding chapters. All the books are adequately cross-referenced, which by scanning the index, is infinitely helpful for those with a poor memory for theorems.

As previously mentioned, every chapter is armed with enough trigonometry or calculus to dissuade the casual observer from making a purchase. However, my advice is add these books to your collection, for they will undoubtedly provide you with a greater insight into the complex and often difficult subject of electronics.

Introduction to Microcomputer Programming
by Peter C. Sanderson
Published by Newnes
Price £4.05

This book is aimed at the complete beginner and starts off with an introduction along those lines including one of the best flowcharting explanations I have seen.

After basics, the book proceeds to 'Choosing a Computing Programming Language'. This area could have been dealt with a little better, but the determined reader should gain some idea of a suitable language for his programs: Machine code, Assembly language, COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal, ALGOL, PL/1, APL, and of course BASIC are all covered, although the higher level ones only briefly.

The next four chapters are taken up with a 'crash course' in BASIC. The construction of programs is described in a clear and concise manner and a description of possible differences in system commands from machine to machine is included. At various stages exercises (with solutions) are provided.

Chapter 7 is a quick guide to types of BASIC, under headings such as: Integer Only, Matrix Instructions, Graphics Facilities etc. Included here is a worthwhile comparison chart covering the BASIC instruction sets of various machines.

The next two chapters deal with Assembly Language and Machine Code programming. Obviously the most difficult area to convey to beginners — this is a brave attempt but without some other publication to explain in greater depth the use of hex, octal and binary, the beginner will start to flounder. On the plus side all examples are shown using the four most popular processors (8080, 6800, 6502, Z80).

The final section deals with program development and testing, explaining how to avoid making errors and find any that do occur.

In summary I would recommend this book to anybody who is considering buying a machine but is not sure whether he is going to be able to compile and write his own programs. If you do purchase a machine it will prove a useful reference book, unlike many others which you may grow out of. In fact the machine code sections you may well grow into.