SYNTH GEMS 1, a beautiful new book about vintage sound machines

A new coffee table book by Mike Metlay and the people behind Patch & Tweak gives us a beautifully presented insight into vintage synthesizers.

ADVERTISEMENT

SYNTH GEMS 1

Bjooks is the publisher that brought us Patch & Tweak and Push Turn Move from Kim Bjorn. This new tome explores the rarest, oddest and most awesome vintage synthesizers. It kicks off with a foreword by Vince Clarke so they are already onto a winner. Within the pages are over 60 vintage synthesizers captured in over 330 colour photographs charting the history of synthesizers and innovation in electronic music.

SYNTH GEMS 1

Each synthesizer is presented in fine detail with descriptions, historical importance, origin and design. They were taken from 3 museums that opened their doors to have their collections examined for the book. There are plenty of classics but also synths you’ve probably never seen before. I wonder what they hope to put in SYNTH GEMS 2?

Here’s an interesting bit about the author and editing from the press release.

Author Mike Metlay left the field of Nuclear Physics in 1996 for a 23-year career on the Editorial staff of the US pro-audio magazine RECORDING, but he was already educating electronic musicians worldwide while earning his Ph.D. in the 1980s. With over four decades of experience as a recording artist, engineer, producer and music technology educator — as well as Editor-in-Chief of Bjooks — Metlay is well-positioned to discuss not only the most popular synths, but also the weird, wacky and hard-to-find. SYNTH GEMS 1 has been edited, refined and carefully refereed by industry authorities such as Chris Meyer, Gordon Reid, and Marc Doty.

SYNTH GEMS 1 is available from the 1sy October for ￡53. If the other books in the series are anything to go by then this will be quite fabulous. Bjooks can be found in booth W242 although it’s not clear as to whether they will have this new book available in time.