Books on Music

When the World Wide Web was very young, many people tried to fill it with lists of their CDs, books, videotapes, and what have you. This page is like that because it lists books about music I own, but I also aspire to write something about most of them. We'll see how that goes.

Books about artists and composers

• Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001.
• Jonathan Miller, Stripped: Depeche Mode. Omnibus Press, 2004.
• Ray Coleman, Lennon: The Definitive Biography. Pan Books, 1995.
• Jerome Davis, Talking Heads: A Biography. Omnibus Press, 1987.
• XTC & Neville Farmer, XTC: Song Stories. Helter Skelter Publishing, 1998
• Chris Twomey, XTC: Chalkhills and Children. Omnibus Press, 2002
• Graeme Thomson, Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello. Canongate, 2004.
• Philip Lambert, Inside the Music of Brian Wilson. Continuum, 2007.
• Dave Thomas, Simple Minds - Glittering Prize. Omnibus Press, 1985.
• James L. Dickerson, Goin' Back To Memphis: A Century of Blues, Rock 'n' Roll and Glorious Soul. Cooper Square Press, 2000
• Pascal Bussy, Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music. SAF Publishing, 2005.
• Nick Hornby, 31 Songs. Penguin Books, 2003.
• Jimmy Webb, Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting. Hyperion, 1998.
• The Rough Guide to Cult Pop. Rough Guides, 2003.
• Rob Young (ed.), Undercurrent: The Hidden Wiring of Modern Music. Continuum, 2007.

Books about music technology

• Bob Katz, Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science. Focal Press, 2002.
• Dylan Jones, iPod, Therefore I Am. Phoenix, 2005.
• Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco, Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer. Harvard University Press, 2002.
• David Battino and Kelli Richards, The Art of Digital Music. Backbeat Books, 2005.
• David Kusek and Gerd Leonhard, The Future of Music. Berklee Press, 2005.

Books about the philosophy of music

• R. Murray Schafer, The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Destiny Books, 1994
• David Toop, Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds. Serpent's Tail, 1995.

Books about music making

• Jim Aikin, Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming. Backbeat Books, 2004.
• Peter Gorges, Programming Synthesizers. Wizoo Publishing, 2005.
• David Nahmani, Logic Pro 8 and Logic Express 8: Creating and Producing Professional Music. Peachpit Press, 2008.
• David Dvorin, Logic Pro 8 Beyond the Basics: Composing and Producing Professional Music. Peachpit Press, 2008.
• Martin Delaney, Ableton Live 5 Tips and Tricks. PC Publishing, 2006.
• Chad Carrier, Ableton Live 5 Power!: The Comprehensive Guide. Thomson Course Technology, 2006.

Unclassified books

• Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity. Penguin Books, 2004.