FaderPro The Art of the Remix

Producers of video-based online and DVD training courses FaderPro (faderpro.com) and Auraleo (auraleo.com) have released The Art of the Remix ($89.99 streaming, $99.99 with DVD). Authors Vincent Di Pasquale, Steven Lee and Charles Dye base the course on Di Pasquale and Lee's remix of Nadia Ali's hit “Crash and Burn.” They start by dissecting the original with emphasis on the importance of tempo. Sections cover time-stretching vocals, editing vocals, the beat and bass foundation, building the arrangement, mixing and final passes. The course runs approximately three hours and includes Logic Pro source files.

Hal Leonard Music Smarts

Hal Leonard (halleonard.com) calls Berklee Press' Music Smarts ($14.99) “a celebration of what it means to make music.” The book brings together 600 quotations from musicians and artists reflecting on their influences, heroes and performances as transcribed by renowned journalist Mr. Bonzai (mrbonzai.com). Contributors George Martin, Carlos Santana, Tom Petty, Brian Wilson, k.d. lang and many others give you a behind-the-scenes look at all aspects of music-making, and the book delivers a visual who's who of the industry, complete with headshots.

Course Technology PTR Becoming a Synthesizer Wizard

If you have more synths than you know what to do with or how to do it, Simon Cann will get you straight in Becoming a Synthesizer Wizard: From Presets to Power User ($34.99) from Course Technology PTR (courseptr.com). Starting with the basics of digital audio and software synthesis and programming, the book takes you through the modules and interactions common to all synths: sound sources, filters, effects, modulators and global controls. The final chapter, “Creating Sounds,” takes you beyond technique to the art of synth programming. The examples use readily available soft synths, and the principles covered apply across all synths and platforms.