Need advice on electronics books

[Jean-Michel GEORGE]

Hi all !

I am a newcomer to the DIY synth field and to electronics in general. I did 
study electronics for about a year way back at school, but at that point in 
time I was too busy concentrating on becoming a pop-star and twiddling with 
my precious little synths to be bothered with anything else. Well, here I 
am, some 15 years later with a vague memory of something called Ohm's law 
and that's about it. So trying to get familiar with this no-nonsense 
big-time electronics mail-list, is about as easy as reading Chinese 
backwards. As for becoming a pop-star ?

On the bright side, my interest and general enthusiasm for analogue 
synthesizers has remained intact, and that's what brings me to this 
mail-list.

I had intended to get my hands back on some of the wonderful vintage synths 
that I once owned, like the MS-20, or CS40M, but living in France doesn't 
make it very easy, and when an opportunity does arise, the price-tag is 
either too high, or the machine in very poor condition. I suppose that all 
this speculation will gradually wear off, but for now I've definitely given 
up the idea of purchasing a synth that would cost me two to three times the 
price I sold mine for.

Now, here comes the question :

I'm sure that the most enjoyable way to learn about electronics used in 
sound-generating systems is to actually build a synthesizer. Then again, I 
need to keep things very simple, because to start with I'm more interested 
in understanding what's going on within a given circuit, and why it's 
producing such or such a tone, rather than in the overall sound-quality or 
extensive possibilities of the instrument. Can anyone recommend a book (or 
even a web-site) that will give me such an experimental approach, whilst 
explaining the electronic theories that apply as you go along.

I've heard a lot of people talking about "The art of electronics" by P 
Horowitz. Would this fit my needs ?

Thanks for your time.

Jean-Michel