Jean-Michel Jarre, author: Machines: A History of Electronic Music (book)

There have been a lot of books on synthesizers published in the last decade or two, like Mark Vail’s deeply researched Vintage Synthesizers [Tape Op #45] and the excellent Bjooks series (with beautiful photography and design), including Push Turn Move. In Machines, synth populizer Jean-Michel Jarre threads the line between the photo-heavy coffee table books and historical textual books, and it’s a very personal line. J-MJ has been making music with electronics for over five decades now, and this book is a personal history of his interactions with the various electronic instruments he has used. It starts with his early days at the seminal GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) studios, and, by my guess, it finishes up whenever the publisher told him to stop, as this book is extremely up-to-date. There are lots of rare and unusual instruments here, plus plenty you’ve heard of. The key here is that this is his history of interacting with these instruments, and it’s that telling that makes the book interesting and fun to read, though the beautiful photography and design don’t hurt either. If you’re looking for a complete, definitive history of electronic musical instruments, this may not be the book for you. For instance, I was a bit surprised to see the Fairlight CMI here but not the Synclavier, which I think is a more advanced instrument – then I realized it’s not here because J-MJ did not play one. Fair enough. But if you want an extremely well-written and personal history of one of electronic music’s most prolific practitioners, you will thoroughly enjoy this book and the many, many electronic instruments he has developed a relationship with over the course of nearly six decades. Okay, back to reading this book and listening to Oxygéne again!