If you are looking for a useful reference book on computer music for instrument development, Lazzarini’s book will surely serve the purpose. The book comes at a time when significant progress has been taking place in both software and hardware technology, so that much of modern music is influenced by the production of music in digital electronic form.

The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 lays the foundation. It consists of two chapters, “Audio and Music Signals” (chapter 1) and “Music Programming Environments” (chapter 2). The subtopics include waves, scales, spectral types, and digital signals, and Python, Csound and Faust, among others. It is in Part 1 that the author introduces computer music instruments using digital signal processing (DSP). Additionally, it also gives the advancements in the area of computer music instruments.

Part 2 is about synthesis and processing. It consists of five chapters: “Source Filter Models,” “Closed Form Summation Formulae,” “Feedback and Adaptive Systems,” “Granular Methods,” and “Frequency-Domain Techniques” (chapters 3 to 7).

In Part 3, “Application Development,” the author deals with the various applications in specific communication protocols, user interfaces, and platforms for computer music (chapters 8 and 9).

This is followed by two useful appendices, “Signal Processing Mathematics” and “Application Code,” and a helpful bibliography.

I enjoyed reading this book, which has an abundance of programs in Python, Csound, and Faust. The target readership includes postgraduates, advanced undergraduates, and researchers in signal processing, including music signals.