not so basic books.

any adive is apreciated

Most any college level textbook will do. Stay away from Barnes-and-noble level theory books. They are almost always aimed at beginners and never go beyond simple stuff like chord inversions or how to read sheet music.

"simple" doesn't necessarily mean bad.

This book is really quite good despite its simplicity. Maybe you don't want it but someone reading this thread might:

Edly's Music Theory for Practical People

Ahh, what goes around comes around.

Forget the books, find out where Duncan Lorien is doing his next Understanding Of Music seminar
Home - Understanding of Music

That'll give you a good rudimentary understanding of music and the ability to read music / play a keyboard or guitar (in a weekend plus a reasonable amount of practice).

then fly where ever the **** you need to go in the world ot do his song writing course (musical harmony, essentially) think it's mainly near Boston where he lives.

I cannot recommend enough. I found his stff through someone posting on here, did the understanding music course then spend a ridiculous amount of money to fly to boston on friday after work and be back in london for work on Monday morning. It was worth it. Music is now a language is understand at a fundamental level as will anyone that does boh courses.

My girlfriend who's not particularly musical didi he first course and said to me afterwards, music isn't complicated at all, it's actually quite simple

Someone on here recommended doing his course. I am forever grateful for that

I highly recommend Dave Stewart's "Musician's Guide To Reading And Writing Music". Suitable for keyboard players, pianists, guitarists and bassists. Very, VERY easy to follow, his language is approachable and enjoyable. I'm sure there are many other books out there that are good, but I've seen a few and this is the one I'd recommend to everyone to begin with. It isn't just for beginners and will take you far.
Edit: Features drum notation, too.

"The Complete Book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences" by Willard Palmer is also incredibly useful. A BIBLE for any keyboard / piano composer! Excellent reference.

Music Theory for Computer Musicians
Composition for Computer Musicians
Harmony for Computer Musicians

These don't assume you can read music, which can be a barrier to using most theory books.

No, not necessarily, but its bad when what you want is advanced. And that's what I gathered he was looking for by asking for "not so basic" books...

Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony

Tonal and Rhythmic Principles (John Mehegan)

If you want to get freaky, check out the Schillinger System of musical composition. One of Bob Moog's favorites.
Schillinger System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The RavenSpiral guide helped me...

http://www.worldofbryan.com/rsg2mt.pdf

+1 on the Schoenberg.

Theory of what? In the context of this forum, "theory" may refer to music theory, sound design theory, analog electronics theory, DSP theory, computer programming, math, physics, and many other subjects involved in the composition and production of electronic music.

Here are some of the books I like to recommend:

Musimatics, by Gareth Loy. Two volumes which cover lots of topics from music theory to acoustics to synthesis to algorithmic generation. Great for getting a broad overview of the technical aspects of music and musical instruments (not just electronic).

The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music, by Miller Puckette. This is the guy who invented Max/MSP and Puredata (which he still develops). A great book for learning digital synthesis and even better if you use it to learn PureData (Pd). Both the book and Pd are available for free from Puckette's website.

Yes but you absolutely have to have basic and intermediate ground covered before embarking on Theory of Harmony.

Musical theory and electronic instrument theory are discrete entities. Both require a considerable investment in time and a desire to learn. But there is another element that can often factor into the issue "inherent natural talent". Sometimes that can be a detriment because it suspends the process of engaging in the work of theory. That can work often despite it all..you can be effective just winging it if you have a high level of natural ability,,but you can't escape the final element, and that is practicing your craft ( regardless of theory) This also applies to knowing an electronic instrument and how it functions, but also dexterity on a keyboard or a guitar, or wind instrument ....even if you don't know the names of the notes. It's a difficult question with no real answer because so many people have made such amazing music without knowing anything about musical theory ( electronic instrument theory)..but they also worked hard at exploiting the talent that they were born with,, and often engage other people to help them fulfill their talent that possess more technical skills. Are there rules regarding any of this....no....it's art. all of it.

Basic Atonal Theory by John Rahn -- for a little something different

Cool. Sounds like something I'd like to read.

Yeah,, simple... like painting....but you missed out the part in between where learning how to put a paint brush into some colored paint ended up being a Van Gogh.


Regardless of how you develop your art or your skills as an artist... it ain't simple... and it ain't happening in a weekend.