Musician and writer Stefan Goldmann will release his first book, Presets – digital shortcuts to sound, this September.

Collecting a “comprehensive description of the world of preset audio” – the pre-made sounds, whether samples or synthesis, that can end up defining genres (think the way the Roland TB-303 shaped acid house, for instance) – Presets explores the influence of hardware like the Korg M1, the Yamaha DX7 and the Roland 808, 909 and 303, as well as later software like Ableton Live, Native Instruments’ Reaktor and Sidechain compression.

Goldmann will accompany the book with a new album, Industry, which explores what a musician can achieve purely with presets. All sounds on the record are factory presents from three obsolete Japanese workstation synths, while all effects are also preset settings. All notes are quantized, and even “most panning is purely accidental”. 

Industry will be released on CD, LP, digital and general MIDI floppy disc. For more information, head here.