How To Contribute

This is an open Wiki! Anyone can contribute! Please do! (Registration required though to help prevent spam)

Here are the main content page types:

Synth Article page

A page about a synth, very brief history & spec. The bulk is about notable songs that use it, the first use of a synth, any particularly fascinating examples using it. The purpose is to make a more 'readable' page for the interested reader. Should highlight the most interesting facts about the synth and its most notable users. YouTube (or similar) videos should be embedded to make it more interesting.

To contribute a Synth Article page:

1. Check the doesn't already exist. (Synth List here)
2. If there isn't yet an Article page for that synth - create it! Use an existing Article page as a template (eg: ARP Odyssey Article Page and change the details appropriately. Link to if from the main Synth list on the Synth List.
3. Fill in loads of great content! I'm currently using my illustrations as a copyright free way of illustrating the synths and to keep a site consistency. If I get time I'll set up a holding page for each synth with each illustration...if not, I'll pop along later and upload it.
4. Embed YouTube clips to make the

Synth Songs List page

The main list of all the songs featuring a particular synth. Pretty basic tables of Artist / Song / Reference / Media URL. If a table gets too long, consider one table per letter of the alphabet. Eg: the Moog Minimoog Song List page. (If a page gets too long, as it might one day, then a letter per page...?)

To contribute Songs and the Synths they feature:

1. Find the 'Song List' page for that synth (Synth List here)
2. Check that the song that you want to contribute isn't already listed
3. If it isn't - add the song to the table in its correctly alphabetised place (surnames first, or first letter if a band or single name ('The' counts as 'T', as in 'The Strawbs' for example)
4. If there isn't yet a Synth Song List page for that synth - create it! Use an existing Song List page as a template (eg: ARP Odyssey Song List) and change the details appropriately. Link to if from the main Synth list on the Synth List.
5. Vital: Entries will be deleted if they do not contain a REFERENCE. (Media Link is highly desirable, but not always possible to find). The whole point of this project is to list verified usages, not to repeat 'internet knowledge'. If you can't find a linked reference or a trusted book or magazine source, don't enter it (no matter how 'sure' you are).
6. Acceptable References:
   1. Sleeve notes (usually available at Discogs.com)
   2. Quotes from interviews in reputable journals and books (where primary sources are cited). Increasingly available as links at Muzines.co.uk where there is a growing archive of magazines such as Sound On Sound, Music Technology, etc.
   3. Videos or photographs. Needs to be online so it can be linked to!
   4. Ads (up to a point - paid promotion doesn't guarantee usage on a song/album). Again needs to be online so it can be linked to, eg: RetroSynthAds is a great resource.
   5. Verified entries on here by the artists themselves. I haven't quite worked out how to verify an artist who may wish to do this. I think they'd have to set up an Artist page here, and link to it from the song page as the 'Reference'. Then I shall patrol these 'Artist Reference' pages and confirm the author of that page is who they say they are. (If anyone knows a better way of doing this, do let me know!

Notable Artist

Some artists are particularly associated with one or more synths; they deserve a page to discuss that relationship. Suitable subjects could be: Wendy Carlos (Moog Modular, Crumar GDS), Vangelis (Yamaha CS-80), Gary Numan (Moog Minimoog, Polymoog), Billy Currie (ARP Odyssey). You get the idea. These pages should contain some good songs of theirs illustrating the point, and some great quotes to support the argument. Eg: Gary Numan.