Book excerpt: This new book by Ken Steigliz offers an informal and easy-to-understand introduction to digital signal processing, emphasizing digital audio and applications to computer music. A DSP Primer covers important topics such as phasors and tuning forks; the wave equation; sampling and quantizing; feedforward and feedback filters; comb and string filters; periodic sounds; transform methods; and filter design. Steiglitz uses an intuitive and qualitative approach to develop the mathematics critical to understanding DSP. A DSP Primer is written for a broad audience including: Students of DSP in Engineering and Computer Science courses. Composers of computer music and those who work with digital sound. WWW and Internet developers who work with multimedia. General readers interested in science that want an introduction to DSP. Features: Offers a simple and uncluttered step-by-step approach to DSP for first-time users, especially beginners in computer music. Designed to provide a working knowledge and understanding of frequency domain methods, including FFT and digital filtering. Contains thought-provoking questions and suggested experiments that help the reader to understand and apply DSP theory and techniques.