EMS VCS 3

User's eye view of the "VCS 3";[# 1] top left, three main oscillators; bottom left, patch panel; bottom right, joystick. External keyboard not shown.
Note: it has printed logo: "V.C.S. 3".

The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3) is a portable analog synthesiser with a flexible semi-modular voice architecture, by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969.[# 1]

This product was called various names by EMS. For example, the printed logo written to the front left of products are: "V.C.S. 3" or "The Putney (VCS 3)" on the earlier version, then "The Synthi (VCS 3) II" on the later version (Synthi VCS 3 II).[# 2] (See details on below photographs)

Synthi VCS 3 with logo:
"The Putney (VCS 3)"
Synthi VCS 3 II with logo:
"The Synthi (VCS 3) II"

History

It was created in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff's EMS company. The electronics were largely designed by David Cockerell and the machine's distinctive visual appearance was the work of electronic composer Tristram Cary. The VCS3 was one of the first portable commercially available synthesizers, portable in the sense that the VCS 3 was housed entirely in a small, wooden case, unlike previous machines from American manufacturers such as Moog Music, ARP and Buchla which were housed in large cabinets and could take up entire rooms.

It cost just under £330 in 1969. Some people found it unsatisfactory as a melodic instrument due to its inherent tuning instability.[1] This arose from the instrument's reliance on the then-current method of exponential conversion of voltage to oscillator frequency, an approach also implemented, with fewer tuning issues, on analog synthesizers by other companies. However, the VCS 3 was renowned as an extremely powerful generator of electronic effects and processor of external sounds for its cost.

The VCS 3 began to find popularity among artists looking to create exotic synthesised sounds. As a result, modern-day examples sell for far more than the original asking price.[note 1]

The first album to be recorded using only the VCS 3 was The Unusual Classical Synthesizer on Westminster Gold.[2]

The VCS3 was popular among progressive rock bands and was used on recordings by The Alan Parsons Project, Jean-Michel Jarre, Todd Rundgren, Hawkwind, Brian Eno (with Roxy Music and as a solo artist or collaborator), King Crimson, The Who, Gong, and Pink Floyd, among many others. The VCS3-generated bass sound at the beginning of the latter's "Welcome to the Machine" forms the foundation of the song, with the other parts being recorded in response. The Who famously used a VCS3 on "Won't Get Fooled Again" from Who's Next. In this instance the synthesizer was used as an external sound processor, with Pete Townshend running the signal of a Lowrey organ through the VCS3's filter and low frequency oscillators. Yet another notable use of the device (by John Paul Jones) can be heard on the song "Four Sticks" from the untitled fourth album by Led Zeppelin.

The routing matrix on the VCS3

Description

The VCS3 has three oscillators (the first two oscillators are normal oscillators and the third an LFO or Low Frequency Oscillator), a noise generator, two input amplifiers, a ring modulator, 24 dB/octave voltage controlled low pass filter (VCF), a trapezoid envelope generator, joy-stick controller, voltage controlled spring reverb unit and 2 stereo output amplifiers. Unlike most modular synthesiser systems which use cables to link components together, the VCS 3 uses a distinctive patch board matrix into which pins are inserted in order to connect its components together.

Keyboards controller

DK1 keyboard controller (front)
connected to VCS 3 (rear)

Although the VCS 3 is often used for generating sound effects due to lack of built-in keyboard, there were external keyboard controllers for melodic play. The DK1 in 1969 was an early velocity sensitive monophonic keyboard for VCS 3 with an extra VCO and VCA.[# 3] Later it was extended for duophonic play, as DK2, in 1972.[# 4] Also in 1972, Synthi AKS was released, and its digital sequencer with a touch-sensitive flat keyboard, KS sequencer,[# 5] and its mechanical keyboard version, DKS,[# 6] were also released.

The VCS 3's basic design was reused by EMS in many other of their own products, most notably in the EMS Synthi 100 (1971),[# 7] and the Synthi A (1971)[# 8] and AKS (1972) (essentially a VCS 3 housed in a plastic briefcase). The AKS also has a sequencer built into the keyboard in the lid.[# 9]

A former agent of EMS in the United States, Ionic Industries in Morristown, New Jersey, released a portable-keyboard VCS 3 clone. The Ionic Performer, released in 1973, had circuitry based on that of the VCS 3's. It replaced the patch board matrix with over a hundred push-buttons, and added built-in keyboard and effects units.[3]

Synthi A

EMS SynthiA (top) as used on stage by a progressive rock band; underneath are an EMS DK keyboard controller, Solina String Ensemble, Optigan, and an M400 Mellotron
EMS Synthi A

The EMS Synthi A is a synthesizer which uses exactly the same electronics as the VCS 3, but rehoused in a Spartanite briefcase. Instead of routing signals using patch cables, as a Moog did, it uses a patch matrix with resistive pins. The 2700 ohm resistors soldered inside the pin vary in tolerance - 5% variance and later 1%. The pins have different colours: the 'red' pins have 1% tolerance and the 'white' have 5%, while the 'green' pins are attenuating pins having a resistance of 68,000 ohms.

The later Synthi AKS incorporated an early digital 256 event KS (Keyboard Sequencer) sequencer in the lid, input provided by a capacitance sensitive Buchla like keyboard.

Perhaps its most prominent use is in Pink Floyd's "On the Run" from their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon, as well as the introduction to The Alan Parsons Project's "I Robot." Along with Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, other frequent users of the instrument include Tim Blake & Miquette Giraudy of Gong, Richard Pinhas of Heldon, Merzbow, Thomas Lehn, Cor Fuhler and Alva Noto.

Development

The original VCS No.1 was a hand-built rackmount unit with two oscillators, one filter and one envelope designed by Cockerell before the formation of EMS. When a benefactor, Don Banks, asked Zinovieff for a synthesiser, Zinovieff and Cockerell decided to work together on building an instrument that was small, portable, but powerful and flexible.

A modified EMS VCS3 is presented as the "Harrington 1200" automatic song-writing machine in the "Music" episode of the comedy Look Around You.

Notable users

Note

  1. ↑ In August 2010, VCS3 reached £6700 in an eBay auction.

References

Bibliography
  • Hinton, Graham (December 2002). "EMS: The Inside Story". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-05-21.
  • Hinton, Graham (December 2002). "A Guide to the EMS Product Range - 1969 to 1979". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.
  • Reid, Gordon (November 2000). "All About EMS, Part 1". Sound on Sound (November 2000). Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  • Reid, Gordon (2000). "All About EMS, Part 2". Sound on Sound (December 2000). Archived from the original on 2011-09-08.
Citations
  1. ↑ Reid Nov. 2000.
  2. ↑ https://sites.google.com/site/krakatack/unusualstuff
  3. ↑ Dennis Bathory-Kitsz. "Killer – My Ionic "Performer" Synth (from Ionic Industories, made by Alfred Mayer)".
  4. ↑ "Flood & Howie B: Producing U2's Pop". Sound On Sound. July 1997. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Todd Rundgren is pictured with a VCS3 on the inside of his bifold double album "Something/Anything?"
Models
  1. 1 2 "VCS3 (aka The Putney) – The Products". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.
  2. ↑ "Synthi VCS3 II – The Products". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.
  3. ↑ "DK1 (aka The Cricklewood) – The Products". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.
  4. ↑ "DK2 – The Products". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.
  5. ↑ "KS – The Products". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.
  6. ↑ "DKS – The Products". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.
  7. 1 2 "Synthi 100 (formerly Digitana, aka the Delaware) – The Products". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall).
  8. 1 2 "Synthi A (formerly Portabella) – The Products". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.
  9. 1 2 "Synthi AKS – The Products". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.

Further reading

  • "Retro: VCS3". Future Music. No. 63. Future Publishing. November 1997. p. 55. ISSN 0967-0378. OCLC 1032779031.

Official

  • "Electronic Music Studios Home Page". Electronic Music Studios (Cornwall). Archived from the original on 2013-11-25.
    • "An advertisement for the company, "every nun needs a Synthi"". Electronic Music Studios (London), Ltd. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17.
  • "EMS Home". EMS Rehberg (Germany).

Articles

  • "THE EMS SYNTHI BLOG".

modification and resources

  • Graham Hinton. "A Guide to EMS VCS3 & Synthi A/AKS Modifications & Servicing". Hinton Instruments.
  • "Information on the EMS synthi A, KS and VCS3".

Software emulation

  • "XILS 3, 4 and Vocoder 5000". — A VST simulation of a VCS3/VCS4 with Synthi Sequencer, and Vocoder 5000 by XILS-lab
  • "Synthi Avs Plug-In". EMS Rehberg. — A (commercial) VST simulation of a VCS3/Synthi A by EMS Rehberg
  • "Cynthia". — A free VST based on the architecture of VCS3/Synthi A by Ninecows
  • "iVCS3". — Official EMS iOS emulator by apeSoft, with preface by Peter Zinovieff (screen shot)

EMS Synthi A

  • "EMS' homepage (last updated August 1998)". Cornwall: Electronic Music Studios. Archived from the original on 2013-11-25.
  • "Every Nun Needs a Synthi" (ad). Archived from the original on 2012-07-17.
  • "VCS3 & Synthi A Modifications". Hinton Instruments. (last updated 2013-12-14)
  • "Synthi A-VS plugin". Germany: EMS Rehberg. — A commercial VST simulation of a Synthi A by German EMS
  • A freeware VST simulation of a Synthi A
  • The EMS SYNTHI BLOG


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