What The Future Sounded Like is a documentary about the the people of EMS (Electronic Music Studios) a radical group of avant-garde electronic musicians who utilized technology and experimentation to compose a futuristic electronic sound-scape for the New Britain.

Comprising of pioneering electronic musicians Peter Zinovieff and Tristram Cary (famed for his work on the Dr Who series) and genius engineer David Cockerell, EMS studio was one of the most advanced computer-music facilities in the world.

EMS’s great legacy is the VCS3, Britain’s first synthesizer and rival of the American Moog. The VCS3 changed the sounds of some of the most popular artists of this period including Brian Eno, Hawkwind and Pink Floyd.

via bananimalistic:

Synth music pioneer Klaus Schulze discusses and demonstrates his first synth, an EMS Synthi A analog synthesizer.

via Synthasy2000:

Klaus talks about, and demonstrates, his first synth.

David Vorhaus Analogue Electronic Music 1979

In this historical video from 1979, American-born UK synth pioneer David Vorhaus talks about two of his analogue inventions – the MANIAC analogue sequencer, and the Kaleidophon.

via JeffreyPlaide:

The MANIAC (Multiphasic Analog Inter-Active Chromataphonic (sequencer)) was an analogue sequencer having variable step lengths, and the ability to split sequences into several smaller groupings giving considerable sonic potentiality. Addition and subtraction of events was possible, as well as the possibility to chromatically correct the output during performance. David could program his MANIAC sequencer to play a background rhythm or combination of musical events, to then improvise over the top with another instrument or synthesizer.

The Kaleidophon was a double-bass-like instrument using four velocity-sensitive ribbon controllers instead of strings. The instrument is played entirely using the left hand, leaving the right hand free to manipulate the sound via a number of controllers and a joystick.

David speaks about the processes of making electronic music, and the developments that such possibilities can provide for the imaginative electronic musician. This excerpt is taken from the BBC 1979 documentary entitled “The New Sound of Music” hosted by Michael Rodd.

This series of videos looks at the making of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon – not only one of the most popular albums of all times – but one of the most influential.

The album features amazing production work by Alan Parson, elements of music concrète, EMS VCS 3 Putney & Synthi A space rock synth and fantastic musicianship. It’s no wonder Pink Floyd is cited by Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and other electronic space rock artists as a key influence.

Don’t miss the discussion of Money in part 11, which starts with a look at the creation of underlying 7/8 tape loop and moves on the multi-track, with a detour for Alan Parsons to discuss vocal processing.

via Coilhouse

You can preview audio samples at the XILS-lab site.

Features :

• Three aliasing-free oscillators: sine, ramp, square, triangle.
• One 2/4 poles low pass filter (a 3 pole self-oscillating mode is also planned).
• One envelope, based on two different designs, trapezoid and ADSR.
• One spring reverb.
• One ring modulator.
• One 128 steps sequencer.
• Two output static filters.
• One joy-stick.
• Three connection matrix.
• One input gate.
• One input envelope follower.
• One pitch tracker.
• One transient tracker.
• Mono/Unison/Polyphonic playing mode, up to 18 voices of polyphony.
• All parameters MIDI controllable.
• Many presets made by famous sound designers (Kevin Lamb, Chris Pitman, Cliff Douse, to name but a few )

XILS 3 will be available soon for both Mac (AU/VST/RTAS) and PC (VST/RTAS) at a price of €220.

Pete Townshend, in his studio, explains how he achieved the “arpeggiated” organ sound from the classic Who track, Won’t Get Fooled Again by running the organ through the filter of an Electronic Music Studios EMS Synthi VCS3, aka The Putney,

Manchester Midi School King Unique Masterclass

via midischool:

A Masterclass from one of the worlds leading electronic DJs and producers, King Unique’s Matt Thomas.

Matt is a self-confessed studio junkie and he brought in his Monume midi controller, demonstrating how he uses it to create music using the hardware rather than musical ideas.

He also bought in his rare, mint condition VCS 3 which was the first ever portable analogue synthesizer which was used by Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon, The Who and Jean Michel Jarre amongst others.

Sunday Synth Jam: Traffica Voca Electronica comes via JeffreyPlaide:

This track is a very unusual composition in that there are very few musical elements in the assemblage. Small samples of sound are spliced together to form various loops. Ethereal sinewaves connect various noises to the vocoded spoken word passages.

The spoken word segment is actually the voice of Peter Zinovieff, whom with his EMS synthesizer company in Britain in the early 1970s produced the classic VCS3 range and Synthi 100 voltage controlled synthesizers. He is actually speaking about the advantages of making sequenced electronic music rather than by cutting up magnetic tape of recorded sounds

Today, it is much easier for the experimental musician to create music with computer software and editing techniques than it was in the late 1960s when Peter was experimenting. This sound collage represents a kind of special tribute to Peter Zinovieff and EMS, albeit in a very unusual arrangement of un-related samples and sinewave tones, culminating to the vocoded spoken word conclusion.

This video takes a look at UK electronic music pioneer Peter Zinovieff and Electronic Music Studios (EMS).

via JeffreyPlaide:

Peter Zinovieff’s pioneering work into the fields of electronic music production and research led to many innovative electronic music instrument developments that were outstanding for the time. Peter was fascinated by electronic music and used his financial resources to develop a huge voltage-controlled studio that occupied an entire room in his home premises

There was a time when EMS (Electronic Music Studios) stood as equal to Moog and Arp.

In many ways, EMS was more advanced with several pioneering ideas being investigated. Peter used two PDP8 minicomputers in the late 1960s to control the voltage-controlled analogue modules for research into electronic music exploration. Twenty years before affordable computing and sequencing packages, Zinovieff’s computers could store and replay compositions, complete with sound shaping parameters even inventing a form of spectral or additive synthesis.

Excerpts are edited from the television documentaries “What the Future Sounded Like” and “The New Sound of Music” featuring the first public performance of music by a computer in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1967.

The spirit of EMS continues, and Peter’s synthesizer innovations like the VCS3 and Synthi 100 have become outstanding analogue classics.

KX77FREE’s KX-Synth-X16 is a free virtual analog modular synth plug-in based on the EMS VCS3 structure, but with some additional features.

KX-Synth-X16 Common features:

• Three variable shape oscillators.
• Noise generator.
• Ring modulation.
• Two external inputs.
• LP filter; 18 db per octave with self oscillating.
• Same structure of the matrix (16*16).
• XY joystick.

Added features:

• Modern skin with notepad and variable color background.
• Keyboard controls to the oscillators and filter; -10 volts to 10 volts; useful for keyboard scaling.
• You can adjust the response curve of the oscillators.
• 256 mini knobs to adjust the plot modulation (0 to 1).
• The original ASR (trapezoid) is extended to 2 ADSR with Host synchronization.
• Delay fx with Host synchronization.
• MIDI controllers.

KX-Synth-X16 is available for Windows as a VST instrument plug-in.

via VSTCafe

Image: guiltysin

Saturday Synth Porn: Gaze on the Synthi 100, from the Cantos Museum.

The EMS Synthi 100 was a large analogue synthesizer made by Electronic Music Studios (London) Ltd. It was released in 1974 and cost $25,000. Around 30 units (29, according to some sources) were built during the 1970s and 1980s.

The Synthi 100 was developed from a combination of three VCS-3 Systems, ending up with 12 VCOs, two keyboards (each of it duophonic, making it possible to play 4 voices simultaneously), and a 3-track 256-step monophonic digital sequencer. Two 64 x 64 patchbays were used to connect the different modules.

via the Synthtopia Flickr Pool

Pioneering UK synth company EMS has announced the Synthi Control Console – a new prototype of a console to control 2 EMS Synthi’s (either 2 Synthi AKS, 2 VCS3 mk2 or a mixture).

Features:

• 36×48 Matrix patching capability using standard EMS patch pins.
• Connects to Synthi prestosockets via special umbilical cables.
• External CV and Gate inputs to Synthi 1 and 2 via 6.35mm Jack sockets.
• Connects to Synthi Jones sockets on Synthi 1 and 2 for switching control between either external CV/Gat or DK1/DK2/KS control via toggle switches. Connection via custom cables.
• 4 Inverter Input/Output channels on Matrix
• Synthi 1+2 Envelope Shapers triggered by +ve/-ve signals from Matrix.
• 8 Output channels (6.35mm Jack sockets) via the Matrix.

EMS has enough original 1970’s Sealectro Matrix panels to make at most 7 units. They may be offered for sale on a build to order basis.

Approximate cost around £1500 + shipping (user supplied pins).

A dedication compilation of material celebrating the pioneering spirit of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Material is edited from the following documentary and information sources: The Alchemists of Sound, The Masters of Sound, The Music Arcade, Radiophonic Workshop archive footage, Doctor Who titles, The New Sound of Music and Sonic State.

via JeffreyPlaide

David Brans – Docks [Ems synthi A]

via zaphid:

Multitrack soundscape. All done with the Ems Synthi A.

Noise vocoder and bottle sounds are from a Triton. Ems KS and Ems R2VG not used.

This video features the original music composed and performed by Martin Newcombe on equipment in his Museum Of Synthesizer Technology, which sadly closed in the mid 90’s.

The Museum of Synthesizer Technology was opened by synth pioneer Bob Moog in 1994, in Berkshire UK.

The museum offered one of the largest collections of analog synths ever assembled.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via Sharpblue

This image of the EMS VCS3 and friends was taken at A Concert of Music and Psychogeography at Glasgow University, 28th January 2009, a series of works by composer in residence Drew Mulholland.

More wonderfully evocative images of the event in JC_Phosphene’s flickr stream.

This is an audio demo (no video) of creating Battlestar Galactica Cylon voices with an EMS Vocoder-System 2000B MkII and Roland SVC-350 Vocoder.

Cheesy, but fun!

The Electronic Music Studios EMS Synthi VCS3, aka The Putney, is a portable synthesizer introduced in 1969. It was designed by David Cockerell.

Wendy Carlos had this to say about the Synthi VCS3:

The PUTNEY is a real toy. Its components are highly unstable/unpredictable and the selection made is highly gimmick orientated and does not by any stretch of the mind permit any subtle sounds & exp. to be constructed. It also has a so-called touch-sensitive keyboard which has to be tried to be believed, it’s that awful. No feel or physical feedback at all (as there is in a piano, for example); again, another great concept worked out in ignorance (and the one I tried worked backwards: softer touch = louder sounds!) But it is small & portable & groups might like it for special effects.

Notable users include: Brian Eno, The Who, Pink Floyd, TONTO’s Expanding Head Band, Jean Michel Jarre, The Chemical Brothers & Tangerine Dream.

The EMS Synthi VCS3 originally retailed for £330. Amazingly, it’s still in production (see discussion in comments).

Here’s another EMS Synthi VCS3 demo video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Features:

A solid Aformosia cabinet housed the following modules, interconnected by means of a matrix patchboard:

• 3 x Voltage Controlled Oscillators.
• Noise Generator.
• 2 x Input Amplifiers.
• Ring Modulator.
• Voltage Controlled Low Pass Filter.
• Trapezoid Envelope Generator.
• Voltage Controlled Reverberation.
• Meter.
• 2 x Stereo Output Amplifiers.
• Joystick.

Resources:

• EMS still sells the EMS Synthi VCS3
• Keyboard’s Mark Vail on the EMS VCS3
• A guide to EMS VCS3 mods and servicing

Shade is scheduled for release on March 23rd, 2009, and looks like it will be a treat for fans of synth music.

Sirros notes:

This album is full of analogue modular synths, including the Serge modular music system, Analogue Systems RS-Integrator modular, Doepfer A100 modular, Arp 2600, EMS VCS3, Technosaurus Selector system D, Livewire/Plan B/Harvestman modular, Metalbox/CGS modular, Analogue Solutions Concussor modular, Korg MS50, Oberheim 4 Voice modular, etc…

Shade is the studio album follow-up to Obsessive Surrealism (DiN26 – 2007) and is the fifth CD release by Parallel Worlds (the main musical project of Greek electronic musician Bakis Sirros).

via Bakis Sirros in the synth forum

A small tutorial, with a commentary in French, explaining how to program the basic functions of the EMS Synthi AKS: use three oscillators modulate OSC1 and OSC2 by the oscillator 3 as LFO, insert them in the envelope.

Un petit tutorial avec un commentaire en français expliquant comment programmer les fonctions de base de l’Ems Synthi Aks : utiliser les trois oscillateurs, moduler l’osc1 et l’osc2 par l’oscillateur 3 en tant que LFO, les insérer dans l’enveloppe.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A short video on the release of the first two oscillators Ems Avs. The patch is a basic simplicity, just the sort with the sinusoidal and the sawtooth in A3 and C3 oscillator 1, the square and the triangle oscillator 2 A4 and C4.  Note that the Shape button that controls the level of harmonics added.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Second patch simply on the envelope Ems Avs. The OSC1 and OSC2 are inserted in the envelope is in D3 and D4, the output is in A12 and C12.
A note is the small meter at the top left of the Avs is on A13. It provides up-cycle of the envelope. Precision, setting “off” is the gap between the end of one cycle and the new of the envelope.
A 1minute 57, noise is inserted in the filter H7, the filter is controlled by the OSC3, as in Lfo N6.

Deuxième patch tout simple concernant l’enveloppe de l’Ems Avs. L’osc1 et l’Osc2 sont insérés dans l’enveloppe soit en D3 et D4, la sortie étant en A12 et C12. A noter qu’A13 correspond au petit vu-mètre situé tout en haut à gauche de l’Avs. Il permet de suivre le cycle de l’enveloppe. Précision, le paramètre « off » correspond à l’écart entre la fin d’un cycle et le nouveau de l’enveloppe.
A 1minute 57, le noise est inséré dans le filtre en H7, le filtre étant contrôlé par l’Osc3, en tant que Lfo en N6.

via deb76, via Califaudio