EMS VCS3 Modular Synthesizer

ABOUT A classic! looks like a russian power plant control. a matrix controls what is modulated by what source. there are not too many requests for keyboards or midi, quite "clinical" Sound, very british also. quite minimalistic (no lfo and only one ENV). anyway worth more than one ear. the CD David Voorhaus - white noise was made with 2 VCS3.

DETAILS this is the first "modulation matrix" irgendwie wie "schiffeversenken" ;-) its "LFO"=OSC3 ranges to 500Hz!! the OSCs 1 and to range to audio speed of course.. the OSCs frequency is tuned by only one knob.. (more like a frequency generator in a laboratory). build in reverb spring! (modable!) the filters are very british 18dB/Oct. (like the tb303, haha). the different colors are for different use! the EMS has a simplified Envelope Generator called trapezoid (thats the "shape"). you can mod something by just putting in one of those "resistor-pins". you can still order an EMS at Ludwig Rehberg in Ditzingen, germany. the sound is very "clinical"-cold (and thats meant as a good thing!) FM FX at audiospeed. and typical "british"-filtersound (like chris Huggetts inventions OSCar, EDP wasp) no one has ever done this, but the "user port" on the AKS can be used to patch the synth, so you may use a computer to do so! there have been modifications to the EMS VCS 3 and AKS. there are also very rare versions with keyboard or external keyboard of the VCS-3 around. the aks has a keyboard that fits also into the aks briefcase cover. this is a synth that you should not use with a "keyboard".. its sooooo useless! :) the sound is very special.. a newer system that comes close is the macbeth m3x. (uk: distributed by analogue solutions, the company that sells and makes the vostok, that also has a matrix like the EMS but has wavetables and a korg MS20 filter instead of the british-style EMS filters.) note: older models have different tracking of OSC1&2 and OSC 3:while the first oscs use 0.32V/Oct Osc 3 used 0.26V/Oct only! be aware when buying one! so the CV control by other synth is very difficult, so you need the info on the left (MIDI) the ENV: its only one and a bit strange: has just Attack and Decay and a hold after attack phase and a so called off (thats a retrigger after a certain time or not at all.. so imagine an lfo triggering the ENV.) ps: did you know, that the colors of thosed pins have different meanings? btw: EMS stands for electronic music studio. EMS Filters are made of Diodes instead of Transistors (remember: it was 1972) by David Cockerell, this David was one of the bosses in the EMS history, the first one was Peter Zinovieff. Till 72 he was EMS and thats where he met hugget. David Cockerell went to E-Harmonix and Ircam for a short time later. later Chris Huggett doing the EDP synth, akai's sampler line and the oscar. tim orr , who did the power tran synths (transcendent 2000) was EMS till 77. the EMS is the one on which Dr.Who was played and recorded. the "putney" is just because of the town that the EMS was produced in (part of London). this synth is quite the opposite of a minimoog - philosophically. so it works great with a minimoog side by side. "the klinik" used this synth quite often. brian eno and david voorhaus and jarre of course are also well known users. (jarre had 6 of it in a "rack") MIDI/CV control by other synths: thats not easy (WARNING: no guarantee or something for those who do it!) you can do it at rehberg! because of that 0.32V/Oct. (standard is 1V/Oct): 1) you can use one of 2 CV ins, so you can patch ,what you want to control by CV 2) the CV for OSCs is different.. so you need a converter analogue trigger EMS: gate pulse in/outs 4V GROUND to positive. Has a Joystick a spring reverb (!)

SOUND effects, wonderful noise machine

VERSION mk2: slightly changed schematics. Synthi A: like VCS3 but in a suitcase.