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TheVCS 3 (orVCS3; aninitialism forVoltage Controlled Studio, version #3) is a portableanalogue synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced byElectronic Music Studios (EMS) in 1969.[# 1]
EMS released the product under various names. Logos printed at the console's front left (see photos) say "V.C.S. 3" on the most widely sold version; "The Putney (VCS 3)" on the earlier version; and "The Synthi (VCS 3) II" on the later version "Synthi VCS 3 II".[# 2]
The VCS 3 was created in 1969 byPeter Zinovieff'sEMS company. The electronics were designed largely byDavid Cockerell, and its distinctive appearance was the work of electronic composerTristram Cary. It was one of the firstportable commercially available synthesizers, in the sense that it was housed entirely in a small wooden case, unlike synths from American manufacturers such asMoog Music,ARP andBuchla, which had large cabinets and could take up entire rooms.
The VCS 3 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 that other companies also implemented with fewer tuning issues. However, the VCS 3 was renowned as an extremely powerful generator of electronic effects and processor of external sounds for its cost.[according to whom?]
The first album recorded using only the VCS 3 wasThe Unusual Classical Synthesizer on Westminster Gold.[2]
The VCS 3 was popular amongprogressive rock bands, and was used on recordings byFranco Battiato,The Moody Blues,The Alan Parsons Project,Jean-Michel Jarre,Todd Rundgren,Hawkwind,Curved Air,Brian Eno (withRoxy Music and as a solo artist or collaborator),King Crimson,The Who,Gong, andPink Floyd, and many others. The VCS 3-generated bass sound at the beginning of Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" forms the foundation of the song, with its other parts heard in response. Two VCS 3s and a Sequencer 256 were featured in the 1978 film 'The Shout'.[3]
The VCS 3 has three oscillators (the first two normalvoltage-controlled oscillators; the third alow-frequency oscillator), anoise generator, two input amplifiers, aring modulator, 24 dB/octave low-passvoltage-controlled filter,[citation needed] a trapezoidenvelope generator, a joystick controller, a voltage-controlledspring reverb unit, and two voltage controlled output amplifiers. Unlike mostmodular synthesiser systems, which used cables to link components, the VCS 3 uses a distinctive patchboard matrix where pins are inserted to connect its components.
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Although the VCS 3 is often used for generatingsound effects due to lack of a built-inkeyboard, external keyboard controllers were available for melodic play. TheDK1, produced in 1969, is an early velocity-sensitive monophonic keyboard for VCS 3 with an extraVCO andVCA.[# 3] In 1972 it was extended forduophonic play asDK2.[# 4] Also in 1972, theSynthi AKS was released, as well as a digitalsequencer with atouch-sensitive flat keyboard, theKS sequencer,[# 5] and its mechanical keyboard version,DKS.[# 6]
The VCS 3's basic design was reused by EMS in many other of their own products,[citation needed] most notably theEMS Synthi 100 (1971),[# 7] theSynthi A (1971),[# 8] andAKS (1972, essentially a VCS 3 in a plastic briefcase). The AKS also has asequencer built into the keyboard's lid.[# 9]
A former agent of EMS in theUnited States, Ionic Industries in Morristown, New Jersey, released a portable-keyboard VCS 3 clone in 1973. TheIonic Performer, whose circuitry is based on the VCS 3's, replaced the patchboard matrix with over 100push-buttons, and added a built-in keyboard andeffects units.[4]
![EMS Synthi A (1971), also called Portabella[# 8]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aEMS_A.jpg)
![EMS Synthi AKS (1972)[# 9]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aEMS_Synthi_AKS.jpg)
![EMS Synthi 100 (1971), formerly Digitana, also called The Delaware[# 7]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aEMS_Synthi_100.jpg)
TheEMS Synthi A has the same electronics as the VCS 3, but was rehoused in a Spartanite briefcase. Instead of routing signals usingpatch cables, likeMoog products, it uses apatch matrix with resistive pins. The 2700 ohm resistors soldered inside each pin vary in tolerance, indicated by different colours: red pins have 1% tolerance, white have 5%, and green pins are attenuating pins with a resistance of 68,000 ohms.
The later Synthi AKS incorporated an early digital 256 event KS (Keyboard Sequencer)sequencer in the lid, with input provided by a capacitance-sensitiveBuchla-style keyboard.
Perhaps its most prominent use is in the introduction toThe Alan Parsons Project'sI Robot. (1977). VCS 3 synthesisers were also used alongside a traditional chamber music ensemble for the soundtrack to the BBC'sLife On Earth nature documentary series, composed byEdward Williams.[5]
Along withKlaus Schulze andTangerine Dream, other frequent users of the instrument includeCabaret Voltaire,Tim Blake &Miquette Giraudy ofGong,Richard Pinhas ofHeldon,Merzbow,Thomas Lehn,Cor Fuhler andAlva Noto.
The original VCS No.1 was a hand-built rack-mount 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 an instrument that was small and portable but powerful and flexible.
EMS VCS 3, my first synth ever, still working and present on each of my albums as a ritual.
