Click the auction link on top when you get there for additional listings.
VEMIA is Peter Forrest's auction house. He is the author of The A-Z of Analogue Synthesizer Books.
"This is the second and sadly last Putney / DK.1 combo to come to VEMIA from Cardiff University Electronic Music Studio - one of the first and biggest electronic music studios in the world, with six VCS3s and then a Synthi 100. Another of the VCS3s from the studio is the featured instrument in the Wikipedia article https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/EMS_VCS_3.jpg - note the exact same type of security tag and engraving (E M Studio). The Wikipedia one is s/n 143. This Putney / VCS3 is s/n 377. The DK.1 is s/n 2090. Cosmetic condition is very good for things that are over 50 years old. There is considerable wear to the top panel silk-screening, and a few minor marks in the woodwork, but otherwise everything is lovely. The silk-screening around the matrix is in excellent condition - much better than average - and the matrix itself is very good. As well as looking great, they are in perfect working order, thoroughly serviced in September 2024 by EMS expert Lucid. The servicing includes replacement of all noisy pots and a correct set of matrix pins, all proper spec and sourced from Robin Wood at EMS. (Total invoice just under £1K). The extra switch on the DK.1 reverses the dynamic voltage from the keyboard - perhaps in response to Carlos' criticism about the voltage as originally designed being negative. Lucid suspects this is an original EMS mod (and is identical to the other Cardiff Uni model we auctioned in April). **Now with one of Robin Wood's excellent padded covers for the VCS3 - money very well spent indeed. ** Packing at VEMIA: 30GBP."
"Something no-one asked for but it's here anyway... I was fascinated by the idea of Richard processing drums in things like the MS20, but rather than go down that route I figured I'd have a go at Ventolin using the spiritual ancestor of the EMS Synthi, the Erica Synths Syntrx II.
Chapters below -
0:00 Intro
1:30 Thought process and motivation
3:17 Syntrx II Demos
8:17 Parts for Ventolin
11:00 Track!
It's not 100% (obviously) and I didn't go to the trouble of changing the parts up too much. I think the drums are samples - there are bits in the original that sound like they're being played backwards which gives the game away - but the Syntrx is way more than 'just' a monosynth, and makes some very weird sounds so I sort of went with it."
"Here's a demo showing the more melodic side of the SYNTHE A100.
2 oscillators used for lead lines/sequence and sometimes osc1 and 2 synched.
Oscillators 3 and 4 provide the bed of thirds through the envelope shaper and reverb.
Bass line from Oscillator 6 modulated by oscillator 5
Roland System 8 only used as controller and sequence."
"The Townshend Studio was unveiled on Thursday 10 October at the University’s Ealing site. The new studio arose from Pete Townshend looking for a home for his synthesisers, leaving a legacy for the next generation and a catalyst for creativity.
The collection includes some of the most influential instruments in the development of electronic music. It comprises 12 principal synthesisers including the ARP Model 2500 (1970), used on 'Quadrophenia', and the rare and sought-after Yamaha GX-1 (1975), one of only 10 made with a retail price of over 60,000 USD on release, plus many other instruments played by Townshend throughout his career.
'It’s my hope that the studio will be a creative space for learning, collaboration, experimentation and play, inspired by the musical and artistic legacy of Ealing, an area integral to the development of British music in the 1960s,'
said Pete Townshend."
Pictured: ARP 2500 & EMS SYNTHI 100.
One more "Synth Museum" to add to my destination list. :)
The second edition of the Memetune Programme Annual - for the year 2024
Hardback book (A4 size) with 74 full colour pages and download code for the accompanying music album
Based on the second season of Benge's unique 6 part TV series focussing on his passion for vintage synths, studio gear and video production equipment
The Memetune 2024 Annual follows the TV series format, broken down into the following categories:
LITTLE BLACK BOXES looks at some classic 80s and 90s rack mount synths, instruments that are often overlooked due to their utterly bland appearance. Their sounds, however, are anything but
SWITCHED ON CYBERSYNTHS features a brief history and description of abstract electronic music, in particular sounds created on modular synths, taking in randomness, chaos theory, feedback loops, nonlinear modifiers, plus stochastic and algorithmic ideas. It ends with perhaps the largest modular synth patch ever attempted, featuring 11 of the Memetune modulars containing over 430 modules
SYNTHESISER CLUB points a vintage video camera at various synthesisers and systems, and focuses on ‘families’ of synths, meaning a group of instruments made by one manufacturer in a particular time in synth history
PATCHING TODAY is a deep dive into patching on a selection of vintage modular systems, namely the Modcan A-Series (the most versatile modular ever made?), the Polyfusion 2000 (the simplest modular?), an EMS rig containing a VCS3, TKS sequencer, 8-octave filter bank and dual Synthi 100 HPF (the most English modular?), a Paia 4700 (the worst modular ever made?), the Buchla 100 (the first modular ever made?) and a hybrid Roland “green” modular system containing a modified System 100, SH5 with special modular panel and RE201 Space Echo (the ‘wonkiest’ system ever made?)
VIDEO LAB begins by presenting a short film called Proof of Hypertravel made entirely in the Lab, and then goes on to detail the lengthy process that went into making it, covering such things as Storyboarding, World-Building, Green Screening, Compositing, Special Effects, and types of vintage video cameras
There is also the Memetune Puzzle Page, the legendary Memetune Dictionary of Words, and a tour of the Memetune garden in a 1980 Lotus Esprit
The music on the download album that accompanies this annual has been selected from the second series and contains all the tracks made in the Synthesiser Club, Patching Today and Little Black Boxes sections respectively, approximately 60 minutes of original synthesiser compositions to enjoy whilst perusing the Annual
To watch the series search on YouTube for 'Memetune Programme by Benge'"
"The Mind-Blowing EMS VCS3 part in Pink Floyd's Any Colour You Like. S1: Ep1 Demo of the Synthi AKS solo from 'Any Colour You Like' from the legendary 'Dark Side of the Moon' Album - explained by Andy Whitmore at Greystoke Studio. Dark Side of the Moon is a studio album released in 1973 - recorded at Abbey Road Studios - it took 7 months to record. The Synthi AKS is wrongly credited on the album as EMS VCS3 - but the documentary videos clearly show David Gilmour, Roger Waters & Richard Wright playing the synth in my video.
Time Stamps 0:00 - Intro & EMS explanation 0:37 - Synth Solo Demo - Any Colour 1:11 - Patch Setting 1:27 - Summary 1:36 - Any Colour You Like - Synthi Solo
The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for Voltage Controlled Studio, version) is a portable analog synthesiser with a flexible semi-modular voice architecture, by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. 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).
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), and the Synthi A (1971) 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."
"Introducing our latest model.VCSX-100.This time with Synthi 100 style collet knobs and Sakae counting dials
This Synth features the VCS3 OSC1-3,Filter,Envelope,Ring Modulator,Input channels,Meter and Joystick with the addition of the Synthi 100 Dual Random Voltage Generator,Multimode Filter,,Envelope Shaper and Octave Filter Bank.Housed in a VCS3 cabinet all module input and outputs brough out to 3.5mm jack sockets to interface with modulars or other VCS3/Synthi's"
"Hans Zimmer's 'RadioPhonic' Synth from AJH Synth @ Superbooth 24 - This monster MiniMod Eurorack modular system was commissioned by Hans himself, and he was kind enough to allow us to build a limited number of exact replicas which will be individually built to order by AJHSynth. Full details of the system, along with an interview with Hans Zimmer about his use of the MiniMod system, can be found at https://ajhsynth.com.
We will have one such RadioPhonic system on display in our bungalow at Superbooth 24, along with a MinMod Keyz, a 9U full system, and a huge monster case full of AJH modules.
Richard Quirk, and Wayne Taylor (DreamsOfWires/Tomorrow the cure) will also be there representing AJH with Allan J Hall himself. We'd be glad to chat about the modules and demonstrate some in action, so feel free to pop by.
The AJH SYNTH Eurorack range consists of high-end modules, all hand-made in the UK, most of which are based on classic, vintage designs, authentically recreating the circuitry of much sought-after analogue instruments and technologies of the past, whilst greatly expanding them, and bringing them to modern Eurorack levels of convenience, limitless flexibility, and reliability.
Official website page: https://ajhsynth.com"
"Happy birthday to synthesizer pioneer PETER ZINOVIEFF. Here's a quick look at some of his innovations within our EMS here at the Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project (EMEAPP). This includes the VCS3 (The Putney), the Synthi AKS, the Synthetical Engine, and our Synthi 100 system, including the Compu-Synthi and the Vocoder 5000. Please follow us, there's lots of good stuff on the way!"
"A video from the Australian Broadcasting Company about a composer and inventor called Percy Grainger, who made electronic instruments in the 1950s that would follow a curving line to create pitch and music. He physically made the curving line out of thick sheets of card and fed them into the machine, controlling the pitch of an oscillator."
"Andreas Monopolis (MoCM) and Stelios Giannoulakis (Schema Musicalis) caress the mythical EMS Synthi100 synthesiser at KSYME, Athens Conservatory, November 2023
@SchemaMusicalis version:"
Andreas and Stelios playing the EMS Synthi100 @ KSYME
"Batch of EMS brochures, technical documentation, photographs and advertisements + chrome sticker
