Sorrell Hays, Doris Hays & Delia Derbyshire

Update3 8/27/13: We have confirmation from Sorrell Hays herself.  It indeed was her that composed Doris Hays - Scared Trip [1971] in the video below and not Delia Derbyshire.  It was composed using the Buchla 101 keyboard pictured below. I'll see if I can get the WikiDelia article mentioning Delia updated. As a side note, for those on Facebook there's some conversation going on regarding this post here. Laurie Spiegel chimed in as well.

Start of original post before we had confirmation from Sorrell Hays:

This post can be a little confusing, so I thought I'd try and clear it up front.  I spotted this post on It's Full of Stars on Sorell Hays, an electronic artist that used a Buchla keyboard.  I clicked through the link in the post and found that the video directly below wasn't actually by Sorrell Hays, but by Delia Derbyshire.  Apparently Delia produced the tracks under the pseudonym Doris Hays.  The real Doris Hays went by Sorrell Hays and is pictured further below.  I have no idea if there was a connection between the two or if it was all just coincidence, but there you have it.

Update1 via eben in the comments: "hi Matrix thanks for reposting. it is quite a confusing situation! did you see the original post over on toys&techniques from a while back? it seems to suggest that the tracks on the Southern LP 'electronic music' might actually be sorrel and NOT delia - see also the comments to the post:

http://toysandtechniques.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/sorrel-hays.html

to me it sounds more buchla than ems!

its all very intriguing..."

Doris Hays - Scared Trip [1971]

Uploaded on May 21, 2011 TheCoffeeShopShop·2,525 videos
Re-Published on Nov 21, 2014 Doris Hays - Topic

I'm guessing this is a mix of tape and EMS based on the year.  Click here for more posts featuring Delia and EMS at the time.

via WikiDelia: "It is claimed that in 1971 Delia produced 14 tracks of electronic music for the British record label Southern Library of Recorded Music, published as Electronic Music with catalogue number MQ/LP 38[1] under the pseudonym Doris Hays.[2] The other four track on the album are credited to John Matthews, claimed to be John Baker[1] and included on the album 'The John Baker Tapes'."

There is a real Doris Hays who is also a electronic and musique concrète composer, also active in 1971, born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1941.[3]"

Pictured here is Doris Hays [not Delia] who went by Sorrel Hays.  Via her last.fm site: "Sorrel Hays was born Doris Hays in Memphis, Tennessee, but being a “sound” person she decided that “Sorrel” sings (her maternal grandmother’s family name was Sorrels) so in 1985 she adopted the name Sorrel.

In 1971 Hays won first prize at the Gaudeamus Competition for Interpreters of New Music in Rotterdam, and began her international career as a performer of contemporary music. She performed concerts at broadcasting stations in Germany, Holland, Italy and Yugoslavia, appeared at the Como Festival and Pro Musica Nova Bremen, and was invited to celebrate John Cage’s 60th birthday by performing his Concerto for Prepared Piano and Orchestra with the Orchestra at the Hague. She gave the first performance in Europe of her own music at the Gaudeamus Composers Week in Holland in 1972, a composition called Hands and Lights for piano strings with photocell activated switches and flashlights beamed across the interior of a grand piano, a composition which she later performed for the Chattanooga Debutante Cotton Ball.

During 1989-1990 Sorrel Hays was a resident artist at the Yamaha Communications and Research Center in New York City, commissioned to create music for the Yamaha MIDI Grand Piano. These pieces, 90’s, A Calendar Bracelet , for MIDI Grand and tone generator, are recorded by Loretta Goldberg on the CD “Soundbridge” from Opus One."

Buchla at 1:13: Update2: the Buchla is the 200 101 keyboard as seen in this video.

Southern Voices: A Composer's Exploration - PREVIEW

Uploaded on Jun 4, 2009 docued·648 videos

"Purchase: http://www.der.org/films/southern-voi... and on Amazon.

This documentary traces the development and premiere performance of an avant-garde symphonic work by Southern composer Sorrel Doris Hays. Commissioned by the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Hays' piece is based on the sounds and rhythms of Southern speech and musical traditions. It is a journey into childhood memories via the melodies and rhythms of Southern dialect. Stoney combines analysis of her work with interviews in which Hays discusses her struggle with racism and paternalism of Southern culture.

a film by George Stoney with Sorrel Doris Hays
distributed by Documentary Educational Resources"

I did a quick search on YouTube to see if I could find anything else and found the following:

Invasion of the Love Drones (1977)

Uploaded on Sep 19, 2009
Invasion of the Love Drones, 1977 sci-fi movie from Jerome Hamlin. Soundtrack by Sorrel Hays, Mike Michaels, Richard Lavsky's Music House and Barry Forgie (uncredited). Additional dialogue by Charles Flowers (uncredited).

Review & more information:
http://atagong.com/archives/2009/09/e..."

EMS Founder Peter Zinovieff Has Passed Away

Update: Image of Peter Zinovieff (previously in via Brian Kehew).

"Circa 1975: A photo from the Frankfurt Music Fair

Peter Zinovieff in the EMS synthesizer booth.

They are featuring the rare SYNTHI P model, just announced on the left side and stand. Underneath the board listing EMS musical artists is a SYNTHI HI-FLI effects unit is barely seen. Another unusual/prototype model is next to the Hi-Fli."


Peter Zinovieff and Electronic Music Studios video upload by JeffreyPlaide


Peter Zinovieff: Synth Pioneer video upload by Sound On Sound magazine Jul 21, 2016


Peter Zinovieff talks about modern musical interfaces video upload by Expressive E Jan 6, 2016


Peter Zinovieff feature uploaded by Erica Synths on Nov 23, 2020. This was the latest video to feature Peter Zinovieff that I am aware of.


Peter Zinovieff interview 2015 video upload by 香港電子音樂社 Hong Kong Electronic Music Society Jun 30, 2015


Dr Peter Zinovieff intro & performance excerpt - Deliaphonic 2017 video upload by Deliaphonic Aug 29, 2018

And a few perspectives from others:

Bright Sparks Behind The Scenes - The Brits video by GForce Software published Feb 16, 2021

Cosmic Tape Music Club Podcast hosted by The Galaxy Electric - E1 Peter Zinovieff

video by The Galaxy Electric published Jan 27, 2021

Peter Zinovieff Electronic Calendar

video by Mark Jenkins published Dec 9, 2019 - Electronic Calendar available through this post.

You can find a history of posts mentioning Peter Zinovieff here.

via The Guardian

"Peter Zinovieff, a hugely influential figure in British music whose early synthesisers helped to change the sound of pop, has died aged 88. He had suffered a fall at home earlier this month.

With its marketing slogan 'think of a sound – now make it', his company Electronic Music Studios (EMS) was one of the first to bring synthesisers out of studios and to the public. With products such as the portable VCS3 and Synthi A, EMS customers – including David Bowie, Kraftwerk, the Who, Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd – were often taught to use the instruments by Zinovieff.

In 1967 he collaborated with Paul McCartney on Carnival of Light, a performance of a 14-minute avant garde composition created between Beatles sessions for Penny Lane that has never been released.

He was also a respected composer of his own work, including early experiments with AI composition and sampling – he claimed to have invented the latter technique." You can read the full post here.

via Wikipedia:

"Peter Zinovieff (26 January 1933 – 23 June 2021) was a British engineer and composer, whose EMS company made the VCS3 synthesizer in the late 1960s. The synthesizer was used by many early progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd[3] and White Noise, and Krautrock groups[4] as well as more pop-oriented artists, including Todd Rundgren and David Bowie. In later life he worked primarily as a composer of electronic music.

Zinovieff was born on 26 January 1933;[5] his parents, Leo Zinovieff and Sofka, née Princess Sophia Dolgorouky, were both Russian aristocrats, who met in London after their families had emigrated to escape the Russian Revolution and soon divorced.[6] During World War II he and his brother Ian lived with their grandparents in Guildford and then with their father in Sussex. He attended Guildford Royal Grammar School, Gordonstoun School and Oxford University, where he earned a doctorate in geology.[7][8]

Zinovieff's work followed research at Bell Labs by Max Mathews and Jean-Claude Risset, and an MIT thesis (1963) by David Alan Luce.[9] In 1966–67, Zinovieff, Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson ran Unit Delta Plus, an organisation to create and promote electronic music. It was based in the studio Zinovieff had built, in a shed at his house in Putney. (The house is near the Thames, and the studio was later partially destroyed by a flood).[10][11] EMS grew out of MUSYS, which was a performance controller operating as an analogue-digital hybrid.[12] It was a synthesiser system which Zinovieff developed with the help of David Cockerell and Peter Grogono, and used two DEC PDP-8 minicomputers and a piano keyboard.[13] Unit Delta Plus ran a concert of electronic music at the Watermill Theatre in 1966, with a light show. In early 1967 they performed in concerts at The Roundhouse, at which the Carnival of Light was also played; they split up later in 1967.[11] Paul McCartney had visited the studio, but Zinovieff had little interest in popular music.[14]

In 1968, part of the studio was recreated at Connaught Hall, for a performance of pieces by Justin Connolly and David Lumsdaine.[15] At the IFIP congress that year, the composition ZASP by Zinovieff with Alan Sutcliffe took second prize in a contest, behind a piece by Iannis Xenakis.[16]

In 1969, Zinovieff sought financing through an ad in The Times but received only one response, £50 on the mistaken premise it was the price of a synthesiser. Instead he formed EMS with Cockerell and Tristram Cary.[17] At the end of the 1960s, EMS Ltd. was one of four companies offering commercial synthesizers, the others being ARP, Buchla, and Moog.[18] In the 1970s Zinovieff became interested in the video synthesizer developed by Robert Monkhouse, and EMS produced it as the Spectron.[19]

Jon Lord of Deep Purple described Zinovieff as "a mad professor type": "I was ushered into his workshop and he was in there talking to a computer, trying to get it to answer back".[20] Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco, in their history of the synthesizer revolution, see him rather as aristocratically averse to "trade".[21]

Zinovieff wrote the libretto for Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Mask of Orpheus,[22] and also the words for Nenia: The Death of Orpheus (1970).[23] The section Tristan's Folly in Tristan (1975) by Hans Werner Henze included a tape by Zinovieff."

Update:

Peter Zinovieff: A Tribute by CatSynth TV

video upload by CatSynth TV

"We look back at the life and work of Peter Zinovieff, who passed away last week at the age of 88. His work at Electronic Music Studios (EMS) was a major influence on musicians of the 1970s and beyond. At EMS, he co-created the well-known and coveted VCS3 and Synthi series. But he was also a composer in his own right, working on pioneering electronic music in the 1960s and returning to active composition in the 2010s with several collaborations with artists in other media and exploring massive sound spatialization.

Additional background music provided via the Arturia Synthi V as a tribute."

You can find additional posts featuring Peter Zinovieff here.

Electronic Sound Issue 56 Magazine & CD Bundle Featuring EMS

via Electronic Sound

"We have a superb issue for you this month. And that’s not only because we have an exclusive interview with Kraftwerk main man Ralf Hütter, although since Hütter rarely talks to the press that is clearly something a bit special.

Our cover feature details the history of EMS, the legendary UK synthesiser company founded by Peter Zinovieff, Tristram Cary and David Cockerell in 1969. What started out as a vehicle to fund Zinovieff’s studio became a decade-long adventure in synthesis with a very British sense of innovation about it. EMS machines like the VCS 3 and the Synthi AKS were responsible for some of the best known electronic music of the 1970s – from the Radiophonic Workshop to Brian Eno to Pink Floyd.

We also have a weighty report on the recent Bluedot Festival, featuring Kraftwerk, New Order, Jon Hopkins, John Grant and more. Our interview with Ralf Hütter took place backstage after the Kraftwerk set, with Hütter radiating urbane charm and wry humour as he chatted about music and science and sampling and cycling. “We are not a museum, so let’s play what we do,” he declares. “My art is music.”

Other interviews this issue include Haiku Salut, Eric Random, Jah Wobble & Bill Laswell, Paranoid London, Rolo McGinty from The Woodentops. Plus, of course, we have our packed front section, our ace regular columnists, and our usual exotic feast of new album reviews. Hit the link to order your copy straight away!



Limited Edition CD Album: ‘The Sounds of EMS’

This month’s audio accompaniment is ‘The Sounds Of EMS’, a fascinating 45-minute CD of music made either by the people responsible for EMS, or by the machines they built. You can almost smell the dust burning as the old circuits start warming up! The CD has two pieces by Peter Zinovieff and another from Tristram Cary, the latter with a spoken explanation of what he wanted to achieve with the piece. There are also tracks by David Vorhaus (who founded the cult electronic group White Noise with Delia Derbyshire), Mike Hankinson (another early adopter of the VCS 3), Benge from Wrangler and Jack Dangers from Meat Beat Manifesto.


01. PETER ZINOVIEFF – ‘A LOLLIPOP FOR PAPA’
02. TRISTRAM CARY – ‘ 3, 4, 5 – A STUDY IN LIMITED RESOURCES’
03. BENGE – ‘1969 EMS VCS3’
04. DAVID VORHAUS – ‘THING FOR TWO VCS3S’
05. JACK DANGERS @ TAPE LAB – ‘SYNTHI 100-PIECE 1’
06. MIKE HANKINSON – ‘JS BACH’S FUGUE AND TOCCATA IN D MINOR’
07. PETER ZINOVIEFF – ‘JANUARY TENSIONS’ (EXCERPT)
08. TRISTRAM CARY – ‘3, 4 , 5 – A STUDY IN LIMITED RESOURCES’ (TALK)"

A Little EMS Early History

via Electronic Battle on the AH list:
"The association of EMS with Putney is well known - EMS were originally based at 277 Putney Bridge Road London SW15 2PT.

However, a label on the "KS" portion of one synthi AKS says "made in England by EMS(London)Ltd.,49 Deodar Road London SW15".
Google maps shows that Deodar Rd runs off, and then adjacent to Putney Bridge Road and it is a residential area.

Was it the case that the address actually on Putney Bridge Road was the sales office or showroom, and that a "cottage industry" of assemblers and testers grew up around the area? Maybe Deodar Rd was the home of one of the workers, does anybody know?"

It turns out this is where Peter Zinovieff the founder of EMS lived. You can verify this at the Delia Derbyshire website where you'll find a fascinating account of her studio, Unit Delta Plus.

Update: you can find another interesting bit of EMS history on David Cockerell at the valhalla blog. The following is a brief excerpt. Be sure to see the site for more.

"David Cockerell designed the EMS products* from 1969 to 1972, including the VCS3, the VCS4, the Synthi-100 (famous as the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s “Delaware”), the Synthi/AKS, and the Hi-Fli pedal. Cockerell then went on to design some of the classic Electro-Harmonix pedals of the 1970’s: Small Stone, 16-Second Digital Delay, the Microsynth, and so on. In the 1980’s, Cockerell designed the Akai samplers, including the S900. Today, David Cockerell is back at Electro-Harmonix, cranking out pedals such as the HOG/POG/MicroPog, the Stereo Memory Man with Hazari, the 2880 loop sampler, and the Voice Box."

The First EMS VCS3 - SN 001

Apparently, you are looking at the very first EMS VCS3 aka The Putney and sibling to the EMS SYNTHI. Red Bull Music Academy has an excellent post up on White Noise with the history of this particular synth.

"Perched on top of a speaker in another corner sits the synthesizer used on the early White Noise albums, The EMS VCS3, serial number 001.

'That was the very first one he ever made,' Vorhaus says. 'He turned up with a bottle of Dom Pérignon, which cost probably more than the synthesizer.” The ‘he’ in question is Peter Zinovieff, who created the VCS3 with Tristram Cary and David Cockerell in 1969. If it wasn’t for Zinovieff, Vorhaus might never have met his two principal collaborators on An Electric Storm, Brian Hodgson and Delia Derbyshire, of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. 'Delia Derbyshire was my girlfriend. She showed me everything that was known about electronic music in a couple of weeks,' Vorhaus explains, adding, 'There wasn’t much more to know than that then.'"

On a separate note, one of my biggest regrets was missing the opportunity to purchase Delia Derbyshires' VCS3 several years back. Sonic Boom of Spectrum was selling it along with a Synton Syrinx. Two dream synths I would have loved to own.

Delia Derbyshire Honored with Posthumous PhD

via theguardian

"The under-appreciated electronic music pioneer behind the Doctor Who theme is to be honoured posthumously with a doctorate from her hometown university as the programme gears up for the debut of its first female lead.

Largely ignored in life and barred from working in studios because she was a woman, Delia Derbyshire, will be awarded an honorary PhD from Coventry University on Monday."

---

This one was sent in via MATRIXSYNTH Reader Gareth.

An interesting side note is that I once almost picked up Delia Derbyshire's EMS VCS3/Putney. Peter Kember, aka Sonic Boom of Spectrum and Spacemen 3 fame, was selling it along with a Synton Syrinx years ago, before I started this format of MATRIXSYNTH. I seem to remember he wanted around $7k or so for it at the time, but I might wrong. I didn't have the funds so I passed. Also, a little unknown bit of synth history is that EMS sent the BBC an EMS SYNTHI 100 during the time Delia Derbyshire was there, and she actually did not take to it. It is my understanding that she preferred to work with tape. Curious what she might have thought of a Buchla, as the focus of Buchla was to compliment electronic music composition on tape.

Check out an EMS VCS4 at VCS4 Day Event on March 19

Looks like two EMS VCS3s in a custom keyboard controller case. There was a smaller VCS4 and XILS made a software emulation that looked just like this one. You can find both in the archives here.

Details on the event via Eventbrite:

"VCS4 day is a one day event (10–5pm) that pays tribute to the unique early music synthesiser, the EMS VCS4, which has recently been acquired for the Department of Music at Goldsmiths from the musician Simon Desorgher, with the support of the Goldsmiths Alumni and Friends Fund.

VCS4 day is a free event, but due to a limited capacity you must register through Eventbrite to attend.

The VCS4 was produced by the world-renowned Electronic Music Studios Ltd (EMS) company in London in the late 1960s, run by pioneering composer Dr Peter Zinovieff. It was one of a number of early EMS synthesisers used by pioneers of electronic music in Britain, and was created initially for the composer Harrison Birtwhistle for use in his piece Chronometer (1971–72). The instrument, which is the only one in existence in the world, combines two VCS3 synthesisers to create a custom and highly versatile performance instrument. VCS3 synthesisers have been used by such luminaries as Delia Derbyshire, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Aphex Twin, Brian Eno, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd and Robert Fripp. For many years the VCS4 had been thought lost, until the advent of the Hugh Davies Collection arriving at Goldsmiths in 2019, when Desorgher approached the music department with a proposal for the VCS4 to be maintained and made available to students and researchers at Goldsmiths Electronic Music studios.

Shortly after Goldsmiths Electronic Music Studios opened in 1968 (one of the first electronic music studios at a university in the UK), the studio obtained two other EMS VCS3 synthesisers. It is fitting therefore that the VCS4 is now housed in Goldsmiths Electronic Music Studios, affording opportunities for it to be used by undergraduate and postgraduate students in both their compositions and performances.

VCS4 day represents an opportunity to gain detailed insight into this extraordinary instrument, through a series of talks from its inventors, protagonists and leading experts on the history of analog synthesisers and their cultural impact. A programme of performances on the VCS4 will take place throughout the day."

PIN Electronics Portabella Synthi MK III 2022 (EMS Synthi Clone)

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Comes with 32x pins in total, authentic EMS colored inlets (installed by me) from EMS Cornwall & the U.S. power cord. Also Including EMS, VCS3, Delia Derbyshire & Portabella patch sheets."

Note the listing price is $7,800 + $150 shipping, while Pin Electronics has them for 6499 € exc. VAT & shipping.

Posting for the pics and a reminder they are out there. See the links for more info.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Peter Zinovieff & EMS

"Electronic Music Studios (London) Ltd. was formed in 1969 by Dr. Peter Zinovieff to market innovative ideas arising from his private studio and interest in musical applications of computers. Over the next ten years many seminal products were released and many talented designers worked for the company. EMS had its own peculiar brand of British eccentricity which could be both endearing and annoying, but should be viewed in the context of true pioneering. It is easy to copy and follow others, but not to think up new ideas in the first place and EMS had no shortage of originality. The EMS influence was significant and can be traced into many contemporary products." Click here for the full article including more images. Pictured: "the Unit Delta Plus studio set up by Delia Derbyshire, Peter Zinovieff and Brian Hodgson." via daddio of tapewarm

$199.99 EMS "Synthi and the Composer" Album

This one is not an April Fools joke. You can actually find this album for sale behind the counter at Silver Platters Seattle. Call them if interested.

From the back cover
(note Peter Zinovieff is the man behind EMS):

"Synth and the Composer

Extracts of music realized with EMS Synths equipment.

SIDE A

Concert Music by:

Harrison Birtwistle
Peter Zinovieff
Tristram Cary
Delia Derbyshire
George Whitman

SIDE B

Television, Radio and Computer Music by:

Dudley Simpson
Delia Derbyshire
Malcom Clarke
David Vorhaus
Peter Zinovieff
Brian Hodgson

Demonstration record - Not to be sold or performed in public.

Stereo 33 1/3 rpm"

CLICK FOR MORE »

An Interview with Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

You'll find the full interview on Astronauta Pinguim, including mentions of Delia Derbyshire & Daphne Oram.

BTW, today is Paddy Kingsland's birthday.  Happy Birthday Mr. Kingsland!  :)

Pictured: Paddy Kingsland and the EMS Synthi 100 (the Delaware)

"Patrick 'Paddy' Kingsland was born in Hampshire (England) on January 30th, 1947. He took piano lessons in his youth and got his first guitar when he was 15. By this time he also built his own valve amplifier and began to play in a band in his school days. After attending Eggars Grammar School in Alton, Hampshire, Paddy joined the BBC. He was a technician there until, in 1970, he had the chance to join the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the famous department that was responsible for providing the soundtrack and sound effects to BBC radio and TV shows. Paddy worked there for 11 years and created the music for many programs, including "The Changes", "The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and several episodes of 'Doctor Who'!

"In 1973, BBC Records released the album 'Fourth Dimenson'. Although it was credited to The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, "Fourth Dimension" is the first solo album released by Paddy Kingsland and includes tracks that he recorded from 1970 to 1973, using mainly the EMS synthesizers VCS3 and Synthi 100 (the Delaware)..."

You can still find the release on Amazon and eBay.

The first synth to enter the BBC? "The first synthesizer arrived in 1970 - an EMS VCS3. It was great for learning about voltage control and making sounds, but no good for playing tunes on. The Arp Odyssey which came a bit later was much better for that."

via Fabricio Carvalho aka Astronauta Pinguim on the MATRIXSYNTH Lounge. You can find interviews with other synth legends on his site or via the Interviews label below.

IDOW & MATRIXSYNTH Modular Pic of the Week - Week 24 Contest Winner!

"Our twenty-fourth winner of the Modular Pic of the Week contest goes to Luigi Leo 'modular' Learchi, for his 'Starkey.'

Luigi's band was called Delia, performing with EMS synthesizers. More than 50-thousand downloads were made of the international compilation dedicated to EMS synth.

For more info on the EMS Synth comp, please login to: http://forum.thesynthi.de

We'd like to give a big thanks and congratulations to Luigi Leo 'modular' Learchi for his submission!

This is the 24rd week of a 30-week contest, and we are looking forward to many more modular photo submissions, so please keep 'em coming! For details on how to submit and what you can win, see this post.

For more info on the upcoming 'I Dream of Wires' documentary, be sure to see the trailer and IndieGoGo fund raising campaign here.

See the IDOW label for all posts pertaining to the film including the weekly contest winners."

EMS Putney Improvisations - Tribute to Delia Derbyshire

Full details here.

"Delia Derbyshire was one of the pioneers of electronic music during and after her tenure at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. She was both a gifted composer and an audacious and precise engineer. Since seeing her in documentaries, and hearing her music I’m both awed by her and have a synth-geek’s crush on her. She was on my mind as I recorded these pieces, and I dedicate them to her memory.

The 5 parts of this piece were recorded in one evening, with no editing or overdubbing. The Putney was plugged into the Stereo Memory Man pedal, and the pedal was plugged into my computer."

Noir Et Blanc Vie: Top 3 synths I REGRET not buying

Published on Jul 10, 2018 Noir Et Blanc Vie

"I think we all know this feeling, when we wanted to buy a synth and the price was right, but we passed it up. Now all we do is look back and think, if only we had got it right then. Now we live with synth regret, realizing that even though we could have the cost is just too much. Tell me in the comments the synths you passed up on and what you want, but may never own!"

What are you regrets?

A few I regret not picking up which were actually for sale were Delia Derbyshire's VCS3 Putney and a Synton Syrinx both being sold by Spectrum's Sonic Boom, the Jomox Sunsyn, LL Electronic Rozzbox, and an army green Waldorf Microwave 1. I regret them because they were actually attainable considering what they were. On the not so affordable list there were a few ARP 2500s, Emu Modulars, EMS SYNTHI 100, Buchla gear, EMS SYNTHIs, and Waldorf Waves I've spotted for sale over the years. And The Schmidt, let's not forget The Schmidt. I'm sure there were others...

I do have an OB-6 (desktop), and an XTk on Noir Et Blanc Vie's list and love them both. Never picked up an Easel though.

Panda Bear Synth Art

A friend of mine, Douglas, recommended Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper. I picked it up on vinyl, opened it up, and saw this image on the inner gatefold sleeve. How cool is that? You can clearly spot a Moog Voyager in the background and a Jomox XBase 999 in the foreground. There's also a some other gear, a synth cat, and a grim reaper with cables. One of the cables the reaper is holding wraps around Panda Bear and morphs into a scythe. Death by cable / death by synth / death by audio.

What is also particularly cool, and something you rarely see, are the synths listed in the liner credits. They are listed as follows:

Panda Bear: Jomox Xbase 999, Yamaha TX81Z, Moog Voyager, Elektron DPS-1, vocals, piano, effects & percussion.
Sonic Boom: EMS Synth AKS Synthesizer, Fenix II Modular, Moog Voyager, vocoder & effects.

Sonic Boom is the man behind Spectrum.  He has been featured here a few times on MATRIXSYNTH, including this post for his action figure. Side note: One of my biggest regrets years ago, before I started the blog format of MATRIXSYNTH, was missing out on Sonic Boom's Synton Syrinx and EMS VCS3 / Putney, which was previously owned by the one and only Delia Derbyshire. He listed them for sale on one of the synth lists. I forget which. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford them but I will never forget them.  It was one of those rare moments when you think, "Wow, that is something I will never see again.  I wish I were rich... "  Don't we all.  :)

Delia Derbyshire EMS Synthi Brochure, Mods, Audio Demos & More

You'll find them at thesynthi.de

Direct links to the posts featuring the brochures:

Delia Derbyshire's Dopesheets
1971 Synthi VCS3 Brochure

A Radiophonic Weekend - Bristol

Update: The event is in April, not March.

Two day event via Cube Cinema, Saturday April the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd.

"Day one of a weekend of special events, performances, screenings and more - dedicated to the output and legacy of the one and only BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

With their often primitive hand built devices, tape loops and early synth explorations, the workshop brought the sound of electronic weirdness out of the realms of academia and into the home, re-adjusting the ears and minds of an entire generation in the process. As interest in their oddly British, and often somewhat crackpot approach to electronic experimentation grows, and as many of their key instigators finally begin to gain the worldwide recognition their pioneering efforts deserve, we spend a special one-off weekend looking back on some of the characters, stories, sounds and inventions that shaped an era.

On day one (Saturday), we’re delighted to welcome very special guests - Radiophonic boffins, David Cain and Dick Mills - who will be presenting a history of the workshop, discussing their work, and presenting a wealth of material unheard for decades.

CLICK FOR MORE »

iVCS3 Preset Banks 2018

Published on Apr 4, 2018 James Edward Cosby

iTunes: iVCS3 - apeSoft

Massive preset list below.

"April 2018 Sees the release of my two new Preset Banks for iVCS3. Each bank contains 128 Presets and over 20 JEC CV Modulation Files.

************ IMPORTANT BANK SETTINGS ************

The iVCS3 global parameter... "Samplers Enable Loop Points Fade"
MUST be set to "OFF" To allow correct processing of the contained CV Modulation Files thus preventing crossfading of the transient.


Bank A Preset List...

CLICK FOR MORE »

Sightseers' Alice Lowe with EMS VCS3 & Elka SYNTHEX

This one in via Pablo:

"In the Studio with our friend @alicelowe

Delia derbyshire-ing it up in the toydrum studios as we score her new film - watch this space

Toydrumproductions

If you have not seen Alice's last film which she wrote and stars in - you need to

its BRILLIANT!

Sightseers - directed Ben Wheatley"

Trailer below (note there are some NSFW bits in it).


NSFW bits in this one.

Sightseers Trailer Published on Aug 30, 2012

"Jet-black comedy from Ben Wheatley - writer-director of Kill List - about a dark and bloody journey through the British Isles in a caravan."

Dr Peter Zinovieff on Commercial Sounds

YouTube via redbullmusicacademy
"Dr Peter Zinovieff talks about Delia Derbyshire and EMS. Catch the full lecture at http://www.redbullmusicacad... and subscribe for updates."