MATRIXSYNTH: Snow Fall - EMS VCS3 Filter Clone


Sunday, March 27, 2011

Snow Fall - EMS VCS3 Filter Clone

via AMSynths

AM8071 Module - "Snowfall" Diode Low Pass Filter

"During the exceptionally snowy weeks of early 2010 I built a redesigned version of this classic filter which was used in the EMS VCS3 and AKS synthesizers in the 1970’s. With snow falling and the wonderful bubbly sound of the filter, I named this module - Snow Fall. It was a 4-pole diode ladder low pass filter using all discrete and rather old components. The Roland SH-3 filter (AM8003) and PE Minisonic 2 (AM8050) filters are close copies of this legendary design.

EMS originally (in 1970) described the filter as Low Pass and with a cutoff rate 12dB for the first octave and then 18dB per octave thereafter, with band pass filter response at medium Resonance levels and a maximum Q of 20. From early 1974 EMS updated the filter with an extra capacitor at the base of the diode ladder to provide a steeper 24dB per octave response, this appears to have changed the character of the filter. The filter frequency response is stated as 5Hz to 10kHz.

In terms of electronic design the standard filter is 4-pole but the characteristics of diode ladders makes this sound more like 18dB, and the 24dB version is really 5-pole. No matter, the filter sounds fantastic....

Visit the AMsynths web site for the full story here..." You will find samples there as well.
Be sure to see the rest of AMSynths for more DIY clones and projects.
via VICMOD

No comments:

Post a Comment

To reduce spam, comments for posts older than one week are not displayed until approved, usually same day. Do not insult people. For items for sale, do not ask if it is still available. Check the auction link and search for the item. Auctions are from various sellers and expire over time. Posts remain for the pics and historical purposes. This site is meant to be a daily snapshot of some of what was out there in the world of synths.

PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE HOME


Patch n Tweak
Switched On Make Synthesizer Evolution Vintage Synthesizers Creating Sound Fundlementals of Synthesizer Programming Kraftwerk

© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH