The synths, keyboards, and effects used in Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.
Hammond RT-3 Organ + Leslie 122 Speaker
EMS SYNTHI AKS
EMS VCS3 Putney
Fender Rhodes 73 Stage Electric Piano
Farfisa Combo-Duo Organ
Steinway Baby Grand Piano
Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Moog Minimoog
Binson Echorec 2
EMS SYNTHI HI-FLI Guitar Synthesizer
Hiwatt 100 AMP
"Testing the new Dual High Pass Filter rack FX built under license from E.M.S (Cornwall) by Digitana Electronics and Portabellabz. This filter was originally found in the E.M.S Synthi 100 synthesizer. The unit has the exact same form factor as classic E.M.S rack effects modules from the 1970s.
"This is a new 19” rack module built under license from EMS (Cornwall) by Digitana Electronics (UK/Italy) and PORTABELLABZ (Belgium). It is a 100% faithful reproduction of the Dual High Pass Filter (DHPF) section found on early versions of the legendary EMS Synthi 100 synthesiser. An original spare ‘Mk1’ DHPF PCB from a Synthi 100 was kindly loaned by Robin at EMS and then faithfully reconstructed using the same trace artwork/layouts, via modern PCB design software. The PCBs are very high quality with ENS gold plated card edge contacts and traces. The same components as found in the original circuit are used throughout.
The DHPF rack case was deliberately chosen to be the same design as those found in the classic EMS rack instruments from the 1970s such as the Random Voltage Generator, Pitch to Voltage Converter, Octave Filter Bank etc. These were created in CAD from original engineering drawings kindly made available by Robin at EMS. The 1U high chassis is formed from 3mm silver anodised front/rear panels which are connected by solid aluminium side blocks and then 2mm anodised aluminium top/bottom covers. This allows the rack to be safely mounted in standard 19” rack enclosures. The panel graphics use anodic digital printing technology which is far more resistant to wear than silk screened graphics. Original control knobs/coloured inserts/jack sockets made by Cliff Plastics are also used to meticulously maintain authentic EMS design.
An optional beautiful wood rack sleeve is available with the exact same design as found in vintage units. These are made from Afrormosia hardwood (now on the protected species list) just like the original. The wood is ethically sourced from existing historical stock.
Inside the DHPF, the only change compared to 1970s rack modules has been to use a modern (and safer) switch mode PSU. This also has the advantage of allowing a wider range of operating mains voltages (from 98v–220v AC).
The Synthi 100 was designed by David Cockerell and the high pass filter design itself is rather unusual compared to other high high pass filters found in synthesisers. It has CV control of frequency cutoff but also has a response control which can control feedback of the output, creating a resonant peak that at extremes pushes the filter into self-oscillation. The use of diode ‘strings’ in the CV control section of frequency is quite unusual and is reminiscent of the same principle he used in his (later) Synthi Hi-Fli design, although there the filters sections are used to phase shift the input signal.
The high pass filter is capable of easily removing the fundamental in any audio passed through and then the first harmonic as the cutoff frequency is increased. By increasing also the response, the higher frequencies are boosted in a mix and eventually the filter will self-oscillate.
The two filters in the module are identical and a central three-way toggle switch has positions series, off and parallel."
"We pay tribute to the pioneering electronic musician Richard H Kirk, passed away on September 21, 2021. He was a member of the group Cabaret Voltaire, whose mix of experimental electronics and dada sensibilities was very influential in the 1970s, and work in the 1980s combining electronics and pop elements influenced industrial music. Kirk continued to record and perform as a solo artist from the 1990s onward. He reformed Cabaret Voltaire as a solo project in 2009.
We send our thoughts to his family, friends, and collaborators."
"Sweet Exorcist Testone. 1990 single charting at #85 in the UK in February 1990. Official music video 90s 90's if everything's ready here on the dark side of the moon play the five tones house techno test one. ohnoitisnathan" w/ DJ Parrot
Featuring the EMS SYNTHI VCS 3 / The Putney
Richard H. Kirk - November X-Ray Mexico
video upload by
"'November X-Ray Mexico' appears on 'Virtual State' (WARP19) by Richard H. Kirk, his first solo album for Warp released 31st January 1994."
"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, 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.
"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."
"I know, big whoop.. you see these pop up.. so what?.. maybe there are even a few for sale....however, how many do you see that are completely stock, functional and even include the original shipping box?..
exactly... This is an EMS or effects collectors dream!
Later model Hi-Fli with the matching pedals (rare) has the growl feature.. sounds incredible.."
"A very rare prototype Synthi Hi-Fli, dating from 1972, in excellent condition following a full overhaul by EMS earlier this year.
One of only ten pre-production units made in 1972. David Gilmour reputedly still owns two of them…
Ultra-rare prototype EMS Synthi Hi-Fli – this is a knob-twiddler’s dream of an effect and the ultimate in hens’ teeth: your guitar will never sound the same again.
Different sound and spec to a standard Hi-Fli – this is the second such unit we’ve had and it broke my heart to sell the last one (I’ve been a committed HiFli nut since I bought my first one many years ago and have always had at least one in the studio ever since).
The prototypes don’t have the growl function, which was introduced about 18 months later. Production Hi-Flis all have the Buzz switch, but only the first ten prototypes had the Fuzz switch, which adds some interesting colouration to the up and down-octave sounds.
Ten production prototype Hi-Flis were made in 1972 but a redesign quickly followed the launch at the Frankfurt Fair to try to reduce the factory cost (the prototype design is not especially ergonomic for a guitar player to use – you have to lean back somewhat to access the pedals underneath the main unit). This original design features a removable aluminium pole which plugs into the underside of the main console and the top of the base unit, acting both as a stand and a conduit for power and signal connections (pole not included with this unit). The heavy-duty nylon-dipped base houses the power supply and sturdy twin pedals.
Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd is reputed to still have two of these original units, which, according to Phil Taylor were first used for the Dark Side of The Moon tour that started in May 1973 at Earls Court. Opinion is divided as to whether a Hi-Fli featured on the DSOTM recordings: I can only say that it certainly sounds like it did.
Number one in Analogman Tom’s list of rare guitar effects from his excellent book.
Used by David Gilmour – see this Gilmourish blog for further details – he bought a prototype in 1972 and from what he recalls it was “very, very expensive”; Gilmourish also suggest it was used during the recording of Dark Side Of The Moon
All products on this website use Digitana Electronic's original designs, with the exception of the EMS Synthi Hi-FLi re-release, which is built under license from EMS. No use is made of EMS circuits or other intellectual property belonging to EMS. Digitana Electronics is not affiliated to EMS, which is run by Robin Wood.
If you want the real Synthi sound, you still have to go with Analogue Systems which are the only ones making modules under license."
"This product is still in development and the final list of features on production units may change.
The SX-1 is a 'stand alone expander' based around the Synthi AKS KS Expander (described elsewhere on this website). It is the result of ongoing collaborations between Digitana Electronics and the legendary UK band The Future Sound of London. It shares all the features of the Synthi AKS KS Expander but requires no Synthi to use it (though one can of course be used with it) and in addition has a host of new features described below.
SX-1 FEATURES
DUAL ANALOGUE VCO
Each VCO features sine/triangle and square waves and 'wave-folding' (voltage controlled) that adds higher harmonics/distortion to each waveform for amazingly rich and varied timbres, even unfiltered! Each VCO is frequency controllable via CV1 or CV2 which can either be external or MIDI generated from the built in MIDI-CV converter or 'free running'. The frequency range of the VCOs is very wide, from LFO to high frequency audio. Two modulating waveforms are available (speed controlled by the Sample & Hold clock or LFO) via toggle switches to modulate the wave-folding of VCO1 and VCO2. These same waveforms are also available to modulate CV1 and CV2. All VCO1 and VCO2 waveforms are individually available either 'pre' or 'post' the filter/envelope/delay/distortion sections via 3.5 mm jacks.
"Truly an amazing piece of gear, that is actually more like a real instrument, with all of it's subtleties. There are literally endless possibilities for what can be done with it. There are 2 pedals, 2 sides, each parameter with it's own slider and a separate switch to reverse or disengage the pedal affect. Take a look at the rotary switch. Each click of this switch opens a different world of sound sculpting..."
Note it was manufactured by EMS in England for Musonics in the US. You can see it noted under the Bypass Mix towards the bottom center of the front panel.
Go behind the scenes with me at the National Music Centre as I record my newest EP, "Electric Dream" using some rare electronic instruments from their collection (and one not-so-rare instrument from mine!)
Synth spotting: Moog Theremini, Waldorf XT & Pulse racks, TONTO, RCA Theremin, Roland XP-30, Oberheim TVS, EMS SYNTHI Hi-Fli?, Moog Theremin, Stylophone & More. Quite a bit for a 1:51 promo reel!
"THE NEW EP IS COMING THIS FALL!! ★
I'm so excited to announce that my second EP, "Electric Dream" is coming October 2015! For Canadian/European tour dates, as well as more release info, videos and music, I'll be posting more details here and on my social sites so come connect with me (links below) and I will keep you posted!"
"Tangerine Dream at Coventry Cathedral. 1975. U.K. Ricochet.: Edgar Froese, Chris Franke, Peter Baumann. For more information about TD's music visit the Official Website: http://www.tangerinedream-music.com/i..."
Thought I posted this one before but couldn't find it, so here it is. Enjoy!
See if you can spot all the synths. Let me know if I missed any below!
Moog modular (any other brand modules?), EMS SYNTHI, VC3S & SYNTHI Hi-Fli, ELKA Rhapsody 610, PPG 1020, & ARP 2600. Anyone remember what that is at 2:20? I know I've seen it before but forget.
"For sale is this vintage 1973 EMS Synthi Hi-Fli synthesizer. This example, serial number 0311, is in very good all original condition. It includes a pair of reissue expression pedals, as well as, 8 of 9 original EMS slider caps. This 220v unit has been completely tested and it works perfectly."
"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."
Brian Kehew gave a presentation on his vintage synthesizer brochures at Knobcon this year. He sent in a few select scans to share with readers of MATRIXSYNTH. Enjoy! Be sure to see the channel labels at the bottom of the post for any you are not familiar with. Three of these warranted separate posts that just went up. You'll find links to them below. These are an amazing bit of synth history, many of which have never been shared online before. HUGE THANK YOU to Brian Kehew for sharing these with us!
The scans pictured in order:
Moog Sonic V Synthesizer "Makes Waves"
ARP Synthesizers
ARP Modular Synthesizer Lab
EML
EMS SYNTHI FLI (always thought of it as the Hi-Fli but the had only has FLI)
Performer by Ionic
Variophone
Sequential Circuits Model 600 Sequencer (see this post for a write-up)
Digelius Electronics Finland DEMI (see this post for a write-up)
DMX-101 Computer Sound Processor for a whopping $35,300 at the time. (see this post for a write-up)
via the listing: "Everything works. Comes with the somewhat harder to find foot pedals. 2 slider caps not original - fell off at some point - but I can give you 7 of the ones that weren't replaced if you want to match them. Packaged in a black plywood case (no lid). I bought this in the UK some time ago and was told it was a "prototype" model from EMS, which accounts for the case, however, I do not know whether this is true. It would not be difficult to repackage in the event you want to make a fancier case for it. One of the first multi-effects boxes. IIRC used by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd in "Live at Pompeii." Effects basically include distortion, ring modulation with LFO, octave shift, phase, vibrato, wah and some other things. What's best about it is the interaction effect you can get between the various settings. If you have an AKS or a VCS3 this would make for an interesting outboard combination. Or, if you're into noise, this will create a caterwauling wall of sound. Or if you just want to get some radical guitar effects. Local pick-up in the Los Angeles, CA area welcome."
"This is a new 19” rack module built under license from EMS (Cornwall) by Digitana Electronics (UK/Italy) and PORTABELLABZ (Belgium). It is a 100% faithful reproduction of the Dual High Pass Filter (DHPF) section found on early versions of the legendary EMS Synthi 100 synthesiser. An original spare ‘Mk1’ DHPF PCB from a Synthi 100 was kindly loaned by Robin at EMS and then faithfully reconstructed using the same trace artwork/layouts, via modern PCB design software. The PCBs are very high quality with ENS gold plated card edge contacts and traces. The same components as found in the original circuit are used throughout.
"For sale is this vintage 1973 EMS Synthi Hi-Fli synthesizer. This example, serial number 0311, is in very good all original condition. It includes a pair of reissue expression pedals, as well as, 8 of 9 original EMS slider caps. This 220v unit has been completely tested and it works perfectly."
