EMS VCS 3

The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3) 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). (See details on below photographs)

It was created in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff's EMS company. The electronics were largely designed by David Cockerell and the machine's distinctive visual appearance was the work of electronic composer Tristram Cary. The VCS3 was more or less the first portable commercially available synthesizer—portable in the sense that the VCS 3 was housed entirely in a small, wooden case, unlike previous machines from American manufacturers such as Moog Music, ARP and Buchla which were housed in large cabinets and were known to take up entire rooms.

Significantly, it retailed for just under £330 in 1969 in the UK. Many people (including the synthesizer enthusiast Gordon Reid in his articles on the EMS company for Sound on Sound magazine in 2000 ) found it unsatisfactory as a melodic instrument due to its inherent tuning instability. This arose from the instrument's reliance on the then-current method of exponential conversion of voltage to oscillator frequency, an approach also implemented, with fewer tuning issues, on analog synthesizers by other companies. However, the VCS 3 is renowned as an extremely powerful generator of electronic effects and processor of external sounds .

The VCS 3 began to find popularity among artists looking to create exotic synthesised sounds. As a result, prices for the synthesizer climbed much higher than the original asking price.

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