Myself and the EMS Synthi 100

[JustWickedSwede]

On this synth, circuit bending is standard!

[totalrandomcrap]

I'll just have to be happy with my VL-TONE for now!

[AnalogDecay420]

MAMMOTH, quite intimidating really!~

ignition key!!!!

that is SOOoo Effing Gnar gnar~

you just quite literally could go catatonic BEFORE you've even heard it, looks more heavy than a NASA space shuttle launch!

so yeah, I'm sure one of these day's I'll score one at a garage sale for 3 bucks!

hah, THEN I wake up.

[theDarkMechanics]

more!

[mover86]

What a beast!!!

[fbowie21]

we had one at rutgers university camden, nj

I don't know who bought it

the professor would never let me go in the room and look at it

[implozija]

Fantastic!

I've seen the one in Radio Belgrade (ser. no 003) and, sadly, it's not in function at the moment. The guy working there said that it needs replacement of some of the electronics inside, but they're working on it.

If you're ever in Belgrade and can visit the radio station or their shops, be sure to buy a double CD called "30 years of Radio Belgrade Electronic Studio - Electroacoustic Music" feat. Paul Pignon & Vladan Radovanovic. It's only 2€ and the music is mind-blowing.

[Shape84]

F**** incredible system!

[lordoid]

That patch matrix is unbelievable. I mean wow.

[JargMarbin]

omfg. how much is it ?

[ivanski28]

I know where you can find one in Australia.

It's just sitting there in Percy Grainger Museum, which is part of Melbourne Uni. Needs to be turned on

[ursamage]

DROOL.......... :-P !!!

[therealKINDLE]

Heaven in a big box!

[Kernelproject]

uuuf !!

[hectorsland]

theres one on ebay right now for 45k! 45K!

[VoiceEncoder]

Too bad this isn't the one (or one of the ones) with a/the built-in EMS Studio-System Vocoder 5000 aka "The Big One", called the "Synthi Vocoder"!!

sequencer. de/pix/ems/synthi100.jpg

[DESTROYriaa]

CAN I COME OVER TO PLAY???? hahahah. :]

[ajittffcure]

That was awesome. I do have some idea about the EMS analogue synthesisers. I have done some research on the VCS3 but this was the first time I saw an EMS Synthi 100 in operation. It sure looks like one big piece lab equipment or some kind of a control system in a nuclear power plant!

[phuckthefcc]

it was on sale on ebay not long ago for 60k

[DESTROYriaa]

haha nice name. but yea i've seen one of these on ebay, the guy tried to sell it several times and i dont think anyone bid any of them. synth nerds are such a niche group, what we need is quality analog at prices that arent astronomical. sadly people have settled for digital. not everyone though :]

[Synthfool]

I have one of these beasts in my house right now for service.

Want to know frustration?

The whole thing powers up and I have no patch pins for it. (yet!)

Thanks for the demo. :)

[halfabeet]

now THAT'S what I call a synthesizer!

[mustanghovercraft]

There are in fact several fully operational S-100s dotted around the globe including this one. Another one I know of is currently being restored to full functionality. That said some are dead in storage and an unlucky few were destroyed.

[SuicidleLemming]

aparently meat beat manifestio has the last working one of these in existance

[dreaddog]

Thats just too cool i want one even has a 3 channel digital synth not bad for the 1960's and even better an oscilloscope too, i'd get rid of all my tech stuff for one of these :)

[eddie23a]

In my dreams, sigh!

[HD41117]

A supremely beautiful restoration. Congrats and major kudos to you, sir! Thank you for uploading.

[px19]

im wondering why ems, moog, and upcoming digital synth companies each with there own sound, never worked together

[skodas]

paddy kingsland scene and heard on one of the radiophonic workshop lps has the 100 on it

[mantacoup]

woah hoewaka... what a synth! and it uses a key... genius.

[bassmajor]

wow i´m so jealous xD love it"!

[uburei]

why drive cars???

[buchla300]

Fabulous machine!

And it's in good hands these days..

[cybercow222]

Old things are the best ones, always more fun

[myleftnutts]

SO TRUE!!!!!! can u tell me why the hell that's almost alway's so?.

[enemyindisguise]

hehe, the turn on/off key !

[PHAEDRIDER]

after all that ems yumminess the coolest thing has GOT to be the key!

[synth64]

fantastic super synth !!!!

[fizmo100]

Just wow! Incredible machine - they sure don;t make 'em like this anymore!

[UncleFeedle]

Imagine a softsynth emulation of this!

[ratsouffle]

It wouldn't be the same.

[UncleFeedle]

I agree it couldn't compare with the real deal. Half the fun would be the hands-on tweaking the controls and mod matrix in wild and crazy ways. Nonetheless, I would love a softsynth version just to tinker around with it. Given the price and scarcity of these beasts, its probably the closest we'd ever get.

[rustyanalog]

Looks like endless fun. Thanks for posting.

[MiceInMyMellotron]

Oh, that's so beautiful and it's probably the closest I'll ever get to one...

[prosoloist]

One of these pops up on eBay from time to time for $60,000.00 US

I've heard the company will still make them for less than that.

[Sloobag]

that looks fun and awesome

[pulsekreator303]

Incredible! Thanks for sharing, I have wanted to see these in action for a very long time.

[eddie23a]

oooh baby, drool!

[armalyte]

it is really satisfying working with modulars to make a patch, but at the end of the day, you've got to layer it up and multitrack/ sample it, which in the case of sampling , sometimes means you lose the "soul" of the sound.

[armalyte]

phenomenal

jack dangers owns one of these, as does daniel miller. the thing is, that apart from the bbc radiophonic workshop who used it extensively for docotr who backing stuff, no one else has really got the max out of it. it's just...too much

id rather keep my roland system 100, 100m (20 modules), moog voyager and dave smith evolver.

[mustanghovercraft]

The current owner of this particular instrument has gone quite some way to maxing its potential ;-)

I have always said an instrument of this nature requires two things of the operator.. A deep understanding of subtractive synthesis tied to an expansive imagination. The possibilities really are awe inspiring all things taken into account...

I used to sit with it for hours in a subtractive trance :-)

[sleestack]

Would that be aphex twin?

[Gwyo]

Actually, my 70s synth duo "Zorch" were smuggled into the EMS studio in about 1976 to record an album with this Synthi 100 (I remember the oscilloscope was missing even then). One of the filters was bust - made a great "bubbling lava" sound!

[weatherkop]

Holy shitfire that synth's cv board is perplexing.

[synthesiserrepairguy]

I miss it so much . I wish I had more time to play with it when I worked on the Digitana .

[AutomaticGainsay]

Excellent!  Feel free to submit this to the group Analog Synthesizers! It's precisely what we're looking for!

[djvartan]

Sooooo ahead of its time. Amazing.

[Sharpblue]

Fantastic. Well done on the restoration.

[glennwinstanley]

A key to switch it on and off!!!! That is incredible. What a fantastic instrument.

[skodas]

do you have a vcs3 or a synthi 100 id love to have a go im in the uk