page_title: EMS Synthi 100
hierarchical_section_title: EMS Synthi 100
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Sintetizzatore EMS Synthi 100 Licensing Categoria:Sintetizzatori Categoria:Sintetizzatori EMS
context_page_description: The EMS Synthi 100 was a large analogue/digital hybrid synthesizer made by Electronic Music Studios Ltd. The ground-breaking analogue and digital engineering was designed by David Cockerell and documented in detail in 1971. The cost at that time was £6,500. The last unit built by EMS was number 30. Afterwards, one final unit was built by Datanomics, who bought assets from EMS when the company folded in 1979. The redesigned unit was sold to Gabinete de Música Electroacústica, Cuenca, Spain.
  Developed from an initial concept of three VCS3 systems. The analogue modules alone look more like six VCS3s. Add the 256 digital sequencer circuit cards and the card count is 85, with 12 voltage-controlled oscillators and eight voltage-controlled filters Two monophonic keyboards. The digital sequencer has three layers, 10,000 clock events and 256 duophonic note events. Two 60 × 60 matrixes were used to connect the different modules by using patch pins. The keyboard spread could be adjusted, making it easy to play a tuned equal temperament scale as well as alternative microtonal tunings up to 61 divisions of each semitone.
  The Synthi-100 was developed a few years after the first VCS3s.
context_section_description: The EMS Synthi 100 was a large analogue/digital hybrid synthesizer made by Electronic Music Studios (London) Ltd. The ground-breaking analogue and digital engineering was designed by David Cockerell and documented in detail in 1971. The cost at that time was £6,500. The last unit built by EMS was number 30. Afterwards, one final unit was built by Datanomics, who bought assets from EMS when the company folded in 1979. The redesigned unit was sold to Gabinete de Música Electroacústica, Cuenca, Spain.
  Developed from an initial concept of three VCS3 systems. The analogue modules alone look more like six VCS3s. Add the 256 digital sequencer circuit cards and the card count is 85 (28 times larger than a VCS3 by circuit board count), with 12 voltage-controlled oscillators and eight voltage-controlled filters Two monophonic keyboards (both keyboards together produce four control voltages and two key triggers simultaneously). The digital sequencer has three (duophonic) layers, 10,000 clock events and 256 duophonic note events. Two 60 × 60 matrixes were used to connect the different modules by using patch pins. The keyboard spread could be adjusted, making it easy to play a tuned equal temperament scale as well as alternative microtonal tunings up to 61 divisions of each semitone.
  The Synthi-100 was developed a few years after the first VCS3s. Both filters and oscillators were much more stable in the Synthi-100. There is an oscillator sync function that can sync the 12 main oscillators to each another or from an external source.
  The Synthi 100 also had an add-on computer interface known as "Computer Synthi" which contained a PDP-8 minicomputer and 4Kb of random access memory. It featured an LED display, twin digital cassettes, Two 24 × 60 matrix patchboards, and a switch button control panel. Only three were sold.
  Also the Vocoder 5000 (Studio Vocoder) was available as a separate module installed into the Synthi 100. It contained a 22 band filter, 22 × 22 matrix patchboard, mic/line inputs, two oscillators and noise sources, frequency shifter, pitch to voltage extractor, and a spectrum display driver.
  The first one to be used in the USA was purchased by Stevie Wonder
  In September 2016 Engineers Australia awarded an Engineering Heritage Marker to a Synthi 100 that had been restored at Melbourne University.
caption: EMS Synthi 100
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