I'll never forget this man. 1973 Istanbul, Turkey, I am 16 and totally nuts over synthesizer sounds & music, but with literally no way of acquiring one. I was however, building simple oscillators and making all types of weird sounds which delighted me to no end. Back then in Istanbul we could find some old copies of Melody Maker and in one of them I saw Peter Zinovieff and his VCS3. In full blown excitement, I wrote to Melody Maker (you know, paper, pen and a postage stamp) and asked them to relay my letter to Zinovieff. Months later I received a huge package from Peter Zinovieff. He had sent me the entire schematics of the VCS3! God bless him, what a trooper! :)
He was such a generous man. My one regret is not taking up his offer of visiting his studio when I sat in and film Robin Wood's demonstrating of the Synthi AKS and VCS3 at Putney Bridge Road. His kindness is the reason I give away my VSTi's and help for free. Thanks Peter!
What a visionary. He’s completely right, as music continues on into the future, interface and new kinds of playback will be the next frontiers. We’re already starting to see some great things happen like he mentions the Touche and now the Osmose, which I think he would have been quite interested in. RIP to a great genius of electronic music.
He's in his eighties. I was born in the 80's. Yet, his creative thinking so much more progressive than the younger generations when it comes to sound creation. So much is done for us that we fail to think about how to do things in a new way that has never been done before. This has been an enlightening conversation. Thanks for this interview!
RIP, genius. 'Умер великий Питер Зиновьев (Peter Zinovieff) - пионер музыкальной электроники, основатель Electronic Music Studio (EMS) и изобретатель целой серии синтезаторов на которых играли Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Yes, Брайан Ино, Жан-Мишель Жарр, The Who. В 60-е годы он одним из первых в мире занялся созданием инструментов для только появлявшейся электронной музыки. Его прадед - Александр Дмитриевич Зиновьев - был губернатором Санкт-Петербурга. Один из предков Зиновьевых - "арап Петра Великого" Абрам Петрович Ганнибал. До последней минуты своей жизни Питер Зиновьев творил музыку в своей небольшой студии в Кембридже. Покойтесь с миром, Питер, вы были настоящим образцом преданности искусству'
His comment on loud speaker is spot on. We have all this amazing technology, this amazing software (and hardware) to generate sound but it's all being squeezed through loud speakers.
This is wonderful interview. His legacy lives on. Watching, while playing with the iVCS3 app on my iPad, and eagerly awaiting Behringer's release of the VCS clone.
One of my alltime heroes! Being into EMS (Synthi 200!, AKS etc..) i deeply thank this man for his contribution to electronic music and instruments. Thank you for this feature - historical! The flame will be alive on and on.
This is an extremely good interview with an amazing character... thanks to SOS for this ...I'm always saddened by the indifference of many of the organisations who are supposed to promote the arts and the consequent loss of so much ground breaking material.
It is so great to hear from Peter Zinovieff. and his personal history of his researches and of EMS. I find Peter a real inspiration, with a cultivation of knowledge inspiring to everyone. Thankyou Peter and EMS for enhancing the world of synthesis :-)
I dream of building a large powerful synthesizer studio equipped with equally powerful light manipulation with projectors, screens and cameras etc. this man is one of many of my heroes!
Really interesting interview. I thank Mr. Zinovieff et al for my Synthi A every time I go into my studio. Actually looking at the early photos I think he was also Britain's answer to Raymond Scott.
Interesting comparison; although to be fair, Raymond Scott was a prodigious composer and a visionary electronic engineer over the span of decades; I don't think it's a slight to point out that Zinovieff was not either of these. I presume Peter Zinovieff was more of an impresario and idea man, and indeed what an amazing idea factory EMS was.
I am fortunate to have acquired one of the EMS 2000 MkII vocoders, I have heard there were between 130-150 ever made. I hope to recreate the Cylon voice perfectly one day, I'm just glad I could rescue the secrets from being lost forever in the sands of time. RIP
I'm using the excellent XILS4 which is based on that early VCS3 work. It may be a digital interpretation of analog circuitry, but as music makers we forget how organic, surprising, and creatively inspiring those circuits can be.
What an excellent interview, especially the last ten minutes which was very interesting. Lovely to see Peter's real genuine and sincere appetite and joy, for creating new music and technology.........in his eighties!
How wonderful that this interview took place. I attended Chiswick Polytechnics Music Centre’s Electronic Music Course back in 1975 which was an evening course with the VCS3 Putney and DK1 Cricklewood along with a Revox reel to reel. It inspired me and made me passionate about electronic music production. I went from seeing bands like Hawkwind Roxy Music Pink Floyd to eventually having an independent label making Techno and Electronica. Sadly the only version I own is IVCS3 which is quite close to original on an ipad. I am looking forward to buying the Behringer VCS3 which is due out soon, or if not there AKS Soul which will feature most of the basics for around £100. The full VCS3 version is rumoured to cost about £2.5k so I may have to make a few sacrifices before getting one! I use there controllers Arp and mixer which are all solidly built so glad it is them who are releasing this gem of a synth. Thank you Peter ❤ RIP
Superb interview, a very interesting man. The comments in the last few minutes about actually putting hands into the music and sculpting and 3D speakerless sound - quite inspiring!
Like everyone else, I am amazed at this interview. I totally agree with Peter when he criticised speaker technology. It really is a time for something better.
This simple, humble 27 minute interview basically shits on and destroys garbage like 'i dream of wires' and all the other half baked synth documentaries and MOOG shrines.No dis to robert MOOG but there were A LOT of other folks doing their own thing that have gone unheralded.As always SOS holding it down hard as fucking nails and delivering the truth, MASSIVE RESPECT to Peter Zinovieff a pioneer and a living legend.
all due respect to zinovieff, cockerell, et al, for their amazing contributions, but it's inaccurate to think they were creating in a vacuum; They were directly influenced by Moog, as Moog was by others before him.
Obviously a great innovator and I regret not keeping my AKS as they're now selling for over fifteen grand. A friend had a Synthi 100 in Golders Green and my god what a fantastic piece of kit that was. BTW if anyone knows the whereabouts of David Vorhaus of Kaleidophon please leave a message.
I have the IVCS 3 it’s incredible but to create music with the real thing is definitely a dream come true but those iconic VCS 3 sounds on that app are just mind blowing
Thank you - great interview! I would love to hear Peters thoughts on something like the TC-11 iPad app (having briefly seen a video of the late Tod Dockstader using and being entranced by it). Anyway, many thanks!
Yes! I love TC-11, iVCS3, and Borderlands Granular. iPad is a gift from heaven, for music/soundscape/noise producers. Can make wonderful sound/visual creations, on a park bench, or long train ride. And share them on RU-vid 🙂 Truly amazing the tools we have at our fingertips now 🎶🌎☮❤
Peter worked with Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson of the Radiophonic Workshop in a group called Unit Delta Plus in the late sixties, before Delia and Brian left to join White Noise with David Vorhaus.
