iVCS3 vs Sound/Waves

iVCS3 Official EMS VCS3 emulator The VCS3 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. The VCS3 was quite popular among progressive rock bands and was used on recordings by The Alan Parsons Project, Jean Michel Jarre, Hawkwind, Brian Eno (with Roxy Music), King Crimson, The Who, Gong, and Pink Floyd, among many others. Well-known examples of its use are on The Who track "Won't Get Fooled Again" (as an external sound processor, in this case with Pete Townshend running the signal of a Lowrey Organ through the VCS3's filter and low frequency oscillators) on Who's Next. Pink Floyd's "On the Run" (from The Dark Side of the Moon) made use of its oscillators, filter and noise generator, as well as the sequencer. Their song Welcome to the Machine also used the VCS3. The bassy throb at the beginning of the recording formed the foundation of the song, with the other parts being recorded in response. The VCS3 was also a staple at the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, and was a regular (and most frightening) sound generator for the Dr Who TV series. Many fo the monsters and atmoshere;s created for the show came directly from the VCS3. Description The VCS3 has three oscillators (in reality, the first 2 oscillators are normal oscillators and the 3rd an LFO or Low Frequency Oscillator), a noise generator, two input amplifiers, a ring modulator, a 18dB/octave (pre-1974) or 24dB/octave (after 1974) voltage controlled low pass filter (VCF), a trapezoid envelope generator, joy-stick controller, voltage controlled spring reverb unit and 2 stereo output amplifiers. Unlike most modular synthesizer systems which use cables to link components together, the VCS3 uses a distinctive patch board matrix into which pins are inserted in order to connect its components together. Keyboards controller DK1 keyboard controller Although the VCS3 is often used for generating sound effects due to lack of built-in keyboard, there were external keyboard controllers for melodic play. The DK1 in 1969 was an early velocity sensitive monophonic keyboard for VCS3 with an extra VCO and VCA. Later it was extended for duophonic play, as DK2, in 1972. Also in 1972, Synthi AKS was released, and its digital sequencer with a touch-sensitive flat keyboard, KS sequencer, and its mechanical keyboard version, DKS, were also released. (See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCS3)

Sound/Waves creates ambient music from live ocean data pulled from NOAA buoys around North America. The music is synthesized in real time within the app based on data that is updated every 10 minutes; nothing is pre-recorded. I built Sound/Waves as a composer and surfer. I want the music to create an immediate sonic image — clear enough to give a surfer some idea of current ocean conditions — while also engaging the listener with subtle, constantly changing variations in harmony, timbre, dynamics, and melody. There are two models, Spectral and Chromatic. SPECTRAL The Spectral model transposes ocean wave frequencies into the range of human hearing. These are extremely low: a 15-second wave is just 0.067 Hertz (Hz). Multiply by 1000 and you get 67 Hz, about two octaves below Middle C on a piano. Using this method for the 46 discrete wave bands reported by NOAA buoys every hour allows you to "hear" which waves have the most energy at that particular point in the ocean, at that particular time. CHROMATIC The Chromatic model maps the same data surf reports use — wave height, wave period, wind speed, tide, and others — to musical parameters such as harmony, rhythm, and timbre. wave height → polyphony wave period → amplitude wave quality → harmony swell direction → tuning wind → timbre tide → reverb A large groundswell with ideal wind conditions, for example, will create stacked, widely spaced, consonant chords with a smooth timbre, breathing in and out with the slow wave period. Choppy, short period wind waves will have a quicker rhythm and sound harmonically dissonant, with a distorted texture. VISUALS Sound/Waves also has a visual component. The tiled photos are taken automatically every hour by the buoys themselves, looking out in six directions. If a buoy snaps its photo while on the crest of a wave, the normally flat horizon tilts to a jagged angle. Scan mode crossfades the images between locations, creating an abstract, painterly drift that shifts with the time of day. Sunrise and sunset are bright pastel. Occasionally a boat or ship appears like a ghost, then fades away. Night images can show the moon and other strange colors amidst the black. A migrating bird may get caught in the frame. The scan rate — how fast the images crossfade — can be set from fast to slow, or turned off altogether. These buoy images convey a sense of isolation and non-intention that I want the music to amplify. — Sound/Waves requires an internet connection to fetch current observations. Ocean and weather data courtesy of NOAA's National Data Buoy Center and NOAA Tides & Currents. Sound/Waves is not affiliated with or endorsed by NOAA. Data is provided as is and is not for navigation.