The British engineer of the legendary portable synthesizers VCS3 & Synthi A, EMS founder, and composer Peter Zinovieff has died at the age of 88
Unfortunately, the synthesizer world has to say goodbye to another pioneer. As you can read at the beginning, Peter Zinovieff has left us.
He was a British composer but also a pioneer in the development of synthesizers. Peter is probably best known for creating the legendary EMS VCS3 and Synthi A synthesizers.
Peter Zinovieff, The Designer
Musicians such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze, Piano Floyd, and others used the instruments in many of their early works. For example, J-M J used it in the Oxygène album or Pink Floyd for “On The Run”. Peter Zinovieff created instruments that were unique and innovative. The VCS3 was one of the first portable synths and had a hardware pin modulation matrix. This was very futuristic for that time
His designs live on to this day. See the Erica Synths SYNTRX that is massively inspired by the legendary EMS VCS3.
Peter Zinovieff, The Musician
Peter was also active as an electronic music composer. In his compositions he used many approaches from experimental music including cybernetics, computer music, and more. For his various sound projects, he also collaborated with different artists such as members from the Radiophonic Workshop (Delia Derbyshire, Brian Hodgson…) and more.
A great pioneer of electronic music and synthesizer design has passed away. Thank you Peter for everything you’ve done. You and your developments will forever remain a part of us. Here is also an article from The Guardian.
Be the first to comment