The RadioPhonic Synth - specially created for Hans Zimmer
The ultimate analogue modular system
Hans Zimmer has dedicated his life to creating music and soundscapes using synthesisers together with orchestral sounds. He is without doubt the world’s greatest film soundtrack composer and has won multiple Academy, Golden Globe and Grammy awards for his music. No one has a better understanding of what sounds pleasing and how to use it best, which is why even companies outside of the music industry such as BMW have asked Hans to design sounds to make their electric cars more exciting! He also has one of the largest collections of synthesisers in the world, as anyone who has seen pictures of his huge studio will testify - modular synthesisers cover the walls instead of wallpaper! So when Hans says that a particular synth sounds more engaging and fuller than others then he is speaking from a position of experience and authority .
It is a great honour that Hans has chosen to work exclusively with AJHSynth to create a one of a kind analogue modular synthesiser. It has been designed from the ground up as an uncompromised analogue modular system, a sonic creation tool without equal. The RadioPhonic System was specially commissioned to take pride of place in the new Radiophonic workshop which Hans will be recreating soon, back at its original site in the Maida Vale Studio, London. We are calling this amazing system "The RadioPhonic" in honour of this accolade.
From its inception in 1958 the BBC Radiophonic Workshop has played a huge part in the history of electronic music. In the early days audio tape would be cut and spliced into sound effects and theme music which was used in BBC television and radio programs. In the 1960's synthesisers were added to the arsenal of instruments, and the EMS VCS 3 and Synthi 100 were two of the earliest synthesisers used there. The VCS 3 holds a very special place in Hans Zimmer's heart, as it was the very first synthesiser that he ever owned and the beautiful American Walnut and Cherry wood case of the RadioPhonic deliberately channels the VCS3 "Putney" case design, however the range of modules included takes the sonic possibilities way beyond that of the larger EMS Synthi 100 "Delaware" system which also saw so much use at the Radiophonic Workshop.
Hans has very graciously allowed us to produce a limited number of exact recreations of the RadioPhonic synth, and each will be individually numbered. System Number One is to be launched at Superbooth 24 in Berlin. We have already had considerable interest so if you would like to be added to the waiting list for a RadioPhonic System then please contact us at info@ajhsynth.com.
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Hardwood enclosure hand made from selected American Walnut and Cherry wood
The enclosure has strong echoes of the EMS VCS3 case, but with the aspect ratio altered to suit the compliment of modules chosen. It has two 3U racks in the top section and a further two 3U racks in the lower section, each with 136hp of rack space. The top and bottom sections are separated with an ebonised hardwood strip. It uses a very low noise power supply and noise filtering distribution boards. It has auto voltage selection so can be used with mains voltages between 100 to 240V AC, 50 or 60 Hz.
Selection of modules used in the RadioPhonic System
Here's a breakdown of the modules fitted to the RadioPhonic System
Top - Row 1
- Glide Noise Glide / Noise Module - Glide up and down, CV buffering and splitting, White, Pink and Red Noise Source
- 3 x MiniMod VCO - The best sounding Analogue VCO based on the early RA Moog circuitry.
- 2 x MiniMod Transistor Ladder Filter - An absolute legend, based on the early MiniMoog filter.
- Gain Switch Multi - Controls Overdrive of the adjacent MiniMod VCF and VCO, and six way passive multi
- Discrete Cascaded VCA - two stage VCA using early MiniMoog circuitry
- V Scale Buffered Multi - For active buffering of Pitch CV's and scale correction
- Dual Contour Generator - two independant envelopes using Model D transistor circuitry
- Low Fat HP Filter Module - 6dB and 12dB High Pass Voltage Controlled Filter
- Muting Mixer and VCA - A mixer, distortion FX and a Linear / Exponential VCA combined
- 2 x DH-ADSR Envelope - ADSR Envelope with added Delay, Hold and invert features.
Top - Row 2
- Glide Noise Glide / Noise Module - Glide up and down, CV buffereing and splitting, White, Pink and Red Noise Source
- 4 x MiniMod VCO - The best sounding Analogue VCO based on the early RA Moog circuitry.
- 2 x Sonic XV - Vintage style Diode Ladder filter and Wavefolder
- Gain Switch Multi - Six way passive multi
- Ring SM - Our award winning Ring Modulator, Dual Sub Bass generator and five channel CP3 based discrete transistor mixer
- Muting Mixer and VCA - A mixer, distortion FX and a Linear / Exponential VCA combined
- Discrete Cascaded VCA - two stage VCA using early MiniMoog circuitry
- V-Shape - Wave Twister and Wave Folder
Bottom - Row 3
- Chance Delay Gate generation, pulse stretching and controlled random pulse generation
- CV Mixer with VCA - mix, invert, amplify and attenuate CV voltages
- 2 x Tap Tempo LFO - Amazing Voltage Controlled LFO with Tap Tempo, 16 waveforms and VCA
- 2 x Dual LFO with VCA - Provides two multi waveform LFO's along with a DC coupled VCA for extra level control
- Triple Cross - 3 x Cross faders and panners combined, for both Audio and Control Voltages
- Gain Switch Multi - Six way passive multi
- Dual RVG - An recreation of the original EMS Random Voltage Generator with randomised time variation
- Sample Hold and Slew - Sample and Hold, Track and Hold, Linear and Exponential Slew plus Coloured Noise generator
- Multi Burst Envelopes - Generates a burst of between 1 and 40 envelopes with 8 different shapes, rising or decaying in level
- CV Mixer with VCA - mix, invert, amplify and attenuate CV voltages
- Precision Voltages Module - Transpose and mix pitch CV's wth excellent accuracy to keep everything perfectly in tune
Bottom - Row 4
- Chance Delay Gate generation, pulse stretching and controlled random pulse generation
- DH-ADSR Envelope - ADSR Envelope with added Delay, Hold and invert features.
- Dual Contour Generator - two independant envelopes using Model D transistor circuitry
- Next Phase Phaser - 12 Stage Phaser based on a much expanded EH Small Stone, with selectable Emphasis switching
- Entropic Doom - Tuned Noise Generator with CMOS Ring Modulator
- Wave Swarm - Twelve channel (2 x 6) Wave animator
- Gain Switch Multi - Enables or disables self resonance on both Gemini VCF channels, and six way passive multi
- Gemini 2412 Dual VCF - Dual VCF based on Oberheim SEM VCF, with central mixing and cross fading bus
- FFB914 Fixed Filter Bank - Twelve fixed BP filters in 2 x 6 stereo configuration with cross fading and wet/ dry mixing
Specifications
Dimensions (L x W x H): 74 cm x 42 cm x 47 cm
12U with 4 rows of 136HP, total of 544hp rack space.
Weight: 18 kg
Voltage: 100V to 240V, auto sensing
A note on Patch Cables
The RadioPhonic system is not supplied with patch cables as these are always a very personal choice, however here are our suggestions on cable numbers and sizes to get the best from the system:
34 of 30cm
22 of 60cm
10 of 90cm
However, we find it useful to use two different colours of cables, one for audio signals and the second for CV signals - in this case it would require 17 of 30cm, 11 of 60cm and 5 of 90cm, in each colour way.
DEMO VIDEOS
Huge cinematic drone
A melodic stereo drone, four voices without external controllers
Retro Techno
A 90's inspired Techo composition with seven separate synth ans percussion parts, all played in real time with no overdubs
The sounds of vintage Sci-fi
A short performance of some sounds inspired by the early work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, specifically the TV series Doctor Who (a particular nod here to the story 'The Sea Devils'), and other Sci-fi/horror TV or movies from the 1960's to early 1980's.
RadioPhonic Drones part 2
This is Part 2 to the earlier Cinematic Drone video. It is based on the same patch, but modified to add a rhythmic element, using the Chance Delay module for some random behaviour / probability. It is also completely self-patch (in the box), no sequencer or controllers are used.