EMS Vocoder <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=+EMS+Vocoder"> EMS Vocoder</a> Electronic Music Studios, Ltd, London, EMS Vocoder, late 1970s Metal, plastic, electronic components On loan from MESS Ltd EMS first released a large Vocoder in 1976, and this simplified, lower-cost, compact version was released the following year. The instrument was designed for use with the human voice. EMS promotional material for the instrument stated: Its main purpose is to impose the articulation of a voice onto another sound, thereby making it speak or sing. Such sounds (excitations) can be derived from any audio source: for instance musical sounds from an organ, guitar or symphony orchestra; unmusical sounds such as the roar of an aeroplane, the snarl of a lion, the clatter of a typewriter and the synthetic sounds such as a synthesizer or the Vocoder’s own voltage controlled oscillator or noise generator. In each case the sounds are made to talk or sing or resonate with the intonation, expression and meaning of an input voice, which may be derived live from a microphone or from a recording. It is of course possible to impose the articulation of a non-speech sound on to the excitation. For instance, the characteristics of a violin on to those of a saxophone … In this way, musicians who are not expert in synthesizers can produce marvellous effects with the minimum of electronic technique by mainly relying on their own musical expertise. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Electronic+Music+Studios%2C+Ltd%2C+London">Electronic Music Studios, Ltd, London</a> Late 1970's Instrument Percy Grainger <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Photograph">Photograph</a> Toned silver gelatin print. Photo: 24.1 x 19.0 cm Photo and frame: 30.3 x 24.3 cm Grainger spent a lot of his life away from home touring as a concert pianist. While his mother was alive he developed a pattern of having photographs of himself taken by professional photographers, which he would then mail to Rose—a way of maintaining the closeness of their bond. This photograph held great significance for him, as it was the last he sent to her before she committed suicide in 1922. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Frederick+Bushnell+Studio%2C+San+Francisco">Frederick Bushnell Studio, San Francisco</a> April 1922 <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Photograph">Photograph</a> 17.0042 Percy Grainger <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Photograph">Photograph</a> silver gelatin print. Photo: 21.1 x 16 cm Photo and card: 25.2 x 20.2 cm Although taken in a formal studio setting, this photograph was certainly not meant for promotional purposes. Grainger had his portrait taken by Mary Dale Clark on a number of occasions over a period of years including while he was enlisted in the army. Clark was a self-styled mystic who used photography to ‘look for the spirit within’ her sitters. Grainger was aware of the photograph’s capacity to look past the constructed façade and capture the essence of a subject’s psychological and emotional inner-world. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Mary+Dale+Clarke+%281975%E2%80%931936%29%2C+New+York">Mary Dale Clarke (1975–1936), New York</a> c.1918 <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=photograph">photograph</a> 17.0060.1 Percy Grainger <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Photograph">Photograph</a> Platinum prints. Photo: 14.0 x 9.5 cm Photo and board: 28.0 x 20.7 cm Envelope: 35.6 x 22.8 cm These portraits were taken in the same sitting at Elliot and Fry studio in London, and demonstrate how a change in lighting and camera angle can significantly alter the appearance of a subject. The studio was founded in 1863 at 55-56 Baker Street by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry and operated for a century. It specialised in portraits of leading social, artistic, scientific and political figures. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Elliot+%26+Fry%2C+London">Elliot & Fry, London</a> c.1910 Photograph <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Photograph">Photograph</a> 17.0046 Percy Grainger, c 1920. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Photograph">Photograph</a> Silver gelatin print. Photo: 20.2 x 15.6 cm Photo and board: 37.5 x 29.8 cm This portrait depicts Percy Grainger with his fingers interlaced in front of him. The photograph is mounted on board. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Mary+Dale+Clarke+%281975%E2%80%931936%29%2C+New+York">Mary Dale Clarke (1975–1936), New York</a> c 1920. Photograph <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Photograph">Photograph</a> 17.0041 Rose Grainger (age 59) wearing Indian necklace bought at Albuquerque, N.M., early May, 1920 <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Photograph">Photograph</a> Sheet-fed photo gravure print (Bruchmann Mezzotint gravures, printer) 28.5 x 22 cm This portrait depicts Rose Grainger sitting in a plush armchair. She is wearing a long off shoulder dress with flowing skirts and organza. As described by the photo caption, she is wearing an "Indian necklace bought at Albuquerque, N.M., early May, 1920,” <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=William+Louis+Koehne%2C+Chicago">William Louis Koehne, Chicago</a> 29/07/1920 Photograph <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Photograph">Photograph</a> 17.0017 VCS1 (Don Banks Music Box), c.1968–69, in the Optronics Unit built by Graham Thirkell <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=+VCS1+%28Don+Banks+Music+Box%29%2C+c.1968%E2%80%9369%2C+in+the+Optronics+Unit+built+by+Graham+Thirkell"> VCS1 (Don Banks Music Box), c.1968–69, in the Optronics Unit built by Graham Thirkell</a> Electronic Music Studios, Ltd, London, VCS1 (Don Banks Music Box), c.1968–69, in the Optronics Unit built by Graham Thirkell, c. early 1970s. Collection MESS Ltd Metal, plastic, electronic components, wood On loan from MESS Ltd The story of the Don Banks Music Box is a legend in the electronic music world. Australian experimental musician Don Banks was frustrated with the lack of facilities for composers to learn about the new language of electronic music. In 1968 he approached the key figures of the EMS company in London, Peter Zinovieff, David Cockerell and Tristram Cary, asking them to design an affordable instrument that incorporated all the basic features available at the time in sound synthesis. In David Cockerell’s words, Banks was ‘an avant-garde composer who wanted an electronic box of tricks’. The resulting machine was called the ‘Don Banks Music Box’, and retrospectively named the ‘VCS’ or Voltage Controlled Studio, no 1. Only three were made. Banks wrote: ‘Thank heaven for the age of miniaturisation because this was small enough for me to take to bed with headphones, and to start to explore a new world of sound.’ When Keith Humble, with Bank’s advice, ordered the first analogue synthesizer for the Grainger Museum in the late 1960s, one of these three VCS1 instruments was sent to Melbourne. The VCS1 was built into a larger unit by Melbourne audio pioneer Graham Thirkell at his company ‘Optronics’. The VCS1 synthesizer is in the bottom right of the unit, and the unit also contains an early EMS twin ring modulator at top right. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Electronic+Music+Studios%2C+Ltd%2C+London+%28Don+Banks%2C+and+Graham+Thirkell%29">Electronic Music Studios, Ltd, London (Don Banks, and Graham Thirkell)</a> Photograph by Amber Haines Image courtesy MESS Ltd c. early 1970s Instrument ‘No. 3 Pastoral’, from In a Nutshell Suite, part for Staff Bells, 1908-1916 In a Nutshell Suite was first performed at the Norfolk Festival of Music, Connecticut, USA, on 9 June 1916. This suite contains some of Grainger’s best scoring for ‘tuneful percussion’. Grainger was unusually prescriptive about the type of mallets (or ‘beaters’) performers were to use, indicating ‘hard’ (‘wood or rubber mallets’), ‘medium’ (‘wooden mallets thinly covered with wool or leather’) and ‘soft’ (‘wooden mallets thickly covered with wool or other soft material’) at different points in different instruments. This was to ensure distinct and varied tonalities. When performed in New York in 1917, after a season of performances across major cities in North America, In a Nutshell Suite was described by one critic as “the most interesting musical novelty of the season, with audiences everywhere ‘delighted by its vivacious tunefulness and astounded at its audacious novel features”. Some critics were more cautious. One suggested that Grainger was “excercising his sense of humour” with music consisting of “discordant shriekings punctuated by rhythmical whacks”. A St Louis newspaper described the performance of the Suite as “the last cry in vaudeville”. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Percy+Aldridge+Grainger+%28composer%29">Percy Aldridge Grainger (composer)</a> Grainger Museum Collection 1916 SLI MG 3/41-2-2:19 ‘Norse Dirge’, from Youthful Suite, parts for Musical glasses, wooden marimba, metal marimba or vibraharp, 1945 Ten players were required to perform the percussion parts for ‘Norse Dirge’, across the variety of instruments, including some of the musical glasses (seen in the display case). Unlike in Tribute to Foster, where the choir played the musical glasses and string players bowed the metal marimba bars, in ‘Norse Dirge’ the players of the percussion section are responsible for all of these elements. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Percy+Aldridge+Grainger+%28composer%29">Percy Aldridge Grainger (composer)</a> Grainger Museum Collection 1945 SL1 MG9/40-5-1:15 "Free Music" machine components <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Free+Music">Free Music</a> The box of Free Music components that this object is part of contains scraps of wood, metal, paper and rubber. - Wood and felt frame (musical instrument?) - Small piece of cardboard with electronic components attached - transformer, potentiometer, diode, resistors, capacitors, choke, wires and solder. <a href="/grainger/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Various+creators%2C+material+gathered+by+Percy+Grainger+for+his+Free+Music+experiments">Various creators, material gathered by Percy Grainger for his Free Music experiments</a> 1940s-1950s 04.1126