The bassy throb at the beginning of the recording formed the foundation of the song, with the other parts being recorded in response. Their song Welcome to the Machine also used the VCS3. 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. 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. 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. 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 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 created in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff's EMS company.
