Slashdot Mirror
Synthesizer Pioneer Bob Moog Dies
Sigalarm writes "CNN is reporting that synthesizer pioneer and all-around vanguard of electronic music Bob Moog has passed away at age 71. Dr. Moog built his first electronic instrument -- the theremin -- at age 14 and made the MiniMoog, 'the first compact, easy-to-use synthesizer,' in 1964. He was the first to bring the electronic synthesizer within reach of most musicians, and his MiniMoog is still highly praised and often emulated, to this day."
It's a shame to see he's gone. His work lead to generations of synthesizers, dominating the music scene of the 80s. Plus you just gotta love that little riff from The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" :)
Some think the Internet is a bad thing. I just think that AOL is a bad thing.
I think what we think of as "modern music" would not sound the same without it.
Keith Emersons' heart stopping sounds at
the close of the single "Lucky Man" was
probably my first exposure to synthesizer
music. I later heard Switched on Bach as
well as many of the electronic german bands
who specialized in synthesis.
Some synthesizer-predominant artists
such as Tangerine Dream, Synergy,
Kraftwerk, Michael Hoenig, Klaus Schulze,
Ash Ra Tempel, Vangelis, Wendy Carlos,
and SFF among many, many others simply
wouldn't sound the same OR actually
sound at all without them.
I think of an interview with the canadian
band Saga who at one time owned "one of
everything" that Moog made and was offered
an endorsement deal from Moog and they said
"why bother? We already own everything you
make!" That's a ringing endorsement.
And the secret to the Moog sound was the filters
in those instruments. Every synthesizer made
had their own unique sound. But everyone tried
to copy the Moog filter sound and didn't quite
succeed.
I bet they will still be buying Minimoogs' in
100 years - something about that design and
sound with tweakable knobs urges playing.
Small wonder that in the 80s when synth
makers went to touch panels or increment and
decrement buttons players liked them less
even though the sounds were unique because
the interface made you play a certain way.
The sound was more alive when you could
manipulate the sound with knobs while
playing.
Notable makers who used the "knobs as sound
shaping devices" were Wolfgang Palm of the
venerable PPG (and later Waldorf) as well as
Roland who resurrected the "plethora of knobs"
idea with their JD800. Knobs work and Mr.
Moog must have just understood this. Some
others did too.
But the Moog sound was instantly identifiable.
And it is still used today. And very likely
100 years from now. That Minimoog voyager
with blue LEDs is an object of lust for more
than just a few.
Bon Voyage, Robert:
Let's hope he'll rest in peace or spend eternity
driving God insane with giant filter sweeps on
the biggest modular in the universe.
Someone should posted a MIDI version of Taps.
That would make for an awful tribute, in my opinion. Moog pioneered and championed analog, imperfect, and continuously variable signals. MIDI is all about crisp, quantized, digital, perfectly sequencable and recordable signals.
A better tribute, in my opinion, would be to play taps on some his own gear (or at least a Theremin or something) run through a class Moog ladder filter.
That would get him self-oscillating, I'm sure.
I'm going to have to listen to my Walter Carlos version of "Switched on Bach" - on vinyl.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Oh, come on.
Were you even born when the events you allude to happened?
Everybody with any familiarity with electronic music knows that Switched-On Bach had a different name on it. So did the first couple of others, including my favorite The Well-Tempered Synthesizer.
Nobody over the emotional age of five gives a shit.
ok but be a geek, run it through a midi to cv gate converter :)
I used the novation bass station's built in converter to talk to a Moog Rogue, worked fine.
Goodbye, mr Moog.
---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
When it came to technology and art, Bob Moog actually "got it" compared to nearly everyone else in the IT world. (See my Slashdot profile for my statement about why I believe technology exists) He knew that he was the engineer (a brilliant one at that) and not the musician. He knew that the musician was the one with the "magical connection" to the instrument. This is what seems to be lacking in the rest of IT when thinking about the end users. He "got it" and nearly everyone else doesn't.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
Aren't we forgetting the hordes of technically talented guitarists, bassoon players and whatnot spewing out album after album of bland chords and scales with no artistic content?
The synthesizer (or actually the sequencer) disconnected technical quality from talent, but to this day creativity has very little to do with neither electronics nor fast fingers.
Then consider this: guitars and drums make anyone look cool playing them, thus no need for worthwhile music being played. Synths (or laptops...it's the 2000s now ya'know) on the other hand, look so geeky that the creative output will be judged (more fairly) by ears alone.
There's no 'on' position on the Slacker switch!
The interface is not related to the sound generator, and to my mind, Moog championed the analog sound more than anything else. Nearly all analog synthesizers have MIDI retrofit options these days. You can stick MIDI on a Mini Moog and it'll still sound 100% Mini Moog, but the difference is controllability. In fact I seem to recall one Welsh company even released a product called the MIDImoog which was exactly that; the guts of a Mini Moog but with MIDI and an additional LFO.