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."
FYI, proper pronunciaction of Moog is 'Moag', like 'moat' with a 'g', and not like 'Moo'-g, like a cow would say it.
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
Where would haunted houses be without the theramin?
And where would boardwalks be without haunted houses? Childhood as we know it would collapse.
As a tribute, I'm queueing up one of the first mainstream albums to use a Moog: The Beatles' "Abbey Road".
So long, and thanks for all the samples!
--- question = 0xFF;
I remember meeting Robert Moog at a music technology convention in 1981. He was still designing new instruments, but was in the paradoxical position of not being able to put his own name on them...thanks a lot CBS Music.
He was able to get his trademarks back and his designs, and a new version of the Minimoog came out at the most recent NAMM convention in California in January. Here's a non-sponsored link to it.
He was a geek's geek, and put the tech in techno. He will be missed.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
As a friend said "...that guy was a legend.
Robots, Computers and Satan would have nothing to dance to if it weren't for him."
"Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
Switched on Bach by Wendy Carlos, especially the last track (Initial Experiments). You can hear Wendy working with a prototype Moog pressure-sensitive keyboard, trying various settings and arrangements. Wendy's narration provides great background to the experiments. As a geek, it is (by far) my favorite track on the CD.
RIP, Bob.
Or, for the /. crowd:
It's pronounced "moag", as in, "Worf, son of".
Terry Gross interviewed Robert Moog back in 2000. The interview is available online here:
y Id=1113447
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?stor
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.
Bob Moog proved that the term "honorable businessman" is not an oxymoron, at least not in his case.
Bob had the occasion to visit Raymond Scott in his studio, and see one of Scott's secret inventions-- the sequencer. Scott unfortunately, was very protective of his ideas-- so much so that he undoubtedly took many of them to his grave. Scott didn't want his secret invention to get out-- though apparently needed some confirmation from someone qualified to appreciate it, else why would Bob be seeing it in the first place?
Consequently, the Moog Synthesizers did not have sequencers until the competition came up with them and started beating Moog up in the marketplace, so finally Scott let Bob off the hook and allowed Bob to manufacture sequencers for his synthesizers. Bob probably could have just stolen the idea, though in fact it's likely he would have arrived at it independently, but because Bob was honorable, he didn't use the sequencer concept without Scott's OK.
Just one of a wide variety of great stories. They don't make them like that anymore...
I got to meet Bob briefly in L.A. at the unveiling of the Fairlight CMI in the 1970s (or was it early '80s, I forget)-- he was involved in some of the PR of the instrument. It was a small group, and Bob gave a nice talk on music technologies. Great guy...
The Moog VCF is still being emulated (along with most of his other components) in digital "virtual analog" synthesizers today. I had a chance to pick up a classic Moog modular setup in the '70s for about $500. I still kick myself for passing it up. (big darn thing though, I had an Arp 2600 at the time (still have) and preferred the convenience of it, but while the 2600 has increased in value, not nearly as much as an original Moog modular-- plus the coolness factor now of a big 1/4" jack patched synth would now be pretty hard to beat)...
From 1968 to 1973, I worked with Robert Moog.
... along with Bode ring oscillators, third-octave vocoders, two flat-plate echo chambers, and a handful of multitrack Ampex tape decks.
... a creative engineer, artistically aware, supportive of everyone from egocentric musician to a hopeful but uncertain technician.
I was just an undergraduate, assigned to maintain the synthesizer at the University/Buffalo; Bob would often visit and show me nifty wrinkles and hacks for the system. It was a time when your fingers were likely found on a sliderule, an oscilloscope probe, or the cork of a soldering iron.
For his large synthesizers, Moog's circuit cards were etched and soldered by hand, and fitted into a wood frame work, with a spiffy black anodized front panel. The potentiometers were a constant headache: even milspec pots developed noise after a month of hard use by musicians.
Bob standardized on one volt per octave for his voltage controlled oscillators; my job was keeping these working
A visit from Bob Moog might mean experimenting with nonlinear mixers, measuring how an audio expander could minimize apparent noise, or the Fourier transforms of trumpets and coronets. With patch cords hanging around his neck, Bob helped rewire my homebrew Theramin to minimize drift, using a 2N107 germanium transistor as a thermal sensor.
Thirty five years later, I've been an astronomer, computer jock, writer, lecturer, and Klein Bottle mogul. But I'll never forget Bob Moog
- Cliff Stoll 2005/8/22