Synthesizer Pioneer Bob Moog Dies 258
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."
Re: Bob Moog (Score:2, Interesting)
Damn sad day... (Score:3, Interesting)
RIP Bob (Score:5, Interesting)
So long, and thanks for all the samples!
Bye bye Bob... (Score:5, Interesting)
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. [zzounds.com]
He was a geek's geek, and put the tech in techno. He will be missed.
Re:Listening Suggestion (Score:5, Interesting)
RIP (Score:2, Interesting)
"Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone..."
Re:Fuck you Moog (Score:5, Interesting)
Pro-electronic music: synthesizer and samplers are instruments, just like a harpsichord or a bassoon. Instruments are just tools that channel the creativity of composers and performers. Therefore you still have to be a good composer or performer to make good music with electronics.
Against electronic music: synthesizer and samplers sounds very good with little to no effort or talent. Therefore, a whole generation of people without talent, or the ability or patience to learn to play an instrument through years or practice, started to spew out what they think is music, but really isn't much more than a cold, soulless collection of sounds at best.
My opinion is: yes, both.
Loss (Score:1, Interesting)
I traded emails with him for a while and he reviewed my work which was a visual communications prpblem more than anything. He was extremely nice and down to earth. I even asked if he would be interested in publishing it and I think he might have even considered it for a minute or two, though nothing ever came of it.
I was amazed how approachable and interested he was in talking to people about his work even 30 years or more! He seemed quite introverted and shy, and a bit put off by the psychos who are typically obssessed with analog synths,
He gave a lecture on the history of electronic music, followed by a classically trained Thermenists performance.
I hope Big Briar will continue without him they make some amazing stuff...
Switched On -- Honorably... (Score:5, Interesting)
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)...
Re: Bob Moog (Score:1, Interesting)
When I still had a record player, I played it a lot. Really great stuff. When you compare it to the awful "sampled on Bach" you'll notice that although the latter uses samples, the former sounds more
He Milked the Mini-Moog Then Fell Behind (Score:2, Interesting)
His latest products rock! I have the MF-101 and 104 and they are truly a delight. Hope his sons further the business.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Tribute (Score:4, Interesting)
Matched, differential transistor pairs are stacked to form a ladder. The transistors aren't being used for gain, though. The control voltage varies the current through the stack which causes the conductance of the transistors to vary... a lot. The cutoff frequency can be swept through five orders of magnitude by the control voltage alone.
I showed that circuit to quite a few EE profs before I found one who could give an adequate explanation of how it worked.
Sheer genius.
well they bungled the Theremin description (Score:3, Interesting)
Um, no. Theremins are not played by "passing the hand through and around vibrating radio tubes."
There are two ANTENNAS protruding from the cabinet and you wave you hands around the antennas.
FFS, how can someone be so blinking ignorant?
I saw an old film of the Theremin being played by Termen and I fell in love with it. I have found schematics and other instructions to build one with tubes. I'm currently scrounging around garage sales for the stuff I need to build one as they were originally designed.
I've read that the tube based ones sound much better than the IC based ones..
"Moog" is a Dutch (from Holland) name (Score:2, Interesting)
From this link [google.com] (or Google cache [64.233.187.104],
Re:Moog Archives (Score:3, Interesting)
Isao Tomita [wikipedia.org]: suzanne ciani [sevwave.com]:
steve vai [wikipedia.org]: Larry Fast [wikipedia.org]: Hans Zimmer [wikipedia.org]: there are many others, these are the ones i was able to find quickly.
A great man, leaving behind a wide wake (Score:5, Interesting)
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
on a related note... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Moog Archives (Score:2, Interesting)
I think this one would be pretty obvious, too...
Keith Emerson [wikipedia.org]
I play keyboards and synthesizers and am sure that the musical world would be different without what Bob Moog created. He may be gone, but his technology will continue to help musicians create new music for a long, long time. Thanks, Bob Moog!
Re:Tribute (Score:1, Interesting)