Short but neat article on the Moog

[battema]

Found this by semi-accident this morning:

http://thequietus.com/articles/15314...-bernie-krause

It's hardly a "Mariana Trench" deep dive or anything but still kind of fun. Feels a bit like a nice mini-supplement to "I Dream of Wires" and perhaps a bit more favorable toward the Moog philosophy. I liked Gregory's observations in particular, especially Moog's willingness to really partner with musicians while creating his instrument.

Anyway, enjoy!
JB

[rcarlberg]

Yeah nice article. It's almost more about Bernie Krause than Robert Moog, but that's okay too.

[Zeuhlmate]

What happened to the Moog guitar?

[walt]

Good read.Mucho appreciato.

[Top Cat]

I truly feel a deep love and respect for Dr Robert Moog.
I've had a love affair with the Minimoog since the early 70's.
And I'm proud and happy to have sitting next to me, a Maple Moog Voyager I purchased in 2004. No upgrades(except I installed the blue light upgrade for the pitch/mod wheel). I still only have 127 patch memory, but I like it like that. I wanted to keep it just the way it came from the factory back in 2004.
Took me a lot of 60+ hrs a week and overtime to pay for it, but I did it, and she's not going anywhere.

It's funny how an instrument affected the world of music the way it has. A monophonic synth using subtractive synthesis with 3 oscillators and a couple of waveforms is still able to produce a sound sometimes that no one else in the world has ever heard, it amazes me the unlimited creativity the Minimoog inspires. And oh, that filter. Of course, it's much deeper than that, and the amount of thought that Bob put into it's design to allow musicians to create on the Minimoog what they heard in their head(as mentioned in this article).

I have the Documentary DVD about Bob, and watching and listening to him as he walked in his garden, I never sensed a big ego, only a man who was passionate about what he did, and proud of his achievements.
When I read decades before how Bob had lost the rights to his name, I was heartbroken, and who would've thought years later he'd be able to get the rights back, and again produce Moog products again.

Thanks for sharing this article, and for refreshing my memories of the great Bob Moog.

[battema]

Yep...I got my Voyager Electric Blue around 2010 if memory serves and it is simply a thing of beauty.

[Mister Triscuits]

I've had a love affair with the Minimoog since the early 70's.
And I'm proud and happy to have sitting next to me, a Maple Moog Voyager I purchased in 2004. No upgrades(except I installed the blue light upgrade for the pitch/mod wheel). I still only have 127 patch memory, but I like it like that. I wanted to keep it just the way it came from the factory back in 2004.
Took me a lot of 60+ hrs a week and overtime to pay for it, but I did it, and she's not going anywhere.

It's funny how an instrument affected the world of music the way it has. A monophonic synth using subtractive synthesis with 3 oscillators and a couple of waveforms is still able to produce a sound sometimes that no one else in the world has ever heard, it amazes me the unlimited creativity the Minimoog inspires. And oh, that filter. Of course, it's much deeper than that, and the amount of thought that Bob put into it's design to allow musicians to create on the Minimoog what they heard in their head(as mentioned in this article).

I hear you. On my last two albums I specify "Moog synthesizers" rather than just "synthesizers" in the instrument credits partly because I'm proud to own those instruments (Voyager Minimoog Old School, Sub Phatty, rack of three Mother 32s), and partly as a nod to old prog albums that would list "Moog" in the credits back when it was virtually the only game in town. My newest piece of gear is a Moogerfooger "Cluster Flux," which I just used as a guitar effect on an in-progress track called "Snake Doctor."

[dgtlman]

I truly feel a deep love and respect for Dr Robert Moog.
I've had a love affair with the Minimoog since the early 70's.
And I'm proud and happy to have sitting next to me, a Maple Moog Voyager I purchased in 2004.
Took me a lot of 60+ hrs a week and overtime to pay for it, but I did it, and she's not going anywhere.

I am going thru this exact same ritual for a John Bowen Solaris right now. Been selling off gear I don't need & other items to fund, what I consider to be, one of the greatest synths ever made.

[battema]

Yep...sometimes there's just a synth that speaks to you

[dropforge]

It's hardly a "Marinara Trench"

Did you hit Olive Garden right before you posted this?

[battema]

I would really, REALLY love to blame autocorrect and not my dippy-assed brain for that one

[Top Cat]

I am going thru this exact same ritual for a John Bowen Solaris right now. Been selling off gear I don't need & other items to fund, what I consider to be, one of the greatest synths ever made.

Not to derail the thread, but I was in the first 50 on the preorder for the Solaris. We went through over 2.5 years as John went through various stages of development, setbacks, code writers leaving, John's partnership with Sonic Core, vendors, delay after delay. Anyone who's worked with German engineers know they like to be precise about being precise, and little changes become big changes and it becomes meetings about having meetings. This is not a knock on Germans or their engineers, it's just a statement I believe to be true, and is only a personal opinion from experience. Anyway, that was part of the delays. And as a partner with SC, John was often placed in the middle.

We as pre order customers had a lot of input over those 2 years as to changes, and John, like Bob Moog was always receptive to implementing options musicians would like to have(like the touch sensitive ribbon).
I had a white one on order, and two weeks before shipping, something came up and I requested a refund.I don't regret it, which John promptly refunded.
You can't ask for a nicer synth designer developer or human being than John Bowen.
He's a true gentleman, and a throwback to the days when guys like Bob Moog created products out of love for what they did, not bean counters.

I'm sure you'll be happy with your Solaris, truly a unique and different synthesizer that is capable of creating any sound you want.
It's been around long enough, it's stable and you'll get the benefit from the result of years of user feedback.

Good luck and enjoy.

[dropforge]

I would really, REALLY love to blame autocorrect and not my dippy-assed brain for that one

"I got burrito on the brain!"

[dgtlman]

Not to derail the thread, but I was in the first 50 on the preorder for the Solaris. We went through over 2.5 years as John went through various stages of development, setbacks, code writers leaving, John's partnership with Sonic Core, vendors, delay after delay. Anyone who's worked with German engineers know they like to be precise about being precise, and little changes become big changes and it becomes meetings about having meetings. This is not a knock on Germans or their engineers, it's just a statement I believe to be true, and is only a personal opinion from experience. Anyway, that was part of the delays. And as a partner with SC, John was often placed in the middle.

We as pre order customers had a lot of input over those 2 years as to changes, and John, like Bob Moog was always receptive to implementing options musicians would like to have(like the touch sensitive ribbon).
I had a white one on order, and two weeks before shipping, something came up and I requested a refund.I don't regret it, which John promptly refunded.
You can't ask for a nicer synth designer developer or human being than John Bowen.
He's a true gentleman, and a throwback to the days when guys like Bob Moog created products out of love for what they did, not bean counters.

I'm sure you'll be happy with your Solaris, truly a unique and different synthesizer that is capable of creating any sound you want.
It's been around long enough, it's stable and you'll get the benefit from the result of years of user feedback.

Good luck and enjoy.

Thank you sir! Production round #6 is currently underway & is the last production to come from Germany. #7 is the one I am trying to get in on & will be made in USA I believe.
And since Mr Bowen is a Bob Moog protegee I wouldn't consider this a "derailment" to the OP