2017 Memorymoog Plus Raffle: Polyphonic Powerhouse Synth Boasts Legendary Moog Sound, Exceptional Functionality, MIDI and Sequencer
CONGRATULATIONS TO VINCENT ASCOLI OF ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO! He is the winner of our 2017 Memorymoog Plus raffle!
The Memorymoog Plus Raffle Ended on September 6th! Thanks to the almost 2000 people who entered! You participation empowers us to expand our work through Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool!
Our summer heated up with a raffle for the highly coveted vintage Memorymoog Plus synthesizer, a very unusual and powerful polyphonic synthesizer with six voices for each of the three oscillators, MIDI, and a sequencer! It boasts a variety of other standard and unusual functions, which are detailed below.
Proceeds from the raffle benefited the Foundations educational and historic preservation initiatives, making purchasing a ticket a win either way!
The raffle, which was open internationally, closed at 11:59pm on September 6, 2017, with most of the 4,000 available tickets sold!
For reference, here are the Rules and Regulations for entrants.
The Memorymoog Plus being offered, serial number 2641, was built at Moog Music’s Buffalo, NY factory in 1984 and has an estimated value of $10,000. It is in excellent technical condition. The synthesizer was generously donated to the Bob Moog Foundation by supporter Lee Keeley, and has been meticulously serviced by vintage synth specialist Wes Taggart, a lauded technician for Memorymoog restoration
Memorymoog specifications include:
- Three voltage controlled oscillators with mixable waveforms
- Polyphonic, with six articulated voices per oscillator
- Auto tune function tunes oscillators in less than five seconds
- VCO syncing
- Unison mode for a robust 18 oscillator monophonic bass and lead
- Six 24dB-per-octave Moog ladder filters
- Dual concentric vernieresque tuning pots feeding true discrete Moog ladder filters into overdrive
- Ultra fast envelope generators (ADSR, not ADS as on the Minimoog)
- Sample and hold
- Extensive modulation section with numerous routings
- Alpha numeric readout that gives controls old and new values side by side when editing existing patches so they can be returned
- 100 patch memory driven by a 0-9 a-d keypad with a massive LED patch number readout
- Interfacing including the ability to drive a monosynth from the highest note played from either CV/Gate or CV/S-Trig
- Arpeggiator features nine different modes, including a mode where all voices are triggered simultaneously
- The Memorymoog Plus model includes:
- MIDI interface
- Basic polyphonic and monophonic sequencer, the latter of which controls an externally interfaced monophonic synthesizer (via rear panel CV/gate/trigger jacks)
- More stable oscillator control
Memorymoog History
Want to know more about the Memorymoog? Heres a bit of history on the instrument, and some more detailed specifications about its features and functionality:
Moog Music’s 1975 release, the Polymoog, revolutionized a synthesizer market desperate for a polyphonic synthesizer. But it wasn’t long before companies like Yamaha, Sequential Circuits, and Roland started churning out full-featured and popular voice-assignment-polyphonic synthesizers like the CS-80, the Prophet 5, and others.
In a synthesizer market that was now without the Minimoog (which ceased being produced in 1982), Moog Music, Inc. needed a flagship synthesizer that would meet the needs of the burgeoning keyboard market. The Memorymoog was born.
The Memorymoog featured six articulated voices, which meant it needed an amp, two envelopes, and a filter for each voice. In addition to these, it also needed at least an oscillator per voice. But unlike many other polyphonics of the time, the Memorymoog took its cue from the Minimoog with three oscillators. That means that it had three oscillators per each of the six voices resulting in a staggering total of 18 oscillators! To sum up: six amps, six filters, 12 ADSR envelopes, and 18 oscillators!
Like the products of Sequential Circuits and Oberheim, the Memorymoog produced its sounds using integrated circuits called Curtis chips, named after their maker, Doug Curtis.
However, each of the six filters is a full-on 24dB-per-octave Moog ladder filter, which gave the Memorymoog a much-desired Moog character.
In addition to being a powerful analog polyphonic synth, the Memorymoog also had the ability to operate as a monophonic synth. In monophonic mode, you had the opportunity to choose how many voices (and associated oscillators) you’d like to stack in your monophonic sound. As a result, you could set it to operate with a single oscillator per note all the way up to a staggering 18 oscillators per note!
The modulation options on the Memorymoog were extensive. Unlike the Minimoog, the Memorymoog had a dedicated and full-featured low-frequency oscillator. But the modulation options didn’t stop there. Like the Minimoog, the 3rd oscillator could be used as a modulation source through the “Voice Modulation” section. This functionality used the 3rd oscillator and the filter envelope as modulators very similarly to the “Poly Mod” section that made the Prophet 5 so popular. Audio-range oscillator modulation, 2nd-oscillator pitch modulation for sync effects, secondary PWM for variations in PWM settings for different oscillators all possible with the Voice Modulation functionality. Combined with the LFO and the dedicated Foot Pedal modulation section, the Memorymoog had nearly infinite modulation options!
There were a few interesting and unique options present on the Memorymoog, as well. For example, the “Unconditional Contour” function forced the envelope to go through its entire cycle after the keys are released, despite the fact that usually, key release would cause the envelope to jump to its release stage. This allows a player to quickly play a chord that could progress while the player plays other keyboards, etc. The “Keyboard Follow” portion of the Contour Generator could scale envelope length according to frequency to allow the synth to emulate the propensity for stringed instruments, for example, to have shorter note durations with increases in frequency.
The arpeggiator featured nine different modes, including a mode where all voices are triggered simultaneously.
The Memorymoog had 100 patches storable in its memory. The original factory programs were designed by a group that included Wendy Carlos, Tom Coster, Herb Deutsch, Larry Fast, Jan Hammer, and Bob Moog Foundation Board member Dominic Milano!
The Memorymoog is one of the most sought-after vintage analog synthesizers in existence due to its substantial power, three-oscillator-per-voice structure, and gorgeous sound.
I have been impressed by the Moog synthesizer since I first saw Keith Emerson play a B3 & as a pianist, I would love to have one of my own.
I just got my ticket and thanks for offering this. It is a great cause.
I’m unable to enter, as ‘appt, suite etc’ seems to be a mandatory field – what should I enter here as I live in a single family home that doesn’t have an apartment or suite number etc…
I’ve still got #1752, the Memorymoog I bought new in 1984. I performed with it for years, but it hasn’t stayed in tune since 1997, so it sits in its case.
If I don’t win the raffle, maybe someday I’ll get around to sending it out for “meticulous servicing”!
Thanks!
Steve Brittenham
Grateful Minimoog & Memorymoog owner/player
I had an early pre-Midi, SN 1048, bought new Paid $4500 w/ Vol -Mod Pedal and an Anvil Case in 1984 from Hanich Music in LA. Loved the ‘Eminence Front’ Who patch. Had to sell when my 1st son was born. That thing was a Beast!
Going to enter for sure!
We have since fixed that problem. Suite or appt number are not optional, not required.
Remember when nobody wanted these? I recall seeing one for sale in the classifieds of the Birmingham (Alabama) News for $400 about twenty years ago. Wow. Wish I’d called that guy.
“The Winner will be selected at random and announced on Thursday, September 8, 2017”
But…, September 8, 2017 is Friday, isn’t that so?
Can’t wait to play with it……
Yes, we are Moog-fans: We use an Voyager anniversary edition, all pedals, extension boards and Mooger-Foogers and a Moog-Guitar in our Sound-Studio and in the Progressive-Rock-Band BDM – Bacio Della Musa.
Love moogs since my Micro Moog
I am a guitarist/singer/composer with a small studio in upstate NY. Love the Moog Company, and have a little Moog arsenal of moogerfooger pedals, the LP stage II coupled with a slim, and the Mother-32. I’d love to win this polyphonic synth.
i wanna this!!!
so cool
I just got an email thanking me for my entry – it also said the drawing will be on April 5, 2017. Oops. I assume you meant September 5, 2017.
My confirmation email reads. That the winner will be “contacted via email on April 5, 2017. Good Luck!!”
Awesome for a good cause! Would love and cherish it if I were to win.
Wonderful cause! on the page where you enter the raffle, at the bottom it says “TICKETS ARE $25 EACH, 5 FOR $100 OR 12 FOR $200” but it looks like it’s 10 tickets for $200 when you try and buy them. Thanks!
Would love to win it !!! Keith Emerson was always will be my favorite keyboard player !!
This is such as great thing Moog is doing.I’ve been a synthesis since the mid 90s, my love for Moog products has only continued to grow over the years. Its awesome to see Moog giving back to this community and I’m glad to help by entering into this raffle. Thank you and good luck everyone.
Love music so much
I love moog. This synth is all I need to make epic records.
i was wondering about a ballpark figure /value on a moog phatty that says Bob Moog above the headphone jack… thank you..
September 8th is a Friday.
Muy buen sinthetizador!!
Hi Michael — Thanks for letting us know — that was a mistake on our part. Hopefully you’ve received the eNewsletter correcting all of that information. The winner will be contacted on Friday, September 8th.
Thanks for letting us know — that reply was automated and unfortunately hadn’t been updated since our last raffle. The Memorymoog Plus raffle ends on September 6th this year, and the winner will be announced on September 8th. Hopefully you’ve already received the email with that correct information. Thanks for entering and good luck!!
Thank, Chris! We got ahead of ourselves! That is now corrected!
We’re not sure, Gwen. Best to poke around eBay to get and idea of that!
Hi Andy. Thanks for letting us know. That has been corrected!
I went to moogfest in 2014 and bought the store demo model of the Voyager XL; I have been in love with my Voyager ever since then. I have owned several Moogs throughout the years but the Voyager so far has been my favorite. I was fortunate to meet Robert Moog in 1973, and Keith Emerson in 2014. I have also been fortunate enough to use a Moog modular with a couple of sequencers when I was going to college in North Texas State University. Moog is one of the most awesome synthesizer companies in the world. I look forward to owning the memory Moog and producing an entire record using just the memory Moog and the Voyager XL I think that would be phenomenal!
Huge fan of Memory moog, never won raffle drawings this could be the first time. fingers crossed. Splendid possibilities. incredible adventures, and endless studio muscle.
Congratulations Vincent! Enjoy it!
Gutted that it isnt mine, but congrats to the winner!
I normally dont even enter things like this but I’m happy knowing my entry contributed to a worthy organization.
Mike
http://www.usaprogmusic.com