The Beastie Boys have been rocking crowds the world over for more than 25 years; they are the undeniable innovators of both hip hop and rock and roll.  Known for looking forward and backward, the Beastie Boys were among the first to embrace the phat analog Moog sound in the late 80s and early 90s at a point when the world of synthesis had gone largely digital.

How fitting it was to have the Beastie Boys swing through town and perform a ribbon cutting ceremony on the Foundation’s MiniMoogseum installation in the Orange Peel, once again championing the Bob Moog and his legacy of pioneering synthesis. Check out  the Beastie Boys performing the ribbon cutting ceremony here:

Here’s the embed code to share this video via Youtube:
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Dubbed the “MiniMoogseum,” the eight foot high showcase serves as the first permanent installation of Bob Moog’s archives, including one of his Grammy awards and relics from the early development of Moog synthesizers. Michelle Moog-Koussa, who serves as the Executive Director of the Foundation named after her father, explained that “Over the decades to come, hundreds of thousands of people will see the installation as they visit the Orange Peel…” which was recently voted in the top five in the country by Rolling Stone magazine.  The “MiniMoogseum” can be thought of as a small scale version of the future “Moogseum“, coming soon to the Asheville area.

Beastie Boys join a growing group of celebrity musicians, including Stevie Wonder, Keith Emerson, and Billy Corgan who have all voiced their support of the Foundation’s mission to teach science to children using musical instruments. In the video the band expresses that they are “…proud and happy to be here at the beginning of this beautiful thing…..the Moogseum.” They continue by saying “There should be a Moog synthesizer in every classroom.”

This video marks the first in a new series of videos and blogs that the Foundation is calling “Voices” — reflections and ideas from the wider Moog community, focused on how Bob Moog inspired their creativity.

Making the MiniMoogseum a Reality: Volunteers and Sponsors

The MiniMoogseum was designed and built by a team of  volunteers and sponsors—the foundation playfully refers to them as “Rockstars”–including Gene Felice, Chris Perryman, Steve Dunnington and Mike Pieo.

Materials for the project were donated by Cormark International, Speed Graphics, Moog Music, Asheville Hardware and Henco Reprographics. This project is the first step in an iterative process for the Foundation. The full-sized Moogseum, scheduled to open in four years, will feature interactive and experiential exhibits that inspire the next generation of “Bob Moog” like innovators, as well as an intimate performance area, where musicians from around the world can participate in the Foundation’s programming.

Special thanks to Meg Lauzon, Rhino & Jon Leidel for capturing this even on both video and photo! And a special thanks to the Orange Peel for hosting this amazing event.

First, a quick tour of the software to give credit where it is due.  We use the open source, world-rocking, amazing WordPress content management system, as well as Linux, MySQL and PHP.   We use about a dozen free and open source WordPress plugins, which I won’t list for security reasons, but sincere thanks to all of the developers who have made these systems available and open source.

There are several third-party services that expand our functionality.  We use iContact for our email newsletter, Groundspring for secure online donations, and we based the original design of the site on a template from GraphPaperPress.  The current design of the site is a collaboration of our team, with Gene Felice doing the heaviest lifting.

It would surprise some people to realize just how much we have going on.  Did you know, for example, that we have an iPhone and mobile friendly version of the site?  Yep, we do.

A few other things people might not realize is that we have a regular blog series that will be expanding across the course of 2010.  We maintain a micro-site for the Moogseum at www.Moogseum.com.  Beyond that, we have our Twitter account, Facebook page and Facebook Causes page, a YouTube Channel, a MySpace page and an email newsletter list that reaches somewhere around 5,000 people a month.

[edit:  I also forgot we maintain a Flickr account with lots of great pictures of Bob's Archives.]

Later in the year, I hope that we can be a little more transparent about the traffic to the site, but for now we are not releasing that information.

All of this is in place to help us foster innovation at the intersection of science and music.  So special thanks again to our Rockstar team.  You guys are amazing!

And thank to you, our friends, donors and allies.

–Sean McDonald, board member

p.s.  I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our bloggers–Dave & Seva–and our truly tireless Executive Director, Michelle Moog-Koussa.  This foundation depends on Michelle for everything we do, and she is remarkable in her commitment!