The Bob Moog Foundation is excited to announce Exploring the Moog Liberation virtual event exploring a lesser known facet of Moog history, and the now legendary keytar synthesizer originally released by the company in 1980. Hosted by August Worley, an engineer at Moog Music, Inc. at the time of production of the Liberation, the event will take attendees on a deep dive into the historical, technical, and musical aspects of this unusual synthesizer. Join us Saturday, December 11th at 3:00 pm EST on the Foundation’s YouTube channel. Tickets are offered on a pay-what-you-can basis and are available for purchase through Eventbrite at https://bit.ly/exploringliberation2021

Exploring the Moog Liberation is the first in a planned series of events to examine vintage synthesizers and components from the Bob Moog Foundation Archives. The Liberation featured in this event was donated to the Archives by Brad Kaenel earlier this year, at which point August Worley performed the formal technical assessment, as well as provided recommendations for its future restoration.

Worley worked for Moog Music from 1980-1985, contributing to the production of many Moog synthesizers including the Minimoog, Prodigy, Liberation, Source, Taurus I and Taurus II, Rogue, Concermate MG-1, Opus-3, and Memorymoog, and served as a design engineer for Big Briar/Moog Music on the MiniMoog Voyager. He is also a technical advisor to the Bob Moog Foundation. 

“The Moog Liberation was innovative not only because it was the first mass-produced keytar synthesizer, but also because it had a very unusual combination of capabilities, which drew their provenance from a variety of other Moog synthesizers,” noted Worley. “It has a rich history and technical background that will be the focus of our discussion during this virtual event.”

Worley will lend unique insights from his time working at the Moog Music factory when it was located in Cheektowaga, New York, and will be sharing historical materials from the Bob Moog Foundation Archives. The event will conclude with questions from the audience.

Exploring the Liberation is one of many virtual events that the Bob Moog Foundation has created since the rise of the pandemic. Past events have included tours of the Moogseum, focusing on different historical themes, an examination of the Moog modular prototype with Herb Deutsch, an exploration of the Big Briar years with Dale Ong and Felix Visser, and a listening party of the Abominatron Tape with Seva Ball. Many of the tours are available through the Foundation’s membership program. https://moogfoundation.org/membership/ 

The Bob Moog Foundation is excited to announce the release of the Bob Moog Foundation 15th Anniversary Miniraze Sound Bank from Seattle-based music technology company MOK. In conjunction with the release of thier new virtual synthesizer Miniraze, MOK has collected over 200 sounds from some of music’s most sought after composers, sound designers, producers, synthesists, and artists, including a signature sound from Mark Mothersbaugh, composer and co-founder of DEVO.

Other contributors include Alessandro Cardinale, Erik Norlander, Taiho Yamada, Drew Neumann, John Enroth (Mutato Muzika composer), Anthony Baldino, Casey Baldwin, Peter Dyer, Chrissy Tignor, Klaus-Peter Rausch, Kelly Marie, Amin Bhatia, John Skippy Lehmkuhl, Michael Boddicker, and Jerry Kovarsky.

“As we do our part to move the art and science of synthesis forward, we recognize that we are standing on the shoulders of giants,” said Taiho Yamada, co-founder and VP of Product at MOK. “It’s hard to imagine within today’s musical landscape, but before Moog synths existed, few people on Earth had ever heard an electronically synthesized sound. There was a sense of exploration and discovery back then that we hope to bring back with Miniraze and the Bob Moog Foundation 15th Anniversary Sound Bank.”

The Bob Moog Foundation 15th Anniversary Miniraze Sound Bank will be available for $49 in the MOK store: https://mok.com/bmf_sound_bank.php

ABOUT MOK
MOK is an innovative music technology company focusing on new forms of audio synthesis and effects. The company was founded by Rob Rampley, Taiho Yamada and Chris Compton, designers and developers whose resumés include such acclaimed products as the Quadrasynth, QS Series, Andromeda, Ion, Micron, Fusion, Venom, GuitarPort, Pod Farm, Guitar Hero, BioTek and Waverazor. For more information, visit mok.com. 

The Bob Moog Foundation is thrilled to announce the realease of Moogmentum, a new dynamic, elegant, and emotional synthesizer-based album from internationally acclaimed recording artist, composer, modular synthesist, sound designer, educator, and clinician Lisa Bella Donna. The album will be released Saturday, August 21, 2021 in a collaboration between the Foundation and record label Behind The Sky Music, and will benefit the Bob Moog Foundation which is celebrating its 15th anniversary and the second anniversary of opening the Moogseum. 

“This record is a very special dedication to the life and work of Robert A. Moog,” states Lisa Bella Donna. “I wanted to tell a story coming from a musician who never had the privilege and pleasure to meet and speak with Bob personally. Rather, this is a story from someone who started on Moog synthesizers very young; about all of the doors it opened in my music and my perception of sound from that point onward.” 

Order Moogmentum in digital format: https://fanlink.to/moogmentum

Order Moogmentum from our Online Store: https://bit.ly/moogmentumcd

Watch the trailer

The 12 stunning tracks on Moogmentum pay homage to the timeless elegance, beauty, and craftsmanship that marked Bob Moog’s 50-year career as a snythesizer pioneer. Weaving together a phenomenal array of vintage and modern Moog synthesizers and sequencers, Bella Donna also incorporates ARP synthesizers, concert percussion, and reel-to-reel tapes. 

“Bob Moog’s work takes us right to the way sound sets the stage for composers of all walks of life,” says Bella Donna.  “The Moog synthesizer is that instrument. The one instrument that connected musicians and free-thinking artists of sound. All through my early years of working with Moog synthesizers, I would think about Bob’s journey and process; how amazing and exciting it must have been dreaming of such far reaching ideas to be so fully realized so quickly. His instruments and his designs have everything to do with the way I compose and realize my own work.”

Launched exactly one year after Bob Moog’s passing on August 21, 2005, the Foundation is celebrating 15 years of preserving Dr. Moog’s legacy by inspiring children and adults of all walks of life to embrace creative thinking through Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool, the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, and the Moogseum. 

“To be invited to collaborate on this record with The Bob Moog Foundation is a thing of miracles,” continues Bella Donna. “It’s also another beautiful way to celebrate the opening of the Moogseum, something I was so grateful to be a part of two years ago. My hope is that this record moves the listener through a series of chapters that gets them in touch with how they first discovered Moog synthesizers and the remarkable impact that they made.”

Lisa Bella Donna performs and teaches “Synthesizer Alchemy” Workshop at Moogmentum 2019. Photos by Tristan Whitney

ABOUT LISA BELLA DONNA:  

Lisa Bella Donna is an internationally acclaimed recording artist, composer, modular synthesist, sound designer, educator, and clinician.  She has decades of experience as a session musician, educator, as well as developing extensive techniques with musique concreté, modular synthesis, analog & digital recording techniques, microtonal music, orchestration & film composition. 

Lisa currently tours all throughout the USA, Japan & Europe performing concerts and conducting workshops and clinics. She has been commissioned for many multichannel audio art installations in the USA and Europe. Lisa continues to inspire synthesists across the world every day from her recording studio in the Appalachian Mountains.

ABOUT BEHIND THE SKY:

Behind The Sky is a record label created by established electronic producer Bluetech, which is committed to releasing high quality limited-edition vinyl presses of analog and modular synthesizer music.  Paying homage to the history of modular synthesizer music and inspired by sci-fi, retro utopian art and futuristic illustration, Behind The Sky aims to showcase artists looking forward to the future of analog synthesizer music.   

Recommended Reading: 

Moogmentum Wows Attendees with Celebration of Music, History, Creativity and Innovation

Announcing “Moogmentum” Grand Opening Celebration of the Moogseum 

June 23, 2021

“In recent years, the BMF has increasingly touched the lives and minds of young people interested in electronic sounds, as well as preserving her father’s legacy for current and future generations to enjoy and draw inspiration from via the Moogseum located in Asheville, North Carolina, USA.” – Sound On Sound

Join host Rob Puricelli and Executive Director Michelle Moog-Koussa in conversation for insights into the making of the Moogseum, unusual items in the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, the impact of the Minimoog, and much more! Listen below, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Listen to Episode 14

Read the accompanying feature: https://www.soundonsound.com/people/bob-moog-foundation-podcast

Executive Director Michelle Moog-Koussa recently sat down with London-based electronic music magazine Resident Advisor to discuss forming the Bob Moog Foundation, archiving her family history, the Moogseum, and the Moogseum’s exhibits in Google Arts & Culture’s Music, Makers & Machines.

Listen to the conversation.

Read the accompanying story: https://ra.co/exchange/561

The Bob Moog Foundation is excited to unveil a special new exhibit opening at the Moogseum: Minimoog Voyager Signature Edition serial #002 signed by Bob Moog.  In addition to being signed, this legendary synthesizer was hand-built, was the first ever sale from the current Moog Music, Inc., and was recently donated to the Bob Moog Foundation Archives by the Board of Directors President, David Mash, who has been its sole owner.

The new First Minimoog Voyager Ever Sold exhibit is part of the Moogseum’s Bob’s Workbech exhibit focusing on modular synthesis and featuring a legendary modular that includes prototype modules from the late ’60s.

“We are thrilled to have this unique synthesizer within the Bob’s Workbench exhibit in the Moogseum,” remarked Michelle Moog-Koussa, Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation. “Alongside the 1967 Moog modular synthesizer, the Voyager represents one of the first, and one of the last of Bob’s synthesizer designs.”

Considered to have been Bob Moog’s crowning achievement, the Minimoog Voyager is a handcrafted, all-analog performance synthesizer that incorporates the features and vast sonic range of the original Minimoog, while adding an exstensive number of new functional improvements to its design. 

In addition to the synthesizer, the new exhibit includes a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Bob Moog, a written reflection about working on the development of the Minimoog Voyager from former Moog engineer August Worley, and a letter from President/CEO of Moog Music, Inc., Mike Adams, detailing the instrument’s origin. The back panel of the Voyager has been carefully removed, and the exhibit has been backed by a mirror to allow visitors to visually explore the intricacies of the synthesizer’s circuitry. 

“In 2002, Berklee awarded Bob an Honorary Doctorate in Music for his lasting contribution to the world of sound and music,” recalls David Mash. “To further honor Bob, Berklee put on a student concert that featured music inspired by Moog synthesizers. I called Bob to ask if he wanted us to use some vintage instruments on stage, and he preferred that we use his latest synthesizer design, a new Minimoog that would be called the ‘Voyager.’ He sent me the instrument in an early stage of completion, including boards labelled ‘Big Briar’, and we used it in the concert. After purchasing the instrument, I sent it back to the factory so it could be completed and brought up to production standards (including replacing the Big Briar boards with updated Moog Music, Inc. boards).”

“This year, I decided that this special instrument should have a special home,” continues Mash, “and where better than the Moogseum, for all to see? It is a small way for me to give back to Bob’s legacy, for all he did to impact my life for the better. It’s a way for us to honor all he did to inspire countless musicians to create new music with his instruments, and all the other synthesizer creators who were moved to design and build their own, furthering the art of electronic sound. I am grateful to have called Bob a friend, and to serve as President of the Bob Moog Foundation Board—whose mission is to ignite creativity at the intersection of music, science, history and innovation.”

A birthday wish to Bob from Board of Directors President, David Mash, reflecting on their friendship and detailing his donation of the Voyager

“As someone who worked alongside Bob to develop the Minimoog Voyager, It is a great pleasure to me that David Mash has graciously donated this first-run MiniMoog Voyager S/N:002 to the Moogseum and that this instrument has come home to Asheville. This instrument is an excellent example of the meticulous craftsmanship that goes into creating a Moog synthesizer, and it is an instrument that should be shared with the patronage of the Moogseum as a tribute to Bob Moog and his timeless legacy.” – August Worley, former Moog engineer

Make advance reservations to visit the Moogseum: https://bit.ly/moogseumtickets

Support the Bob Moog Foundation: http://bit.ly/ContributeBMF

February 26, 2021

Join Executive Director Michelle Moog-Koussa in conversation with Pro Synth Network’s Robbie Puricelli, Ben Simpson, and Cryss Synthient for a live discussion about the various projects at the Bob Moog Foundation (Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool, the Bob Moog Foundation Archives), the Moogseum and the forthcoming documentary Electronic Voyager.

Learn more about the Bob Moog Foundation’s projects by following the links below.

One Ticket Gets You A Chance at Three Different Vintage Synths

THE 2020 TRIFECTA RAFFLE HAS ENDED. Many thanks to the 1,133 participants from 42 countries who purchased 2,283 tickets! The winner will be announced on Friday, October 2, 2020 via our website and social media outlets. 

Big thanks to all who supported this raffle and in turn, are helping the Bob Moog Foundation navigate these challenging times!

UPDATE: Congratulations to the three winners of the 2020 Moog Trifecta Raffle:

If you missed out on the raffle but would like to support the Bob Moog Foundation’s work, please donate here. 

2020 has been no ordinary year, and our new raffle is no ordinary raffle. Instead of offering one vintage Moog synthesizer with a single winner as we’ve often done in the past, we are offering three beautiful, vintage Moog synths that will go to three lucky winners. 

We are excited to announce our 2020 Trifecta Raffle featuring a Moog Rogue, a Moog Prodigy, and a Moog Source. The synthesizers being offered have been fully restored and are in excellent technical and physical condition. Together their collective worth is nearly $7,000.

The raffle begins at 12:01am (ET) on August 31, 2020 and ends on

September 28, 2020 at 11:59pm (ET) or when all tickets are sold.

Tickets are $25 each, 5 for $100, 12 for $200, and 35 for $500.

The raffle is open internationally.

All proceeds benefit the Foundation’s projects: Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool, the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, and the Moogseum. Only 4,500 tickets will be sold.

Tickets can be purchased here

Be sure to review the Rules & Regulations prior to entering.

The raffle will offer three separate prizes to three separate winners: first prize, Moog Source, serial number 2628 (valued at $2,800); second prize, an updated Moog Prodigy, serial number 3078 (valued at $2,500); and the Moog Rogue, serial number 3674 (valued at $1,500) as third prize. The Moog Source and Moog Rogue were expertly restored by Tone Tweakers. The Prodigy was expertly restored by lauded technician Wes Taggart. and has been updated with Synthrotek MST MIDI-to-CV Converter.

All three synthesizers share the robust Moog build and rich sound quality as well as a shared technical lineage rooted in the legendary Minimoog, which is widely known as the most iconic, archetypal analog synthesizer of all time. They were all built at Moog Music’s Buffalo, NY factory.

First Prize – The Moog Source

Produced between 1981-1985, the two oscillator, multi-processor controlled Moog Source  boasted a host of expanded capabilities when compared to the other two synthesizers being offered in the raffle, including two sequencers, an arpeggiator, sample and hold, and 16 memory locations for recalling synth patches.

Here’s what BMF friend, supporter, and Board of Advisor member, and longtime synthesizer aficionado Erik Norlander says about the Source: 

“The Source is the only other Moog synth that comes close to having the “weight” of the Minimoog. Despite the digital control (which is super handy, of course), the audio path remains big and silky, very Minimoog-like in that way. The low end is big and punchy like the Mini, and that makes The Source ideal for bass parts in particular. The packing is also quite cool. It’s a very small instrument and great for travel. But The Source also built like a tank — especially the custom encoder they designed for the Source makes you feel like you’re operating a piece of precision astronomy equipment and not a simple data wheel as on modern synths.”  

The Source has been used by Tangerine Dream, Jan Hammer, Depeche Mode, Devo, Vince Clarke, New Order, Ultravox, Josh Wink, Front Line Assembly, Moog Cookbook, Kitaro, Imperial Drag, The Cars, Phish, The Rentals, King Crimson, Blur, and Gary Numan.

Enter to Win the Source Here 

Second Prize – The Moog Prodigy

The two oscillator Moog Prodigy, produced between 1979-1984, offers saw, triangle, and pulse waveforms, the famous 24dB Moog lowpass filter, ADS/ASR envelope possibilities, portamento, pitch and mod wheels, and a two and a half octave keyboard bed with octave switching capabilities. The LFO with square or triangle waveforms, routes to the filter, oscillators, or both.

The Prodigy being offered has been updated with a Synthrotek MST MIDI-to-CV Converter. 

Say hello to the most prodigious Moog Prodigy ever! The addition of the Synthrotek MST module brings this vintage Moog synth into the digital age. The modification and restoration were performed by none other than Wes Taggart, one of the very best techs in the vintage analog synth universe.

Not only can you control this Prodigy from a MIDI keyboard or sequencer, you can route Velocity, Aftertouch or Mod Wheel MIDI messages directly to the cutoff frequency of the Prodigy’s world-famous Moog filter.

Trust us, there is NOTHING like adding dynamic response to any vintage synth, especially a Moog!

As if all this weren’t enough, the MIDI In on the Synthrotek interface drives its CV and Gate outs, so you can layer another vintage synth with this one-of-a-kind Prodigy via MIDI. Note: the Gate is a positive signal, so you’ll need an invertor or S-trig connection to use another Moog with this bad boy. Note also: the MIDI Out in this implementation functions as a MIDI Thru. The Prodigy strictly functions as a MIDI receiver via the MST.

The Prodigy is used by Überzone, Cirrus, Astral Projection, Fatboy Slim, Depeche Mode, 808 State, Prodigy, Howard Jones, Blur, The New Deal, Solaris, Jimmy Edgar, and the Hippos.

Enter to Win the Prodigy Here

Third Prize – The Moog Rogue

Often described as “small but mighty”, this two-oscillator bass synth was Moog’s answer to making synthesis available to a wider audience. It was designed to be a lead instrument in a multi-synthesizer rig. It offers an LFO, Low Pass Filter, ASR contouring, white noise, and a two and a half octave range.

Erik Norlander makes excellent use of the Rogue in many of his compositions. Here’s his insight into the Rogue’s sonic powers:

“The Rogue is often my secret weapon. Its sound is clear and hi-fi, and it fits in a mix amazingly well, especially when a Minimoog sounds too “big,” as they can do. The Rogue’s modulation section is astoundingly flexible for such a simple interface. The results can be pretty deep. You can get lost for hours creating deep sample-and-hold grooves between the two oscillators, noise generator and self-resonating filter. I used the Rogue to great effect on my long-form Berlin School piece, “Adrift on the Fire Seas of Orion’s Shield” and on the title track of my Threshold album in the LFO-driven breakdown section. I can always pick out that synth in an instant.”

The Rogue is used by Peter Gabriel, Add N To (X), 808 State, Stereolab, Mr. Oizo and KMFDM.

Enter to Win the Rogue Here 

Raffle ends on September 28th at 11:59pm (ET) or when all 4,500 tickets are sold. 

Enter to win here!