Geary Yelton assists in moving into the new Moogseum space at 56 Broadway Street, Asheville, NC in 2018

Dedicated to the Bob Moog Foundation: Making a Bequest 

Written by Geary Yelton

Like most older electronic musicians, I recognize Bob Moog’s contributions to the path my life has taken. Without Bob, it’s unlikely that synthesizers would have become such an important element of popular music during my formative years. It’s personally important to me that his legacy continues. I’ve tried to give back by volunteering and supporting the Bob Moog Foundation in any way I could. Every year I host a Facebook fundraiser for the BMF on my birthday, for example, and I currently serve on the foundation’s Board of Advisors.

Another way I’ve found to contribute is by remembering the Bob Moog Foundation in my will and making the BMF a beneficiary of my retirement account. That way, I know I’ll continue to support the foundation’s mission after I’m gone. I figure it’s the least I could do. If you recognize the value of the Moogseum, Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool, and other efforts to preserve Bob’s legacy, then I urge you to consider contributing to the Bob Moog Foundation now and in the future.

First Contact

My first real interaction with Bob was when we worked on a book together. It was a follow-up to my 1989 book Music and the Macintosh, an anthology called The Musical PC [MIDI America, 1992]. As the book’s editor and a contributor, I collaborated with seven other authors. Bob wrote the sections on music education software. We became acquainted via phone and email during our conversations on that project. He invited me to visit him at his workshop at Big Briar in Leicester, but regrettably I failed to follow through.

After that Bob and I always spoke to one another at NAMM Shows, both in Anaheim and in Nashville. I’d been writing for Electronic Musician since its first issue in 1985, and by 2000 I was working full-time as an EM editor. When Bob and his company introduced the Minimoog Voyager in 2002, I was assigned to review it. At the time I lived in Charlotte, so we arranged for Bob and Moog engineer Steve Dunnington to give me an overview of the Voyager before I took one home to explore. On a later occasion Bob and I had lunch in Asheville with EM’s publisher and some of the Moog Music staff.

Bob Moog with Moog Voyager

In 2005, like everyone else, I learned that Bob had a brain tumor. I hoped for the best and feared the worst. On August 21st my worst fears were realized when Bob passed away. Immediately after his touching memorial service at the Orange Peel in Asheville, I was invited (along with Wendy Carlos and a few other out-of-town visitors) to visit the home he shared with his second wife Ileana Grams. A year later, Bob’s daughter Michelle Moog-Koussa, whom I’d never met, announced the formation of the nonprofit Bob Moog Foundation.

Because I was Electronic Musician’s senior editor and I always held Bob in such high regard, my relationship with the foundation was probably inevitable. I lived only two hours from Asheville and synthesizers were my beat, making me the obvious choice to report on any stories about Moog Music or the BMF.

Event Horizons

The first foundation event I attended was Enter the Mind of Moog, a fundraiser at the Orange Peel in November 2007. I had my video camera and interviewed several of the event’s organizers, including executive director Michelle. The event was quite a success and attracted a sizable crowd of supporters.

Vintage Moog synthesizers at Enter the Mind of Moog Event, November 2007

In February 2009 I traveled to Knoxville to cover the very first Big Ears Festival. The BMF had a booth distributing information, and I ended up hanging out with Michelle and several foundation volunteers. Three months later I attended another fundraiser at the Orange Peel, this time in celebration of Bob’s 75th birthday. Again, I interviewed several of the foundation’s volunteers and supporters on camera. As I had with her father, I also spoke with Michelle every year when I attended the NAMM Show.

In May 2010 I relocated to Asheville. Three people showed up at my new home to help me unload the moving truck: Michelle, her son Gregory, and then-marketing director for Moog Music Chris Stack. The next afternoon Michelle invited me to her home to celebrate her mother Shirleigh’s birthday, and Shirleigh gave me a copy of her cookbook. I quickly realized that moving to Asheville had been an outstanding decision. Less than four weeks later, the BMF held another successful fundraiser called Moogus Operandi, featuring Erik Norlander and his massive modular Moog, the Wall of Doom. Echo Mountain Recording hosted a VIP party for the BMF the night before.

Erik Norlander and his “Wall of Doom” at Moogus Operandi. Photo: Jon Leidel

As luck would have it, October 2010 was the first time that Moogfest was held in Asheville, and Keyboard magazine assigned me to cover it. The BMF was a big part of the festival, of course. I served on two panels during the festival—one the foundation organized and one Moog Music organized. I covered subsequent Moogfests in Asheville the three following years, as well as a similar festival called Mountain Oasis in 2014, where I was invited to interview electronic rock legend Gary Numan on stage in front of 500 people. The Bob Moog Foundation was an integral part of those four festivals, as well.

The following year, Michelle recruited Erik Norlander to host a synth training video, and I was part of the camera crew. Unfortunately, the video never got past the editing stage and was never released. The year after that, Michelle invited me to join the team putting together the curriculum for Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool. We met for several weeks in a row, and I focused mostly on preparing second-grade teachers to teach schoolkids about the physics of sound.

Words of Advice

At some point Michelle and I began taking walks together in downtown Asheville. We’d discuss whatever issues the foundation was facing, and she would consider my opinions. She suggested the idea of creating an advisory board and asked me to draw up a proposal. Eventually BMF’s Board of Directors agreed to recruit a group of industry luminaries to serve in an advisory capacity, and the BMF Board of Advisors was born.

As a BMF volunteer, I’ve also written and edited press releases and other materials, folded T-shirts in the Moogseum store, helped move the foundation’s offices and its archival collection from one location to another, taken part in many fundraisers, and generally beat the drum in the press on behalf of the BMF. I’ve even pitched any pop stars I met to support the foundation whenever I had the chance.

Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool installation at UNC-Asheville event

Every step of the way, I helped disseminate news about the BMF in Electronic Musician, Keyboard, and Synth and Software, doing whatever I could to draw attention to their important work. For a couple months in early 2019 I was an actual paid BMF staffer, selecting the instruments and then researching and writing the Moogseum’s history of synthesizers. I wrote a cover story about the Moogseum in the inaugural issue of Synth and Software and another major story about the Moogseum’s grand opening, an event called Moogmentum, the following month.

Launching the Moogseum was the realization of a dream that began by restoring Bob Moog’s archival collection, including prototype instruments, drawings, photos, schematics, recordings, and other ephemera from his life. That effort continues to this day. In addition, the foundation’s educational efforts have enriched the lives of thousands of schoolchildren by giving them hands-on experience that helps them understand the connections between music and science. Please join me in doing what you can to ensure that the Bob Moog Foundation’s efforts continue into the future.

The post Dedicated to the Bob Moog Foundation: Making a Bequest first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.

The post The Bob Moog Foundation Joins Music Hackspace, the MIDI Association, and NAMM for the MIDI Innovation Awards first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.

Our Executive Director, Michelle Moog-Koussa, will present “Insights Into An Innovator: Bob Moog” as part of NAMM’’s TEC Talks at the 2017 NAMM Convention. The presentation, based on materials recently uncovered in the Moog family’’s archive of historical materials, will showcase several of the archive’’s thousands of photos and documents, many of them never before shared publicly. The event will be held at 10:30am on Saturday, January 21, 2017 in room 202A of the Anaheim Convention Center.

Through the presentation, Ms. Moog-Koussa will reveal formative elements in her father’’s early life that led to his career as synthesizer pioneer, sharing a unique selection of materials that includes vintage family photos, as well as documents including various school records, and correspondence between a young Bob Moog and close relatives. Michelle shared some related items from the family archives last summer through the Foundation’s Bob Moog Timeline. Since that time, hundreds of new items have been discovered, offering unprecedented insight into Bob’s young inclinations that lead to his later career.

Young Bob Moog in the family wagon with his dog Scrappy as his mother Shirley Moog looks on, 1944.

Michelle has always been interested in her father being understood as a complete human being, beyond the shell of an iconic figure. She has been enlightened by some of the discoveries she has made in the last six months through exploring thousands of new items in a vast collection of materials gifted to her by her mother, Shirleigh Moog.  Debuting these new glimpses of Dr. Moog at NAMM is particularly powerful for Moog-Koussa. “NAMM was always a very meaningful event for my father, and for the past 10 years it has been for me as well. It’s only fitting to reveal much of this material for the first time among the industry that played such an integral part in the Moog legacy.”

The Bob Moog Foundation, founded by the inventor’’s family, friends, and colleagues, recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Its mission is to ignite creativity at the intersection of science, music, and innovation, enlightening over 1,500 second grade students per year through their innovative science curriculum, Dr. Bob’’s SoundSchool. They also maintain the Bob Moog Foundation Archive, a robust collection of schematics, instruments, prototypes, notebooks, photos, vintage catalogs and more.

Headquartered in Asheville, NC, the Bob Moog Foundation is an independent 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization and is not associated with the company Moog Music, Inc.

The post Michelle Moog-Koussa to Present Insights Into An Innovator at NAMM 2017 first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.

 

Bernie Worrell pioneered the use of the synthesizer in funk beginning in the early 1970s, paving the way for so many who came after him. The musical community was the fortunate beneficiary of his tremendous talents, which he shared through his work with Parliament-Funkadelic and Talking Heads, among many others. His work is at once as fundamental as it was revolutionary, in that it is among the most sampled by other musicians.

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To learn more about Bernie, listen to this recent segment from NPR,

or this short but fascinating interview with him from NAMM Oral Histories.

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Bernie passed away on June 24, 2016 at age 72, after battling lung and liver cancer. Along with legions of other fans worldwide, we were deeply saddened by this loss.

Bernie was a musical luminary and a gentle, humble human being. He was also a great friend of the Bob Moog Foundation. He is deeply missed.

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2010

Bernie backstage at Mioogfest 2010, showing his support for the Bob Moog Foundation.

 

Moogfest 2010. Hanging out with Bob Moog Foundation friends Jason Daniello (Moog Music), Nick Montoya, Bernie, Michelle Moog-Koussa, Steve Fortner (Keyboard Magazine), Gregory Koussa.

 

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2011

Bernie generously donated sounds to Spectrasonics’ Bob Moog Tribute Library, the sales of which directly benefit the Bob Moog Foundation.

 

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2013

At Winter NAMM 2013 at the Bob Moog Foundation booth, exploring a duophonic Minimoog modified by engineer Doug Slocum of Synthetic Sound Labs.

 

 

Bernie visits with Michelle Moog-Koussa at the NAMM 2013 booth. He was digging our Minimoog couch.

 

Bernie was a guest artist during our teaching session with a group of students in the Turks and Caicos. He was present, humble, and loving with the kids, and was a fantastic teacher. They all loved him, and they were thrilled when he taught them how to play the synth lead from “Flash Light.”

 

 

Bernie Worrell’s gloved, guiding hands. He taught us all so much. What a legacy.

 

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2016

At Moogfest 2016, Bernie graciously granted us an interview for “Electronic Voyager,” our upcoming documentary about Bob Moog. He’s pictured here with Michelle Moog-Koussa, a month before his passing.

 

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Bernie also appears in the “Moog” documentary by Hans Fjellestad (2004).

You can read much more about Bernie and sign his guestbook at his website, bernieworrell.com.

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Rest in Funk, Bernie Worrell! With love and gratitude for your indelible contributions to music and humanity, you are missed!

 

The post Photo Retrospective: Bernie Worrell & the Bob Moog Foundation first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.

We shared Bob’s legacy by way some special guests: a historic Moog modular, Bode vocoder, and Minimoog controller for attendees to explore, shared with us by top composer and session musician Michael Boddicker.

Michael Boddicker and his historic custom, vintage Moog modular.

Here’s a partial list of the works in which this system was used. From Saturday Night Fever to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, this is likely the most-recorded modular synthesizer in existence:

Read more about the history of the Boddicker modular we shared at NAMM here. 

Also the host of our 2014 Ignite Gala in Encino, CA, Boddicker has worked with artists including Lionel Richie, Donna Summer, Quincy Jones, Barbara Streisand, George Benson, Olivia Newton-John, Joe Cocker, and Whitney Houston. A longtime close friend of Bob Moog, Boddicker is also known for his work scoring movies including Flashdance, Buckaroo Banzai, Apocalypse Now, and more.

Archive and Education Specialist Marc Doty demonstrated the instrument throughout the conference, for all ages. Read more about the effect a vintage modular had on a 2015 audience in Doty’s own post here: INSERT POST

We shared Bob’s spirit of innovation by opening up our booth space to a new company, ‘Vo, built around Moog Guitar inventor Paul Vo’s groundbreaking work incorporating acoustic synthesis. Also the inventor of the  Vo-96 Acoustic Synthesizer, Paul Vo observes that “through acoustic synthesis, we can explore the sonic possibilities of acoustic instruments, and even previously unimagined objects of acoustic art, with the same depth we now explore electronic instruments.”

And of course, we welcomed many friends who worked with Bob and his creations to shape electronic music across the decades. This year honored guests in our booth included Keith Emerson, Stevie Wonder, Yes/Moody Blues keyboardist Patrick Moraz, Gary Numan, TONTO co-creator Malcolm Cecil, Prince keyboardist Morris Hayes, Moog legacy legend Herb Deutsch, and many more.

Here are some photo highlights from our annual journey to share Bob’s indelible legacy with the music-makers and innovators of NAMM. See you next time, Anaheim!

The Waveform Gang: we spent four days at NAMM sharing Bob’s legacy, letting visitors explore Michael Boddicker’s magnificent vintage modular. Our team L-R: rock star volunteers Susan Granados and Scott Kenney, ED Michelle Moog-Koussa, Archive and Education Specialist Marc Doty.

Our executive director Michelle Moog-Koussa with legendary synthesist Keith Emerson.

Another living legend, Stevie Wonder, visits Michelle and our booth, 5410.

Archive and Education Specialist Marc talks with Stevie Wonder–in front of Michael Boddicker’s magnificent custom, vintage Moog modular.

Our ED Michelle with Gary Numan.

Volunteer Scott Kenney with the magnificent Patrick Moraz.

Michelle with Patrick Moraz and his wife, Phyllis Moraz.

Top session keyboardist Michael Boddicker with Malcolm Cecil of TONTO’s Expanding Head Band. Boddicker’s modular on the far right.

Michael Boddicker’s Bode Vocoder, shared with visitors to our booth at NAMM.

Michael’s Formula Sound Multiple Resonance Filter Array, shared at NAMM.

Another shot of the vocoder.

Michael’s Minimoog in the foreground.

Custom built for Michael Boddicker.

A NAMM attendee controlling the Boddicker Modular with a Minimoog: this is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime experience we offer at NAMM.

A NAMM student attendee geeks out of Michael Boddicker’s extraordinary resume as a musician and composer. His modular is possibly the most recorded Moog modular in existence.

With Morris Hayes, keyboardist for Prince! Clockwise from top right: Morris Hayes, Tony Karavidas from Dave Smith Instruments, our director Michelle, board member Jerry Kovarsky, Archive and Education Specialist Marc Doty.

our ED Michelle Moog-Koussa with her colleague David Wish of Little Kids Rock. We teach science; Little Kids Rock teaches music. We both offer students life-changing experiences.

Synthesizer historian Mark Vail with our own Marc Doty.

Rock star Foundation volunteer Susan Granados and the Boddicker Modular, as shared by our friends at Keyboard magazine.

Our ED Michelle Moog-Koussa with Maf Lewis and Tara Busch of I Speak Machine.

Kris Myer (drums) and Joel Cummins (keyboards) of Umphreys McGee!

David Rosenthal (keyboardist and music director, Billy Joel) with his protégé Michael Arrom. At 19 years old, Michael has already toured with Steve Vai. Bob’s legacy is endlessly inspiring the next generation.

Our ED Michelle Moog-Koussa with programmer/keyboard tech Lamar Mitchell.

Lamar explores the Boddicker modular with Marc. Minimoog controller in the foreground.

Moog legacy legend at NAMM: Herbert Deutsch with our ED Michelle Moog-Koussa and Archive and Education Specialist Marc Doty. In the back, Bob watches over booth 5410.

Marc and Michelle with Johnny Hunkins, son of educator and experimental composer Art Hunkins, an early adopter of the Moog modular. Read more about Art Hunkins’ donation of a Moog modular to the Foundation’s archive here: https://moogfoundation.org/unc-g-bestows-bmf-with-permanent-loan-of-legendary-modular-synths

Marc with Foundation supporter James Lewin of Synthtopia

Michelle with Huston Singletary, East Coast territory manager for Ableton

Bob Moog Foundation hero Michael Boddicker (with wife Edie), who loaned the Foundation his vintage modular for us to share at NAMM. A gift for us, and everyone who visited booth 5410.

The post Winter NAMM 2015 in photos: sharing Bob’s legacy with Michael Boddicker’s modular first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.

It may very well be the Moog modular that you’ve heard the most in your life, even if you’ve never heard of it.

The Michael Boddicker Moog modular synthesizer.

Michael didn’t waste any time getting into music. With stats like “started playing the accordion at 2 years old,” and “working on composition and orchestration at 12,” it was pretty evident the boy was going to be a musician.

The work of Wendy Carlos (Switched-On Bach) and Dick Hyman (The Minotaur) in 1969 inspired him to pursue electronic music studies at Coe College. In 1971, he began full-time collegiate studies, while still completing high school. 1972 saw him taking contemporary songwriting at Coe, and jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin.

Wendy Carlos: Switched-On Bach

In 1973, Michael purchased an ARP 2600, a powerful portable modular synthesizer.

The ARP 2600 from the Bob Moog Foundation Archives.

Michael’s first exposure to a Moog modular synthesizer occurred in 1973 when he was taking 20th century composition at the University of Iowa, which had a Moog system. A less collegiate exposure to the device was when he snuck backstage during an Emerson Lake and Palmer concert that year, and hid in Keith Emerson‘s dressing room. From that vantage, he studied how Emerson performed with his Moog modular.

Keith Emerson playing his modular.

During this time, Michael had been writing music, and some of it for paid gigs. He even wrote music for Bill Cosby‘s album. In 1974, Michael moved to Los Angeles, began auditioning and haunting music business buildings, and very nearly starved to death.

In this challenging time, Michael was mentored by none other than Paul Beaver, the man who was largely responsible for exposing the West Coast to the Moog synthesizer: Paul introduced the Moog synthesizer at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and played the Moog on some of the first rock records to feature the device. Paul would loan Michael his Minimoog for gigs and for study.

Michael used the manuals for the ARP 2600 and the ARP Odyssey and translated patches for those synthesizers to the Minimoog. This process gave him a greater understanding of the Minimoog.

Paul Beaver with his Moog modular

Michael’s musical ability and synthesis prowess led him to a variety of session and writing work that took him from near-starvation to success.

In 1975, Michael was able to purchase his own Minimoog and a Moog System 15 modular synthesizer. As a result of his purchase, a dialogue began between Michael, Bob Moog, and Dave Luce, inventor of the Polymoog. This dialogue led to Michael being asked to demonstrate the new Moog polyphonic synthesizer, the Polymoog, at the summer NAMM convention.

The Moog Polymoog Synthesizer

The Moog System 15 modular

Bob Moog with Dave Luce looking at the Constellation system

Summer NAMM 1975 featured Michael Boddicker demonstrating the new Polymoog. At one of these demonstrations, Bob Moog and Les Paul walked in and sat down. It wasn’t easy for Michael to perform for such esteemed guests, but he did. This convention was the beginning of a friendship between Bob and Michael Boddicker.

Bob Moog with Les Paul

Michael had famed Moog engineer Rich Walborn modify his Minimoog so that it could be somewhat modular and control his System 15s. This combination of Minimoog and System 15 was often what he would carry to recording sessions. The arrangement inspired the purchase of another System 15.

Moog engineer Rich Walborn

In 1976, Michael bought an expanded Moog System 55 modular that was hand-delivered by Bob Moog, and even featured a personalized panel.

The Moog System 55 synthesizer

Bob would borrow Michael’s modular for various engagements. When Bob was in town, he would stay at Michael’s beach house, and they would often have dinner together. Some cherished memories from this time for Michael included going for walks on the beach with Bob, and even going for a swim together.

Around the time of his work with David Shire on the soundtrack for Apocalypse Now, Michael purchased the Bode/Moog Vocoder and the Formula Sound Multiple Resonance Filter Array from Bob.

Bob was responsible for some of the first efforts in taking the communication device that was the vocoder and converting it to a musical instrument. In 1968, he built a vocoder for the University of New York at Buffalo, and in 1970, he helped convert part of Wendy Carlos’ modular into one.

In 1979, Moog Music took Harald Bode‘s vocoder design and created the Moog vocoder. Michael’s personal vocoder, used on many well-known songs, will be present in the Bob Moog Foundation booth at NAMM 2015.

The Formula Sound Multiple Resonance Filter Array

The Moog Vocoder

The Multiple Resonance Filter Array was a device made to generate resonances in various sounds, and was especially effective as a “string filter,” a device that applied the resonances of strings to synthesizer sounds, making them sound more string-like. Michael’s personal Multiple Resonance Filter Array will also appear at the Bob Moog Foundation booth at NAMM 2015.

Michael’s compositional work, his session recording work, and his synthesis work continued to become more popular. Today, his fingerprints are all over many of the most famous songs and movies from the late ’70s and ’80s (and more). His modular is one of the most historically significant electronic instruments of 1970-1980, and we are honored to share this instrument at NAMM.

Michael Boddicker is a living embodiment of the power of Bob Moog’s innovation, and his work is an enduring pillar of Bob Moog’s legacy. Through his musical gifts and skills, his mastery of the process of synthesis, and through the incredible catalog of his popular and culturally relevant work, Michael is a prime example of how Bob Moog’s legacy can inspire creativity and innovation, and drive success.

Much of his work below involved the Moog modular synthesizer on display in the Bob Moog Foundation booth at NAMM 2015. Here’s an abbreviated list of the artists he has recorded for and recordings and movies which used Michael’s modular system, Minimoog, vocoder, and/or string filter:

The Jacksons, The Jacksons

“I Heard That,” Quincy Jones

Roots (the television series)

“Lido,” Boz Scaggs

Saturday Night Fever

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

The Deep

King Kong

The Black Hole

“Lost Without Your Love,” Bread

“Short People,” Randy Newman

“Totally Hot,” Olivia Newton-John

The Wiz

Off the Wall Michael Jackson

“Surrender,” Cheap Trick

“On Top of the World,” Cheap Trick

“Shake Your Body Down to the Ground,” The Jacksons

Battlestar Galactica original television series theme

Apocalypse Now

Xanadu

Heaven Can Wait

“99,” Toto

“Let’s Groove Tonight,” Earth Wind & Fire (vocoder)

“He’s So Shy,” Pointer Sisters

“Suddenly,” Olivia Newton-John (vocoder and string filter)

“Magic,” Olivia Newton-John

“Physical,” Olivia Newton-John

“We Got the Beat,” The Go-Gos

“Gloria,” Laura Branigan

Thriller, Michael Jackson

“You Are,” Lionel Richie

“Imagination,” Laura Branigan (Michael Boddicker composer [Flashdance][Grammy])

“I Love LA,” Randy Newman

“All Night Long,” Lionel Richie

Buckaroo Banzai (Michael Boddicker Composer)

“Sunset Grill,” Don Henley

“Footloose” Kenny Loggins

Theme from “The Natural,” Randy Newman

“Dancing on the Ceiling,” Lionel Richie

“We are the World,” various artists

“Somewhere,” Barbra Streisand

Fatal Attraction’s infamous rabbit scene

Bad, Michael Jackson

The Mosquito Coast

No Way Out

Hunt for Red October, “clunking sounds”

Milo & Otis (composer)

Dangerous, Michael Jackson

And more…

The post Bob Moog Foundation Modular Legacy at NAMM: in 2015, the Michael Boddicker modular synthesizer first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.

Tabulating Leading Indicators of Early Moog Influence

I want to look back to four years that changed electronic music history. The years were 1967 to 1970, the first years during which Bob Moog’s Modular Synthesizer were widely available. Much has been written about the engineering of this synthesizer, and Bob Moog’s instruments even today are still regarded as the Gold Standard in electronic music instrumentation.

The years 1967 to 1970 are interesting because the Moog Modular was nearly the only synthesizer being used at the time. What allowed Moog to rise above these other instruments were its musician-friendly controls and extensive modularity, allowing a studio, school, or individual to build an instrument meeting various budgets and needs. From its early designs, the Moog Modular was equipped with a piano-style keyboard controller for playing notes (triggering voltages). In addition to Range and Scale controls, the keyboard controller included the innovative Portamento control for gliding from one note to another. As such, it was immediately embraced by musicians working in nearly every popular genre of music.

Music Recordings, Imitation and Influence

An instrument alone means little without experiencing the music made with it. Listening to early music using the Moog Modular gets to the heart of what inspired so many musicians and the emergence of an entire industry. For this reason, I have been engaged in collecting, documenting, and preserving every commercial recording of the Moog Modular synthesizer that appeared between the years 1967 and 1970. This period was the heyday of the Moog Modular, when synthesizers were expensive and mostly sold to an eclectic mix of recording studios, university music schools, producers of music for media, and private individuals who had the means to afford one.

Commercial music recordings are a great source of data. They can tell you about music and musical styles from a bygone era, but they can also tell you about the use and geographic distribution of technology. Liner notes can provide vital clues to the people, technology, and relationships involved in the emerging phenomenon of electronic music. Naturally, this led to a cascade of accelerating innovation and imitators, both in the making of music and the making of synthesizers.

But what did the world of synthesis look like during these formative years? I thought it would be fun to tabulate a few leading indicators of the Moog’s influence based on what I have found by following the instrument and recordings made with it.

By the Numbers—Moog Modular Influence, 1967–1970

Number of commercial synthesizer makers in 1970: 4 (Moog, Buchla, EMS, ARP)

Estimated total retail value of the worldwide synthesizer market in 1970: $2,028,000

Percentage of Moog’s market share in 1970: 90

Estimated U.S. market for Electronic Music Instruments in 2012 (NAMM stats for sales of keyboard synths, rhythm machines, controller keyboards, electronic pianos and organs): $226,000,000

Percentage of Moog’s market share in 2012: 4.4

Value of the worldwide electronic music genre (instruments, artists, recordings) in 2012 (Association for Electronic Music): $4,000,000,000

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Number of commercial synthesizer makers in the 1970s: 33

Number of commercial synthesizer makers in the 1980s: 36

Number of commercial synthesizer makers in 2013: 127

Portion of that number producing software-only instruments: 97

Number of companies that introduced analog synthesizers in 1978 that were still in business eight years later: 6 of 18

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Moog Modular Recordings Multiply, 1967–1970

Number of commercial recordings made using the Moog Modular Synthesizer that were released from 1967 to 1970: 223**

Percentage of these from 1967: 7

Percentage of these from 1968: 21

Percentage of these from 1969: 28

Percentage of these from 1970: 44

Paul Beaver (pictured here) along with Bernie Krause, were the Most Sought-After Moog Modular Musicians

Percentage of all 223 recordings on which Paul Beaver and/or Bernie Krause operated the Moog Modular Synthesizer: 30

Estimated number of motion picture soundtracks (mostly unreleased on record) for which Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause contributed Moog sounds from 1967 to 1970: 150

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Percentage of Moog recordings made in Los Angeles area: 30

Percentage made in New York: 25

Percentage made in London: 5

Percentage of London Moog recordings made using George Harrison’s Abbey Road instrument: 60

Number of songs on the Abbey Road album featuring the Moog: 4 (“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” “I Want You,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Because”)

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The First Rock Recording to use a Moog

The first rock recordings with a credit for the Moog Modular Synthesizer:  The Electric Flag’s soundtrack for The Trip (The Electric Flag with Paul Beaver, September 9,1967; Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. (the Monkees, November 11, 1967)

Most famous musician to buy a Moog Modular but never use it: Jimi Hendrix

Switched-on Bach by Wendy Carlos, the Top-Selling Exclusively Moog Recording of All Time

Number of weeks Switched-on Bach (released November 1968) was number 1 on the Billboard classical music charts: 153

By 1970, number of other Moog albums with the words “Switched-On” in their title: 11

Number of Moog Christmas albums released by 1970: 3

• A Very Merry Electric Christmas to You (Douglas Leedy)
• Switched-on Santa (Sy Mann, Jean Jacques Perrey)
• Christmas Becomes Electric (The Moog Machine)

Number of weeks on the Billboard charts by the next most popular mostly-Moog recording of the time, Moog: The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman: 23

Months between the release of Dick Hyman’s Moog single The Minotaur (March 1969) and Lucky Man by Emerson Lake & Palmer: 23

Musical genres making use of the Moog Modular Synthesizer in recordings by 1970: popular, rock, folk, jazz, classical, country, Broadway, motion picture soundtracks; experimental

First successful cover version of a Moog composition: Popcorn by Hot Butter (1972), a remake of Gershon Kingsley’s song Pop Corn (1969)

Country in which Popcorn was most popular: France

Number of cover versions of Popcorn since 1972: 51

Percent of these cover versions made in Europe: 95

Rarest early Moog Modular recording: Drift Study 4:37:40-5:09:50 PM 5 VIII 68 NYC, by La Monte Young (1968)

Number of copies released of Drift Study (reel-to-reel tape): 25

*Much of this blog is derived from “Confessions of a Moog Discographer,” a lecture I gave at Brown University on November 21, 2013.

**Based on the current number of recordings in my growing archive.

Thom Holmes is a music historian and composer specializing in the history of electronic music and recordings. He is the author of the textbook, Electronic and Experimental Music (fourth edition, Routledge 2012) and writes the blog, Noise and Notations. For his ongoing project, The Sound of Moog, he is archiving every known early recording of the Moog Modular Synthesizer.

Twitter: Thom_Holmes

blog: Noise and Notations

http://www.thomholmes.com/

The post Thom Holmes: Indexing the Moog Modular from 1967-1970 first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.

The NAMM show 2013, which took place in Anaheim, CA January  24-27,  was a resounding success for the Bob Moog Foundation.  From demos of vintage analog synthesizers, to the MiniWoouf sofa being the place to hang out, to a surprise visit from Stevie Wonder, to an amazing panel experience with legendary synthesist Michael Boddicker, the photos of NAMM 2013 are a reflection of the rich presence that the Foundation makes everywhere they take Bob’s legacy.

The Wall of Doom and The Duophonic Minimoog

Marc Doty demonstrates the Wall of Doom and Doug Slocum explains the Duophonic Minimoog’s unique features to Bernie Worrell.

The MiniWoouf Photo Album

Key, from left to right, seven pictures per row.

Row 1:  Asher Fulero of Everyone Orchestra, Bernie Worrell, Bill Purse, Bostich Ramon Amezcua of Shure Inc., Daniel Buettner, Dave Kerzner of Sonic Reality Inc., Diego Stocco.

Row 2: Dr. Lonnie Smith, Erik Norlander, Fernando Moore of Guitar Center Management, Greg Hockman of Fulcrum Acoustic, Huston Singletary of Ableton, Mark Vail author of Vintage Synthesizers, John Giammarrusco of Rock Nation.

Row 3: Jordan Rudess, Kenny Metcalf, CJ Vanston, Mark Hiskey, Michael Boddicker, Michael Gallant of Keyboard Magazine,  Paul De Benedictis of Spectrasonics.

Row 4: Ray Parker Jr., Reek Havok, Rich Formidoni with Korg USA, Inc., Michelle with Simon and Liam, Steve Hart of Live Nation, Tara Busch and Michelle, Vinnie DeLaria and Rodney Washburn of The Music People!.

Stevie Wonder Stops By

Stevie Wonder and Michelle find a few minutes to chat during NAMM 2013.

The post NAMM 2013 in Photos first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.

Someone recently donated this image, found at the botttom of a box of Moog memorobilia,  to us. Can you help us identify this rocker chick?

Here’s what we know: The setting looks like a convention, likely a NAMM show. The keytar is, of course, the first commerically produced portable synthezsizer, the polyphonic Moog Liberation. The year is likely early ’80s, as the Liberation was released by Moog Music, Inc. (Buffalo) in 1980. We also know it’s the eighties by the big hair, big glasses and rockin’ leather pants.

Let us know if you recognize the person, place or year by commenting below.

For a bit more info on the Moog Liberation, check out this ad:

The post Unidentified Liberationist first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.

The post Propellerhead’s NAMM Cam 2009 first appeared on The Bob Moog Foundation.