Winter NAMM 2015 in photos: sharing Bob’s legacy with Michael Boddicker’s modular

If you missed us at NAMM, the North American Music Merchants’ twice-a-year trade show, here’s the scoop.

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.

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!