Moog Music |
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Obviously the name Moog has adorned many instruments and some strange ones too such as telephone systems, but that's another story. I don't plan to cover all of them here, just a couple maybe. |
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The Minimoog Model D had its roots in the R.A. Moog era for sure, first breaking musical cover in August 1970 for the "Jazz in the Garden" series of concerts. It wasn't long before R.A. Moog was sold to Bill Waytena, whose company Musonics then became Moog/Musonics in early 1971. The Musonics part of the name was soon dropped and so Moog Music was born. |
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| The Model D is certainly one of the most cited instruments in synth development circles. Oddly it nearly didn't happen, more oddly even, because Bob Moog wasn't as involved in it's inception as is commonly perceived. I hope more accurate accounts will be published with a future book, but there are several more general books such as "Analog Days" that touch on this. | |
| Thankfully it was produced and it survived being passed from company to company too. Such has been the appeal of the Minimoog. that many imitators have tried to cash-in on it, now the current Moog Music have at last, re-issued it in a faithful form (though still with a few upgrades) headed by the talented Mr. Gene Stopp. Nearly every analogue synth since has followed the Mini's basic model, yet few have caught the magic that until you've played one can appreciate. | |
| As a youth, I'd heard all the "hype" that was levelled at the Mini, it was THE monosynth, and so when I had the chance to acquire one via my local music shop I jumped at the chance. It was 1988 or so and I put my £400 down a went home a very excited chap. The gloss soon wore off though, it sounded like a dying cat and was a scratchy as a gorsebush. It wouldn't track so stay in tune with itself and was a mess. It probably hadn't seen calibration since leaving the factory. Such was my frustration that I took it back and got a refund. Why it never occurred to me or was never suggested to get it serviced I don't know. there were surely tech about, but I was young and naive. | |
| So back then I passed the Minimoog by without having felt any connection and it was only more recently, spurred on by some true Minimoog devotees, that I finally found a decent one and took the plunge, adding it to the studio roster. I can say that I do now know what everyone means, it has a certain something that is much more than the sum of its parts... | |
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Next up, the Multimoog |
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