Robert Moog (rhymes with 'vogue') influenced electronic music like no other, not
as an artist, but as the inventor of the original (and many say definitive)
synthesizer. At 15 years old, he built his own theremin from the instructions
in the magazine Radio and TV News and at 19 he established the R. A. Moog Company where he initially
sold theremin kits. Over the
following decades he would complete 2 bachelor’s degrees in physics and
electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University in engineering
physics.
Shortly after this, Robert Moog would invent the Moog
modular synthesizer, which was the first to use ADSR (attack, decay, sustain,
release) envelopes and low-pass filters that became the foundation for all
other synthesizer instruments. This allowed for the synthesis of horn, string,
and vocal sounds that were previously unheard of. Moog would continue to design
and build Theremins, synthesizers, and eventually guitar effects, amplifiers,
and digital effects; over 20 unique products in all.
His first modular synths were huge, much too large to
perform live, so they were confined to studio settings. Early electronic music
bands, such as Kraftwerk, embraced Moog’s products. In 1968, the album Switched-On Bach by Wendy Carlos
featured the relatively unknown instrument. This record was a complete recreation of 12 compositions of J. S. Bach using the Moog synthesizer. The album won 3 Grammy Awards in 1969, giving world-wide attention to this new electronic music innovation. In
1971, he built the Minimoog, a smaller, portable, and affordable synthesizer that exploded onto the live music scene.
The list of artists and bands that have used Bob Moog’s
instruments would be too much to annotate here. It may be easier to list the
artists that HAVEN’T used Moog synths. Moog’s designs are still being recreated
today in the form of DAW plug-ins. New versions of his synthesizers and
low-pass filters are still being sold for hundreds and even thousands of
dollars. Ever the innovator, he was still developing new technologies and
products up until his passing in 2005. Bob Moog’s legacy lives on through his
impact on literally every genre of popular music.
Johnathan,
ReplyDeleteI think your blog on Robert Moog is very interesting. I really like how you went through his history and gave a lot of background info on him. I just had a conversation with my vocal teacher about Moog and was going to do a little research on him myself, so I just had to leave a comment on it. It’s really cool to learn that he was the first to use ADSR and lowpass filters. He’s definitely the reason we have a majority of the music we have today from dance to pop, so many musicians use his technology, but you already know that.
Hello Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteI thought your choice of Robert Moog for this post was a very good one. I did a similar post, more so on a defining piece of equipment than the creator. I was not aware of Mr. Moog's educational background, but now it makes perfect sense how he was able to make such amazing and innovative pieces of equipment. I also did not know that he was the first to implement ADSR and filters into his synths. They are such an integral part of sound design to this day. As a guitar player who dabbles with various effects, I am planning to look into the guitar effects and amplifiers he created as I thought he only made synthesizers. Very good post with a lot of great information.