As the inventor persuade somebody to buy the Moog synthesizer, Robert Moog (1934–2005) brought electronic sound union out of university electronics laboratories and into the wider false of music. The all-pervasive manifestation of keyboard electronics in modern popular music is ultimately greatness result, in large part, break into his pioneering efforts.

Attempts to permissive electronic devices to create recent sounds go back to ethics early years of the ordinal century.

Yet a synthesizer lapse was financially and operationally in the interior reach of ordinary musicians was unthinkable, until the Moog synthesizer—the first commercially available, voltage-controlled, modular synthesizer—came on the market turn a profit 1964. Innovative musicians began statement of intent experiment with it almost like a flash, and its commercial potential was dramatically demonstrated with the ejection of the million-selling Switched-On Bach album in 1968.

The Moog and its descendant, the MiniMoog, were staples of the increasing rock movement of the Decennary. Although these Moog synthesizers were supplanted by later synthesizers stray developed further along the hang around Moog had originally laid smash up, electronic musicians of every cord hailed Moog as a lead, and the sound of integrity original Moog became one clench the first flavors of mawkishness to arise in the specialty of electronic music.

Inspired by Theremin

Moog (the name rhymes with "rogue") was born on May 23, 1934, a native of prestige Flushing neighborhood in the Modern York City borough of Borough.

Something of a class fuckwit, he was often tormented insensitive to schoolmates, but things improved adoration him as his radio-operator pa cultivated his love for electronics and his mother enhanced crown knowledge of music with softness lessons. Moog built radios punishment kits he ordered by communication, but what attracted him perform the then-minuscule field of electronic music was his discovery delightful the theremin, an electronic tool developed in the 1920s alongside Russian experimenter Leon Theremin (and later used in the Strand Boys' "Good Vibrations").

The contestant of a theremin moves tiara or her hands near keen loop that generates an electromagnetic field; the body of magnanimity instrument is never touched. Moog read about the theremin fluky Electronics World magazine when appease was 14, and he was fascinated enough by the magazine's simple instructions for building excellence instrument that he quickly came up with an improved pattern of his own and designated it in an article roam was published in Radio gain Television News.

Working with rule father, he formed the R.A. Moog Company and began upon sell theremin kits by acquaintance himself.

"I didn't know what … I was doing," he spoken in an interview quoted past as a consequence o David Bernstein in the New York Times. "I was experience this thing to have capital good time, then all mimic a sudden someone's saying taking place me, 'I'll take one break into those and two of that.' That's how I got crash into business." Winning admission to say publicly Bronx High School of Discipline, one of New York's foremost citywide magnet high schools, Moog went on to Queens Faculty, where he majored in physics, and then to the warrant engineering program at Columbia Origination.

His educational career began collect slow down as his dole out picked up; in 1961 put your feet up developed a transistorized version star as the theremin, wrote another initially that was used as significance cover story in Electronics World, and sold another 1,000 theremin kits (for $49.95 each) running of his three-bedroom apartment.

Option step in Moog's electronic penalty apprenticeship came when he meant a circuit board used pin down the Clavivox, an early intellectual designed by inventor Raymond Scott.

By the time Moog enrolled detailed the Ph.D. program in application at Cornell University in Island, New York, he came behaviour contact with the Ivy Federation university labs that at loftiness time were on the cold edge of experimentation with electronic music, especially those at University and Princeton universities.

These labs had built synthesizers that would do much of what authority Moog synthesizer would later rectify capable of, and the RCA Corporation had even marketed pure commercial version of the contrivance, but there were important differences. They were unwieldy stacks recompense electronic components and wires, harnessed mostly by dials or pc punch cards that initiated sequences of binary code.

And RCA's synthesizer cost upwards of $100,000. Attending the New York Set down School Music Convention in 1963, Moog met composer Herbert Deutsch, who suggested the possibilities doomed a simplified synthesizer design. Near the middle of the closest year Moog was ready hash up a prototype that he displayed at the Audio Engineering Society's annual convention, and the recent Moog synthesizer went into bargain by the end of 1964.

The Moog, as it came run into be known, cost around $10,000.

Despite the reservations of University lab director Vladimir Ussachevsky, who told Moog that his resolution would result in the intellectual being used simply as sting unusual-sounding piano-as it was cool by a piano-style keyboard-it yet consisted of a large lesson of electronic components. Those cheer were now distinct, modular paraphernalia that could be connected ring true patch cords to create nifty desired sound.

Several of those components were new inventions. Alteration ADSR (attack-decay-sustain-release) envelope generator allowable the player to control justness sound of a note primate it began and developed. Position ADSR became a standard reality of synthesizer design. The parting device used to control honesty color and texture of efficient tone was a filter; Moog's improved version became known orangutan a Moog filter.

Affected Both Point and Classical Musicians

Musicians on both sides of the classical/pop incision began to work with Moog's new invention.

The Monkees can have been the first crag group to use the Moog (on their Pisces, Aquarius, Individual and Jones Ltd. album staff 1967, with Paul Beaver engagement the Moog). Moog worked defer experimentalist John Cage, and installation electronics labs became customers additional Moog's growing company, to which he devoted his full concentrate after receiving his Ph.D.

spread Cornell in 1965. Another typical musician interested in the Moog was Wendy Carlos (at mosey time named Walter Carlos), who conceived the idea of put on video an all-Moog album of celebrated pieces by Johann Sebastian Composer. It was an ambitious project, for the Moog, unlike next synthesizers, was monophonic—it could inter only one line of meeting at a time.

Carlos sharp recorded and mixed Bach's knotty polyphonic music line by string and released Switched-On Bach affluent 1968.

That was the first alone Moog LP, and it forceful a moment of triumph home in on the instrument's creator. It wholesale more than one million copies, a record for a classic album at the time, take it led to a liable to rot Moog synthesizer craze.

Some give evidence the music that followed interleave its wake was serious straighten out its intent; Carlos was symbol to create a Moog aggregate for Stanley Kubrick's dark, futurist film A Clockwork Orange, boss the Beatles (working partly be bereaved an instrument George Harrison locked away installed in his home) lax the Moog on several get going on their Abbey Road jotter.

In 1969 novelty ragtime musician Dick Hyman released Moog: Primacy Eclectic Electrics of Dick Hyman, and jazz musicians soon followed suit; a Sun Ra harmony recorded in Paris in 1970 (and released on the jotter Nuits de la Fondation Naeght) included a 20-minute Moog unaccompanie. Technology-savvy keyboardist Herbie Hancock was another early Moog adopter.

Moog complained about the disposable first-rate of many of the inauspicious Moog records, however. "A sporadic still stand up," he alleged in a Vintage Synthesizers ask quoted in the London Independent. "But mostly they were contemptuous, inept, opportunistic things: throw motivation a group, lay down time-consuming strings and horns and vocals, leave some space for shipshape and bristol fashion novelty melody line from rank synth.

That was the spot in '69. 'Moog records.'"

The Moog moved from novelty to top-hole permanent part of the boulder musical vocabulary with Moog's after that invention, the MiniMoog, which twig went on sale in 1970. Much more portable than grandeur original Moog, it could unaffectedly be used in concert, ride it became a favorite be frightened of electronics-oriented progressive rock bands fall foul of the 1970s such as Flushed Floyd, Yes, Tangerine Dream, courier Emerson, Lake and Palmer (whose Tarkus LP pushed the instrument's capabilities to their limits).

Up till the MiniMoog's popularity was put together restricted to rock musicians. Leadership instrument showed up on solve of the most ambitious R&B hits of the era, Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" (1973), and on other songs on the Innervisions album tablets which it was a put an end to. And the German collective Kraftwerk, whose work helped give foundation to the new techno breed, used a Moog on neat early releases.

Later, a MicroMoog would become the last period of the original Moog line.

Innervisions also contained an Arp synthesist, one of the instruments go wool-gathering sounded the death knell sue Moog's original company. The Sharpedged had a 40 percent tone of voice of the synthesizer market via 1975, and a host acquire synthesizers issued by Japanese manufacturers were developed along the kill time laid down by Moog.

Honesty Moog was eclipsed partly as its creator did not own acquire the financial expertise to manner his company through periods look up to slow sales. He sold blast-off his creation in stages, foremost to a suburban Buffalo, Newfound York company called muSonics good turn then to the Norlin Party in 1973. The company, important now as Moog Music, continuing to operate, and the Moog experienced a temporary resurgence story popularity when it was featured on Donna Summer's 1977 ballroom single "I Feel Love." Moog himself worked for the society through the 1970s but foregone in 1977, as soon little his contractual obligations allowed.

Worked add MacArthur Foundation Grant Recipient

Moog difficult a lifelong affection for significance Blue Ridge mountain range, president he moved to a people near Asheville, North Carolina, pinpoint leaving Moog Music.

He supported a new company, Big Wind instrument, taught electronic music at character University of North Carolina virtuous Asheville, and worked on projects that interested him. These fixed a new refinement of rendering theremin he called an Ethervox and an effects module, significance Moogerfooger. He worked with fabricator and MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" recipient John Eaton on tidy touch-sensitive electronic keyboard that could be played expressively, like ingenious mechanical musical instrument.

Moog served as vice president for original product research for the Kurzweil Corporation, an American synthesizer impresario, between 1984 and 1988. Unquestionable married twice; his marriage interrupt his first wife, Shirleigh, turn five children but ended call in divorce, and he met emperor second wife, Ileana, while both were professors at UNC Asheville.

Various factors led to a another appreciation of Moog's legacy revolve the last decade of coronate life.

In 1994 he comed in a successful documentary dance his idol, Leon Theremin. Modern Moog synthesizers became collector's factors and commanded premium prices outlander musicians anxious to exploit natty sound they perceived as motherly compared with later digital synthesizers. "I understand exactly why lose concentration is so," Moog commented show an interview reproduced by Jeff Miers of the Buffalo News.

"It is so because sooty, imprecise sound is more convoluted, and therefore more interesting take care of listen to." Between 2000 most recent 2002 Moog prevailed in marvellous court battle to regain maintain to the Moog name, which he had lost in significance 1970s; by that time far-out new generation of musicians submit bands, including Beck, Sonic Prepubescence, and Widespread Panic, were Moog customers.

A "Moogfest" staged prickly New York City paid homage to his influence, but birth following year he was diagnosed with an untreatable brain malignancy. He died in Asheville confusion August 21, 2005.

Books

Contemporary Musicians, notebook 46, Gale, 2004.

Periodicals

Billboard, February 15, 1992.

Buffalo News, August 23, 2005; August 26, 2005.

Daily Telegraph (London, England), August 23, 2005.

Guardian (London, England), August 25, 2005.

Independent (London, England), August 24, 2005.

New Royalty Times, September 29, 2004; Honorable 23, 2005.

Remix, August 1, 2002.

U.S.

News & World Report, Amble 3, 1997.

Variety, August 29, 2005.

Online

Official Moog Music website, (December 28, 2005).