Dick Hyman Modular Improvisation

This video, via Moog Music Inc, captures an improvisation by synth pioneer Dick Hyman.

In the video, Hyman plays piano and the reissued Moog Modular System 55.

American pianist and composer Dick Hyman is best known for his proficiency on the piano and his versatility in various jazz styles. He’s composed, arranged & performed scores for many Woody Allen films.

Hyman is also responsible for creating some of the earliest popular Moog recordings. On the 1969 album Moog: The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman, Hyman explored new sonic territories with the then brand-new instrument, the Moog synthesizer.

16 thoughts on “Dick Hyman Modular Improvisation

  1. While I found this rather uninspiring (particularly in the part it was supposed to be promoting) I think that his first Moog record (seen on the piano) is far more interesting than other such records of the time.

  2. It’s beautiful. Piano was masterful. Moog line was a great contrasting minimalistic voice. A real treat.

    If you know anything about him, you know he can do almost anything with a keyboard. He’s at a point in life where he doesn’t have to prove himself. He can just enjoy himself and make some beauty.

    Love it.

  3. Dick Hyman: Awesome
    Piano work: Awesome
    Moog work: who gives a f**k, casiotone is about right

    what would’ve been edgy is if he replaced the Moog with a TE OP-1 and let it rip…hilarious anyone?

  4. thanks for the downvotes…anyway, at least the casiotone has more RAM than that relic called a piano…oh yeah, the expensive analog thing is really great at producing casiotone sounds. just listen to the nuanced playing, can’t you tell? it sounds just like a real casio, i couldn’t tell the difference. maybe i should shut up and resume my Berkley studies, then i’ll have room to trash-talk
    better yet, i’ll take a sweetwater minute outta my busy production schedule and order up one of those $10,000 system whatever Moogs (the cheap one) because this profound video sold me on it and i’ll add the cherry on top with a two-voice SEM for $3500 just for the extra nuance
    BTW i’m running Opcode Studio in conjunction with an Audiowerk 8 card with a maxed out pentium 2 and the new 18″ screen
    think vintage/modern
    tootle-oo

    1. Even better suggestion – why not take a few precious moments to dig out that old Casiotone and power her up next to your Yammy PSS-170, Bontempi Minstrel and Steinway. Next, record a compostion called “Lessons to Dick – how to play a synth” and post your wonderful artistry for us all to admire. Anyone who comments on it and recieves a downvote for their opinion can then fully sympathise with you and despair at the cruelty of the internet blogsites.

  5. Not really a great showcase for the modular, but wow, what a great improv!

    This guy’s probably forgotten more than most musicians have learned.

  6. Not really my style of music but I found I liked it. It was different to the usual synth video.

    Have to agree though, this did not show the Moog off at it’s best. The patch could have been anything. But it also sounds as if it was recorded without much thought being given to capturing the sound from the Moog. It sounds as if they stuck a mic somewhere in the general direction of a speaker and hoped for the best. And I think this maybe one of the main reasons that it sounds so weak.

Leave a Reply to Stephen Seifert Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *