Robert Moog

August 21st is the anniversary of Bob Moog’s death. Few people have changed music to the degree of Robert Moog.

Ileana Grams-Moog, Moog’s wife at his death, posted her thoughts on Bob Moog at the Caring Bridge site:

When people have been as much a source of happiness as Bob was for me and so many others, their legacy of good keeps growing, it seems to me.  I know that thousands of you cherish the memory of the time you met Bob and talked to him, or of the first time you played a Minimoog, or the talk you heard him give.  Every time you remember, that event lives again and gives you new pleasure–and makes Bob alive still in you.

This is what it is like for me.  It is a rare thing when someone who contributed as much to a field as Bob did to music is also a genuinely wonderful human being, as he was.  It was a blessing to have shared his life for the years we had, and I am truly grateful.

Bob Moog himself shared his thought on living on through his instruments in Hans Fjellestad’s documentary, Moog. A segment is embedded below, but see the full movie, if you haven’t already.

Read more…

If you’re an electrical engineer and a musician, what do you do after working with synth pioneer Dr. Robert Moog to create the Minimoog Voyager, widely viewed to be one of the greatest synths of all time?

If your August Worley, you create the Pyradym – a self-contained electrically powered apparatus designed to stimulate and facilitate the human body’s innate self-healing mechanisms.

The Pyradym consists of 4 basic functional systems:

• a sound frequency generating system
• a physioacoustic vibration system
• a corresponding light therapy system, and
• a crystal energy radiating system.

The Therapist or user controls the pitch and tonal quality of the sound frequencies. The Physioacoustic and Light Therapy elements are situated beneath the Crystal Capstone, and correspond to the sound frequencies by increasing and decreasing in intensity. The panel figure indicates the corresponding colour generated beneath the Crystal Capstone.

The Crystal Particle Fountain is also located beneath the Crystal Capstone and provides a mild radiated ultrasonic stimulus incorporating Reiki healing symbology while the device is in operation.

The target audience for the Pyradym is chiropracters, sound therapists, Reidi practitioners, massage therapists, color therapists and gem stone healers.

Moog Music has announced that MoogFest – the annual event honoring the remarkable vision of Robert Moog and his amazing musical inventions  – is moving from New York City to Asheville, NC.

Above, Bob Moog introduces Keith Emerson at MoogFest 2004, and Emerson proceeds to bust out the Moog modular prog chops.

MoogFest 2009 will be held in Asheville the weekend of September 11 – 13, 2009.

MoogFest will celebrate Bob Moog’s legacy as a sonic pioneer, which will be the thread that unites the festival’s rich array of musical offerings. Moogfest 2009 will also incorporate elements of the EtherMusic Festival – showcasing the theremin, the world’s first electronic music instrument. The electronic music festival will host artists and audiences from throughout the world in different venues throughout Asheville’s historic downtown.

Moog made Asheville his home for the last 30 years of his life.

Can you find the prog rock keyboardist in this photo?

The 2009 Winter NAMM Show has fewer vendors and visitors this year, but there’s still a ton of new gear and software to check out – and fantastic performances by musicians like Keith Emerson, above. Synthtopia is on site to bring you the latest news about electronic music software and gear. 

Here are some of the highights of Day 3 of the 2009 NAMM Show:

• Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio is out of the price range of a lot of people – but, if you’re a Sonar user it’s pretty drool-worthy; 
• A lot of people are excited about the microKorg XL, even though it’s pricey for a mini-synth (Tip for other manufacturers – it’s the vocoder!); and
• The Moog Etherwave Theremin Plus is what everybody wanted in a theremin.
• Metasonix’ new Eurorack synth modules show put vacuum tubes into new places;
• The Korg nanoSeries is now available in black; and 
• Max For Live is one of the biggest music geekfests in years. 

Check out some more highlights below.  Read more…

The spirit of Dr. Robert Moog, father of the modern synthesizer, was all over NAMM. There were analog synthesizers galore, and the world of modular synths seemed to be healthier than ever.

Nowhere was his presence felt, though, more than the Moog Music booth. Moog Music had a special poster set up for Nammsters to sign with their reflections about Dr. Moog. And the company introduced two new products based upon some of the last designs Moog worked on.

The first of these is the Bass Murf. It is a new Moogerfooger designed specifically for bassists. The new Bass MuRF(MF-105B) apparently was created after a keyboardist told the company that the MuRF worked great on synth bass, but that the range of the MuRF’s filters was too high.

Moog Music too the classic MuRF design and tweaked to be more suitable for bass tones. According to the company, the Bass MuRF is perfect for bass, for guitarist wanting a darker tone and even for bass synth.

The second product introduced was the RME CV Expander for the Voyager rackmount synth. The new CV Expander is based on the VX-351 CV Expander for the original Voyager, but with some updates, based on customer feedback, and the unique requirements of the rackmount Voyager.

The expander lets Rackmount Voyager users work with the synth in modular fashion, creating new custom patches not possible on original MiniMoogs, or interfacing the synth with other equipment.