Moog Music
Encyclopedia
Moog Music is an American company based in Asheville, North Carolina
which manufactures electronic musical instrument
s. The current Moog Music is the second company to trade under that name.
in Upstate New York
, Robert Moog
's original company was founded as R.A. Moog Co. in 1953, manufacturing theremin
kits and, later, modular synthesizer
systems. This company would eventually become Moog Music in 1972, and through Bob Moog's collaboration with people like Herbert Deutsch
, Moog Music produced some of the most popular synthesizer
s of all time.
In November 1971, the company moved to Williamsville
. An old factory at the north end of Academy Street was purchased. The company was renamed Moog Musonics, then Moog Music. In 1976 the company moved to much better facility on Walden Avenue
in Cheektowaga.
After becoming Moog Music, the company went through various changes of ownership, eventually being bought out by musical instrument manufacturer Norlin (who also owned the Gibson
guitar company at the time). Norlin produced a number of synthesizers under the Moog name in the late 1970s, but they were less successful than Robert Moog's own designs.
Poor management and marketing led to Dr. Moog's departure from his own company in 1977. Moog Music was forced into bankruptcy
in 1986. The company liquidated and officially ceased operation in 1993.
s under the name Etherwave. Big Briar expanded its range to produce a variety of analog-electronic musical instruments, mainly effects pedals called moogerfooger
s.
In 1999, Big Briar partnered with Bomb Factory
to co-develop software modeled plugins for Pro Tools
TDM
based on the moogerfooger effect pedal lines. Robert Moog worked closely with Bomb Factory to ensure the product would remain true to the classic Moog sound.
After the company's name change, Moog released the Piano-Bar, a Don Buchla
-designed device which converted the physical movement of the keys on an acoustic piano into MIDI information.
That year, Moog Music began production of a modern version of the classic Minimoog
synthesizer, the Minimoog Voyager
Performer Edition, based on the same electric principles as the original, but adding modern appointments such as MIDI and a three-axis touch control surface. The Voyager name was selected through a contest where keyboardists could submit their own ideas of potential names for the new Minimoog. But because Alex Winter of Wales had acquired the UK trademark rights to "Moog" and "Minimoog" in 1996 and had been producing Moog branded instruments since then, early UK Minimoog Voyager models were instead branded as "Voyager by Bob Moog.". It wasn't until later that Bob Moog regained the trademark rights to "Moog" and "Minimoog" in the UK.
2004 marked Moog Music's 50th anniversary year, and Moog Music released a Voyager Anniversary Edition, the Moogerfooger MF-105 MuRF Multiple Resonance Filter effect pedal, and the Etherwave Pro Theremin. In 2006 Moog Music introduced a new 37 note, 2 oscillator analog synthesizer, the Little Phatty
.
Robert Moog
died in August 2005 due to complications arising from brain cancer. Michael Adams continued managing the company as its President.
Hungarian band The Moog
requested permission from Moog Music to use the name. This was granted on the condition that the band precede the name with "The".
2008 marked the release of Moog Music's first entry into the electric guitar market, the Moog Guitar, an electric guitar with the unique ability of being able to magnetically sustain or mute its strings. Designed in conjunction with Paul Vo of the Zion Guitar Company, the first guitars released were "Paul Vo Collector Editions." Standard versions and MIDI guitar synthesizer versions were later introduced.
was formed. The mission of the foundation is "to educate and inspire children and adults through the power and possibilities of electronic music and through the intersection of music, science and innovation,' and plans to carry out that mission with construction of the "Moogseum," a Student Outreach Project initiative, and the Bob Moog Archive Initiative.
Related instruments
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
which manufactures electronic musical instrument
Electronic musical instrument
An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....
s. The current Moog Music is the second company to trade under that name.
R.A. Moog Co. and the original Moog Music
Based in TrumansburgTrumansburg, New York
Trumansburg is a village in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 1,581 at the 2000 census. The name is a variant spelling of the surname of the founder, Abner Treman...
in Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
, Robert Moog
Robert Moog
Robert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:...
's original company was founded as R.A. Moog Co. in 1953, manufacturing theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
kits and, later, modular synthesizer
Moog modular synthesizer
Moog modular synthesizer refers to any of a number of monophonic analog modular synthesizers designed by the late electronic instrument pioneer Dr. Robert Moog and manufactured by R.A Moog Co...
systems. This company would eventually become Moog Music in 1972, and through Bob Moog's collaboration with people like Herbert Deutsch
Herbert Deutsch
Herbert A. Deutsch is an American composer, inventor, and educator. Currently professor emeritus of electronic music and composition at Hofstra University, he is best known for co-inventing the Moog Synthesizer with Bob Moog in 1964....
, Moog Music produced some of the most popular synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s of all time.
In November 1971, the company moved to Williamsville
Williamsville, New York
Williamsville is a village in Erie County, New York in the United States. The population was 5,573 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Jonas Williams, an early settler...
. An old factory at the north end of Academy Street was purchased. The company was renamed Moog Musonics, then Moog Music. In 1976 the company moved to much better facility on Walden Avenue
New York State Route 952Q
New York State Route 952Q is an unsigned reference route designation for the portion of Walden Avenue outside of the Buffalo city limits in Erie County, New York, in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at the Buffalo city line in Cheektowaga, where Walden Avenue continues...
in Cheektowaga.
After becoming Moog Music, the company went through various changes of ownership, eventually being bought out by musical instrument manufacturer Norlin (who also owned the Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
guitar company at the time). Norlin produced a number of synthesizers under the Moog name in the late 1970s, but they were less successful than Robert Moog's own designs.
Poor management and marketing led to Dr. Moog's departure from his own company in 1977. Moog Music was forced into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in 1986. The company liquidated and officially ceased operation in 1993.
Big Briar
Robert Moog re-entered the music industry after leaving Moog Music in 1977, starting Big Briar to produce thereminTheremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
s under the name Etherwave. Big Briar expanded its range to produce a variety of analog-electronic musical instruments, mainly effects pedals called moogerfooger
Moogerfooger
moogerfooger is the trademark for a series of analog effects pedals manufactured by Moog Music. There are currently five different pedals produced, however one of these models is designed for processing control voltages rather than audio signal...
s.
In 1999, Big Briar partnered with Bomb Factory
Bomb Factory
Bomb Factory is a recording studio and manufacturer of music plugins based in Los Angeles, California.-Music studio:Bomb Factory Studios features an extensive collection of vintage and historic equipment and musical instruments...
to co-develop software modeled plugins for Pro Tools
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
TDM
TDM
TDM is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:In Entertainment may refer to* The Dead Milkmen, punk rock band* Team Deathmatch, multiplayer mode in videogaming...
based on the moogerfooger effect pedal lines. Robert Moog worked closely with Bomb Factory to ensure the product would remain true to the classic Moog sound.
The new Moog Music
In 2002, after a legal battle with Don Martin who had previously assumed the rights to the name Moog Music, Robert Moog reacquired rights the Moog Music trademark in the U.S., and immediately changed production of Big Briar products to Moog. Another company, Moog CE, was selling modules for the original 1970s systems, and agreed to change their name to allow Moog to re-enter the market. It was also in 2002 that Moog Music hired Michael Adams as Vice President in charge of business operations.After the company's name change, Moog released the Piano-Bar, a Don Buchla
Don Buchla
Don Buchla is a pioneer in the field of sound synthesizers, releasing his first units months after Robert Moog's first synthesizers...
-designed device which converted the physical movement of the keys on an acoustic piano into MIDI information.
That year, Moog Music began production of a modern version of the classic Minimoog
Minimoog
The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. It was released in 1970 by R.A. Moog Inc. , and production was stopped in 1981. It was re-designed by Robert Moog in 2002 and released as Minimoog Voyager.The Minimoog was designed in response to the use of...
synthesizer, the Minimoog Voyager
Minimoog Voyager
The Minimoog Voyager or Voyager is a monophonic analog synthesizer, designed by Robert Moog and released in 2002 by Moog Music. The Voyager was modeled after the classic Minimoog synthesizer that was popular in the 1970s, and is meant to be a successor to that instrument.-Design:Like the original...
Performer Edition, based on the same electric principles as the original, but adding modern appointments such as MIDI and a three-axis touch control surface. The Voyager name was selected through a contest where keyboardists could submit their own ideas of potential names for the new Minimoog. But because Alex Winter of Wales had acquired the UK trademark rights to "Moog" and "Minimoog" in 1996 and had been producing Moog branded instruments since then, early UK Minimoog Voyager models were instead branded as "Voyager by Bob Moog.". It wasn't until later that Bob Moog regained the trademark rights to "Moog" and "Minimoog" in the UK.
2004 marked Moog Music's 50th anniversary year, and Moog Music released a Voyager Anniversary Edition, the Moogerfooger MF-105 MuRF Multiple Resonance Filter effect pedal, and the Etherwave Pro Theremin. In 2006 Moog Music introduced a new 37 note, 2 oscillator analog synthesizer, the Little Phatty
Little Phatty
The Little Phatty is a monophonic analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music since 2006, preceded by the Voyager and succeeded by Voyager Old School. Its design was conceived, in part, by Robert Moog himself, and is the last instrument to have that distinction, although the primary engineer was...
.
Robert Moog
Robert Moog
Robert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:...
died in August 2005 due to complications arising from brain cancer. Michael Adams continued managing the company as its President.
Hungarian band The Moog
The Moog
The Moog is an indie rock band based in Budapest, Hungary formed in 2004. The group is noted for being the first in the region to be signed to an American record label. The band consists of members Tonyó Szabó , Gergő Dorozsmai , Ádi Bajor Miguel György and Csabi Szabó...
requested permission from Moog Music to use the name. This was granted on the condition that the band precede the name with "The".
2008 marked the release of Moog Music's first entry into the electric guitar market, the Moog Guitar, an electric guitar with the unique ability of being able to magnetically sustain or mute its strings. Designed in conjunction with Paul Vo of the Zion Guitar Company, the first guitars released were "Paul Vo Collector Editions." Standard versions and MIDI guitar synthesizer versions were later introduced.
Legacy
In 2005, the Bob Moog FoundationBob Moog Foundation
The Bob Moog Memorial Foundation was created after the death of Dr. Robert Moog in 2005, and officially launched in August, 2006. His family established the foundation to honor the legacy of Moog "through its mission of igniting creativity at the intersection of music, history, science, and...
was formed. The mission of the foundation is "to educate and inspire children and adults through the power and possibilities of electronic music and through the intersection of music, science and innovation,' and plans to carry out that mission with construction of the "Moogseum," a Student Outreach Project initiative, and the Bob Moog Archive Initiative.
Timeline of noteworthy products
- 1953-present - Various thereminThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
(products/kits) - 1963-1980 - Various Moog modular synthesizerMoog modular synthesizerMoog modular synthesizer refers to any of a number of monophonic analog modular synthesizers designed by the late electronic instrument pioneer Dr. Robert Moog and manufactured by R.A Moog Co...
systems - 1970-1981 - MinimoogMinimoogThe Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. It was released in 1970 by R.A. Moog Inc. , and production was stopped in 1981. It was re-designed by Robert Moog in 2002 and released as Minimoog Voyager.The Minimoog was designed in response to the use of...
- 1974-1979 - Moog Sonic 6Moog Sonic 6The Moog Sonic 6 is a duophonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1972 to 1979...
- 1975-1979 - MicromoogMicromoogThe Micromoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer produced by Moog Music from 1975 to 1979.The Micromoog was designed by Robert Moog and Jim Scott as a scaled-down, cheaper alternative to the Minimoog. It was designed to tap into a market of musicians who wanted an introduction to synthesis, but...
- 1975-1980 - PolymoogPolymoogThe Polymoog is a polyphonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to electronic organs and string synthesizers of the time, and this led to a certain lack of flexibility compared to later...
- 1976-1981 - Moog Taurus 1Moog TaurusThe Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music from 1974 or 1975 to 1981. Commonly called the Taurus I, it has a 13-note organ-style pedal board similar to the pedal keyboard of a spinet organ.-History:...
- 1978-1981 - MultimoogMultimoogThe Multimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1978 to 1981. Derived from the earlier Micromoog , the Multimoog was intended to be a less expensive alternative to Moog's flagship Minimoog...
- 1979-1984 - Moog ProdigyMoog ProdigyThe Moog Prodigy was a synthesizer produced by Moog Music from 1979 to 1984. Of the 11,000 produced, versions released after 1981 included a control voltage/gate input on the back that allowed the VCF of the filter to be triggered and controlled by an external source.These later versions began at...
- 1980-1983 - Moog LiberationMoog LiberationThe Moog Liberation was the first commercially produced keytar synthesizer released in 1980 by Moog Music. The instrument is comparable to the Moog Concertmate MG-1 and the Moog Rogue but it is most closely related to the Moog Prodigy; however, as a keytar the Liberation was designed to be played...
- 1981-1983 - Moog Concertmate MG-1Moog Concertmate MG-1- Background :The Realistic Concertmate MG-1 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music in 1981. Though built by Moog, it was sold by Radio Shack from 1982 to 1983 under their "Realistic" brand name and it was produced without some standard Moog features, such as pitch and modulation...
- 1981-1983 - Moog RogueMoog RogueThe Moog Rogue is a monophonic analog synthesizer produced by the original Moog Music in the early 1980s, but, was not designed by Bob Moog. Very basic in its design and use, the Rogue featured a 32-note keyboard and two VCOs. VCO number 2 is tunable between a half-step below to an octave above...
- 1981-1983 - Moog Taurus 2Moog TaurusThe Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music from 1974 or 1975 to 1981. Commonly called the Taurus I, it has a 13-note organ-style pedal board similar to the pedal keyboard of a spinet organ.-History:...
- 1981-1985 - Moog SourceMoog SourceThe Moog Source is a monophonic Z80 microprocessor-controlled analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1981 to 1985. The Source was Moog's first synthesizer to offer patch memory storage...
- 1982-1985 - MemorymoogMemorymoogThe Memorymoog is a polyphonic electronic music synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1981 to 1983, the last polyphonic synthesizer to be released by Moog Music before the company was sold to management and renamed Moog Electronics...
- 1998-present - MoogerfoogerMoogerfoogermoogerfooger is the trademark for a series of analog effects pedals manufactured by Moog Music. There are currently five different pedals produced, however one of these models is designed for processing control voltages rather than audio signal...
effect pedals - 2002-present - Minimoog VoyagerMinimoog VoyagerThe Minimoog Voyager or Voyager is a monophonic analog synthesizer, designed by Robert Moog and released in 2002 by Moog Music. The Voyager was modeled after the classic Minimoog synthesizer that was popular in the 1970s, and is meant to be a successor to that instrument.-Design:Like the original...
- 2006-present - Moog Little Phatty
- 2008-present - Moog Guitar
- 2009-present - Moog Taurus 3Moog TaurusThe Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music from 1974 or 1975 to 1981. Commonly called the Taurus I, it has a 13-note organ-style pedal board similar to the pedal keyboard of a spinet organ.-History:...
- 2010-present - Minimoog Voyager XL
- 2010-present - Moog Slim Phatty
See also
- Moog synthesizerMoog synthesizerMoog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
- Robert MoogRobert MoogRobert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:...
- Bob Moog FoundationBob Moog FoundationThe Bob Moog Memorial Foundation was created after the death of Dr. Robert Moog in 2005, and officially launched in August, 2006. His family established the foundation to honor the legacy of Moog "through its mission of igniting creativity at the intersection of music, history, science, and...
- MoogfestMoogfestMoogfest is a three-day electronic music festival that takes place in Asheville, North Carolina, United States, every year since 2010 towards the end of October. The festival is held in Asheville because it is the city where Robert Arthur "Bob" Moog, the inventor of the Moog synthesizer and...
Related instruments
- ThereminThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
- RCA Mark II Sound SynthesizerRCA Mark II Sound SynthesizerThe RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer was the first programmable electronic music synthesizer and the flagship piece of equipment at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Designed by Herbert Belar and Harry Olson at RCA, it was installed at Columbia University in 1957...