Moog synthesizer
From WikiRecording
The term Moog synthesizer can refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music.
Moog synthesizers
Moog synthesizers were one of the first widely-used electronic musical instruments. Robert Moog created the first subtractive synthesizer to utilize a keyboard as a controller in 1964 and demonstrated it at the AES convention. It sometimes took hours to set up the machine for a new sound.
Robert Moog employed his theremin company (R. A. Moog Co., which would later become Moog Music) to manufacture and market his synthesizers. Unlike the few other 1960s synthesizer manufacturers, the instruments were shipped a piano-style keyboard as the standard user interface to his synthesizers.
The first Moog instruments were modular synthesizers. In 1971 Moog Music began production of the Minimoog Model D which was among the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable synthesizers. The Minimoog became the most popular monophonic synthesizer of the 1970s, selling approximately 13,000 units between 1971 and 1982.
Another widely used and extremely popular Moog synthesizer was the Taurus bass pedal synthesizer. Released in 1975, its pedals were similar in design to organ pedals and triggered synthetic bass sounds. The Taurus was known for a "fat" bass sound and was used by musicians such as Genesis, Rush, U2, Yes, The Police, Yngwie Malmsteen and many others. Production of the original was discontinued in 1981, when it was replaced by the Taurus II.
Moog Music was the first company to commercially release a keytar, the Moog Liberation.
The last Moog synthesizers were manufactured in 1985 before the original Moog Music declared bankruptcy in 1986. In 2001, Robert Moog's company Big Briar was able to acquire the rights to the Moog name and officially became Moog Music. (See Moog Music.) Moog Music has been producing the Minimoog Voyager, modeled after the original Minimoog, since 2002.
Moog synthesizers in culture
It is believed that the first vinyl to feature a Moog synthesizer was Cosmic Sounds by The Zodiac. The first popular music album to feature the instrument was Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn,
