{{Short description|Electronic musical instrument}} {{About|the modular synthesizers|other synthesizers manufactured by Moog|Moog Music#Major products}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox synthesizer | synth_name = Moog synthesizer | synth_manufacturer = R. A. Moog Co. | image = Moog Modular 55 img2.jpg | image_caption = A 1975 Moog Modular 55 system | dates = 1965–1981, 2014–present | polyphony = | timbrality = | oscillator = VCO | lfo = | synthesis_type = Subtractive | filter = VCF }}
The '''Moog synthesizer''' ({{IPAc-en|m|oʊ|ɡ}} {{respell|MOHG}}) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer and established the analog synthesizer concept.
The Moog synthesizer consists of separate modules which create and shape sounds, which are connected via patch cords. Modules include voltage-controlled oscillators, amplifiers, filters, envelope generators, noise generators, triggers and mixers. The synthesizer can be played using controllers including keyboards, joysticks, pedals and ribbon controllers, or controlled with sequencers. Its oscillators produce waveforms, which can be modulated and filtered to shape their sounds (subtractive synthesis) or used to control other modules (low-frequency oscillation).
Moog developed the synthesizer in response to demand for more practical and affordable electronic music equipment, guided by suggestions and requests from composers including Herb Deutsch, Richard Teitelbaum, Vladimir Ussachevsky and Wendy Carlos. Moog's principal innovation was voltage control, which uses voltage to control pitch. He also introduced fundamental synthesizer concepts such as modularity and envelope generators.
The Moog synthesizer was brought to the mainstream by ''Switched-On Bach'' (1968), a bestselling album of Bach compositions arranged for Moog synthesizer by Carlos. Mort Garson used the Moog to soundtrack the televised Apollo 11 moonwalk, associating synthesizers with space in the popular imagination. In the late 1960s, it was adopted by rock and pop acts including the Doors, the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. At its height of popularity, it was a staple of 1970s progressive rock, used by acts including Yes, Tangerine Dream and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. With its ability to imitate instruments such as strings and horns, it threatened the jobs of session musicians and was banned from use in commercial work for a period of time in the United States. In 1970, Moog Music released a portable, self-contained model, the Minimoog.
==Development== [[File:Bob Moog3.jpg|thumb|Robert Moog in the 1970s|alt=|250x250px]] In the early 1960s, electronic music technology was impractical and used mainly by experimental composers to create music with little mainstream appeal.<ref name="Leon-2003">{{Cite web|url=https://www.soundonsound.com/people/dr-robert-his-modular-moogs|title=Dr Robert & His Modular Moogs|last=Leon|first=Richard|website=Sound on Sound|access-date=2020-01-20}}</ref> In 1963, the American engineer Robert Moog, a doctoral student at Cornell University who designed and sold theremins,<ref name="BBC-2005">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4696651.stm|title=Obituary: Dr Robert Moog|date=2005-08-22|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-12-03|language=en-GB}}</ref> met the composer Herb Deutsch at a New York State School Music Association trade fair in Rochester, New York. Deutsch had been making electronic music using a theremin, tape recorder, and single-pitch oscillator, a time-consuming process that involved splicing tape. Recognizing the need for more practical and sophisticated equipment, Moog and Deutsch discussed the notion of a "portable electronic music studio".<ref name="Pinch-2004">{{Cite book|title=Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer|last1=Pinch|first1=Trevor|last2=Trocco|first2=Frank|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-674-01617-0}}</ref>
Moog received a grant of $16,000 from the New York State Small Business Association and began work in Trumansburg, New York, not far from the Cornell campus.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> At the time, synthesizer-like instruments filled rooms.<ref name="Wired-2005">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2005/11/robert-moog-1934-2005|title=Robert Moog biography (1934-2005)|magazine=Wired|access-date=December 3, 2017}}</ref> Moog hoped to build a more compact instrument that would appeal to musicians.<ref name="Stearns-2005">{{cite web |last=Stearns |first=David Patrick |date=2005-08-25 |title=Obituary: Robert Moog |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/aug/25/obituaries.guardianobituaries |access-date=2018-12-03 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> Learning from his experience building a prohibitively expensive guitar amplifier, he believed that practicality and affordability were the most important parameters.<ref name="Stearns-2005" />
Previous synthesizers, such as the RCA Mark II, had created sound from hundreds of vacuum tubes.<ref name="McNamee-2010">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/02/moog-synthesisers|title=Hey, what's that sound: Moog synthesisers|last=McNamee|first=David|date=10 August 2010|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-10-12}}</ref> Instead, Moog used newly available silicon transistors – specifically, transistors with an exponential relationship between input voltage and output current. With these, he created the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), which generated a waveform whose pitch could be adjusted by changing the voltage. Moog designed his synthesizer around a standard of one volt per octave, and used voltage to control loudness with voltage-controlled amplifiers (VCAs).<ref name="Pinch-2004" />
Moog developed a prototype with two VCOs and a VCA. As the VCOs could output voltage, one could be used to modulate the output of another, creating effects such as vibrato and tremolo.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> According to Moog, when Deutsch saw this, he became excited and immediately began making music with the prototype, attracting the interest of passersby: "They would stand there, they'd listen and they'd shake their heads ... What is this weird shit coming out of the basement?"<ref name="Pinch-2004" />
[[File:Herb Deutsch 10-2011.jpg|thumb|The composer Herb Deutsch (pictured in 2011) helped Moog refine his synthesizer.|alt=]] In 1964, Moog and Deutsch demonstrated the synthesizer at the electronic music studio at the University of Toronto.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> After the presentation impressed the composers, Moog was invited by the Audio Engineering Society to present at their annual convention in New York City that October.<ref name="Wired-2005" /> Though he had not planned to sell synthesizers there, some customers placed orders at the show, and the choreographer Alwin Nikolais became the first person to purchase a commercially made Moog synthesizer.<ref name="Pinch-2004" />
Moog constructed synthesizers to order.<ref name="McNamee-2010" /> The first order for a complete Moog synthesizer, for which Moog had to design a keyboard and cabinet, came from the composer Eric Siday.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> With no books and no way to save or share settings, early users had to learn how to use the synthesizer themselves, by word of mouth, or from seminars held by Moog and Deutsch.<ref name="Leon-2003" />
Moog refined the synthesizer in response to requests from musicians and composers.<ref name="Kozinn-2005">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/arts/music/robert-moog-creator-of-music-synthesizer-dies-at-71.html|title=Robert Moog, creator of music synthesizer, dies at 71|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|work=New York Times|date=23 August 2005 |access-date=2018-12-03|language=en}}</ref> For example, after Deutsch suggested Moog find a way to fade notes in and out, Moog invented an envelope module using a doorbell button as a prototype.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> At the suggestion of the composer Gustav Ciamaga, Moog developed a filter module, a means of removing frequencies from waveforms.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> His first filter design created a sound similar to a wah-wah pedal. He later developed the distinctive "ladder" filter, which was the only item in the synthesizer design that Moog patented, granted on October 28, 1969.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> Further developments were driven by suggestions from musicians including Richard Teitelbaum, Vladimir Ussachevsky and Wendy Carlos.<ref name="Kozinn-2005" /> Carlos suggested the first touch-sensitive keyboard, portamento control and filter bank, which became standard features.<ref name="Pinch-2004" />
There was debate as to the role of the keyboard in synthesizers. Some, such as the composer Vladimir Ussachevsky and Moog's competitor Don Buchla, felt they were restrictive. However, Moog recognized that most customers wanted keyboards and found they made the instrument more approachable. Including keyboards in photographs helped users understand that the synthesizer was for making music.<ref name="Pinch-2004" />
The classical meaning of "to synthesize" is to assemble a whole out of parts.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> Moog initially avoided the word, as it was associated with the RCA synthesizer, and instead described his invention as a "system" of "electronic music modules". After many debates, Moog eventually told the composer Reynold Weidenaar: "It's a synthesizer and that's what it does and we're just going to have to go with it."<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> He used the word in print for the first time in 1966. By the 1970s, "synthesizer" had become the standard term for such instruments.<ref name="Pinch-2004" />
Most of the Moog modules were finalized by the end of the 1960s, and remained mostly unchanged until Moog Music ceased trading in the 1980s.<ref name="Leon-2003" /> Moog had pursued the development of his synthesizer as a hobby; he stressed that he was not a businessman, and had not known what a balance sheet was.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> He likened the experience to riding theme park amusements: "You know you're not going to get hurt too badly because nobody would let you do that, but you're not quite in control."<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> In 1982, Moog donated his synthesizer prototype to the Henry Ford Museum's permanent collection.<ref name="SwitchedOn319">{{cite book |last=Glinsky |first=Albert |title=Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution |date=2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780197642078 |location=New York City, New York, US |pages=319–337}}</ref> In 1989, the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments at the University of Michigan acquired Nikolais' 1964 Moog synthesizer for their permanent collection. The museum director said it was "to the music world what the Wright Brothers' airplane is to aviation".<ref name="SwitchedOn319" />
== Components == thumb|202x202px|Modules: 921 VCO, 911 Envelope Generator; 902 VCA|alt=
The Moog synthesizer consists of separate modules – such as oscillators, amplifiers, envelope generators, filters, noise generators, triggers and mixers – which can be connected in a variety of ways via patch cords.<ref name="McNamee-2010"/><ref name="Pinch-2004"/> The modules can also be used to control each other.<ref name="Pinch-2004"/> They do not produce sound until a workable combination of modules are connected.<ref name="Leon-2003" />
The oscillators produce waveforms of different tones and overtones, such as a "bright, full, brassy" sawtooth wave, a thinner, flute-like triangle wave, a "nasal, reedy" pulse wave and a "whistle-like" sine wave.<ref name="Pinch-2004"/> These waveforms can be modulated and filtered to produce more combinations of sounds (subtractive synthesis).<ref name="Pinch-2004"/> The oscillators are difficult to keep in tune, and small temperature changes cause them to drift rapidly.<ref name="Leon-2003" /> As Moog's early customers were more interested in creating experimental music than playing conventional melodies, Moog did not consider keeping the oscillators stable a priority.<ref name="McNamee-2010"/>
The Moog's 24db<ref>{{cite web|last=Sam Gallagher|date=2019-07-17|title=Analyzing the Moog Filter|url=https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/technical-articles/analyzing-the-moog-filter/|publisher=all about circuits|language=en}}</ref> low-pass filter is particularly distinctive, with a "rich", "juicy", "fat" sound.<ref name="Pinch-2004"/> The filter, based on pairs of transistors connected by capacitors arranged in a ladder-like layout, attenuates frequencies above a level set by the user, and boosts the frequencies around the cut-off frequency.<ref name="Pinch-2004"/> When overdriven, the filter produces a distinctive distortion described as the "Moog sound".<ref name="Pinch-2004"/>
The synthesizer can be played using controllers including keyboards, joysticks, pedals and ribbon controllers.<ref name="McNamee-2010" /> The ribbon controller allows users to control pitch similarly to moving a finger along a violin string.<ref name="Pinch-2004" />
== Impact == [[File:Emerson_moog.jpg|thumb|Keith Emerson performing with a Moog synthesizer in 1970]]''New Scientist'' described the Moog as the first commercial synthesizer.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hamer |first=Mick |title=Interview: Electronic maestros |language=en-US |work=New Scientist |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18524921-400-interview-electronic-maestros/ |access-date=2018-12-03}}</ref> It was much smaller than previous synthesizers, and much cheaper, at US$10,000 compared to the six-figure sums of other synthesizers.<ref name="Wired-2005" /> Whereas the RCA Mark II was programmed with punchcards, Moog's synthesizer could be played in real time via keyboard, making it attractive to musicians.<ref name="Wired-2005" />
According to the ''Guardian'', Moog's 1964 paper ''Voltage-Controlled Music Modules'', in which he proposed the Moog synthesizer modules, invented the modern concept of the analog synthesizer.<ref name="McNamee-2010" /> The authors of ''Analog Days'' wrote: "Though the notion of voltage control and Moog's circuit designs were not original, Moog's innovations were in drawing the elements together, realizing that the problem of exponential conversion could be solved using transistor circuitry and building such circuits and making them work in a way that was of interest to musicians."<ref name="Pinch-2004" />
Moog features such as voltage-controlled oscillator, envelopes, noise generators, filters and sequencers became standards in the synthesizer market.<ref name="Pinch-2004" /><ref name="Vail">{{Cite book |last=Vail |first=Mark |title=The Synthesizer |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0195394894}}</ref> The ladder filter has been replicated in hardware synthesizers,<ref>{{cite web |date=2020 |title=analogue/digital hybrid synthesiser |url=https://www.modalelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MODAL002_MANUAL_v1-2.pdf |language=en |periodical=Modal Electronics}}</ref> digital signal processors,<ref>{{cite web |last=Antti Huovilainen |date=2004-10-08 |title=Analzing the Moog Filter |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c490/4c04a7be1d675e360409178da71a1253f6d8.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424195225/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c490/4c04a7be1d675e360409178da71a1253f6d8.pdf |archive-date=2019-04-24 |publisher=Helsinki University of Technology |s2cid=17311153}}</ref> field-programmable gate arrays<ref>{{cite web |last=Jürgen Schuhmacher |date=2005-09-17 |title=Moog Filter Module in VHDL 2005 |url=http://www.96khz.org/htm/ladderfiltermodul.htm |publisher=Sound of L.A. Music}}</ref> and software synthesizers.<ref>{{cite web |last=Will Pirkle |date=2013 |title=Virtual Analog Filter Implementation and Comparisons |url=http://www.willpirkle.com/Downloads/AN-4VirtualAnalogFilters.pdf |website=www.willpirkle.com |language=en |access-date=25 July 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183120/http://www.willpirkle.com/Downloads/AN-4VirtualAnalogFilters.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
=== Early adopters and ''Switched-On Bach'' ===
Most Moog synthesizers were owned by universities or record labels, and used to create soundtracks or jingles. By 1970, only 28 were owned by musicians.<ref name="Red Bull">{{Cite web|url=http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/10/instrumental-instruments-minimoog|title=Minimoog: The First Truly Portable Synthesizer|last=Weiner|first=Sophie|date=October 20, 2017|website=Red Bull Music Academy|access-date=2018-11-28}}</ref> The Moog was first used by experimental composers including Richard Teitelbaum, Dick Hyman,<ref name="Kozinn-2005" /> and Perrey and Kingsley.<ref name="moogfoundation">{{cite web |last=Holmes |first=Thom |date=17 June 2013 |title=Moog: A History in Recordings—The First Moog Synthesizer Recordings |url=https://moogfoundation.org/moog-a-history-in-recordings-by-thom-holmes-part-two/ |access-date=28 January 2021 |website=Bob Moog Foundation}}</ref>
The composer Mort Garson recorded the first album on the West Coast to use the Moog synthesizer, ''The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds'' (1967). Moog attended a recording session for the album, which helped convince him of the synthesizer's commercial potential.<ref name="Weiner-2016">{{Cite web |last=Weiner |first=Sophie |date=27 September 2016 |title=Mort Garson |url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2016/09/mort-garson-feature |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Red Bull Music Academy |language=en}}</ref> Garson also used the Moog to write jingles and soundtracks, which helped make its sounds ubiquitous. In 1969, Garson used the Moog to compose a soundtrack for the televised footage of the Apollo 11 moonwalk, creating a link between electronic music and space in the American popular imagination.<ref name="Weiner-2016" />
In 1968, Wendy Carlos released ''Switched-On Bach,'' an album of Bach compositions arranged for Moog synthesizer. It won three Grammy Awards and was the first classical album certified platinum.<ref name="Bernstein-2005">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082200373.html|title=Robert Moog Dies; Created Electronic Synthesizer|last=Bernstein|first=Adam|date=2005-08-23|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2018-12-03|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref name="Stearns-2005" /> The album is credited for popularising the Moog and demonstrating that synthesizers could be more than "random noise machines".<ref name="Kozinn-2005" /> For a period, the name Moog became so associated with electronic music that it was sometimes used as a generic term for any synthesizer.<ref name="Kozinn-2005" /> Moog liked this, but disapproved of the numerous "cruddy" novelty records released with his name attached, such as ''Music to Moog By,'' ''Moog España'' and ''Moog Power''.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}
Also in 1968, Doug McKechnie gained access to a Moog modular Series III<ref name="Dayal-2020">{{Cite web |last=Dayal |first=Geeta |date=November 6, 2020 |title=Doug McKechnie |url=http://4columns.org/dayal-geeta/doug-mckechnie |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106165513/https://4columns.org/dayal-geeta/doug-mckechnie |archive-date=November 6, 2020 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |website=4columns.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 19, 2020 |title=Music made on a Moog Modular Series III synthesizer sees the light of day |url=https://sonicstate.com/news/2020/11/19/san-francisco-moog-1968-72/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502111816/https://sonicstate.com/news/2020/11/19/san-francisco-moog-1968-72/ |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |website=Sonicstate |language=en}}</ref> (one of the first to be produced, with serial number 004<ref name="Ottewill-2023">{{Cite web |last=Ottewill |first=Jim |date=2023-04-26 |title=Doug McKechnie is the 81-year-old synth pioneer you've never heard of" |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/doug-mckechnie-synth-pioneer |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502073437/https://www.musicradar.com/news/doug-mckechnie-synth-pioneer |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |website=MusicRadar |language=en}}</ref>) through his friend Bruce Hatch. McKechnie was one of the first musicians to use the instrument for live performances.<ref name="Ottewill-2023" /> He appeared with it on "What's Become of the Baby", on Grateful Dead's ''Aoxomoxoa'' (1969),<ref name="Dawes-2020">{{Cite journal |last=Dawes |first=Christopher "Push" |date=November 2020 |issue=71 |pages=54 ''et seq'' |title=Doug McKechnie: The Catalytic Agent |url=https://www.electronicsound.co.uk/long-reads/doug-mckechnie-the-catalytic-agent/ |website=Electronic Sound |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502073441/https://www.electronicsound.co.uk/long-reads/doug-mckechnie-the-catalytic-agent/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and performed live with the band at Bay Area gigs<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brend |first=Mark |date=July 13, 2022 |title=How Electronic Music First Took the Stage |url=https://reverb.com/news/how-early-electronic-music-was-performed-on-stage |website=Reverb.com |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502095555/https://reverb.com/news/how-early-electronic-music-was-performed-on-stage |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as at the Altamont Free Concert (1969).<ref name="Jarnow-2019">{{Cite web |last=Jarnow |first=Jesse |date=December 2, 2019 |title=Blanks and Postage: San Francisco Radical Laboratory and the Mysterious Moogist of Altamont |url=https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2019/12/02/blanks-and-postage-san-francisco-radical-laboratory-and-the-mysterious-moogist-of-altamont/ |website=Aquarium Drunkard |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502074946/https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2019/12/02/blanks-and-postage-san-francisco-radical-laboratory-and-the-mysterious-moogist-of-altamont/ |url-status=live }}</ref> McKechnie used the Moog for a performance of Terry Riley's ''In C'' at the San Francisco Opera House (1969).<ref name="Dayal-2020" /> Other performances included at the opening of Frank Oppenheimer's Exploratorium;<ref name="Dawes-2020" /> the multimedia attraction Robin (1972) screened at the Family Dog concert hall;<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=March 2, 1972 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-cruz-sentinel-robin-previews-beg/124435356/ | title='Robin' Previews Begin March 15 | journal=Santa Cruz Sentinel | page=19 | via=Newspapers.com | access-date=May 11, 2023 | archive-date=May 11, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511204727/https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-cruz-sentinel-robin-previews-beg/124435356/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Martini | first=John | date=July 2018 | url=https://outsidelands.org/publications/outsidelands14.3.pdf | title=Ocean Beach Pavilion | journal=Outside Lands | publisher=Western Neighborhoods Project | volume=14 | issue=3 | pages=3–5 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319085931/https://outsidelands.org/publications/outsidelands14.3.pdf | archivedate=March 19, 2019}}</ref> and the first ever concert at the Berkeley Art Museum.<ref name="Dawes-2020" /> McKechnie was forced to stop playing the Moog after Hatch sold it to Tangerine Dream in 1972.<ref name="Dayal-2020" /><ref name="Dawes-2020" /><ref name="Jarnow-2019" />
=== Rock and pop === An early use of the Moog synthesizer in rock music came with the 1967 song by the Doors "Strange Days".<ref>{{cite book |first1=Trevor |last1=Pinch |first2=Frank |last2=Trocco |title=Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer |url=https://archive.org/details/analogdaysinvent00trev/page/121 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |year=2002 |isbn=0-674-01617-3 |pages=120–121}}</ref> In the same year, the Monkees used a Moog on their album ''Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.''<ref name="Kozinn-2005" /> In 1969, George Harrison released an album of Moog recordings, ''Electronic Sound'', and the Beatles used the Moog on several tracks on their album ''Abbey Road''.<ref name="Kozinn-2005" /> Other rock bands who adopted the Moog include the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones.<ref name="BBC-2005" /> It was also adopted by jazz musicians including Herbie Hancock, Jan Hammer and Sun Ra.<ref name="Kozinn-2005" />
In the 1970s, at the height of its popularity, the Moog was used by progressive rock bands such as Yes, Tangerine Dream, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.<ref name="Kozinn-2005" /> Keith Emerson was the first major rock musician to perform live with the Moog, and it became a trademark of his performances. According to ''Analog Days'', the likes of Emerson "did for the keyboard what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar".<ref name="Pinch-2004" />
Almost every element of Donna Summer's 1977 influential song "I Feel Love" was created with a Moog synthesizer, with the producers aiming to create a futuristic mood.<ref name="Brewster-2017">{{Cite news|last=Brewster|first=Bill|date=22 June 2017|title=I Feel Love: Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder created the template for dance music as we know it|work=Mixmag|url=https://mixmag.net/feature/i-feel-love-donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder-created-the-template-for-dance-music-as-we-know-it|access-date=October 13, 2018}}</ref> Robert Moog was critical, saying the sequenced bassline had a "certain sterility" and that Summer sounded like she was "fighting the sequencer".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Snowden|first=Don|date=May 23, 2012|title=Robert Moog: 'I wouldn't call this music' – a classic interview to mark a Google doodle|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/may/23/robert-moog-interview-google-doodle|access-date=January 13, 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In later decades, hip hop groups such as the Beastie Boys and rock bands including They Might Be Giants and Wilco "revived an interest in the early Moog synthesizer timbres".<ref name="Kozinn-2005" />
=== Industry === The ''Guardian'' wrote that the Moog synthesizer, with its dramatically new sounds, arrived at a time in American history when, in the wake of the Vietnam War, "nearly everything about the old order was up for revision".<ref name="Stearns-2005" /> Session musicians felt synthesizers, with their ability to imitate instruments such as strings and horns, threatened their jobs. For a period, the Moog was banned from use in commercial work in the US, a restriction negotiated by the American Federation of Musicians (AFM).<ref name="Pinch-2004" /> Robert Moog felt that the AFM had not realized that the synthesizer was an instrument to be learnt and mastered like any other, and instead imagined that "all the sounds that musicians could make somehow existed in the Moog – all you had to do was push a button that said 'Jascha Heifetz' and out would come the most fantastic violin player".<ref>Interview with Bob Moog, ''Plug,'' Fall 1974, p.2.</ref>
== Successors == [[File:Minimoog.JPG|thumb|The Minimoog, a portable, self-contained Moog synthesizer]] In 1970, Moog Music released the Minimoog, a portable, self-contained model, and the modular systems became a secondary part of Moog's business.<ref name="Leon-2003" /> The Minimoog has been described as the most famous and influential synthesizer in history.<ref name="Red Bull" />
After the sale of Moog Music, production of Moog synthesizers stopped in the early 1980s. The patents and other rights to Moog's modular circuits expired in the 1990s. In 2002, after Robert Moog regained the rights to the Moog brand and bought the company, Moog released the Minimoog Voyager, an updated version. Moog released several Minimoog reissues, with some changes, starting from 2016.<ref name="Leon-2003" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moog is ending production of the Minimoog Model D |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/moog-is-ending-production-of-the-minimoog-model-d |work=MusicRadar |accessdate=2021-07-04 |first=Ben |last=Rogerson|date=29 June 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rogerson |first=Ben |date=2022-11-17 |title=The iconic Moog Minimoog Model D synth is back in production and looking better than ever |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/moog-minimoog-model-d-2022 |access-date=2023-10-15 |website=MusicRadar |language=en}}</ref> In 2018, Moog released the Grandmother, followed by the Matriarch in 2019; parts of the circuitry used in these instruments were inspired by the Moog synthesizer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moog Grandmother |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/moog-grandmother |work=Sound on Sound |accessdate=2021-07-10 |first=Gordon |last=Reid}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moog Matriarch: Who Needs Polyphony - Perfect Circuit |url=https://www.perfectcircuit.com/signal/moog-matriarch-spotlight |work=Perfect Circuit |accessdate=2021-07-10 |last=Gaston |first=Ryan|date=29 April 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moog Matriarch |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/moog-matriarch |work=Sound on Sound |accessdate=2021-07-10 |last=Reid |first=Gordon}}</ref>
=== Clones and emulations ===
thumb|A Behringer clone of a Moog modular synthesizer
After production of the original Moog synthesizers stopped in 1980, some manufacturers, such as Synthesizers.com, created their own modules and clones of Moog modules. Moog modules, known as the "dotcom" or "5U" format, are still available but have been superseded as the dominant synthesizer format by Eurorack.<ref name="Attack-2019">{{Cite web|date=2019-06-17|title=Different Flavours of Modular Synthesizers|url=https://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/technique-modular-synthesis/different-flavors-of-modular-synthesizers/|work=Attack Magazine|accessdate=2021-07-10}}</ref> Since 2020, Behringer has manufactured clones of Moog modules in the Eurorack format, also sold in configurations based on the original Moog systems.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Behringer clones over 20 Moog modules for Eurorack |url=https://www.musictech.net/news/behringer-system-55-namm-2020/ |work=MusicTech |accessdate=2021-10-19 |last=Willings |first=Sam|date=17 January 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Behringer bundles its System 55 Eurorack modules into three different rack sizes |url=https://www.musictech.net/news/behringer-bundles-its-system-55-eurorack-modules-into-three-different-rack-sizes/ |work=MusicTech |accessdate=2021-10-19 |last=Willings |first=Sam}}</ref>
The Moog synthesizer has been emulated in software synthesizers such as the Arturia Modular V.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arturia Moog Modular V |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/arturia-moog-modular-v |work=Sound on Sound |accessdate=2021-07-10 |last=Magnus |first=Nick}}</ref> In 2016, Moog released the Moog Model 15 app, a software emulation of the Model 15 initially for iOS and later in 2021 for macOS.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moog Model 15 App |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/moog-model-15-app |work=Sound on Sound |accessdate=2021-07-10 |last=Reid |first=Gordon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moog's Model 15 app is finally available as a VST |url=https://www.musictech.net/news/moog-model-15-synth-app-plug-in-daw-free/ |work=MusicTech |date=2021-09-09 |accessdate=2021-10-21 |language=en-GB |last=Sheah |first=Daniel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=NAMM 2021: Moog's Model 15 synth app comes to desktop on macOS Big Sur |url=https://www.musictech.net/news/gear/moog-model-15-synth-app-desktop/ |work=MusicTech |date=2021-01-20 |accessdate=2021-10-21 |language=en-GB |last=Betts |first=Will}}</ref>
==See also== * List of Moog synthesizer players
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category multi|Moog synthesizers}} * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000915093450/http://www.synthmuseum.com/moog/moomod.html Modular Moogs at Synthmuseum.com]}} * [http://moogarchives.com/menmod.htm Moog archives] ([http://moogarchives.com/ site top]) * [http://artsites.ucsc.edu/EMS/music/equipment/synthesizers/analog/Moog/Moog.html The Moog Synthesizer] * [https://www.soundonsound.com/people/rebirth-keith-emersons-moog-modular The Rebirth of Keith Emerson's Moog Modular]
{{Moog Music}} {{Electronic music}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Moog synthesizers Category:Modular synthesizers Category:Monophonic synthesizers Category:Analog synthesizers