You’ve seen a musician or two, no doubt, jamming away on a Moog synthesizer. But German band KARAT’s keyboardist Thomas Kurzhals really tears into it. Chris Stack, formerly of Moog and now producing the Experimental Synth series we cover with some regularity, shot this video interview / performance set, and tells us:

I don’t think it shows in the video, but at one point I looked down from filming and saw that he was playing so hard he was bleeding on the keys of the Voyager Old School.

With the fall of the Iron Curtain – and the accessibility of the Internet – a generation of artists can become better known to a wider audience. Chris was inspired by the reflections of Czech inventor Standa Filip to send this in. The tip is timely — today here in Berlin, it’s Tag der Deutschen Einheit, the celebration of German reunification. (I’m literally typing this from a balcony overlooking Frankfurter Tor and the gleaming disco ball-on-a-smokestack that is the Fernsehturm, in the former East Berlin.)

At Frankfurt’s Musikmesse, Kurzhals talked to Moog about what it was like being synthesist in the former GDR – including smuggling a Minimoog keyboard through Hungary in pieces, and hiding the synth from the intelligence service when loading into gigs.

To me, though, it’s just watching the guy play that’s really humbling – and a reminder of how gifted we are with the accelerating exchange of musicians around the world. That growing access to culture may make you feel less good about your own chops, but it’ll make you feel really good about music.

Also, I’m glad synths – hardware and software alike – are now cheap. And clearly, a Minimoog is cooler than a Trabant.

Moog made the scene, indeed. In this birthday week for Bob Moog, here’s a gallery looking back at the man and in advertisements, the Minimoog, the keyboard that shaped so much of synthesis to this day.

I could say more, but the images already say so much. Indeed, it seems we’re long overdue for a resurrection of this kind of romance with synthesis and electronic music technology. As I’m also editing remembrances of Max Mathews – a digital counterpart to Moog’s analog breakthroughs – I’d love to have someone do an image like the one on top for Max.

These images are also a reminder of how important the Bob Moog Foundation Archives are. Aside from being the source of these images, BMFA are working hard to get an accurate historical record of Moog and his circle. Moog’s legacy can easily be a catalyst for better understanding all early electronic music history, particularly in the US. Their work is essential and deserves our support:

The Bob Moog Foundation

The Foundation this week unearths an essay from 1951, as Moog writes – for college admission purposes – about what had already impacted his interest in science and learning, at age 17. Thank the Bronx High School of Science, for one.

I’ll let the rest of the images speak for themselves:

http://www.moogfoundation.org/
Supporting the Foundation

All photos courtesy the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, without whom so much of this history would simply be lost.

For more birthday wishes:

Synthtopia asks what you would tell Bob Moog if he were still alive.

Moog Music, via engineer Steve Dunnington, plays happy birthday for him on the instruments of his creation:

And here’s the history of the Minimoog I wrote for Keyboard Magazine last year, in which I sung one unsung hero at R.A. Moog, engineer Bill Hemsath.

Keyboard: The Minimoog at 40, and How A Legend Emerged from Spare Parts Bins

May has brought two new Web projects from manufacturers – one a titan name from analog hardware, another the king of the software studio. In each, the product itself is downplayed to focus on artists actually making music. That means if you’re looking to kick off your summer music making with a little inspiration, you’ve got some video to watch, and not just the usual gear lust. I don’t think I can be an entirely objective judge of websites, since I do work for The Internet, but that seems like a good trend. (So, yes, I’m not only being partial to Moog and Props here – I always welcome real musical discussion from the folks who make our music tools!)

First off, Moog has a much-welcome rebuild of their previous site, replacing a hard-to-navigate kludge with tiny images. The new site I have to say is one of the best I’ve seen yet from a vendor. Of course, it’s the actual content we still care about. For that, turn to a lavish legacy section. (You can even reminisce about the year 2000 and those heady Big Briar days.)

The nicest feature – back to the idea of getting to the music – promises to be the Sound Studio. First up is The Dandy Warhols, surrounded of course by tasty Moog gear. They have a mixed lineup coming – and don’t worry; that includes the likes of Thereminist Dorit Chrysler, lest you think Moog is abandoning their synthy roots. Now, if they could just find a way to put the pronunciation of their name front and center. (Hint: if you sound like a cow, you’re saying it wrong. Rogue.)

Moog Sound Lab

Propellerhead has a unique approach in May’s “Music Making Month.” Hands-on how-to videos appear first as live webcasts, then on-demand YouTube clips, showing how to get into some real music making. Reason and Record are featured, of course, but the series is as much about production and performance as those tools. Check out the start of the terrific series by Josh Mobley on keyboard finger-drumming, for instance. (Skip a couple of minutes in, and check out Josh’s percussive dexterity.) Artist guests are doing Q&A and video how-to installments on everything from control voltage to sequencing to songwriting, and it looks like there’s a nice artist/tech balance. I like the first week’s videos; tune in for more to come. (This also, though, confirms some of my reservations about the “Like” button; I wouldn’t read too much into those numbers.)

http://www.propellerheads.se/

The beauty of modeling an instrument is that it involves ideas – taking a design from one context and translating it to another. With software, we’re able to put sound-making things everywhere, from obscure game consoles to a tab in your web browser that can distract you with music instead of Facebook updates. In the process of moving those ideas from place to place, we discover things.

Just ask Shannon Smith. He’s been on a great tear emulating favorite synthesizers in free toys for the browser. Through the power of the Internet, the New Zealand-born, California-based developer heard from Japan-based Monotron designer, who shared tips like these:

- filter doesn’t sound nearly as aggressive at maximum peak.
- LFO is slower at minimum (about 15s period) and faster at maximum (>1kHz).
- monotron resets the LFO at the moment the ribbon is touched, so it
works like a simple cycling EG at slow LFO rates.
- monotron has fixed intensity keytrack. cutoff tracks ribbon position
by factor of two. only tracks ribbon not pitch knob.

(We get to enjoy a much cooler industry that keeps friendly, and leaves the competition more often to the engineering departments than to the legal departments.)

And so there’s something wonderful about getting to fiddle with squelchy sounds in the tab of Chrome or Firefox. A few examples:
“Webotron” (Korg Monotron)
“Webotribe” (not-even-out-yet Monotribe)
Yamaha CS01
A 4-op FM synth
A (mini) Minimoog

There are useful tools, too, like a Java patch editor for the microKORG XL. Amazingly, it can actually transmit MIDI to the keyboard:
microKORG XL

Shannon tells us a bit more about the development process…

How they were developed:

All Java (interface and sound). It’s not really possible to use flash to generate sound real-time with low latency. Java also has built-in MIDI support that works in your browser which is pretty handy.

I was curious if things like this would be useful on tablets (particularly if someone got them working with HTML5 in place of Java – it’s a bit sobering that our “futuristic” Web tech represents a step backward in some respects):

I have considered writing apps for tablets and have been meaning to look into it but can never find the time. Also the market seems pretty saturated with much better products than I could produce in my spare time.

Shannon’s background:

I studied Electronic Engineering at a university in New Zealand and now work full time as a developer for a GPS company in California.

The most important lessons learned by doing these:

Hmm, that’s a tough one. I guess an appreciation for just how hard it is to digitally generate good sounds from scratch. I assumed before I started writing synthesizers that doing it digitally would be trivially easy compared to the analog days. In the digital realm you can do things with a few keystrokes that would have taken dozens of components and hours to wire up physically. Unfortunately even though it’s easy to get something working quickly there are some rather nasty artifacts that creep in when you do things digitally that means you have to be very careful anything you do doesn’t generate frequencies outside of the limited range dictated by your sampling rate. Anything you generate that falls outside this range folds back down into the audio spectrum and makes it sound crap.

I’m actually supposed to be writing games in my spare time. I only started writing synthesizers because I thought it would be a way to have decent sounding music in my games and keep the download size very small. I started out trying to do a Nord Lead emulation but utterly failed and realized just how complicated it was to get a good sound. Even though it was a failure it was a lot of fun to try and I continued writing them and lately I’ve been writing many more synths than games, also I tend to finish (mostly) the synths which is something I can’t seem to do with games.

Lots more goodies to explore:
http://www.angryoctopus.co.nz/

Moog Music have been busy. Yes, they’re making an iPhone app, but for hardware lovers, there’s also the Slim Phatty, a rack-sized rendition of the Little Phatty announced last week. US$849 list, fourth quarter of this year; Synthtopia reports an $800 street.

What does the Slim Phatty get you? Like the Little Phatty, it’s basically a 2-oscillator analog monosynth with lots of onboard controls and connectivity.

• 2-oscillator Little Phatty sound engine, with the Moog Ladder Filter and Control Voltage input
• 17″ width, USB, MIDI, CV, external audio processing
• New Tuning Scale feature and editor for alternate scales, microtonal scales, etc.

Slim Phatty product page

I like that Tuning Scale feature; I hope to see that on the Little Phatty and not just this Littler Phatty.

The other addition – a bunch of new presets, all available on SoundCloud:
Slim Phatty Sound Samples by moogmusicinc

It’s not a bad deal by any means, though there’s a certainly appeal to the Little Phatty being an integrated instrument with a keyboard you can tote around.

This is about the time where we all do a comparison with, say, Dave Smith Instruments. DSI can get you a mono analog module for as little as US$399, and an entire keyboard for $799, in the Mopho range. Pluses for the DSI: their units are smaller, and you have the option (on the Evolver) of mixing digital and analog oscillators. What DSI doesn’t offer is control voltage input, however.

In other Moog news, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that you can now get the Filtatron on which we reported early last week. US$4.99 on the iTunes store. I could ask profound questions about what this means, but I’ll leave it at this — it’s a nicely-designed tool, a terrific mobile sampler and sound designer when you’re not in your studio, and shows its colors as a real collaboration between software developer (Christopher Wolfe) and the Moog team.

The 40th anniversary of the Minimoog hits this year: that’s four decades since the original reshaped the very notion of what a synthesizer looks like. Moog Music has answered with a real beast. It returns the core of the Minimoog Model D, but with the Voyager’s stable oscillators, patch storage, signature X/Y touch surface, pot mapping, and MIDI control – all while retaining a 100% analog signal path, if you’re a purist. Just like the Voyager, that means some analog-ically good sound, without sacrificing modern convenience. (Yes, even the Minimoog’s original creators recall that working without patch memory was a huge pain.)

And then it gets, well … a lot bigger. There are 61 keys instead of the original 44, plus a touch-sensitive ribbon controller, so you get more octaves and control. (I’ve long loved having ribbons on a keyboard since I first tried one on a Kurzweil.) And in an unexpected departure, the all-in-one keyboard design is coupled with patching right on the front panel, a feature we haven’t seen in a major instrument since 1970s keyboards from the likes of England’s EMS.

With raw voltage to patch in or out, the XL allows new sound customization, and unique opportunities to integrate it with other analog gear. To route out to other gear, you get 20 CV outputs, covering the keyboard, wheels, LFOs, ribbon, and more, 3 gate outputs, and 3 4-way mults. You also get inputs: 10 CV ins for the oscillators, of course, but also mod, sample & hold, LFO rate, and more, plus 4 gate inputs for envelope, LFO, and S&H gate.

In short, Control Voltage is back. At US$4995, a lot of people won’t be able to afford the XL, but that’s little matter. The instrument we’ll be gawking at in centerfolds, that boys and girls will paste on their ceiling and dream about as they go to bed at night, will be analog. Sorry, digital.

And yes, this did leak out a little bit early, but this is now fully confirmed by CDM’s contacts at the Moog Music company. And since you may not want to put CDM, Synthtopia, or Matrixsynth under your pillow – that iPad could certainly disrupt your sleep – you’ll be glad to know that Keyboard Magazine will have a feature hitting newsstands soon.

More specs than you can shake a patch cord at – plus an “add to cart” button that could make you break into a sweat:
Minimoog Voyager XL @ Moog Music

Summary:

61-Note Velocity Sensitive Keyboard with After-Pressure
Ribbon Controller with Pitch and Gate CV Outputs
Touch Surface Controller with X, Y, A and Gate Outputs
Stereo External Audio Input
Effects Loop Insert
2 Active Attenuators
4-Input CV Mixer
Lag Processor
2nd MIDI-Synced LFO
3 Four-Way Mults
20 Control Voltage Outputs
3 Gate Outputs
10 Control Voltage Inputs
4 Gate Inputs
2 Modulation Busses
Solid Oak Cabinet
Tilting Control Panel

And for a full-sized image of the front panel, enjoy:

moog_front_big.jpg

Images courtesy Moog Music.

You have to hand it to Moog – what other brand in music these days inspires this kind of passion, let alone an entire music festival?

Moogfest itself seems to have gone fairly mainstream. Bonnaroo producers AC Entertainment are behind this year’s installment, and the headliners announced so far already include Massive Attack, MGMT, and Thievery Corporation. (In fact, I hope Moog also taps some of its lesser-known, more underground artist enthusiasts; we’ll know once we see the full lineup.) AC themselves are no strangers to North Carolina, and the fest will basically take over Asheville when it lands October 29-31. (Mark your calendars now. Tickets go on sale at the end of this month.)

In addition to the music lineup, Moog Music promise “workshops, artists in panel discussions, visual art exhibitions, installations and film screenings,” and instrument hands-ons. It should be excellent, even though for some reason that “visual art” mention makes me imagine black velvet paintings of the Moog Modular. (Note to self – awesome idea. Jesus playing a Liberation?)

The bigger story this year from a historical perspective, though, is the coming 40th anniversary of the Minimoog keyboard. It’s hard to believe, but the breakthrough keyboard synth has been around for four decades. The fact that people still go out and (at a premium, no less) pick up a Minimoog today is quite a testament to Dr. Moog and his legacy.

http://www.moogmusic.com/

Plushy soft replicas of beloved synths have become something of a meme. Via our friend atariboy of Plasq fame, here’s the latest addition to the cuddly vintage instrument category on Etsy. Think about what this means, if you will: it’s a synthesizer you can curl up with while you sleep. Now that’s love. (I know at least a few of you have a relationship with synths that rivals or replaces, erm, significant others…)

Now, the last time I covered soft synths (cough), I got significant hate mail in comments, proving there are really some people who don’t enjoy joy. But let’s get serious: the issue here is, you really do want these things to make some noise. Maybe it won’t be a fully-accurate Korg MS-20 emulation, but it could at least make some blips and bleeps. Squeezing circuitry into something soft and fuzzy is not an easy chore, but soft circuits are becoming more manageable — it’s even possible to use conductive thread to do basic wiring. A simple resistive, noise-making circuit is possible.

Consider the gauntlet thrown. Any plushy makers want to collaborate?

On Etsy:
Pulsewidth shop, currently with a Minimoog, a Roland Juno-106, Korg MS-20, and a couple of SH-101s.

Previously:
TR-808: The Pillow, Plus Other Soft Synths

A chap named Nick Ciontea has created a channel on Vimeo collecting odd videos folks have made with or regarding Moog products. I know about this, because two of my videos made it in. It’s a grab bag, but a lovely tribute to how much people love this gear.

My favorite selection is the video here, because it’s not what you’d expect sound-wise from either Yamaha’s Tenori-On or Moog filters. Artist “Smith” says:

This first test is a prepartory work to a series of solo pieces inspired by John Cage’s experiments for prepared piano and Conlon Nancarrow’s player piano studies.

Yes, things you don’t normally expect to go together: Cage/Nancarrow, Moog, Tenori-On. And he successfully erases the Tenori-On’s beautiful if predictable signature sound. This is what I imagine music boxes would sound like on Alpha Centauri. In other news: I can’t afford this rig.

- 2 TENORI-ON(s)
- MI Audio Pollyanna Octave Synth
- Moog Low Pass Filter (MF-101)
- Moog Ring Modulator (MF-102)
- Moog Bass Murf (MF-105b)
- Jomox M-Resonator
- Rotary Ensemble (Boss RT-20)
- Boss FV-500L (as expression pedal for LPF Resonance)
- Boss FV-500L (as expression pedal for RM Frequency)
- Boss EV-5 for Rotary Ensemble speed

But, involved as that is, it’s further evidence you can push sound in new ways. And if online videos do nothing else, they can lay the gauntlet down in terms of what you think possible – both by demonstrating the generic and the unusual.

Score one for “old school” on the Theremin – minus one for “old school” on the Minimoog keyboard.

There’s plenty of debate about whether or not you can justify splurging on the extra cash for the Moog name on synths and effects – no one questions Moog’s quality, but there is other great boutique gear out there that gets far less attention. But one area where the Moog line is unquestionably superior is on the Theremin. And the Etherwave Plus at US$519 is an instrument you can really sink your musical teeth into over a period of years. With the addition of a Control Voltage output, you can control other instruments and effects, too. (Reader velocipede checked out a demo with Theremin controlling a guitar filter.) CV outs for pitch and volume are separated, so each hand gets isolated control. It’s a lovely setup, and I wouldn’t hesitate to get the Plus version.

Etherwave Plus Theremin [Moog Music]

So, the Theremin gets a little more old school with the Etherwave Plus. But meanwhile, Moog Music has announced they’re building only 200 more units of the Minimoog Voyager Old School model, which we admired at last year’s NAMM. This keyboard added retro wood-paneled styling, but took “old school” literally by eliminating patch memory and MIDI – the very features added to the Voyager that gave it more modern appeal. I expect the Old School may never have been intended for a longer run, but I’m not sure any of our readers will mourn its loss – the response to losing MIDI was a resounding “huh?”, and the Old School still costs US$2595.

Minimoog Voyager Old School

Still, you have to give props to the Old School for having the best slogan ever, even if it was only used internally: “Got Balls?”

How many products dare you to use them based on features they don’t have? (Too bad Moog didn’t use this as the official slogan, suggesting their answer was “Nope.” Well, at least as far as marketing. They’re no Synthi.)

I’d still love to see a Moog product that’s not an effects unit but does bring a little something to bargain-minded synth lovers. Maybe a NanoPhatty?