Robert A Moog

August 24, 2005

To most people, the name Robert Moog means absolutely nothing. To those within the music industry, Robert Moog will always be synonymous with the synthesizers. This wonderful chap died this past Sunday at the age of 71. What this man did forty years was absolutely phenomenal.

Robert Moog whose self named synthesizers turned electric currents into sound, he revolutioned music beginning in the 1960's and opened a wave of music that became electronica. Much in the same ways, Les Paul will always be identified with the electric guitar, without Les, there would never have been an Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eddie Van Halen, The Edge, David Gilmour, Carlos Santana. The list is endless.

Despite traveling with jet setting rockers, he always classified himself as a technician. He once described musicians as his customers. The irony is that if one were to trace back to his early days, as a Ph.D student in Engineering Phsysics, Moog developed his first high voltage controlled synthesizer modules with composer Herb Deutch in 1964. By the end of the year, he marketed the first commercial modular synthesizer. This particular instrument allowed musicians in studio as well on stage to mimic nature or other worldly sounds simply by the flip of a switch. Back then there were lots of synthesizers on the market, but Moogs stood out for being small, light and versatile. Not bad for a Science Major in university.

The arrival of the synthesizers definitely came at the right time, The Rolling Stones and the Beatles were trying to survive and come up with innovative ways to keep their music fresh. To all you Beatles fans both new and old, a little piece of trivia, Moog Synthesizers were used on their 1969 album " Abbey Road ". Moog synthesizers were even used in Stanley Kubrick's classic " A Clockwork Orange ".

Clearly his design was very much influential to a lot of keyboard players. One of the great Keyboard players of all time, the one and the only Mr Tony Banks used the Moog on some of Genesis most classic albums, most notably " Foxtrot " and offcourse " Nurserychryme ", both classic Peter Gabriel era Genesis albums. Tony Kaye even used the keyboards on some of early Yes records. He even might have used the Moog on their 1984 smash hit " It Can Happen ". The popularity of these synthesizers and the success of the Moog company took off in rock as extended keyboard solos in songs by Manfred Mann, Yes and offcourse Pink Floyd became part of the progressive sound of the 1970's.

It wasn't just progressive rock music that used Moogs synthesizers, Moogs breakthrough was used in 1970's funk, modern day hip-hop use samles using the Moog, and techno have also used Robert's classic creation.

The the one aspect that makes me a bit is that most people to this day dont know and dont realise what this man did for music. He literally brought electronic music to the masses and changed the way we listen to music. That's a true fact. The most endearing aspect of his legacy came in 2002, when he started running his new instrument business which was renamed Moog music. The list of customers is endless, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Phish, Sonic Youth, Massive Attack, Chemical Brothers, Wide Spread Panic and offcourse Coldplay.

I know over the coming weeks, there are going to be some tribute issues of magaizines such as Mojo, Classic Rock and Rollingstone, I just hope that in their individual tributes they give Robert Moog the full treatment and the respect that he so richly deserves.

To those of us who have been lucky enough to have at least at one point or another in our lives have made a living out of music on the keyboards whether it was full time or part time, we owe a debt of gratitude to a guy such as Robert A Moog, he was one of a kind. For some of us who were fortunate enough to have crossed paths with him, it's a time frame of memories that will never be forgotten. He was a classic and the likes of him will never come again.

Rohale

August 24, 2005