|
Apr 24, 2004 12:00 a.m. - KINGBLIND: Music, Art & Entertainment
Why Moog is back in vogue
One should never underestimate the power of the nerd. If it were not for the efforts of a tinkering teenage boffin in 1960s New York, the musical works of Kraftwerk and Parliament-Funkadelic and the sinister soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange would sound quite different. Donna Summer’s I Feel Love would be unrecognisable, and we would be living in a world without Hot Butter’s classic cheesy instrumental Popcorn. And that, for the record, would not be a good thing. Dr Robert Moog, inventor of the analogue synthesiser which bears his name and launched a revolution in electronic music, was that teenage boffin. Now 69, he is still developing and making electronic musical instruments as head of Moog Music, having recently wrestled back the company name. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Moog (pronounced to rhyme with "rogue", as it happens) synthesiser and 50 years in business for this self-deprecating man. "Professionally I view myself as a toolmaker," he says. "I can’t take any of the credit for the music that’s been produced." Although uncomfortable with the mantle, Moog is one of the pioneers of modern music. In keeping with its tradition of apportioning credit where it is due, Scotland’s annual Triptych festival, taking place over five days from 28 April, has invited Moog to speak about his groundbreaking invention in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, while renowned Moog composer Jean-Jacques Perrey will offer his perspective and conduct a Moog masterclass. Moog originally caught the electronics bug from his engineer father. From the age of eight, he would join him in his home workshop, building radios and learning about electronic circuitry. By the time he was 14, he had built his first theremin, that space-age instrument which sounds like a drunken Clanger and is played by waggling a hand dexterously beside a metal rod sticking out a box. Five years later, he made his first sale. Moog Music was in business. While he was still a physics and electrical engineering undergraduate, he was approached by experimental composer Herbert Deutsch with the idea of developing a new electronic instrument. With no particular plan in mind, the two collaborated on the analogue circuitry that was to produce a whole new sound palette. "We did it for fun," says Moog. "There was no thought of achieving a goal, it was an activity of the moment. I can’t ever remember thinking what the effect on music would turn out to be." At first, his synthesiser was used exclusively by experimental and avant-garde musicians and, later, to compose music for adverts. It was not until Wendy (then Walter) Carlos, a student of electronic music, picked up on the instrument and recorded the million-selling Switched On Bach album, that the commercial potential of the synthesiser was properly realised. Throughout the late 1960s, mainstream producers churned out a slew of copycat demonstration albums, with titles such as Music to Moog By, Moog Power and Moog Indigo, by the likes of Perrey, cheesy keyboard maestro Klaus Wunderlich and even a duo calling themselves Thelonious Moog. These were mostly unremittingly kitsch - Perrey’s work generally being an exception - but the capabilities of the Moog were taking root. The Beatles bought one. Mick Jagger bought one too, but promptly sold it to Tangerine Dream, who promptly mutated from a psychedelic rock band into a progressive electronica outfit. Meanwhile, rival companies such as Arp and Roland developed their own synthesisers. The original mainframe Moog synthesiser was the size of small house and it was not until the development of a portable model, the Minimoog, that the synthesiser became universally accessible. Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer was the first to use the synth in a concert setting. A couple of years later, Kraftwerk wrote Trans Europe Express on a Moog, and a bright future was secured. Since 1978, Moog’s business has been based in Asheville, North Carolina. Over the years, he has stuck with analogue sound rather than move into the digital realm, developing and improving his products, such as the playfully named Moogerfooger line of effects processors. There remains a high demand for the particular sonority of analogue synthesisers. The Moog synthesiser has spawned a whole fan culture in itself. Moogfest, a live celebration of the wonderful world of Moog, takes place periodically in various parts of the United States and Europe. Even the theremin is making a comeback - Moog Music now sells as many theremins as synthesisers. "We’ve never tried to build an instrument that meets the precise needs that a musician would have to cover the latest tune or produce the latest effect," says Moog. "That’s why instruments we built 40 years ago are still in use. It’s easier to make contact with an analogue instrument. Analogue synthesisers operate in a similar way to the human vocal tract or the way an acoustic instrument works. A musician builds up a relationship with his instrument not only through touching it but also directly with the energy field. Any virtuoso will tell you that and our culture is starting to take this sort of thing seriously. It’s not something I ever learned in engineering school." Dr Robert Moog will turn 70 in May, but he has no intention of retiring just yet. He has a new model of theremin to launch, a documentary about his life and work to appear in, and an anniversary edition of the Minimoog Voyager to promote.
Read the Entire Article
Directed by : Stanley Kubrick
Written by :Antho Burgess (...
Directed by :
Written by :
Released&nb...
Directed by : Brett W. Wagner
Written by :Brett W. Wagner
Released :March 19...
Directed by : Paul Angunawela
Written by :Le Hupfield (additional material)
Cast :...
- Buy Now
Malcolm McDowell...
- Buy Now
Fugazi... - Buy Now
Soulja Slim... - Buy Now
Kingsley, Gershon... - Buy Now
Phil Keaggy/Wes King/Scott Dente... - Buy Now
Overs, Kieran... - Buy Now
High Fidelity... - Buy Now
The Happy Goodmans... - Buy Now
Sex Gang Children...
- Buy Now
MacKay, Andy... - Buy Now
Burgess, Anthony... - Buy Now
Cannarella, Deborah...
 | - Buy Now
Musical Instruments
Poster #137349... |
 | - Buy Now
Musical Instruments
Poster #137352... |
 | - Buy Now
Musical Instruments
Poster #137351... |
 | - Buy Now
Musical Instruments
Poster #142806 Baschenis, Evaristo... |
 | - Buy Now
Musical Instruments
Poster #137350... |
 | - Buy Now
A Clockwork Orange
Poster #2226... |
 | - Buy Now
A Clockwork Orange
Poster #152877... |
 | - Buy Now
A Clockwork Orange
Poster #379100... |
 | - Buy Now
A Clockwork Orange
Poster #379103... |
 | - Buy Now
Clockwork Orange
Poster #372090... |
... Vega as Carmen Cortez and Daryl Sabara as her little brother, Juni, who play th...
|
