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The impact of viable synthensizers on popular music (and other genres) can not be overestimated. Bob Moog was one of the first inventors of synths to really get it right. Here's a history of his workmanship.
IN THE scheme of things, he is as influential as a Presley, a Pistols or a Beatles. It must be infuriating, then, that nobody pronounces his name correctly. Bob Moog (as in “vogue”) built his first synthesizer module in 1964 and slowly revolutionised what we consider to be music.
Back then any sound that didn’t come out of wood or a piece of string was considered suspect at best, harmful at worst. But Moog had a natural “feel” for what was going on inside a transistor. Hans Fjellestad’s documentary Moog, which opens at the ICA next month, includes a host of keyboard luminaries, from Keith Emerson to Money Mark, queuing up to proclaim Moog’s genius. Personally, I’d like to shake his hand for creating the Moog Wasp, a tiny yellow and black plastic tray that is wonderfully easy to use and makes noises as cheap and fizzy as its name implies.
Thanks to Music Thing for the tip.
Posted by Casper at January 9, 2005 10:06 PM