seti Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 excerpt from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4173510.stm http://www.nme.com/news/113450.htm Synthesiser pioneer Dr Robert Moog has died at his North Carolina home aged 71, four months after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Born in the New York district of Queens, his instruments were used by The Beatles and The Doors among others. Dr Moog built his first electronic instrument - a theremin - aged 14 and made the MiniMoog, "the first compact, easy-to-use synthesiser", in 1970. He won the Polar prize, Sweden's "music Nobel prize", in 2001. Synthesiser hit It was Wendy Carlos' 1968 Grammy award-winning album, Switched-On Bach, which brought Dr Moog to prominence. Carlos played renditions of Johann Sebastian Bach compositions on a Moog analogue synthesiser, making electronic music popular and Dr Moog a household name. Fatboy Slim is among recent musicians to use Moog synthesisers Before long many musicians and groups, including the Doors, the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, were using Moog synthesisers. Dr Moog remained a respected musical figure and in recent years many musicians, including Brian Eno, Frank Zappa, The Cure, Fatboy Slim and Stereolab kept the sound alive, even as analogue synthesisers were superseded by digital instruments. "The sound defined progressive music as we know it," said Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. In 2004, the first Moogfest was organised in New York, celebrating Dr Moog's achievements. Organiser Charles Carlini said: "He brought electronic music to the masses and changed the way we hear music." Dr Moog had received both radiation treatment and chemotherapy to help combat his brain disease. He left a wife, Ileana, and five children. A public memorial celebration is planned for Friday at the Orange Peel Club in Asheville, North Carolina. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 I heard that, too on NPR today. He really was a pioneer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Another article... http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-08/22.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 A true pioneer in the creation of modern musical instruments. He made some great inventions. I remember the big Moog 30 (?) patchbay unit that Keith Emerson used to play with ELP and Rick Wakeman's dueling MiniMoogs stacked among other keyboards for The Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Some of the early popular recordings were The Who's Pete Townsend on the 'Blue Meanie' portable unit and who can forget Edgar Winter's 'Frankenstein' with those spooky arpeggios? RIP professor Moog. To this day, I have a MiniMoog copy, made by Yamaha that is to part of my electronic music setup (one day) Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Michael, You've got a minimoog? Very cool. This man's genius continues to amaze me... every time I hear a synth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 I've never played keyboards proper, but have piano, Yamaha poly and this Yamaha MiniMoog copy. It's even got 10 memory bank and you download your 'patches' to cassette for backup. Way old-fashioned- but all the oscillators, filters, ADSR, etc are exact copy of moog layout. Makes some cool outer-space effect I can tell you. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wangdang Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 "Switched on Bach" really grabbed hold of me -- it was the first classical music album I ever bought. Not near the last, but it still has a warm place in the heart. I nevver found much more in the genre by Carlos, but my favorite electronic classical musician was/is Isao Tomita. By the way, when Switched on Bach was released, the artist was known as "Walter Carlos." I later bought a cut-out of a Wendy Carlos release that was an absolutely horrid attempts to synthesize Tibetan music (why????) What was the deal there? Did Walter lose something in the transition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotbuck Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Greetings, A true poineer ... I'll bet he and PWK are already having some interesting celestial chats. The first Moog synthesizer I ever heard was back in 1967 on the Monkees' song "Daily Nightly" from the Pieces, Aquarius, Capricorn & and Jones Ltd. album (btw, that was my very first album). Great stuff! Take care, Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Switched on Bach, bought it last month for a buck, I always did like it just never bought it till then. It is nice to see that there is another Tomita fan here! I think his rendition of "pictures" is my fav. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBILL Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 There is a new issue of SWITCHED ON BACH called SWITCHED ON BACH 2000 (Carlos 25th anniversary). It has the same Carlos programming but with improved MOOG voicing. Some parts are wonderfully better than the original while others are simply puzzleing. The original BACH tunings and temperaments are used which adds interest. TELARC CD-80323 DOLBY SURROUND DR BILL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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