Is that a synth filling your apartment, or are you just glad to see me?
April 26, 2014 7:22 AM   Subscribe

Moogfest is in full swing in Asheville, NC, and Moog Music just unveiled a faithful reproduction of Keith Emerson's original Moog Modular system. Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Lucky Man (SLYT) was one of the first professional recordings to feature a Moog synth. Apparently playing both the original and the facsimile simultaneously is a pretty orgasmic experience.
posted by sutt (43 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
(3:41) oooo WEEEEEEEEEE ooo WEE ooo WEEE ooo WEE ooo WEEEEEEE

I got to see ELP years ago in Atlanta and I have to say, they put on a helluva good show.

(yes, to head off the obvious joke: it did eventually end)
posted by jquinby at 7:30 AM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


That's a LOT of circuitry! I keep seeing Lily Tomlin, with
bouffant hairdo and old style headset, operating the switches.
posted by TDavis at 7:43 AM on April 26, 2014


One RingyDingy!
posted by sutt at 7:48 AM on April 26, 2014 [2 favorites]


I thought this was in the Fall, damn. I was gonna go this year...

Moog publicized the Emerson rig rebuild on April 1, it seems
posted by thelonius at 7:50 AM on April 26, 2014


Mountain Oasis (which splintered off from Moogfest, with its first festival last year) was gonna be in Fall, but they canceled. Doubtful they'll try again next year, but you never know.
posted by sutt at 7:55 AM on April 26, 2014


I saw a poster for Mountain Oasis 2013, and it looked amazing. I hope they are back in 2015.
posted by thelonius at 8:01 AM on April 26, 2014


Music blogger Bruce Levenstein (@compactrobot) has been tweeting Moogfest photos, etc. that have made me pretty jealous. He's a fun follow if you're into this kind of stuff.
posted by mintcake! at 8:02 AM on April 26, 2014


Wherever possible, the new synth has been built using original components and, while Moog’s engineers are aware that this may make it difficult (or impossible) to export it to some countries, authenticity was the sole guiding criterion.

What components were export-restricted? The Google reveals this miniature slip ring capsule mentioned in a State Department doc, but I can't find anything else.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:03 AM on April 26, 2014


I just keep wondering if it's faithful to Emerson's original in having more than a few fake panels (fronts without circuitry) being patched like a glorified Minimoog all the time, but I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to these giant vanity projects for rich folks in the realm of synthesis (see also: the reissued Fairlight CMI or the inexplicable rebuild of the Mellotron). Ninety thousand bucks to reproduce the least exciting unenveloped, unfiltered, unmodulated square wave solo with some portamento…I really should have skipped being a theremin builder and concentrated on building modules.

Clearly, though, I'm something of a grump.
posted by sonascope at 8:10 AM on April 26, 2014 [7 favorites]


RobotVoodooPower: What components were export-restricted? The Google reveals this miniature slip ring capsule mentioned in a State Department doc, but I can't find anything else.

At the risk of being dense to a joke, that's a different "Moog" organization. The Moog of Moogfest is Moog Music. Moog Inc. makes fancy control systems, and was apparently founded by Bob Moog's cousin Bill Moog.
posted by wormwood23 at 8:16 AM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wow, Morodor, Emerson, Kraftwerk, all on one lineup? That's one hell of a week of old-school synth.
posted by Runes at 9:07 AM on April 26, 2014


I like that the Beach Boys , the Monkees , the Byrds , and Simon & Garfunkel all used Moogs earlier.

...and the Beatles and the Beatles
posted by Zerowensboring at 9:14 AM on April 26, 2014


I like that the Beach Boys yt , the yt Monkees yt , the Byrds yt , and Simon & Garfunkel yt all used Moogs earlier.

Yes, true. But to give Keith Emerson some credit, he was probably the first musician to take a Moog System out on tour, and probably one of the first to own rather than rent the beast. There's a vague sort of timeline on Wikipedia.
posted by ovvl at 9:15 AM on April 26, 2014


I took an electronic music course at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the early 80s. Since most of us in the class weren't "official" music students we weren't allowed to use the spiffy new Synclavier in the new music lab (although we were allowed into the room once to look at it), but had to settle for the "crappy old Moog" that filled up a wall in the old music lab.

It was a fun course although I never managed to finish anything.
posted by lagomorphius at 9:18 AM on April 26, 2014 [2 favorites]


I like that the Beach Boys , the Monkees, the Byrds, and Simon & Garfunkel all used Moogs earlier.

It's one of the first recordings where it was used as a solo instrument.

There's of course no shortage of other early uses (including early Moog collaborator Wendy Carlos' famous Switched-On Bach, made with a custom Moog and endless overdubs on a custom multitrack tape recorder built by Carlos, which was the album that inspired Emerson to get his own Moog).
posted by effbot at 9:21 AM on April 26, 2014


I remember seeing a televised rock concert in 1970 or so in which Emerson was on stage with this monster computer thingy with a keyboard and I was delighted that it was possible to be Rock Star Cool and a Total Nerd at the same time. (It also made explaining Progressive Rock to my parents less scary)
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:33 AM on April 26, 2014


What components were export-restricted?

The difficulty here is likely obtaining an export license and/or clearance as non-restricted low-technology computer goods, rather than using components that some half-baked bomb program or weapons program could find valuable.
posted by dhartung at 9:49 AM on April 26, 2014


Moog Inc. makes fancy control systems, and was apparently founded by Bob Moog's cousin Bill Moog.

Gotcha. I really thought it was possible that early Moogs had some sort of fancy capacitors that were used in A-bombs.

And now I want that Moog.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:58 AM on April 26, 2014


It's one of the first recordings where it was used as a solo instrument.

But basically a ripoff of Dick Hyman's The Minotaur, from two years earlier.
posted by rodii at 10:00 AM on April 26, 2014


I got one word for you - Mellotron.
posted by IndigoJones at 10:03 AM on April 26, 2014


There's no way anyone but a rich collector (or Billy Corgan) is going to buy this impractical showpiece, but SURELY there's more plans in the works. If Moog starts selling individual modules, and smaller configurations in nice cases, I think there's a lot of people who will happily shell out money for that, myself included.
posted by naju at 10:12 AM on April 26, 2014


Here's Spirit's Space Child from 1970.
posted by rodii at 10:12 AM on April 26, 2014


we weren't allowed to use the spiffy new Synclavier in the new music lab

you probably hadn't played "Dinah-Moe-Hum" enough times yet to get to use it
posted by thelonius at 10:13 AM on April 26, 2014 [3 favorites]


You can't mention the Monkees and Moog and not show the greatest synth photo of all time.
posted by fallingbadgers at 10:17 AM on April 26, 2014 [4 favorites]


Ahhhh.... so that's why last year, a guy bought a ton of my Moog parts... from the screws for the modules we had remade to NOS potentiometers to the knobs we bought from Cosmo to the pre-wired edge card connectors. And why he never came back to buy more once all that stuff was gone.

As for the clone... I can't help but think it's a 90K sex toy.

(Spend 18 years living with a synth tech helping him restore gear, and you'll be jaded too.)
posted by luckynerd at 10:21 AM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


And Syrinx and Bruce Haack and Sun Ra (all 1970). (Bob Moog gave Ra one of the first minimoogs in 1969.)
posted by rodii at 10:22 AM on April 26, 2014


'69... what was it, a Model A, B, or C?
posted by luckynerd at 10:25 AM on April 26, 2014


Ra had a C in Space in the Place, but that was 1972.
posted by rodii at 10:30 AM on April 26, 2014


One more example of a hit song featuring a Moog predating Lucky Man: Gershom Kingsley's Popcorn, 1969.

(And I meant Space IS The Place.)
posted by rodii at 10:51 AM on April 26, 2014


I'm at Moogfest right now. Seeing Kraftwerk live was definitely awesome. Their first set blew up the audio console so I had to come back later. Too much power.

Asheville is a beautiful place to visit, definitely come next year! Mountain Oasis had a bigger feel, but there are interesting daytime sessions at Moogfest now, I went to a few audio production talks yesterday.
posted by JZig at 11:03 AM on April 26, 2014 [3 favorites]


ELP played Indiana State back around '77 or so, and that big, hulking Moog system looked pretty preposterous yet ominous on stage. Made a lot of alien-like squawks, though. The boys weren't really into being in Terre Haute, and gave what was probably the most perfunctory performance of their career.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:53 AM on April 26, 2014


But basically a ripoff of Dick Hyman's The Minotaur yt , from two years earlier.

Actually, Emerson acknowledged that the song Aquatarkus was his personal tribute to Dick Hyman, so that's cool.

In related hilarity, Dick Hyman admitted in an interview that he wasn't personally drawn to synthesizer technology, but that his record company set him up for a novelty recording and he just applied himself to it. Dick Hyman played keyboards on like a million different recordings. He's a genius.
posted by ovvl at 12:06 PM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Hyman's a hell of a piano player--I don't think his particular talent was a very good fit for a monophonic instrument, which explains why a lot of that album sounds like bleepy flailings, whereas on piano they would have sounded like awesome rhythmic figures.
posted by rodii at 12:13 PM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


I like that the Beach Boys, the Monkees, the Byrds, and Simon & Garfunkel all used Moogs earlier.

Good Vibrations (the song that was linked for "Beach Boys" above) didn't use a Moog.
posted by w0mbat at 12:18 PM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Moog fest also has a circuit bending contest. The winner's entry is pretty rad
posted by hellojed at 12:34 PM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Even if component based Moog modulars aren't available, the Buchla Modular kits are back on sale. Definitely something for my Ultimate Wealth fantasy list.

As it is, the ludicrously powerful 20$ nave is scratching my synth itches right now. If someone came out with an ipad case with 4 endless rotary knobs on it I would be very happy.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:07 PM on April 26, 2014 [2 favorites]


I always liked this record when I was a kid -


http://youtu.be/RIaN9FL7NEI
posted by therealshell at 2:31 PM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


we weren't allowed to use the spiffy new Synclavier in the new music lab

I got the chance to noodle on a Synclavier II at an electronic music seminar in the 1980's, and it was actually the most fun to operate synth that I've ever touched. It had a big value dial on the left hand with the parameter selections across the panel. Perhaps Moog Music may have also interpreted this basic design concept on a smaller scale with the Moog Source.
posted by ovvl at 5:52 PM on April 26, 2014


Ninety thousand bucks to reproduce the least exciting unenveloped, unfiltered, unmodulated square wave solo with some portamento…

At least the pragmatic Rick Wakeman shoehorned 4 Minimoogs into a rack when he toured.

And when do us ARP owners get our fest?
posted by sourwookie at 6:37 PM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Reporting live from the MIA venue 10 mins til show time. I've seen Kraftwerk twicethis week, rumor has it this is their last tour, and this was their last stop. Watching last night's show, couldn't help but feel this silicone joy of being among so much history. Bob Moog was a great guy- self effacing, mellow, and has a wonderful Subaru wagon with a mural of the mountains he hand painted on it. Now, years after he died, knowing what is going on in his shop in his name is awesome. I know several peeps that work or intern there. This festival does a great job of bringing together many diverse elements of electronic music, but has still so far to go as far as the future. Ok, almost show time.
posted by moonbird at 7:29 PM on April 26, 2014 [3 favorites]


So, today I spoke with Gene Stopp, the guy who engineered the re-creation. He's also the curator of the original Emerson Moog (it's in his living room).

Some interesting tidbits: The reason it's not exportable is that it's not RoHS compliant (lead solder, like the original). He said it could easily be made compliant with different solder. He's open to the _possibility_ that the end result could be different, but "zero ohms is zero ohms" (or, show me the data).

It took him a year to build all the modules, and a month to rack them all together and complete the synth.

He had trouble tracking down lighted slide switches. When he did, he bought up as many as he could. But only in red. So he had a 3d model made, and versions of the switch covers 3d-printed in green, blue, and white.

He's now an employee of Moog, and is tasked with making more of these. He played a few notes on the synth, and said "sounds like someone taking a saw to the Earth". And he wasn't wrong. It was a big, powerful sound.
posted by sutt at 1:16 PM on April 27, 2014 [2 favorites]


Hope this is available again this year!
posted by schyler523 at 3:46 PM on April 27, 2014


The more I think about the two people who raided our Moog stock for a song and backed out of a deal afterward, the more pissed off I get. I'd rather those parts have gone to keep vintage synths alive, instead of building 90K masturbation machines.

At least Emerson's getting a piece of each synth sold. It better be 5 figures!!
posted by luckynerd at 9:18 AM on May 10, 2014


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