Robert Moog, ‘Einstein of music’

RALEIGH – He may not have been a rock star himself, but Robert A Moog’s influence can be heard in the music of bands from The Beatles to Yes, Herbie Hancock to Chick Corea.

Moog, whose self-named synthesisers turned electric currents into sound and helped revolutionise rock, died of a brain tumour. He was 71.”He brought electronic music to the masses and changed the way we hear music,” said Charles Carlini, a New York City concert promoter.”He’s like an Einstein of music.”Moog’s synthesiser allowed musicians to generate a range of sounds that could mimic nature or seem otherworldly by flipping a switch, twisting a dial or sliding a knob.His instrument stood out from others on the market because it was small, light and versatile.”I’m an engineer.I see myself as a toolmaker and the musicians are my customers,” Moog said in 2000.”They use my tools.”The Beatles used a Moog synthesiser on their 1969 album ‘Abbey Road’; a Moog was used to create an eerie sound on the soundtrack to the 1971 film ‘A Clockwork Orange’.A childhood interest in the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, would lead Moog – whose name rhymes with vogue – to create a business that tied his name as tightly to synthesisers as the name Les Paul is to electric guitars.As a PhD student in engineering physics at Cornell University, Moog developed his first voltage-controlled synthesiser modules with composer Herb Deutsch.By the end of the year, RA Moog Co marketed the first commercial modular synthesiser.”Suddenly, there was a whole group of people in the world looking for a new sound in music, and it picked up very quickly,” said Deutsch, a Hofstra University emeritus music professor.”The Moog came at the right time.”As extended keyboard solos in rock and funk – and later hip-hop and techno – took off, Moog’s instrument was used in songs by Manfred Mann, Yes and Pink Floyd.”The sound defined progressive music as we know it,” said Keith Emerson, keyboardist for the rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer.Keyboardist Walter (later Wendy) Carlos demonstrated the range of Moog’s synthesiser by recording the hit album ‘Switched-On Bach’ in 1968 using only the new instrument instead of an orchestra.”Every time you listen to the radio, you listen to Robert Moog’s influence,” said Carlini, who staged Moogfest in May 2004 to mark a half-century since Moog founded his first company.- Nampa-APHe was 71.”He brought electronic music to the masses and changed the way we hear music,” said Charles Carlini, a New York City concert promoter.”He’s like an Einstein of music.”Moog’s synthesiser allowed musicians to generate a range of sounds that could mimic nature or seem otherworldly by flipping a switch, twisting a dial or sliding a knob.His instrument stood out from others on the market because it was small, light and versatile.”I’m an engineer.I see myself as a toolmaker and the musicians are my customers,” Moog said in 2000.”They use my tools.”The Beatles used a Moog synthesiser on their 1969 album ‘Abbey Road’; a Moog was used to create an eerie sound on the soundtrack to the 1971 film ‘A Clockwork Orange’.A childhood interest in the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, would lead Moog – whose name rhymes with vogue – to create a business that tied his name as tightly to synthesisers as the name Les Paul is to electric guitars.As a PhD student in engineering physics at Cornell University, Moog developed his first voltage-controlled synthesiser modules with composer Herb Deutsch.By the end of the year, RA Moog Co marketed the first commercial modular synthesiser.”Suddenly, there was a whole group of people in the world looking for a new sound in music, and it picked up very quickly,” said Deutsch, a Hofstra University emeritus music professor.”The Moog came at the right time.”As extended keyboard solos in rock and funk – and later hip-hop and techno – took off, Moog’s instrument was used in songs by Manfred Mann, Yes and Pink Floyd.”The sound defined progressive music as we know it,” said Keith Emerson, keyboardist for the rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer.Keyboardist Walter (later Wendy) Carlos demonstrated the range of Moog’s synthesiser by recording the hit album ‘Switched-On Bach’ in 1968 using only the new instrument instead of an orchestra.”Every time you listen to the radio, you listen to Robert Moog’s influence,” said Carlini, who staged Moogfest in May 2004 to mark a half-century since Moog founded his first company.- Nampa-AP