In this week’s classic gear profile, Dubspot blogger and synth guru Ross Kelly investigates the Minimoog, a synth with a famous sound and a groundbreaking design that changed synthesizers forever.
In almost any conversation on the subject of synthesizers, one name inevitably comes up: Moog. This is no coincidence.
Dr. Robert A. Moog, better known as Bob, created the synthesizer as we know it today. In 1970, he released the Minimoog, the first fully self-contained portable synthesizer that did not require patch cables for routing. It put synthesizers in the hands of musicians, and set the stage for all synthesizers that would follow. Over 40 years later, it is still sought after by musicians around the world.
In the early 50s, Bob Moog began a company that sold tube-based theremins, an instrument that is played without being touched, often associated with classic horror movie sound effects. Eventually, technology moved on from the tube to the transistor, and R.A. Moog released their first transistor-based theremin. In 1962, Moog wrote an article for “Electronics World,” which explained step-by-step how to build a theremin, and inspired Hofstra University professor Herb Deutsch to build one. After meeting at a conference in 1963, the two decided to collaborate on the design of a musical synthesizer based on concepts that Moog was working on.
Deutsch, as a highly trained and talented musician, was able to help Moog with ideas to make the synthesizer more musically expressive. For example, Deutsch insisted that the system be controlled by a piano-type keyboard. By 1964, the first prototype of what would become the Moog 900 modular synthesizer was being demonstrated to the public by Herb Deutsch. Moog continued to build and develop his modular synthesizer system through the rest of the decade, streamlining and fine tuning the system with help from users.
Although the model 900 was a huge step forward for electronic sound synthesis, it was large, complicated, and expensive. Most of them were sold to experimental music artists, studios, and universities. But as the 60s marched on, Moog and Deutsch’s creation began to receive public attention. Some of this came from a demonstration booth at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival that put the Moog synthesizer in front of mainstream artists like The Doors and the Rolling Stones. The most attention, however, came the next year when Walter Carlos (now known as Wendy) released an album of Bach compositions, completely realized with the Moog 900: Switched On Bach.
Dr. Bob Moog demonstrates the Minimoog
While modular synthesizers are effective in the hands of experienced users like Carlos, they are intimidating and prohibitively expensive for the average user.
Bob Moog was well aware of this:
“These early modular instruments looked more like telephone switchboards than musical instruments because you had lots of patch-chords that connected the parts together.”
Moog and his engineers imagined a new synthesizer that would be portable, easy enough to use on stage, and affordable enough to land in the hands of working musicians.
Over the next two years, Moog’s engineers–particularly Bill Hemsath–designed and built the Minimoog. Hemsath, a product demonstrator in Moog’s New York shop, would set up a typical patch on a Moog modular (this often required six or more patch cables), and ask himself how it could be simpler. Hemsath built the first prototype, known as the Model A, out of parts that were in the junk pile of the Moog factory. He was the first person to put a keyboard and a synthesizer into the same box. He filled the gap between the key bed and the left side of the case with a slider that, in the final design, would become the first mod and pitch wheels. Moog and his team created three more prototypes before arriving on the final design, the Minimoog Model D.
This final version, released in 1970, is the Minimoog we know and love. The design they settled on consisted of three voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) and a noise generator, followed by a 24db/oct lowpass filter and two ADSR envelopes, one dedicated to the filter, the other dedicated to the oscillators and a voltage controlled amplifier (VCA). The modules chosen for the final design allowed for simple operation and compared to a modular, yet also offered a wide range of sounds.
These specifications became the standard for analog subtractive synthesizers, and are still the standard layout used in synthesizers produced today. The modulation and pitch wheels they invented are now seen on just about every full-size synthesizer and MIDI controller in existence. Not only did the Minimoog have a huge impact on the marketplace, it had an extremely long production run as well–the last units rolled off the production line in 1981. Most synths today are considered a major success if they are in production for more than two years!
The Minimoog took popular music by storm. It was immediately embraced by the burgeoning progressive and psychedelic rock movements. Keith Emerson (of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer), who was already using a large Moog modular system on stage, added it to his stage rig almost immediately. It was also embraced by the jazz-fusion scene with Chick Corea pioneering a new style of soloing with the pitch and mod wheels. It also became a hit in funk and pop music due to its famous thick bass tones, slick leads, and otherworldly space effects. Bernie Worrell, of Parliament-Funkadelic and Talking Heads fame, uses a Minimoog on stage to this day. Bands like Zapp and Roger had a sound based heavily around the Minimoog. Everyone wanted the Moog sound in their music–it even popped up in unexpected places like Bob Marley’s classic “Stir It Up.” It also helped to mold the sound of disco, in Giorgio Moroder’s famous collaborations with Donna Summer. By the end of the 70s, artists like Gary Numan, Ultravox, and Kraftwerk had adopted synthesizer-heavy sounds that featured the Minimoog prominently. These artists would have great influence on the synthpop, industrial, and new wave of the early 80s.
Beyond the Minimoog’s design legacy, its sound is still one of the most sought after. Nearly every synth has some version of a Moog bass or lead sound included in the presets. There have also been many hardware and software emulations of the Minimoog. For example, Studio Electronics (a company that started out transforming original Minimoogs into MIDI-enabled rack modules) has made a few synths designed to emulate the Mini, most notably the SE-1 which borrows heavily from the look and layout of the original. Bob Moog himself rebooted his business in 2002, with the release of an updated version called the Minimoog Voyager. This modernization of the original offers enhancements such as patch memory and MIDI that bring it up-to-date for a modern studio environment.
Bob Marley’s Reggae classic “Stir It Up” features some nice Minimoog work
One of the most classic Mini solos comes from Rush’s 1980’s hit, “Tom Sawyer”
The Bee Gees “Jive Talkin” features the quintessential Minimoog bass dead center in the mix.
Dubspot guest blogger Ross Kelly is a Chicago-based DJ, Producer and synth guru. He is one half of Night Moves, a cosmic disco party at Danny’s in Chicago. He is also a partner at Kokorokoko Vintage, an 80s and 90s themed vintage clothing shop in Chicago.