1 FROM THE FIRST BOB MOOG’S
SYNTHESIZERS UP TO TAE
“Mind you, neither of us had any idea where this was leading”*
1.1 THE GENESIS OF THE 1971 REFERENCE MONOSYNTH
Robert A. Moog was born in May 1934 in New York. With a passion for music (he took piano
lessons for 12 years), he was introduced to electronics by his father, an engineer. During his
adolescence he discovered the Thereminvox plan, invented during the 1930’s by a Russian
engineer, Leon Theremin (or more exactly Lev Sergeivitch Termen). Seduced by this
instrument with its never before heard sounds, he began to produce his own models and
founded his own company in 1954.
Frequenting musical professionals, and in particular electronic and concrete music, Bob Moog
realized that there was a real demand for electronic instruments of a higher quality.
One of the first clients to come to Robert Moog, the professor of music Herbert A. Deutsch,
asked him to listen to a song he had composed. Bob Moog is immediately convinced and they
decided to associate their work. Their co-operation produced the first voltage controlled
oscillator (VCO).
In 1964, the first prototype of a synthesizer designed by Bob Moog was produced. It was a
modular system with a voltage controlled filter (VCF), an envelope generator, a white noise
generator, a trigger and two keyboards each with a generator module (sawtooth, triangle and
square) as well as a voltage controlled amplifier module (VCA).
A second prototype, grouping those new modules all together, was built during summer 1964
and shown at the AES (Audio Engineering Society) autumn show, where Bob Moog took
advantage of an unused stand. In 1965, upon the success encountered at this show, he
decided to release the 900 series for sale.
In 1967, Bob Moog decided to release different machines, each with a certain number of
modules. This marked the birth of modular systems I, II and III. In 1968 worldwide recognition
came with the success of “Switched-On Bach” by W. Carlos. This album, where classical music
is played on a synthesizer of the brand, sold over one million copies and won 3 Grammy
awards.
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