A REAL Moog

[anoteoftruth]

The Voyager, Little Phatty, Taurus III, and Moogerfoogers have the fingerprints of Bob Moog all over them. They're truly Moogish. At this point, though, any all-new instruments that the Moog Music company develops will be free of Bob Moog's direct influence (although he's certainly influenced the staffers, and probably has left behind a number of blueprints for future instruments).

I don't know how the rest of you feel about this, but the fact does remove for me SOME of the attraction of Moog Music in general. What special meaning does the name brand "Moog" have from now on? New instruments will not be the by-product of the brilliant and original Bob Moog mind, but will merely carry his name. I know many of you are fans of the company's staffers, but they just ain't the real thing, even if Bob had a profound influence on them.

My point is this: I hope Moog Music revitalizes some of Bob's old instruments - the Polymoog, the Micromoog, etc. Fine, let the company update them, as they did the Voyager. I'm all for that. But personally, I'd much rather buy an instrument that carried Bob's name in a meaningful way, rather than just as a marketing advantage.

Moog Music, bring out some of Bob's old classics. Give us something with his fingerprints all over it, and not just instruments with his label on them.

I agree 100%. It is this reason I look for more vintage moogs than new ones. I do have to say as well, a good synth is a good synth, but there is a different feel in vintage moogs compared to new ones. It may just be me, but I feel more connected to vintage moogs. The oscillators sound different and if they break you can work on them. New moogs have surface mount electronics which is expensive to repair. I have nothing against new moogs, but the old ones are different.

I love the old Moog's too. But in terms of where the company is going forward, I think it should do just that. Go forward, not behind. Get influence and inspired from the foundation, but then push the envelope into something that should be appealing to existing customers, and acsessible or tempting to new customers. I have faith in the people at MM to do this. No matter how much I love the old Moogs, I want to see new ones continue to be produced.

[EricK]

Okay,
Lemme play the devils advocate for a minute. Were talking about Analog synths. If we want Moog to go into the future they would probably be wise to leave Analog and CV behind. They would develope a very intricate Midi COntroller or some bluetooth wireless controller and control a very advanced software platform with waveshapes that you can custom design.

How about that!

[anoteoftruth]

Okay,
Lemme play the devils advocate for a minute. Were talking about Analog synths. If we want Moog to go into the future they would probably be wise to leave Analog and CV behind. They would develope a very intricate Midi COntroller or some bluetooth wireless controller and control a very advanced software platform with waveshapes that you can custom design.

How about that!

C'mon now your just talking crazy.

Other companies are coming up with new ideas for analog synths, modules, gear all the time. Do I think Moog's current line has reached the peak of what is possible in analog synthesis? Not at all. If I wanted digital, I would'nt be here posting on the forum!

Analog synthesis has had a second coming. It's popular again, it's what people want again after years of the industry sterilizing and thinning out our sound with mountains of digital do it alls. Now musicians and producers like myself are looking towards analog instruments to bring some life back into our music.. some uniqueness, some characteristics that imo can only be done by analog.

So why is it such a weird concept that we would be expecting new products and new functionality from such instruments? Why is it seemingly odd to you that I expect the people at MM to keep improving what they do, and keep innovating? Isn't that what people expect from any company? Isn't that how a company becomes succesful?

[EricK]

You know I seriously would like to se something like a Bluetooth Voyager. Imagine being able to hack into it.


Theres also an Emotiv controller that reads neuro impulses that would be nice to translate that brainwave data into Midi.

I do agree that I want Moog to move forward. I think that goes without saying. And I think Analogue is popular because its just better than digital, although it takes a truly educated ear to discern the differences.

I think its a good time for analog or modular synths. It took awhile but people came to their sences and realized what it would take to get those great sounds.

The question is......Where exactly is forward? Its unfortunate that Bob isn't around to guide us. I do think there are going to be some things that come out of the Archives that we will love to jump on.


Its not a wierd concept and its not odd to me. We expect more and better and we request it and I don't think that they have failed to deliver yet.

[slabwax]

Okay,
Lemme play the devils advocate for a minute.

C'mon now your just talking crazy.

Other companies are coming up with new ideas for analog synths, modules, gear all the time. Do I think Moog's current line has reached the peak of what is possible in analog synthesis? Not at all. If I wanted digital, I would'nt be here posting on the forum!

Analog synthesis has had a second coming. It's popular again, it's what people want again after years of the industry sterilizing and thinning out our sound with mountains of digital do it alls. Now musicians and producers like myself are looking towards analog instruments to bring some life back into our music.. some uniqueness, some characteristics that imo can only be done by analog.

So why is it such a weird concept that we would be expecting new products and new functionality from such instruments? Why is it seemingly odd to you that I expect the people at MM to keep improving what they do, and keep innovating? Isn't that what people expect from any company? Isn't that how a company becomes succesful?

Dean

[Kevin Lightner]

EricK wrote:
Okay,
Lemme play the devils advocate for a minute. Were talking about Analog synths. If we want Moog to go into the future they would probably be wise to leave Analog and CV behind. Twisted Evil They would develope a very intricate Midi COntroller or some bluetooth wireless controller and control a very advanced software platform with waveshapes that you can custom design.

How about that! Laughing

You just described Roland, Korg and Yamaha.

[anoteoftruth]

The question is......Where exactly is forward? Its unfortunate that Bob isn't around to guide us. I do think there are going to be some things that come out of the Archives that we will love to jump on.

The great thing about Bob was that he looked to us to guide him first. As he always used to say, he was a toolmaker. He met many musicians, met his customers, talked with us, listened to us. The needs and problems we presented to him, he gave us solutions the best way he knew how. He was great at this, and I suspect this is one of his attributes that he passed on to the people that worked along side him in MM.

[Kevin Lightner]

One thing I remember about Bob was his generosity.
We used to talk on the phone and email each other about various things.
One day I received a package from him and it was a Moogerfooger filter pedal.
Serial #11, if I recall.
I called him and asked why he sent it.
He said it was a token of thanks for helping him.
What I helped him with, I still don't recall.
Something minor probably and in my opinion, not worth a free MF pedal.
But I was floored by how kind he was.

I regret that I sold it sometime later.
I was broke and didn't really have any need for a filter pedal.
But I made sure it went to a working musician (Erik Norlander) and so figured that's what Bob would have wanted: someone who'd use his inventions and not just collect them.
Rest in peace, Bob.

[The Analog Organist]

All the talk about Moog "moving forward" (Gee, that's not an overused platitude these days, is it?) is business talk. My comments are 100% musician talk, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I realize the two fields are important for Moog, but I'm only appealing to one, to music.

That being out of the way, let me say that I couldn't care less about Moog Music "moving forward." As a musician, I don't need a brand new innovative new fangeld machine with the latest, neatest, coolest, most impressive features. Nope. All I need is a superbly expressive and beautiful sounding musical instrument. Moog has already produced that in her current and older instruments. Not as if there isn't room for improvement, or good reason to develop new instruments as well. But I'm concerned with quality, regardless of whether or not that quality is old or new, popular or unpopular. I don't need to feel I've got the latest or most sophisticated synthsizer. Nor do I care - again - whether or not Moog Music "moves forward" by anybody's estimate. If they need to in order to survive - fine.

My statements regarding the classic "Moog sound," which some have distorted as being of a living-in-the-past mentality and merely nostalgic, concern one thing: QUALITY. Let me say it again in another way. It's my opinion that the distinctive Moog sound is of a very high musical quality. Therefore, it's worthy of preserving, so much so that I'd be very happy to see other older Moog instruments (such as the Polymoog or Micromoog) preserved, or even better, updated, such as the Minimoog has been updated as the Voyager. That's the gist of it all.

All the talk of innovation and moving forward is perfectly meaningless to me if it allows for the abandoning of a distinctive musical quality that I hear in the older Moog instruments, and which I've attributed in part to Bob Moog himself. You can keep your arpeggiators, sequencers, editors, librarians, LCD windows, deep menus, USB, laptops, and all the other glitzy appendages. I'm a musician, not a geek, and to me all this stuff is superficial and tangential to making music. If I can't play something with my own two hands and two feet, then I don't want to produce it. I'm not interested in churning out music or sound that is produced by an instrument without me, in spite of me. I'm not into pressing buttons and then sitting back to see what happens, like a baby playing with a rattle. Rather, I want to tame and temper sound so as to produce the beautiful. Jeepers, if I like mere noise for its own sake, then I can let my old Escort idle for an hour or two.

So, what is the key to me? It is the sound of the instrument and its playability. I like the Moog sound above all others. If Moog Music were to let this distinctive sound slip from their future "innovative" instruments, then I would drop Moog in an instant and never look back. If they went digital, I wouldn't bother to even read about it. I'd be long gone.

[Subtronik]

Ye of such little faith.

I have no doubt that Moog moving forward will not equate to sacrificing quality.

[The Analog Organist]

I didn't say Moog would abandon quality. I said "If" they did, I wouldn't use their instruments, because I care about the sound, not the name. Nor do I put my "faith" in human beings.

[Subtronik]

Either way I'll always have my Voyager

[The Analog Organist]

Ditto.

[superd2112]

As far as Moog moving forward, I think they could advance their analog synths by implementing ideas & features found on other modern & classic boards, both analog & digital. After all, a useful feature is a useful feature, and should not be excluded from a Moog simply because another manufacturer came up with it first. Imho, the "classic" Moog sound mainly comes from the filter & oscillator design, and how cool would it be to have the classic Moog sound, enhanced with features such as separate glide rates per oscillator, a 3rd envelope, a delay knob for the attack in the ADSR sections, splits & sound layering, maybe even a second set of DCOs or waveform generators augmenting the analog ones? - the list goes on. While I love the current Moog product lines, I for one would embrace a radical & non-traditional Moog design, and all of the fantastic new sounds that would come with it. After all, when Moogs first appeared on the scene, they were completely new and avant-garde - maybe the addition of some features not typically associated with Moog could re-capture some of that original spirit.

[The Analog Organist]

Superd2112 -

You just described a Prophet '08 synthesizer to the letter.