User Manual

1. HISTORY OF THE ORIGINAL INSTRUMENT
“Mind you, neither of us had any idea where this was leading” - Bob Moog, quoted by Mark
Vail, in his book Vintage Synthesizers © Miller Freeman 1993
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.
Success grew, and big groups like Tangerine Dream, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones
would also become modular system owners.
In 1969, the company which at that time had around 40 employees was building up to 3
modulars per week and the order book was always full. The modular synthesizer series had
5 years of high sales, and sold around 200 models in the United States.
The modular system III 1967 Courtesy of
Roger Luther, MoogArchives.com
3 Arturia - User Manual Mini V - History of the original instrument