Bob Moog 1934–2005

While a student at Virginia Tech, a few friends and I took an open-house tour of the university's surprisingly well-appointed music school. We were very interested in seeing the new electronic music studio that had been installed that year. During the presentation, the grad student pointed to a large wooden box that looked like a mash-up of a piano, a mid-century scientific instrument, and an early-century telephone switchboard. It was an original Moog. No, not an early Moog like those used by The Doors. An orginial Moog, built by the man himself. Screw all of those transistors and integrated circuits. We went analog for the next hour as all of us in the room had to take a crack at twiddling, patching, and tickling. After Les Paul, no inventor was more influential on the development of rock music.

Moment of Silence for Bob Moog.





























(Thanks, Fock. You can hear a shitload of Moogs on one of my personal favorite albums of all time, Return of the Rentals.)