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Minimoog

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Minimoog
ManufacturerMoog Music
Dates1970 - 1982
PriceUS$1495
Technical specifications
PolyphonyNone
LFOOscillator 3 can function as LFO
Synthesis typeAnalog subtractive
EffectsFrequency modulation
using oscillator 3/noise
Input/output
Keyboard44-note, low-note priority
Left-hand controlPitch bend and mod wheels
External controlCV/gate

The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by David van Koevering and Robert Moog. Released in 1970 by the original Moog Music, it was among the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable synthesizers.

Design

The Minimoog has six sound sources. Five of these (three voltage-controlled oscillators with switchable waveforms, a noise generator, an external line input) pass to a mixer with independent level controls. The mixed output of the sources is then passed through the voltage-controlled filter (VCF) and a voltage-controlled amplifier, each of which has its own ADSR envelope generator. The VCF can itself be made to oscillate, thus comprising the Minimoog's sixth sound source.

The output of the third oscillator and/or the noise generator can also be routed to the control voltage inputs of the filter and/or oscillators. The amount of pitch or filter modulation thus realized is controlled by the modulation wheel, which is the right one of the two plastic disks located to the left of the keyboard. In this way the third oscillator is frequently used as a low-frequency oscillator to control pitch.

The Minimoog can be controlled using its in-built, 44-note keyboard, which is equipped with modulation and pitch-bend wheels or by feeding in an external one-volt-per-octave pitch-control voltage and triggering the envelope generators with an inverted trigger. External pitch control does not pass through the glide circuit, nor is presented to the VCF tracking switches and thus, the external inputs were not designed for external keyboard control. The lowest note played on the keyboard determines the pitch, a condition that is referred to as low-note priority. The envelope generators do not retrigger unless all notes are lifted before the next note is played, an important characteristic which allows phrasing. The modulation and pitch-bending wheels were an innovation that many instrumentalists found to be extremely playable. The pitch-bend wheel is on the left of the modulation wheel. It is normally kept in the centered position. It is not spring-loaded; the player must return it to the centered position to play in tune. There is a delicate detent mechanism to help the player find the center position tactually. In sharp contrast to later synthesizers that also have pitch-bend wheels, there is no deadband near the center of the wheel's travel; the wheel produces minute changes in pitch no matter how slightly it is moved in either direction. The wheel can therefore be used to introduce slight vibrato or nuance, as well as accurate pitch changes. However, Moog later recommended adding a deadband mod and published this mod in their factory service notes.

Usage

David Borden, an early associate of Moog, has said that the Minimoog "took the synthesizer out of the studio and put it into the concert hall". Jazz composer and bandleader Sun Ra used one of the first Minimoogs, a prototype lent him by Moog in 1969: "We loaned it to him and Sun Ra’s way of working is that when you loan him something you don’t expect to see it back."

Many essential pitch-bending techniques were first demonstrated by Jan Hammer, in his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and especially on Jeff Beck's album Wired. Many keyboardists learned how to pitch-bend by following his example.

Keyboardist Rick Wakeman says of the Minimoog's invention "for the first time you could go on and give the guitarist a run for his money... a guitarist would say 'oh shit he's got a minimoog' so they're looking for eleven " (a reference to the film Spinal Tap).

Due to the design of its 24dB/octave filter, its three oscillators, and tuning instabilities which tend to keep the oscillators moving against one another, the Minimoog can produce an extremely rich and powerful bass sound. Despite the advent of low-cost digital synthesizers and samplers, the Minimoog remains in high demand with producers and performers of electronic pop and electronic music.

The Minimoog was highly popular in 1970s and 1980s electronic music and has been used by artists such as:

Notable recordings

  • Jeff Beck's album Wired, on which Jan Hammer demonstrates pitch-bending technique using the wheel.
  • Rick Wakeman's album Six Wives of Henry VIII which demonstrates many of the Minimoog's characteristic sounds.
  • Kraftwerk's 1974 album Autobahn, which was a revolutionary record in the development of electronic music.
  • Synergy's Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra, recorded with a Minimoog, an Oberheim expander module controlled by an early Oberheim DS-2 digital sequencer and a Mellotron. Also, the second album, Sequencer has several Minimoog and Moog 15 modular synthesizer-based compositions.

See also

Notes

  1. Franklin Crawford (August 23, 2005). "Robert Moog, Ph.D. '64, inventor of the music synthesizer, dies of brain cancer". Cornell University News Service. Retrieved 4 May 2007.
  2. Hans Fjellestad (2004). Moog

External links

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