Robert Moog
Robert Arthur Moog (/moʊɡ/ MOHG; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesizer, which debuted in 1964. In 1970, Moog released a more portable model, the Minimoog, described as the most famous and influential synthesizer in history. Among Moog's honors are a Technical Grammy Award, received in 2002, and an induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Robert Moog
August 21, 2005 (aged 71)
- Engineer
- inventor
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Shirleigh Moog(m. 1958; div. 1994)
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Ileana Grams(m. 1996)
4
- Florence Moog (aunt)
- Bill Moog (cousin)
By 1963, Moog had been designing and selling theremins for several years while working toward a PhD in engineering physics at Cornell University. He developed his synthesizer in response to demand for more practical and affordable electronic-music equipment, guided by suggestions and requests from composers. Moog's principal innovation was the voltage-controlled oscillator, which uses voltage to control pitch. He also introduced fundamental synthesizer concepts such as modularity, envelope generation and the pitch wheel. He is credited with introducing synthesizers to a wider audience and influencing the development of popular music.
Moog pursued his work as a hobby, and he is regarded as a poor businessman. His only patent was on his transistor ladder filter design; commentators have speculated that he would have become extremely wealthy had he patented his other innovations, but that their availability in the public domain helped the synthesizer industry flourish.
In 1971, Moog sold Moog Music to Norlin Musical Instruments, where he remained as a designer until 1977. In 1978, he founded the company Big Briar, and in 2002 he renamed it Moog Music after reacquiring the rights to the name. In later years, Moog taught at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and continued designing instruments for the revived Moog Music. He died at the age of 71 in Asheville from a brain tumor.
Early life and education[edit]
Robert Moog was born at Flushing Hospital in New York City on May 23, 1934. His father was George Conrad Moog, of German descent. His mother was Shirley (Jacobs) Moog, of Polish descent.[1] He was raised in Flushing, Queens.[2]
When he was a boy, Moog's mother forced him to study the piano. He was active in the Boy Scouts, and especially enjoyed spending time with his father, a Consolidated Edison engineer, visiting Manhattan's Radio Row and working on radio and electronics projects.[3] He became fascinated by the theremin, an electronic instrument controlled by moving the hands over radio antennae. In 1949, at the age of 14, he built a theremin from plans printed in Electronics World.[2]
He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1952.[4] He earned a Bachelor of Science in physics from Queens College of the City University of New York in 1955, and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science under a 3-2 engineering program in 1957.[5][6] He earned a PhD in engineering physics from Cornell University in 1965.[3][7]
Career[edit]
Theremins and R.A. Moog Co.[edit]
In 1953, Moog produced his own theremin design, and in the following year, he published an article on the theremin in Radio and Television News. That same year, he founded R.A. Moog Co., building theremins and theremin kits in his parents' home and selling them via mail order. In 1956, Moog and his father visited Raymond Scott's Manhattan Research facility, and Scott purchased a Moog Model 305 theremin. Scott rewired the Moog theremin to be controlled by a keyboard, dubbing his creation the Clavivox.[3][8] Moog married in 1958 and continued building and selling theremin kits from his own home in Ithaca, before establishing the company's first commercial space at 41 East Main Street in Trumansburg, New York in 1963,[9] all while continuing to pursue his postgraduate education.[2][10]
Personal life and death[edit]
Moog married Shirley May Leigh on June 15, 1958.[24] They had four children, Laura (1961), Renée (1963), Michelle (1967), and Matthew (1970).[25] They divorced in 1994.[2] On May 19, 1996 Moog married Ileana Grams.[26]
Moog was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor on April 28, 2005. He died on August 21, 2005, at the age of 71 in Asheville, North Carolina.[11] He was survived by his second wife Ileana, four children, one stepdaughter and five grandchildren.[2]