A Brief History of the MiniMOOG...

[happyrat1]

I came across these in my searches today.

Very interesting to watch...

I was 14 or 15 years old when they hit the market, and hopelessly outclassed when it came to affording one.

I would have gladly given up a testicle to be able to own one in those days

Gary

 

[soot29]

Thanks for sharing Gary. I was in the exact same mindset when the minimoog first came out. So it was very rewarding to finally buy a Voyager in 2005. And it eventually inspired the creation of my home studio.

 

[happyrat1]

Glad you enjoyed it. I was surprised to learn that the oh so famous MOOG filter was actually a designer's mistake

And I took a peek at your youtube and bandcamp pages. That's some truly sweet vintage gear you're working with there.

I hope you have an engineering degree to keep all that analogue stuff in tune though

I just picked up an Arturia Beatstep and Keystep to play around with some soft synths and sequences on my work computer during the downtimes. The keystep is still on backorder but the beatstep is a really fun little sequencer to play with.

Gary

 

[soot29]

Hey Gary - Thanks. Yeah, I have some nice stuff. I definitely had to overcome my substantial fear of "going under the hood" as I started to accumulate this stuff. But I've tuned virtually all of them now. The first time I attempted to tune the Voyager I totally freaked out, but I've done it many, many times since then. Thanks for the Arturia tips. I am looking for sequencer options.

 

[happyrat1]

Also take a look at the Beatstep Pro. I think it can handle polytonic sequencing instead of just monotonic.

But I work with a DAW anyway so I can simply layer the sequences in the DAW to get a fatter sound And the pro sells for almost triple the price.

And no probs with Linux. The software is nice but Windows and Mac only but all the necessary functions are available on the front panel

Anyway, my little basic Beatstep is loads of fun

Gary

 

[Rayblewit]

I would have gladly given up a testicle to be able to own one in those days

No ones cares about your testicle mate. Back in the 70's it was probably overworked anyway. Keep in in your pants these days for well earned rest and just dream about owning a 70's miniMOOG. lol.
Anon.

 

[happyrat1]

I'm totally satisfied with the gear I own these days Ray and thanks very much for your tearful pleas that I keep my two veg under the meat where they belong.

Actually I fired up the studio today for a bit and I'm in the creative throes of publishing another masterpiece.

This time using the Zoom ARQ AR96 and an Arturia Beatstep which I picked up last week.

Compared to an analogue 1970's Minimoog with all it's hypersensitivity to vibration and temperature modern synths are a dream to work with.

And with a little knob twiddling creativity you can emulate the sound of a squadron of Flying Pigs dive bombing a Catholic Girl's School with sacks of wet pasta

Badly as I may have wanted one in days of yesteryear, today I find myself quite content with the hardware I have.

Gary

 

[MikeyParent]

The new (well, March) Moog Model D iOS app sounds killer. If you have an ipad it is a must-buy.

 

[Calldon]

Pronounced mogue as in Vogue and rogue.

Not moog as in boot.

 

[happyrat1]

Pronunciations vary widely from region to region, country to country, ethnicity to ethnicity and even family to family for every word in the English language.

Regardless of how Robert Moog may have pronounced his name in the 60's and 70's Brits and Italians and Hispanics and others all over the world had and still have their own spin on it.

For instance I run Linux which many people mispronounce LY-nux even though it's named after Linus Torvalds, a Swede who pronounces both the operating system and his name with a short "I".

Truth be told, only petty minded fussbudgets argue over how to pronounce a word, especially on an international internet forum filled with people from everywhere this planet calls "home".

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I'm with Calldon on this, especially since it's a name. Some of the people I've known throughout my life could get a bit offended if someone mispronounced their name. Is it important? No, not in the grand scheme of things. But if you don't want to risk offending someone, it's generally considered polite to learn how to pronounce their name they way they want it pronounced. I never met Robert Moog, so I honestly don't know how he pronounced it-- but I've always heard it pronounced "mogue," so I've assumed that that's how he pronounced it.

Now, if we can just figure out whether to say "skedjewel" or "shedjull."

 

[happyrat1]

I agree to disagree Michael. Unless I am actually being corrected by the offended party on the proper usage of their family and given names I tend to let these things slide. It's a big world and if you spend your life correcting others about what they never asked in the first place all you are going to accomplish is setting yourself up for frustration and hostility from the people whom you try to "educate."

I watch a lot of UK TV as well as North American shows and am constantly being enlightened as to how the Queen's English is mangled on both sides of the pond.

To this very day I am royally pissed off at supposed genius Sheldon Cooper when he says the word coitus as a two syllable word when in fact it is actually a Latin word pronounced co-eye-tus.

Nonetheless, like correcting spelling and grammar on a web forum, it's a hopeless and thankless task that usually will result in nothing more than you getting a dirty look.

Don't get me started on the misuse of Homonyms.

There. They're. Their. Who's and Whose. And proper use of an apostrophe in It's. It's a CONTRACTION, NOT A POSSESSIVE.

Anyway, three decades online have pretty much numbed me to spelling and grammatical abortions just as a lifetime of American television has numbed me to how most Americans butcher the spoken language as well.

It's a big world and if we can't agree to communicate then extinction is probably our best option

Gary

 

[Calldon]

Truth be told, only petty minded fussbudgets argue over how to pronounce a word, especially on an international internet forum filled with people from everywhere this planet calls "home".

Gary

Pardon me for being a petty minded fuss budget. It is a personal name. That's how he pronounces his name. I'm out. And thanks for the welcome

 

[happyrat1]

Hi. I'm sorry if I came across as hostile, but fact of the matter is that in the first two videos (American) they pronounce his name correctly. (Natch, since the video was produced by Moog Inc).

In the video MikeyParent posted they used the British pronunciation instead.

The fact is, anyone from America who's telling the Brits that they don't speak proper English is simply either a fool or simply has his head up his own ass when it comes to MAGA related crap where it's "Their way or the highway."

Face facts. 3/4 of the world pronounces Moog with a Long "O" and nothing is going to change that .

For that matter, the company name is also in All Caps. Does that mean we are wrong if we write it as a normal proper noun?

And lastly, it is all moot (mote?) since Robert Moog passed away over a decade ago and nobody can insult him now.

Gary

 

[Becky]

only petty minded fussbudgets argue over how to pronounce a word

Woah, I understand what you're saying, but let's not make things personal

I'm sure no offence was intended, let's keep things on topic here.

 

[happyrat1]

As you said Becky. No offense intended. It's just that people who correct other people's grammar and pronunciation online without solicitation is a bit of a sore spot for me.

Anyway, back on track...

Gary

 

[Biggles]

It is pronounced as Mogue not as Moog.

So sayeth the Keyboard God of Gods.

 

[Rayblewit]

 

[CowboyNQ]

This is a perennial topic of keyboard folks, which I personally find as tiresome as "football" v "soccer" (for the record both are correct).

Here is Bob Moog himself on the subject: http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/11/28/bob-moog-explains-how-to-pronounce-moog/

He's pretty relaxed about the whole thing and suggests the pronunciation is somewhat arbitrary, although if one wants to be pedantic, he goes with "Mogue", because he likes the sound of it.

Not a hill to die on - and I think the beauty of this forum is that it has an international flavour. If we all start having a crack at the way things are pronounced it's a slow and inevitable road to destruction.

I'm with Gary on this one - no right, no wrong, let's just focus on what's important - the awesome sounds and wonderful music.

 

[happyrat1]

Thanks Paul.

From now on I'm calling it a "Moche" Synthesizer just to piss EVERYONE off

Gary