Moog synthesizers today are one of the most notable and widely
used electronic music instruments of our time. Though there was countless inventors
and innovation pursuers that developed earlier ideas and models, Robert A. Moog
was the designer of the Moog synthesizer itself. Early electronic instruments
had compromised mostly of telegraph units, Theremins, and additive synthesizers
(synthesizers that allowed for customizability of any sound). Drawbacks on
these technologies included either size issues or a limited flexibility in
terms of what could be possible with any of the early technology. Through the
1930s and 1940s, many elements that would show up later with the Moog started
becoming prominent on these early electronic instruments such as electronic
oscillators, audio filters, envelope controllers, and various effect units
which were all different ways to modify and affect different sounds coming from
these early electronic instruments.
After World War II, electronic music and music concrete started
becoming popular genres for composers and required more advanced technology
over time to provide composers with the flexibility they needed to bring their
ideas to life. Many of the synthesizers during this time took up entire studio
walls and a lot of space, not to mention were very expensive and rare to find
in a normal studio. A group called RCA then developed the first programmable
synthesizers in the 1950s but these machines could still not produce sounds in
real time and would have to be played back after to actually be heard. In the
1960s, Harold Bode developed the first modular synthesizer and sound processor
which also became the first of the synthesizer technology to play back in real
time and would be the leading inspiration into the generation of the Moog.
Robert Moog developed the first Moog models in the mid 1960s
going into 1970s, and into the 1970s Moog had developed the first portable and compact
synthesizers that the world had ever seen. This started a boom in the
technology as MIDI was developed to help synthesizers and electronic components
link and work with each other. I believe the Moog is on the forefront a very
inspiring electronic technology and has influenced a majority of the modern-day
synthesizers that composers are using today. I believe the technology will
continue to inspire more possibility by the sheer fact that it was able to show
composers and audiophiles all around the world that technology could be
furthered to make possibilities more feasible and I see that even in our modern
day world that innovators are constantly breaking through new possibilities
with what music technology can do. While synthesizers can help make a lot of a
musicians job work, I really hope that the hands on feature where a actual person
is needed to play the instrument is always a common goal when inventing new
electronic tools especially with music instruments.
