Bob Moog Foundation

An unknown electric violinist just jacked in to the Moogerfooger booth, run by Jason from Moog Music Inc., and they are doing some wild and hairy improvisations, wrenching astonishing sounds from her futuristic four-string. I’m going to try to interview her later.

The Orange Peel, on Biltmore Street, is Asheville’s premier intimate venue for touring rock bands. Check out the names on the marquee.

Maestro Dave Hamilton sets up the recording rig on the Orange Peel stage

Here’s Dave earlier in the day, setting up the recording and signal processing rig and supervising the soundcheck for all the musicians.

Michelle Moog is onstage right now thanking all the many organizations and people who supported this event. The main purpose of this event is to showcase our plans for the new Moogseum, which will be in Asheville, North Carolina. The Bunscombe County visitors bureau gave us a huge grant to get things started. We hope to break ground in 2012.

Lots of people are really enjoying themselves playing with Moog synthesizers, Moogerfoogers and guitars, and of course theremins. And we’re tracking and mixing an album of new music with contributions from dozens of musicians. There’s live video deejay work going on too. I wish I had access to all these peoples’ names, but I don’t right now. Maybe we can track some down and post them later.

Hi, I’m Wheat Williams, and I’ll be your blogger this evening. Here I am in the lobby of the Orange Peel, in front of their permanent Bob Moog exhibit. His Grammy award statuette is above my right shoulder.

Here are the first two Moog tribute birthday cakes, and the chef with Michelle Moog. Yes, those are real cakes. You can eat everything but the tires on the cars. And later on, people will.

Hi, I’m Wheat Williams. I’ve been a friend of the Moog family for many years and I’ve been volunteering with the Moog Foundation since its inception. I’ve done some press and media relations work, and I’ve worked in cataloging the Moog archives, but mostly these days I do IT and tech support. Michelle Moog-Koussa asked me to “live blog” this event. It’s a broad and impressive undertaking. We were here from 12:00 to 6:00 frantically setting up. Now the guests have arrived and there’s so much going on. Creative Director Dave Hamilton is onstage tracking a host of local musicians who are building up some improvisational music tracks with electric and acoustic instruments. Dave is mixing everything and processing it all through Moogerfoogers to create some hypnotic, rhythmic dance music.

Hundreds of people are here at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina.

We hope that in a few days you’ll see video clips from the event on the Electronic Musican Magazine web site, and also at GearWire.com.

I have a lot of photos and I’ll start posting them presently.

For over a year, our super volunteer Dave Hamilton has been going in to the public schools and bringing Theremins, Moog signal processors (moogerfoogers), microphones and oscilloscopes in to elementary school classes. Dave’s sessions with the kids has engaged and enchanted their sense of curiosity and understanding as he exposes them to electronic music, and some of the simple science behind the sounds they are hearing. The children react with great enthusiasm, some later writing “Mr. Dave” about how much they enjoyed the sonic playground that he created for them.

Dave Hamilton's got a Theremin some moogerfoogers -- and all the kid's attention

Part of the mission of the Bob Moog Foundation is to educate and inspire children through the power and possibilities of electronic music. We want to make sure that the Moog legacy lives on in a very special way through the children — by inspiring them to explore, create and innovate the realm of electronic music. As such, we aim to amp up our  Student Outreach Program by exposing children to electronic music all year long.

Kindergarten boy explores the Theremin

Please support us in our efforts to engage kids in music and science in a time when funding is being cut from our schools. Sponsor a student for $5. Sponsor five students for $25. Sponsor a class of 20 for $100.  Donate here.

ENTER THE MIND OF MOOG:

Celebrating Bob’s 75^th Birthday

May 21, 2009

The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC

Enter the Mind of Moog will be a golden opportunity to experience a working version of the planned Moogseum as the Bob Moog Foundation will transform the Orange Peel into an educational sonic playground for all ages. Upon entering the venue, attendees will be immersed in an interactive experience guiding them through the work and life of synthesizer pioneer and innovator Bob Moog. All proceeds from the evening will benefit the Foundation’s hallmark project, the Moogseum, to be located in Asheville, NC.

Interactive instrument-based exhibits will be set up to connect attendees to  the unique sounds and interfaces that helped make the Moog name a legacy in the worlds of science, music and innovation. Highlights include a “Theremin Tour”, where visitors will be guided by Bob Moog Foundation volunteers to play the early electronic musical instrument in various audio configurations as well as see it used as a video mixing tool, the “Synthesizer Lounge”, comprised of a bay of synthesizers available for attendees to explore and the Moogerfooger Remix Station which will highlight the power of the the Moog signal processing tools. Attendees are encouraged to bring their iPods or other playback devices to remix original music through Moog equipment.

The Interactive Timeline will guide the viewer through specific eras of Moog’s career and document the evolution of the Bob Moog Foundation. The Bob Moog Foundation will unveil a Mini-Moogseum installation to be featured permanently at the Orange Peel. The Mini-Moogseum, a beautiful showcase crafted by Chris Perryman of Domus Aurea Woodworking,  will house a small exhibit of the pioneer’s archives, tell the story of his impact on the world of music, highlight his connection to the Asheville community and feature a custom built theremin, designed by Bob’s former student and protege, Steve Dunnington.

Throughout the evening, four Bob Moog Foundation House Bands (comprised of four all-star bands of local artists) will be recording a four song album live on stage. These songs will be recorded as if in a studio with each musician layering their part individually over one another. At the end of the recording process, we will have an  EP album ready to be mixed. The songs will then be performed live by each band that recorded them.The original songs composed for the occasion pull from four different genres: acoustic, funk, indie rock and pop.

Jay Sanders will lead the  acoustic selection of the evening, with each acoustic instrument being treated to some special Moog electronic processing.  Jeff Knorr will use Moog equipment in the creation of a funk song; the drumming, Moog synthesizer as the bass and electric piano will all be processed through Moogerfoogers.  Josh Phillips – will feature Josh’s vocals layered on top of Mooged-Out drums, bass and guitar.  Joey Szabo will lead a  song featuring the Theremin as the lead instrument accompanied by drums, bass, guitar, and vocals.

Our silent auction will include such items as a Moog Little Phatty Synthesizer and a full day of recording at Echo Mountain Studios.

Finally, in celebration of the pioneer’s 75^th birthday, there will be a display of 10-12 birthday cakes designed and donated by area artisan bakeries. The cakes will be judged by a panel of judges for their originality of design and concept. At the end of the evening, we will be sharing these cakes with all attendees.

Cake for everyone! Join us for an night of sonic exploration and celebration!

For more information on the Moogseum, visit www.moogseum.com