Pioneering Synthesist To Perform Concert in NYC

Herb Deutsch, the experimental jazz musician who collaborated with Bob Moog in developing the  Moog synthesizer prototype, and who composed  the world’s first musical composition using the Moog,  “Jazz Images”, is performing a concert in New York City on Sunday, June 8, 2008. Mr. Deutsch will perform with several multi-talented musicians from the Long Island Composers Alliance (LICA), including long-time musical partners Paul Hefner and Jack Hotop. Theremin and electronic violin virtuoso Darryl Kubian will also be featured, along with Grammy Award winning composer/pianist and Thereminist Rob Schwimmer and pianist and electronic composer Phyllis Chen, The concert will feature several world premiers by Mr. Deutsch and others. The synthesizer, theremin, piano, toy piano and computer will be spotlighted. Details on time, date and location are listed below:

 ”Music Reflecting The New Electronic Technologies“

Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Park Avenue United Methodist Church
106 E 86th Street, New York City

post-concert reception

suggested church donation: $10
seniors & students: $5

For information, call 516-799-8815 or contact licamusic.org.

May 23, 2008 - Celebrating Bob’s 74^th Birthday With the Release of “Bolero Electronica”

Today we celebrate Bob’s 74^th birthday. He is deeply missed, indeed, but his life’s work lives on in many, many people all over the planet. In Bob’s own words, his life’s work was as “a toolmaker”, putting innovative instruments in the hands of musicians, giving them a new sonic palette with which to express their musical voice. Bob really believed in music as a means of expression and as higher form of human communication. His passion was providing the medium for the music to be made.

Bob always got a big kick out of talented musicians. He spoke of being awed at the music that a gifted musician could coax out of a synth, and he deeply respected this skill. It is fitting, then, that we celebrate Bob’s birthday with the music, skill, talent and vision that film composer/synthesist Amin Bhatia displays in his new double concept CD “Virtuality“.

Film composer and Synthesist Amin Bhatia

The first half of “Virtuality“ is comprised of  ten tracks which transport the listener through an orchestral and electronic voyage through the modern day computer with such tracks as “Hymn to the Users”, “Need for Speed”, “Virus Attack” and “In Search of Lost Identities”.  Click here to see the album cover with artwork by digital artist Alexander Preuss.

The second half of the album is “Bolero Electronica“, a work based on Maurice Ravel’s 1928 orchestral masterpiece “Bolero”, in which instruments of the orchestra are featured one after the other in growing layers and dynamics over 18 stanzas. In place of orchestral instruments, Amin uses over 75 synthesizers and electronic instruments (which span a 75 year time period) and introduces them chronologically with the shift in each stanza.

The piece begins with a Moog Modular, ARP 2600, Buchla 100 Modular and and EMS Synthi 100 and concludes with Arturia’s Moog Modular V, Spectrasonics Distorted Reality, the Alesis Andromeda A6, the Studer 820 and (sigh!) the Minimoog Model D. “Bolero Electronica” is nothing short of a brilliant celebration of synthesis and an expansive honoring of a collective group of synthesizer pioneers. To see a “Timeline of Technology Used”, click here.

Amin notes “Ever since my first Minimoog and a 4-track I’ve witnessed - and been part of - many revolutionary changes in electronic music. From tubes to transistors, tape to MIDI and now to computers and virtual synthesis each change has brought about new and exciting combinations of music and sound. Bob Moog was going to help on a narration track for “Bolero Electronica“.  Sadly that never happened, so I’ve dedicated the album to him and to the Bob Moog Foundation. It’s my way of saying thank you for my very first Minimoog that started it all.” Amin is donating  part of the proceeds from the sale of each CD to the Bob Moog Foundation.

Photo of Amin, Bob and Friends

The industry is already buzzing with accolades for “Bolero“:

     “Not only is this a tribute to the late Bob Moog, but it is a tribute to the history of synthesizers in general.  I do not recall anyone doing anything like this on this scale.  I have no doubt “Bolero Electronica” will go down as a pivotal historical piece.  Absolutely fantastic.  A   masterpiece!  Thank you so much for creating this.” –MATRIXSYNTH

        ” …while the album is technically impressive (it uses vintage  synthesizers from the Cantos Foundation Synthesizer Museum as well as  several from personal collections), that would be meaningless if it  wasn’t for the fact that the music is adventurous, exciting, and  beautifully recorded and produced….”  –Craig Anderton, Editor EQ Magazine

Click on the links  below to hear clips from “Virtuality” and “Bolero Electronica“.

Bolero Electronica (clips) from “Virtuality”

Pocket Full of Data (clip) from “Virtuality”

Need For Speed (clip) from “Virtuality”

Virus Attack (clip) from “Virtuality”

For a limited time, the Bob Moog Foundation is pleased to offer a copy of Amin’s “Virtuality” CD as a gift with a $25.00 donation.  Support Bob’s legacy and get a piece of synth history.   Donate today. With a $100.00 donation, you will recieve a copy of “Virtuality” and a Bob Moog Foundation tshirt, with our special” Bob’s Pocket”. Read more about our t-shirts here.

Yes, this album is dedicated to Bob, and yes, it is a celebration of the history of synthesizers as we know them today.   But ultimately, this album is all about…..the music.  Are you listening, Bob?  We feel sure that he is.

Happy Birthday Bob! We Miss you!

Moog Lives. Play On.

At the beginning of Janauary a team of six volunteers, lead by our volunteer curator Douglas Babb and Moog enthusiast/historian Brian Kehew gathered for five solid days to begin the cataloging process of Bob’s Archives. We certainly accomplished quite a bit, but given the extensive nature of the archives, only about 25% have been cataloged. Our work continues – and what fascinating work it is! During the five day process, there were repeated exclamations of “Wow, look at this!” or “I’ve never seen this before!!” or “I never knew Bob worked on that!”. The discoveries were priceless!  A special thanks to Doug, Brian, Wheat Williams, August Worley, David Hamilton and Jarod White for your help!

Look below to see photos of the cataloging process, and to see some of the historical treasures that we have uncovered.  Click here to watch a video about the archiving process.  We continue our campaign to raise $50,000.00 to proceed with the first step to preserving Bob’s archives. To aid this effort, donate today!

Brian, Wheat, Jared & Doug Sorting through the archives

Dave & August examining schematics

Brian with a photo of virtuosa thereminist Clara Rockmore

Dave Hamilton admires Bob’s Grammy

Minimoog Concept Design from early 1970s

Moog Speaker

Back of Moog Speaker

Bob’s analog tape machine from R.A. Moog, Co.,  Trumansburg, NY

Serial Number 001 of the Crumar Spirit

Click on the links below to see scans from Bob’s desktop notebooks. Bob kept careful notes on phone conversations and projects alike. We have these notebooks from 1961-1986. What a treasure trove of information.

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minimoog-timetable-page-910701

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We are proud to announce that the Bob Moog Foundation has been awarded an “Archiving and Preservation Planning Grant” from the GRAMMY™ Foundation to assess the preservation needs of the over 300 reel-to-reel tapes in Bob’s archives. These tapes include seminal works in synthesis from the mid-60s to the late 70s, such as works from Herb Deutsch, Wendy Carlos, Larry Fast, Isao Tomita, Keith Emerson, Roger Powell, Chris Swansen, John Weiss, David Borden, Joel Chadabe, John Eaton and many, many more. The $8,000.00 grant provides for the assessment of the tape’s condition by a team of experts including an archivist, a preservationist (responsible for digital transfer), a historian and a copyright expert. Our assessment team includes  archivist Steve Weiss, Sound and Image Librarian for UNC-CH,  preservationist Seva David Ball, recording engineer/mastering engineer, Soundcurrent Mastering,  historian Douglas Babb, Curator for the Bob Moog Foundation, and intellectual property attorney Steven Schnedler.  Michelle Moog-Koussa will be coordinating the project.

Once the assessment is completed, the foundation will have the opportunity to apply for a $20,000-$40,000 preservation grant to set about preserving the tapes in a digital format, so that they can be shared through our website, traveling exhibits and our eventual Bob Moog Museum. We are VERY grateful to the GRAMMY™ Foundation for their support and belief in our project!

Bob Moog’s 1970 Grammy Trustee Award for lifetime achievement

In the past year, the Bob Moog Foundation has garnered quite a bit of local, national and even some international press. Our local Asheville newspapers and magazines have been tracking our progress. We have also been featured in the Dec/Jan issue of Paste Magazine, the November issue of WNC Magazine, and the Jan/Feb issue of the german Synthesizer Magazine. Last month we were  featured in SKOPE. The online reporting of the foundation’s efforts has always been generous, particularly in October when Smashing Pumpkin’s front-man Billy Corgan, raised his mighty voice in a plea to save Bob’s archives.  View Billy’s letter here.

After giving people a glimpse at Bob’s archives at Winter NAMM ‘08, we were thrilled to be the subject of two editorials in leading industry magazines. Ernie Rideout, Editor-in-Chief at Keyboard Magazine put out a call to action in his March 2008 editorial. Click below to see what he had to say. Craig Anderton, Editor-in-Chief at EQ Magazine, also used his big voice to further our efforts to preserve the archives. Click here to watch him speaking out at the Propellereheads booth and NAMM.

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Here it is folks…pictures and a review from the Mooged Out: Asheville CD Release party, featuring Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band!

First, a big “hat’s off” to all the musicians and volunteers that made this incredible night possible. You all helped to raise thousands of dollars for the foundation–a big help in preserving Bob’s archives. Get your copy of Mooged Out: Asheville as a gift with a $25 donation.

Special thanks to our Volunteer Creative Director, Dave Hamilton, who was responsible for making this night happen. 

We had a great turnout and attendees were treated to a huge variety of music ranging from killer vocals to psychadelic theremin to rap to funk– all with a touch of Moog — the killer sound that crosses all genres. You can see some of the performers in these pictures:

Special thanks to our extraordinary photographer, Jon Leidel, who generously volunteers his services at all of our events: see his full gallery from this event.

A packed Orange Peel ”Moogs-Out”!

MIchelle Moog-Koussa addresses the crowd

Menage rocks the houseDave Hamilton on the drums with the Great Slide.

Jenny Greer wows the crowdLisa Huang on the keys

Here they are…

(from Set 1, featuring artists from Mooged Out: Asheville)

Here’s the first round, live from The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC.

More later…