September 20, 2023 • 82 mins
If you listen to essentially any piece of contemporary music, you’re likely—more than likely—to hear the influence of Bob Moog. Moog invented the first modular synthesizer, a device for creating electronic sound simultaneously more powerful and more accessible than anything that had come before. Initially adopted by the avant-garde, Moogs were quickly scooped up by the elite of rock and pop, laying a heavy sonic signature on the 1970s—and pretty much much everything that has come since. Think...Floyd. Think Stevie.
To learn more, we talked to Albert Glinsky, the author of “Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution,” the definitive biography of the man behind the tones. And the story? It’s wild. Featured topics include: home-grown Theremins, electronics stolen from Con-Ed, Japanese industrial conglomerates, hippy rip-off albums about the zodiac, open-faced breadboards, John Cage & Co, and the determinative power of the keyboard. How an inveterate tinkerer, ensconced in upstate New York, remade the world.
Music - Panic Girl - "Washed Ashore"
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