From Theremin Kits to Switched-On Bach: How the Moog Synthesizer Arrived

Some instruments arrive like a thunderclap. The synthesizer arrived like a tide: a hobbyist’s curiosity in a basement, then a laboratory, then a record that millions of people heard. The Bob Moog Foundation’s timeline gives the dates, and they tell a clear story of how a niche tool became a sound of its time ^[1].

• Moog built his first theremin, the Model 201, in his father’s basement in 1953; the company became R.A. Moog Co. in 1954 ^[1].
• In 1964 he developed voltage-controlled modular equipment in cooperation with Herbert Deutsch; choreographer Alwin Nikolais was his first customer ^[1].
• Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause introduced the Moog to the West Coast at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 ^[1].
• Wendy Carlos released Switched-On Bach in November 1968, and the Minimoog, a portable non-modular keyboard synthesizer, followed in 1970 ^[1].

Start with the theremin

The timeline records the 1953 “Model 201 theremin” built in Bob Moog’s father’s basement. Bob and his father George first operated as “RAMCO” before the business became R.A. Moog Co. in 1954 ^[1]. A theremin is played without touching it, by moving the hands near two antennas. It was the family business’s first product.

1964: voltage control

In 1964, working with Herbert Deutsch, Moog developed his first voltage-controlled modular electronic music equipment ^[1]. In a voltage-controlled system, a changing voltage tells a module to change pitch, loudness or tone, so one module can steer another. It is like an orchestra where the conductor is also a wire. The first customer was the choreographer Alwin Nikolais, after Moog presented the equipment at the Audio Engineering Society convention ^[1].

1967 and 1968: the public meets the Moog

In June 1967, R.A. Moog Co. representatives Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause introduced the West Coast to the instrument at the Monterey Pop Festival ^[1]. Then in November 1968, Wendy Carlos released Switched-On Bach, which, in the foundation’s words, introduced the synthesizer to mainstream audiences ^[1].

1970: the Minimoog

The modular synthesizers were large and complex. In 1970 the company created the Minimoog, described as a simplified, portable, non-modular keyboard synthesizer ^[1]. Taking an instrument out of a wall of patch cords and putting it into a case a musician could carry was the step that let it travel to stages and studios.

People and places around the timeline

The Bob Moog Foundation’s exhibit page adds some of the supporting cast and setting. Moog arrived in Ithaca, New York in 1957 to begin doctoral work at Cornell University, founded R.A. Moog Co. in the late 1950s and opened a storefront and small factory in Trumansburg in 1963; he sold the company in 1971, and the new owners moved it to Williamsville, New York ^[2]. Names associated with the story include the composer Herb Deutsch, the keyboardist Bernie Worrell and the engineer Bill Hemsath ^[2].

The foundation’s exhibition, “Switched-On: The Birth of the Moog Synthesizer,” opened on May 2, 2014 at The History Center in Tompkins County and ran through May 31, 2015, showing instruments such as a 1950s vacuum-tube theremin, a Trumansburg-era Minimoog and a Moog modular synthesizer, along with a PMS-15 amplifier, of which only three were sold ^[2]. The page does not give sales figures for the modular systems or the Minimoog, so none are claimed here.

What the timeline cannot tell us

The foundation timeline does not give unit sales for the Minimoog, so this article makes no sales claims. It is a record of dates and firsts, not a measure of influence. For listening that shows how synthesised sound holds up at full resolution, see the Godlike music catalogue.

Questions readers ask

When did Bob Moog build his first voltage-controlled modules?

In 1964, in cooperation with Herbert Deutsch, according to the Bob Moog Foundation timeline ^[1].

What is the Minimoog?

A simplified, portable, non-modular keyboard synthesizer created in 1970 ^[1].