Difference between revisions of "Moog Minimoog"

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== Summary<br> ==
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== Introduction ==
  
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'''Date:''' 1972<br>'''Type: '''Monophonic / Subtractive / Analogue&nbsp;
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'''Date:''' 1970
  
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The ARP Odyssey is a strong contender for most popular monosynth of the 1970s, perhaps of all time, giving the iconic Minimoog Model D a run for its money (and actually outselling it).  
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'''Type:''' Monophonic / Subtractive / Analogue
 +
[[File:Moog-minimoog model d.png|none|left]]One of the most famous & iconic synths ever made, the Minimoog was the first keyboard based portable synthesizer and was immediately successful at launch. Over 14,000 were made between 1970 and 1980, with the Moog company moving locations from Trumansburg to Williamsville over the duration and changing hands several times.
  
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The highly versatile ARP Odyssey has featured on 1,000s of tracks over the years, and is still popular to this day with a re-release by Korg in 2016 (and the inevitable clone from Behringer later), as well as several software emulations now available.
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The instrument was immediately popular at launch with keyboard players of all genres – rock, prog, jazz, and the burgeoning electronic styles – as a more affordable and easier to use version of the preceding modular synthesizers, and introduced the now standard ‘pitch wheel’. The list of verified tracks using the Minimoog is likely to extend to 1,000s long – and that’ll just be the well known songs!
  
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This classic 37-note monosynth evolved over the duration of the 1970s:
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Apart from its powerful three oscillator sound and over-driven filter circuits, one of the keys to its success was the inclusion of a built in keyboard, something not previously seen on portable self-contained synthesizers, such as the EMS VCS 3 (1969). This enabled it to be taken up by electric organ and electric piano players with ease…and it was.
  
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Mk1 (2800) – White – 4023 2-pole filter<br>(later was made in black &amp; gold like later versions – but otherwise the same)<br>Mk2 (2810-2815) – 4035 4-pole filter (possibly infringing Moog patents!) &amp; CV/Gate connection<br>Mk3 (2820-2823) – 4075 filter (had much lower high frequency of only 12kHz, compared with the previous 35kHz). It also had different oscillators and the ‘proportional pitch control’ was introduced (some retrofitted to mk2)
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Full Song table here: [[Moog Minimoog Song List]]
  
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Whichever version was used, the Odyssey has a huge and powerful sound anywhere in it’s range from the bottom octave to the top (“I still like to use the ARP Odyssey because it has the best window-shaking bottom end of any synth.” – Gary Numan). And the simplicity of use ensured it’s popularity and use by a huge number of musicians over the years.<br>
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== Archetypal Track  ==
  
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<br>
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==== '''Parliament, ‘Flashlight’ (1976)''' Bassline  ====
 +
<p>
 +
 
 +
‎<youtube>bWurqD68u70</youtube><p>
 +
 
 +
Bernie Worrell claims to have used four Minimoogs to create this fatter than fat bassline. Here he is playing ''that'' bassline in 2016 (Still got it!):<p>
 +
 
 +
[https://youtu.be/RQtjnZNZFWw?t=90 10 minutes with Bernie Worrell]<br>
 +
 
 +
== First Ever Minimoog Track  ==
 +
 
 +
==== Mother Mallard's portable Masterpiece Company, 'Easter' (1970) ====
 +
David Borden was an in house musician at Moog’s HQ and had early access to the Minimoog. The original performance of this piece on Easter Sunday, 1970, made use of it – though the occasion was not recorded.  ''Electronic Sound Magazine, Nov 2021''
 +
 
 +
<youtube>utBcgqvykqc</youtube>
 +
 
 +
== Associated artists ==
 +
There are many artists closely associated with the Minimoog, here are some of those notable musicians.
 +
 
 +
==== '''Gary Numan''' ====
 +
“I looked to what they (Kraftwerk) were doing. A shining light to how music could be put together, completely different…When I found the Minimoog and pressed the key, the whole room shook with the power of it, I thought ‘that’s it, that’s exactly what I’m after’.
 +
 
 +
<youtube>BEop9nuTSrg</youtube>
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
''Kraftwerk: We Are the Robots, 6Music documentary, Mark Riley, 2007''
 +
----
 +
 
 +
==== '''Kraftwerk''' ====
 +
Although well known for their custom instruments and tin-foil drum kits, Kraftwerk used a Minimoog for the bassline on their seminal track, Autobahn (1974), as can be seen in this clip from US TV in 1975.
 +
 
 +
<youtube>PJM9xpvMbJ0</youtube>
 +
 
 +
----
 +
 
 +
==== '''Rick Wakeman''' ====
 +
Rick Wakeman is one of the most virtuosic keyboard players of the analogue era. He famously acquired his Minimoog from actor Jack Wild who was dissatisfied with it’s ‘limited’ monophonic capabilities.
 +
 
 +
''Electronic Sound, November  2021''
 +
Can’t embed here, but here’s Rick soloing in 1972: https://youtu.be/bRfxSLcmx7s?t=255
 +
 
 +
<youtube>sLx_x5Fuzp4</youtube>
 +
 
 +
----
 +
 
 +
==== '''Fred Wesley & The J.B.’s''' ====
 +
Played by James Brown himself, Blow Your Head features a damn funky Minimoog lead line from bar 1.
 +
----
 +
 
 +
<youtube>HNODqOk01Ls</youtube>
 +
 
 +
==== '''Dr Dre''' ====
 +
“At the same time [Dre and I] were like, ‘We need to do some P-Funk-sounding shit.’ We wanted to make a real Parliament-Funkadelic album.,” Wolfe said in a 2014 interview with ''Wax Poetics'' magazine. “Take “Fuck wit Dre Day,” for instance. I was thinking of Bernie Worrell when I was doing those kind of sounds. And that’s why the Moog is so predominant on ''The Chronic''.”
 +
----
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 +
<youtube>gXNNNUUfQUY</tube>
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 +
==== '''Pink Floyd''' ====
 +
Played by Pink Floyd’s keyboard player, Rick Wright, the Minimoog was famously used for the solos in parts I and III of the first track on Wish You Were Here -‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’.
 +
 
 +
''<nowiki>https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/pink-floyd-shine-you-crazy-diamond</nowiki>''
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----
 +
 
 +
<youtube>cWGE9Gi0bB0</youtube>
 +
 
 +
==== '''Jan Hammer''' ====
 +
Jan Hammer was famed for his virtuosic Minimoog performances. Here he is in his pomp with Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1973
 +
 
 +
----
 +
 
 +
<youtube>YEL5AfLQwwk</youtube>
 +
 
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== Table of a few notable Minimoog tracks ==
 +
Full table here: [[Moog Minimoog Song List]]
 +
 
 +
===== Notable tracks =====
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
!Artist
 +
!Track
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!Part
 +
!Source/link
 +
|-
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|Bill Watrous
 +
|AYO (1974)
 +
|Solo at 5:15 (Dick Hyman)
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|[https://youtu.be/mPP65UcGxq0?t=315 ''YouTube'']
 +
|-
 +
|Billy Cobham & George Duke Band
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|Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival 1976
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|Lead
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|''[https://youtu.be/nrJ_OIlcKe8?t=1020 YouTube]''
 +
|-
 +
|Frank Zappa
 +
|Waka/Jawaka
 +
|Solo at 1:45 (Don Preston)
 +
|''[https://youtu.be/G5UQEI1ojCQ?t=105 YouTube]''
 +
|-
 +
|Gary Numan
 +
|Are Friends Electric?
 +
|Lead
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|''[https://youtu.be/BEop9nuTSrg?t=54 YouTube]''
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|-
 +
|Jan Hammer / Mahavishnu Orchestra
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|Hope/One Word
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|Lead (solo)
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|''[https://youtu.be/YEL5AfLQwwk?t=353 YouTube]''
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|-
 +
|Kraftwerk
 +
|Autobahn
 +
|Bass
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|''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJM9xpvMbJ0 YouTube]''
 +
|-
 +
|Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company
 +
|Easter (1970)
 +
|Synth
 +
|''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utBcgqvykqc YouTube]''
 +
|-
 +
|Parliament
 +
|Flash Light
 +
|Bass
 +
|''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWurqD68u70 YouTube]''
 +
|-
 +
|Pink Floyd
 +
|Shine On You Crazy Diamond
 +
|Lead
 +
|''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWGE9Gi0bB0 YouTube]''
 +
|-
 +
|Rick Wakeman
 +
|White Rock
 +
|All synths
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|''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRQdSmKMaIk YouTube]''
 +
|-
 +
|Ultravox
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|Slow Motion (1978)
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|Bass (intro)
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|''[https://youtu.be/8bNxbi6ZBfo?t=30 YouTube]''
 +
|}

Latest revision as of 22:46, 3 February 2022

Introduction

Date: 1970

Type: Monophonic / Subtractive / Analogue

Moog-minimoog model d.png

One of the most famous & iconic synths ever made, the Minimoog was the first keyboard based portable synthesizer and was immediately successful at launch. Over 14,000 were made between 1970 and 1980, with the Moog company moving locations from Trumansburg to Williamsville over the duration and changing hands several times.

The instrument was immediately popular at launch with keyboard players of all genres – rock, prog, jazz, and the burgeoning electronic styles – as a more affordable and easier to use version of the preceding modular synthesizers, and introduced the now standard ‘pitch wheel’. The list of verified tracks using the Minimoog is likely to extend to 1,000s long – and that’ll just be the well known songs!

Apart from its powerful three oscillator sound and over-driven filter circuits, one of the keys to its success was the inclusion of a built in keyboard, something not previously seen on portable self-contained synthesizers, such as the EMS VCS 3 (1969). This enabled it to be taken up by electric organ and electric piano players with ease…and it was.

Full Song table here: Moog Minimoog Song List

Archetypal Track

Parliament, ‘Flashlight’ (1976) Bassline

‎

Bernie Worrell claims to have used four Minimoogs to create this fatter than fat bassline. Here he is playing that bassline in 2016 (Still got it!):

10 minutes with Bernie Worrell

First Ever Minimoog Track

Mother Mallard's portable Masterpiece Company, 'Easter' (1970)

David Borden was an in house musician at Moog’s HQ and had early access to the Minimoog. The original performance of this piece on Easter Sunday, 1970, made use of it – though the occasion was not recorded. Electronic Sound Magazine, Nov 2021

Associated artists

There are many artists closely associated with the Minimoog, here are some of those notable musicians.

Gary Numan

“I looked to what they (Kraftwerk) were doing. A shining light to how music could be put together, completely different…When I found the Minimoog and pressed the key, the whole room shook with the power of it, I thought ‘that’s it, that’s exactly what I’m after’.


Kraftwerk: We Are the Robots, 6Music documentary, Mark Riley, 2007

Kraftwerk

Although well known for their custom instruments and tin-foil drum kits, Kraftwerk used a Minimoog for the bassline on their seminal track, Autobahn (1974), as can be seen in this clip from US TV in 1975.

Rick Wakeman

Rick Wakeman is one of the most virtuosic keyboard players of the analogue era. He famously acquired his Minimoog from actor Jack Wild who was dissatisfied with it’s ‘limited’ monophonic capabilities.

Electronic Sound, November 2021 Can’t embed here, but here’s Rick soloing in 1972: https://youtu.be/bRfxSLcmx7s?t=255

Fred Wesley & The J.B.’s

Played by James Brown himself, Blow Your Head features a damn funky Minimoog lead line from bar 1.

Dr Dre

“At the same time [Dre and I] were like, ‘We need to do some P-Funk-sounding shit.’ We wanted to make a real Parliament-Funkadelic album.,” Wolfe said in a 2014 interview with Wax Poetics magazine. “Take “Fuck wit Dre Day,” for instance. I was thinking of Bernie Worrell when I was doing those kind of sounds. And that’s why the Moog is so predominant on The Chronic.”

Jan Hammer

Jan Hammer was famed for his virtuosic Minimoog performances. Here he is in his pomp with Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1973

Table of a few notable Minimoog tracks

Full table here: Moog Minimoog Song List

Notable tracks
Artist Track Part Source/link
Bill Watrous AYO (1974) Solo at 5:15 (Dick Hyman) YouTube
Billy Cobham & George Duke Band Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival 1976 Lead YouTube
Frank Zappa Waka/Jawaka Solo at 1:45 (Don Preston) YouTube
Gary Numan Are Friends Electric? Lead YouTube
Jan Hammer / Mahavishnu Orchestra Hope/One Word Lead (solo) YouTube
Kraftwerk Autobahn Bass YouTube
Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company Easter (1970) Synth YouTube
Parliament Flash Light Bass YouTube
Pink Floyd Shine On You Crazy Diamond Lead YouTube
Rick Wakeman White Rock All synths YouTube
Ultravox Slow Motion (1978) Bass (intro) YouTube
Retrieved from ‘http://www.synthsounds.net/wikitest/index.php?title=Moog_Minimoog&oldid=90’