Editing Robert Moog (section)

== Career ==

===Theremins and R.A. Moog Co.===
In 1953, Moog produced his own theremin design, and in the following year, he published an article on the theremin in ''Radio and Television News''. That same year, he founded [[RA Moog Co|R.A. Moog Co.]], building theremins and theremin kits in his parents' home and selling them via [[mail order]]. In 1956, Moog and his father visited [[Raymond Scott]]'s Manhattan Research facility, and Scott purchased a Moog Model 305 theremin. Scott rewired the Moog theremin to be controlled by a keyboard, dubbing his creation the [[Clavivox]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Glinsky |first=Albert |title=Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City, New York, US |date=2022 |isbn=9780197642078 |pages=32–33}}</ref> Moog married in 1958 and continued building and selling theremin kits from his own home in [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]], before establishing the company's first commercial space at 41 East Main Street in [[Trumansburg, New York]] in 1963,<ref>{{cite book|last=Glinsky |first=Albert |title=Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City, New York, US |date=2022 |isbn=9780197642078 |pages=61}}</ref> all while continuing to pursue his [[postgraduate education]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4696651.stm|title=Obituary: Dr Robert Moog|date=August 22, 2005|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=December 3, 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Moog synthesizer ===
{{Main|Moog synthesizer}}
[[File:Moog Modular 55 img2.jpg|thumb|300x300px|A [[Moog synthesizer]]]]
At Cornell, Moog began work on his first synthesizer components with composer [[Herbert Deutsch|Herb Deutsch]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/aug/25/obituaries.guardianobituaries|title=Obituary: Robert Moog|last=Stearns|first=David Patrick|date=August 25, 2005|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=December 3, 2018}}</ref> At the time, synthesizers were enormous, room-filling instruments;<ref name=":4">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2005/11/robert-moog-1934-2005|title=Robert Moog biography (1934-2005)|magazine=Wired|access-date=December 3, 2017}}</ref> Moog hoped to build a more compact synthesizer that would appeal to musicians.<ref name=":1" /> He believed that practicality and affordability were the most important parameters.<ref name=":1" />

In 1964, Moog began creating the Moog modular synthesizer.<ref name=":1" /> It was composed of separate [[Modular synthesizer|modules]] that created and shaped sounds, connected by [[Patch cable|patch cords]].<ref name=":2" /> Previous synthesizers, such as the [[RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer|RCA Mark II]], had created sound from hundreds of [[vacuum tube]]s.<ref name=":142">{{cite web |last=McNamee |first=David |date=August 10, 2010 |title=Hey, what's that sound: Moog synthesisers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/02/moog-synthesisers |access-date=October 12, 2018 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref> Instead, Moog used recently available silicon [[transistors]] with an [[Exponential function|exponential]] relationship between input [[voltage]] and output [[Electric current|current]]. With these, he created the [[voltage-controlled oscillator]] (VCO), which generates a [[waveform]] with a [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] that could be adjusted by changing the voltage. Similarly, he used voltage to control [[loudness]] with [[Voltage controlled amplifier|voltage-controlled amplifiers]] (VCAs).<ref name=":23">{{Cite book |last1=Pinch |first1=Trevor |title=Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer |last2=Trocco |first2=Frank |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-674-01617-0}}</ref> One innovative feature was its [[Envelope (music)|envelope]], which controls how notes swell and fade.<ref name=":0" /> According to the ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'', Moog's 1964 paper ''Voltage-Controlled Music Modules'', in which he proposed the Moog synthesizer modules, invented the modern concept of the [[analog synthesizer]].<ref name=":14">{{cite web |last=McNamee |first=David |date=August 10, 2010 |title=Hey, what's that sound: Moog synthesisers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/02/moog-synthesisers |access-date=October 12, 2018 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref>

Moog debuted the instrument at the 1964 [[Audio Engineering Society]] convention in New York.<ref name=":4" /> It was much smaller than other synthesizers, such as the [[RCA Synthesizer]] introduced a decade earlier, and much cheaper, at US$10,000, as compared to the six-figure sums of other synthesizers.<ref name=":4" /> Whereas the RCA Synthesizer was programmed with [[Punched card|punchcards]], Moog's synthesizer could be programmed with knobs and patch cables and played via keyboard, making it attractive to musicians.<ref name=":4" /> ''[[New Scientist]]'' described it as the first commercial synthesizer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18524921-400-interview-electronic-maestros/|title=Interview: Electronic maestros|last=Hamer|first=Mick|work=New Scientist|access-date=December 3, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>
At this time, Moog and then Fred Cochran constructed the so-called Moogtonium for the composer Max Brand. It is still operational and exhibited in the [[Langenzersdorf_Museum]] near Vienna  (Austria).{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Moog described himself as a toolmaker designing things for his users, not himself.<ref name=":2" /> His development was driven by requests and suggestions from various musicians, including Deutsch (who devised the instrument's keyboard interface), [[Richard Teitelbaum]], [[Vladimir Ussachevsky]] (credited with devising the ADSR envelope shape), and [[Wendy Carlos]].<ref name=":2" /> His other early customers included choreographer and composer [[Alwin Nikolais]] and composer [[John Cage]].<ref name=":1" /> Universities established electronic music studios with Moog synthesizers.<ref name=":2" /> In 1970, Moog released the portable fixed-architecture [[Minimoog]], described as the most famous and influential synthesizer in history.<ref name=":02">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/07/new-minimoog/|title=Clear Some Space on Your Synth Rack: The Minimoog Returns|magazine=WIRED|access-date=November 28, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoUs2SSvG4EC&q=minimoog&pg=PT230|title=Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer|last1=Pinch|first1=Trevor|last2=Trocco|first2=Frank|date=June 30, 2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674042162|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite web|url=http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/10/instrumental-instruments-minimoog|title=Red Bull Music Academy Daily|website=daily.redbullmusicacademy.com|access-date=November 28, 2018}}</ref>

=== Company decline ===
Though commentators have praised Moog's engineering abilities, some have also described him as a poor businessman.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Moog had pursued the development of his synthesizer as a hobby, stressing that he was regarded as a businessman but had not known what a [[balance sheet]] was.<ref name=":232">{{Cite book|last1=Pinch|first1=Trevor|title=Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer|last2=Trocco|first2=Frank|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0-674-01617-0}}</ref> He likened the experience to a theme park ride: "You know you're not going to get hurt too badly because nobody would let you do that, but you're not quite in control."<ref name=":232" />

Moog only patented his [[Voltage-controlled filter|filter]] design; [[David Borden]], one of the first users of the Minimoog, felt that if Moog had patented his [[pitch wheel]] design, he would have become extremely wealthy.<ref name=":13" /> According to ''[[Sound on Sound]]'', if Moog had created a [[monopoly]] on other synthesizer ideas that he created, such as modularity, envelope generation and voltage control, "it's likely the synth industry as we know it today would never have happened."<ref name="SOSOct2003">{{cite web|last=Leon|first=Richard|title=Dr Robert & His Modular Moogs|url=https://www.soundonsound.com/people/dr-robert-his-modular-moogs|website=Sound On Sound|date=October 2003|access-date=1 April 2024}}</ref>

Beginning in 1971, Moog Music absorbed investors, merged with [[Norlin Musical Instruments]] and moved to "less than ideal" premises near [[Buffalo, New York]], amid a debilitating recession.<ref name=":1" /> Moog remained employed as a designer at the company until 1977.<ref name=":2" /> He said that he would have left earlier if his contract had not required him to remain employed there for four years to cash his stock.<ref name=":1" /> By the end of the decade, Moog Music was facing competition from cheaper, easier-to-use instruments by competitors including [[ARP Instruments|ARP]], Aries, [[Roland Corporation|Roland]], and [[E-mu Systems|E-mu]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/world/americas/obituary-robert-moog-71-creator-of-music-synthesizer.html|title=Obituary: Robert Moog, 71, creator of music synthesizer|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|work=The New York Times |date=August 23, 2005 |access-date=December 3, 2018|language=en}}</ref>

=== Big Briar, return of Moog Music ===
In 1978, Moog moved to North Carolina and founded a new electronic instrument company, Big Briar.<ref name=":2" /> He also worked as a consultant and vice president for new product research at [[Kurzweil Music Systems]] from 1984 to 1988.<ref name=":4" /> In the early 1990s, he was a [[research professor]] of music at the [[University of North Carolina at Asheville]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=August 29, 2005|title=Robert Moog|url=https://variety.com/2005/scene/people-news/robert-moog-1117927996/|department=Obituaries|journal=Variety|volume=400|issue=2|pages=85|via=EBSCOhost}}</ref> In 2002, he renamed Big Briar to Moog Music after retrieving the rights to the name.<ref name=":2" /> In later years, he continued to design electronic instruments, including a [[touchscreen]]-operated piano.<ref name=":0" />