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Moog, inventor of synthesizer, dies

Robert Moog

WASHINGTON: Robert Moog, the man who transformed the sound of popular music with his Moog synthesizer, has died aged 71 at his home in North Carolina. The electronic keyboard he pioneered led to the birth of progressive rock and disco and helped inspire elements of funk, hip-hop and techno. It played an integral role in the music of artists as diverse as the Beatles, the Black Eyed Peas and Mariah Carey. Mr. Moog, who invented his first voltage-controlled synthesizer in 1964 while studying for a PhD in engineering physics at Cornell University, always considered himself a technician. ``I'm an engineer,'' he said. ``I see myself as a toolmaker and the musicians are my customers. They use the tools.'' Mr. Moog, whose name rhymes with vogue — ``I like the way that pronunciation sounds better than the way the cow's `moo-g' sounds'' he told one reviewer — was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in April and died on Sunday. Mike Adams, president of Moog Music, said: ``He was a musical pioneer for the love of it and musicians everywhere have had the opportunity to expand their own creative horizons with Bob's inventions.'' The Moog, which allowed musicians to generate sounds that could mimic nature or seem otherworldly, has been a presence in popular music since Walter — now Wendy — Carlos's groundbreaking, Switched-On Bach was released in 1968 using only the new instrument.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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