Robert Moog shook up the music industry when he launched the first commercial synthesizer in the 1960s.
Since then, the Moog name has become synonymous with synthesis and iconic pieces of hardware like the Minimoog. Now, the Bob Moog Foundation has opened the Moogseum – a museum dedicated to Moog’s work and other important music devices – in Asheville, North Carolina.
The 1400 square foot space features an immersive visualisation dome that lets guests “step inside a circuit board” to see how electricity becomes sound and a recreation of Bob Moog’s workbench.
Robert Moog
When Moog debuted his synthesizer in 1964, it could easily cost six figures, was programmed by using punchcards and took up massive amounts of space.
But the ensuing affordability and keyboard interface opened up synthesis systems to a whole new world of users. Micky Dolenz of the Monkees and Wendy Carlos in her Grammy-winning 1968 album Switched-On Bach used one, along with Rick Wakeman, the Beatles, the Cure, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, MGMT and scores of other artists.