Minimoog

The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer introduced by Moog Music in 1970. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popular with progressive rock and jazz musicians and found wide use in disco, pop, rock and electronic music. In 2005, the Minimoog was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame.

Production of the Minimoog stopped in the early 1980s after the sale of Moog Music. In 2002, the founder, Robert Moog, regained the rights to the Moog brand, bought the company, and released an updated model, the Minimoog Voyager. In 2016 and in 2022, Moog Music released newer versions of the original model.

In the 1960s, RA Moog Co manufactured Moog synthesizers, which helped bring electronic sounds to music but remained inaccessible to ordinary people. These modular synthesizers were difficult to use and required users to connect components manually with patch cables to create sounds. They were also sensitive to temperature and humidity, and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Most were owned by universities or record labels, and used to create soundtracks or jingles; by 1970, only 28 were owned by musicians.

Hoping to create a smaller, more reliable synthesizer, the Moog engineer Bill Hemsath created a prototype by sawing a keyboard in half and wiring several components into a small cabinet. Moog president Robert Moog felt the prototype was fun, but did not initially see a market for it. Moog and the engineers created several prototypes, from the original Model A, Model B, and Model C, adding features to improve expression, ease of use and portability.

In early 1970, Moog Co began losing money as interest in its modular synthesizers fell. Fearing they would lose their jobs if the company closed, the engineers developed the final version of Hemsath's miniature synthesizer, the Minimoog Model D, while Moog was away. Moog chastised them, but came to see the potential in the Model D and authorized its production.

As the engineers could not properly stabilize the power supply, the Minimoog's three oscillators were never completely synchronized. Although unintentional, this created the synthesizer's "warm, rich" sound. Its voltage-controlled filter was unique, allowing users to shape sounds to create "everything from blistering, funky bass blurps ... to spacey whistle lead tones". The Minimoog also was the first synthesizer to feature a pitch wheel, which allows players to bend notes as a guitarist or saxophonist does, allowing for more expressive playing. Moog's associate David Borden felt that Moog would have become extremely wealthy had he patented the pitch wheel.

Moog Co released the first Minimoog in 1970. Moog said it was conceived as a portable tool for session musicians, and the team expected to sell "maybe 100 of them". Moog became acquainted with the former evangelist and musician David Van Koevering, who was so impressed with the Minimoog that he began demonstrating it to musicians and music stores. Van Koevering's friend Glen Bell, founder of the restaurant chain Taco Bell, allowed him to use a building on a private island Bell owned in Florida. There, Van Koevering hosted an event he billed as Island of Electronicus, a "pseudo-psychedelic experience that brought counterculture (minus the drugs) to straight families and connected it with the sound of the Minimoog".

The Minimoog was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. Despite the success, the company could not afford to meet demand, nor had credit for a loan. In November 1971, Moog sold R. A. Moog, Inc. to the rival company muSonics and stayed as an employee until 1976. Van Koevering was hired as head of sales and marketing, expanding the sales of the Minimoog worldwide. The Minimoog was in continuous production for 13 years and over 12,000 were made. Production stopped in July 1981. In 1993, Moog Co ceased production.