Minimoog
More info
- Creator
- R. A. Moog Inc.
- Released
- 1970
- Type
- Analog monophonic synthesizer
The synth that took the modular system out of the studio and onto the stage by hard-wiring the patch cables and putting everything in a portable box with a keyboard.
Moog's modular systems needed patch cords, a rack and someone who knew what they were doing. The Minimoog Model D of 1970 pre-wired the most common chain: three oscillators and a noise generator, the patented ladder filter as its VCF, and two envelopes. What was left was a monophonic synth with a tilt-up front panel and two wheels on the left for pitch bend and modulation — a layout nearly every synth since has copied.
Around 12,000 were built before production stopped in 1981. Its bass became a staple of funk and prog, and the fat, slightly unstable tone is still the yardstick soft synths get measured against. Moog reissued the Model D in 2016, at a price roughly matching the original's in 1970s money.