Theremin Celebrated

US Moogseum announces Fifty Years of Bob Moog Theremins exhibit      05/11/21

The Moogseum has announced an additional  three-part digital exhibit to their Google Arts and Culture's Music, Makers & Machines exhibition, highlighting the importance of the theremin in Bob Moog's life and work. They say that, released in honor of Leon Theremin the day following the anniversary of his death, with historical narrative written by Mike Buffington and Andrew Baron of RCATheremin.com, the Fifty Years of Bob Moog Theremins exhibit serves as a tribute to the inspirational force that Theremin was in Bob Moog's life. Here's more details direct from the Bob Moog Foundation...

Bob Moog built his first simple theremin from a do-it-yourself magazine article at age 14, and continued on to design his own in 1954 at age 19, which was published in the same national publication. Moog's Model 201 Theremin design was a more refined version than the original DIY theremin, and garnered over a thousand orders for theremins and kits, launching his company RAMCO/R.A. Moog. These early theremins were constructed with his father, George Conrad Moog, who made the wooden cabinets while Bob hand-assembled all of the components.

Fifty Years of Bob Moog Theremins explores the many different models of theremins that Bob created in his expansive career, weaves in manuals and schematics, and features rare photos and video clips. Organized into three parts, The Birth of Moog Theremins leads with the early years 1953-1956, Bob's love of learning and affinity for the craft of building musical instruments. Part 2, The Evolution of Moog Theremins 1957-1964 continues the journey as model numbers such as 305 and 351 were superseded by names like Vanguard and Professional, and Bob's instruments embraced the latest transistorized "solid state" technology. The Big Briar Theremin Years and Beyond final section explores 1978-2004 with the theremin as a main source of inspiration for Big Briar's goals of "...designing and building electronic and computer music controllers, as well as musical instruments and systems using electronic and computer technology." This section includes the addition of MIDI and some of the newer technologies of the day, and the design of the Etherwave Pro, the final theremin designed by Bob.

Google Arts & Culture's Music, Makers & Machines features exhibits from 55 partner museums and non-profits from around the world, sharing historical and educational artifacts from their vast collections. The Moogseum created 13 original exhibits, sharing over 275 pieces of material from the Bob Moog Foundation Archives. Music, Makers, and Machines  can be found here, while the Moogseum's exhibits can be found here.

In alignment with its mission to bring the pioneering legacy of Bob Moog alive for people of all ages, the Moogseum is sharing exhibits that explore Bob Moog's life and career; evolutions in synthesis over a 100-year period; the history of Moog synthesizers; the use of Moog synthesizers in pop, rock, funk, jazz, and early pioneering works; the fundamentals of synthesis as explored through Moog circuitry; the early history of the Minimoog, Blacktronika, a special exhibit curated by professor and electronic musician King Britt and featuring Black innovators in electronic music, and more. Through the Google exhibit interface, the Moogseum has been able to integrate a wide variety of videos hosted on YouTube to enrich each experience.

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• Win A Moog Source Signed By Bob Moog 06-Feb-24
• Bob Moog Foundation 2024 Calendar 12-Dec-23
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