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24-600: The group had recently acquired new equipment including a Minimoog , a phaser , and an EKO ComputeRhythm which could be pre-programmed and/or changed on-the-fly while it was playing. Chris Franke considered the six internal sounds to be "pretty lousy" but, due to its flexibility as a sequencer, later modified it as a controller to trigger external sounds. This rhythmic effect was featured in several of Tangerine Dream's later albums. All songs written by Edgar Froese and Christopher Franke . Additional personnel This 1980s electronic music album–related article

48-413: A run for his money... A guitarist would say, 'Oh shoot, he's got a Minimoog,' so they're looking for eleven on their volume control - it's the only way they can compete." Wakeman said the instrument "absolutely changed the face of music". The Minimoog took a place in mainstream black music , most notably in the work of Stevie Wonder . Its use for basslines became particularly popular in funk , as in

72-516: A smaller, more reliable synthesizer, 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 more prototypes, adding features such as the suitcase design to aid portability. In early 1970, Moog Co began losing money as interest in its modular synthesizers fell. Fearing they would lose their jobs if

96-459: A spring-loaded pitch-bend wheel and updates to the previous unit's MIDI specs. According to TJ Pinch, author of Analog Days , the Minimoog was the first synthesizer to become a "classic". Wired described it as "the most famous synthesizer in music history ... a ubiquitous analog keyboard that can be heard in countless pop, rock, hip-hop, and techno tracks from the 1970s, 80s, and 90s". It

120-460: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. 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 . Production of

144-700: The Minimoog Voyager , an updated version of the Minimoog that sold more than 14,000 units, more than the original Minimoog. Although the Welsh incarnation of Moog Music went into administration shortly afterwards, Winter retained the rights to the Moog name in the UK, with the result that the Minimoog Voyager was launched there as the Voyager by Bob Moog . In 2016, Moog Music began manufacturing an updated version of

168-518: The Parliament track " Flash Light ". It was also popular in jazz , and Sun Ra became perhaps the first musician to perform and record with the instrument (on his 1970 album My Brother the Wind ). Herbie Hancock , Dick Hyman and Chick Corea were other early adopters. The Minimoog became a staple of progressive rock . In the early 1970s, Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer added

192-528: The U.S. Marine Corps as a cook during World War II . After the Marines, he started his first hot dog stand 'Bell's Drive-In', in San Bernardino in 1948. In 1952, he sold the hot dog stand and built a second location selling hot dogs and hamburgers . He soon started selling tacos at a taco stand named Taco-Tia at 19 cents each from a side window. Between 1954 and 1955, he opened three Taco Tias in

216-646: The 1980s, the rights to use the Moog Music name in the United Kingdom were purchased by Alex Winter of Caerphilly, Wales, who commenced limited production of an updated Minimoog in 1998 as the Moog Minimoog 204E . The 204E added pulse width modulation and MIDI to the Model D specification. In 2002, Robert Moog reacquired the rights to the Moog name and bought the company. In 2002, Moog Co released

240-507: The El Tacos to his partner and opened his first Taco Bell in Downey, California . Bell franchised his restaurant in 1964. His company grew rapidly, and the 868-restaurant chain was later sold to PepsiCo in 1978 for $ 125 million in stock. In the late 1970s, Bell opened a tourist railroad at Tuolumne, California . This 3 ft ( 914 mm ) gauge railroad used the lower section of

264-864: The Minimoog stopped in the early 1980s after the sale of Moog Music. In 2002, founder Robert Moog regained the rights to the Moog brand, bought the company, and released an updated version of the Minimoog, the Minimoog Voyager . In 2016 and in 2022, Moog Music released another new version of the original Minimoog. 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

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288-408: The Minimoog to his modular 'Monster Moog' as an occasional part of his performances. Wakeman used five Minimoogs on stage so he could play different sounds without having to reconfigure them. It was also used by electronic artists such as Kraftwerk , who used it on their albums Autobahn (1974) and The Man-Machine (1978) , and later by Tangerine Dream , Klaus Schulze , and Gary Numan . In

312-496: The Model D, with an independent LFO and MIDI, and an aftertouch and velocity-sensitive keyboard. Production ended around August 2017, after a little under a year. In 2018, Moog Music released the Minimoog Model D app for iOS . In 2022, after being out of production for over five years, the Model D was reissued a third time. The basic architecture remained the same as the previous version, but also included new features like

336-458: The Moogs oozed character. Their sound could be quirky, kitsch and cute, or pulverising, but it was always identifiable as Moog." The Minimoog changed the dynamics of rock bands. For the first time, keyboardists could play solos in the style of lead guitarists, or play synthesized basslines . Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman said: "For the first time you could go on [stage] and give the guitarist

360-679: The San Bernardino area, eventually selling those restaurants and opening four El Tacos with a partner in the Long Beach area. He partnered with John Galardi, originally hired as a part-time worker and then a manager. Galardi later founded the Wienerschnitzel hot dog chain. Glen Bell learned how to make tacos from the Mitla Café in San Bernardino under his then mentor chef, Gloria Hoyle. In 1962, he went solo and sold

384-474: The company closed, the engineers developed a 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

408-432: The late 1970s and the early 1980s, it was widely used in the emerging disco genre by artists including ABBA and Giorgio Moroder . In 2012, to celebrate Bob Moog's birthday, Google created an interactive Minimoog softsynth web application as its Google Doodle . Glen Bell Glen William Bell Jr. (September 3, 1923 – January 16, 2010) was an American restaurateur who founded Taco Bell . Glen Bell

432-417: 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 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

456-534: 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 in continuous production for 13 years and over 12,000 were made. It

480-486: 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

504-484: The track and several steam locomotives of the West Side Lumber Company railway . The operation offered boat rides on the old mill pond and RV parking. In the initial plan, there were themed areas of the park with restaurants and stores. Glen Bell was able to locate and purchase old equipment (trains, cars, water towers, etc.) that were used in logging operations and brought to the park. It closed in

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528-471: Was also important for its portability. David Borden , an associate of Moog, said that the Minimoog "took the synthesizer out of the studio and put it into the concert hall". According to the Guardian , "Tweaked now so that the synthesizer could reliably perform as either a melodic lead or propulsive bass instrument (rather than just as a complex sound-generating machine), the Minimoog changed everything ...

552-817: Was born in Lynwood, California , to Glen William Bell Sr. and Ruth Elizabeth Bell ( née Johnson). His parents were born in the Midwest with his mother having been born in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota and his father in Franklin County, Iowa . Bell's mother Ruth was born to a half Swedish father and a predominantly English mother. His father Glen Sr. was born to a German father and predominantly English mother, Glen also had colonial New England ancestry through both his parents' families. Bell graduated from San Bernardino High School in 1941. He served in

576-412: Was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. Despite the success, Moog Co could not afford to meet demand, nor had credit for a loan, and Moog sold the company to Bill Waytena, a venture capitalist, in 1971. Van Koevering was hired as head of sales and marketing, expanding the sales of the Minimoog worldwide. Production of the Minimoog stopped in 1981 and Moog Co ceased all production in 1993. In

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