The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer created by Moog Music in 1970. It was designed as a cheaper and easier-to-carry version of the modular Moog synthesizer. This was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It became popular among musicians who played progressive rock and jazz, and it was widely used in disco, pop, rock, and electronic music. In 2005, the Minimoog was added to the TECnology Hall of Fame.
Production of the Minimoog ended in the early 1980s after Moog Music was sold. In 2002, Robert Moog, the founder, regained the rights to the Moog brand, purchased the company, and released an updated version called the Minimoog Voyager. In 2016 and 2022, Moog Music released new versions of the original Minimoog model.
Development
In the 1960s, R.A. Moog Co. made Moog synthesizers, which helped make electronic music more popular but were not available to most people. These synthesizers were hard to use and required users to connect parts manually with patch cables to create sounds. They were also affected by temperature and humidity changes 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.
To make a smaller, more reliable synthesizer, engineer Bill Hemsath built a prototype called the Min A by cutting a keyboard in half and wiring unused modular parts into a small cabinet. Robert Moog, the company’s founder and president, called the prototype “a fun experiment” but did not see a market for it. Moog and the engineers later created the Model B and Model C prototypes, adding features to improve how the synthesizer could be played and made it easier to carry.
In early 1970, Moog Co. started losing money as interest in its modular synthesizers decreased. Worried about losing their jobs if the company closed, the engineers finished the final version of Hemsath’s miniature synthesizer, the Minimoog Model D, while Moog was away. Moog criticized them at first but later saw the potential in the Model D and approved its production.
Because the engineers could not stabilize the power supply, the three oscillators in the Minimoog Model D were never fully synchronized, accidentally creating its “warm, rich” sound. The synthesizer had a unique voltage-controlled filter, which allowed users to shape sounds to create a wide range of tones, from deep bass sounds to high-pitched, spacey tones. It was also the first synthesizer to include a pitch wheel, which lets players bend notes like a guitarist or saxophonist, making it easier to play expressively. Moog’s associate, David Borden, believed Moog could have become very wealthy if he had patented the pitch wheel.
Release
In 1970, Moog Co introduced the first Minimoog. Moog designed it as a portable instrument for session musicians, and the team expected to sell about 100 units. Moog met David Van Koevering, a former evangelist and musician, who was impressed by the Minimoog. He showed it to other musicians and music stores. Van Koevering's friend, Glen Bell, founder of Taco Bell, let him use a building on a private island in Florida that Bell owned. There, Van Koevering held an event called "Island of Electronicus," which was a special experience with a psychedelic feel but without the drugs, helping families connect with the Minimoog's sound.
The Minimoog was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. Despite its success, Moog could not produce enough units and lacked funds for a loan. In November 1971, Moog sold R. A. Moog, Inc. to muSonics, a competing company, and remained an employee until 1976. Van Koevering became head of sales and marketing, expanding the Minimoog's global sales. The Minimoog was produced continuously for 13 years, with over 12,000 units made. Production ended in July 1981. In 1993, Moog Co stopped making the Minimoog.
In the 1980s, Alex Winter of Caerphilly, Wales, bought the right to use the Moog Music name in the United Kingdom. In 1998, he began limited production of an updated Minimoog called the Moog Minimoog 204E, which included pulse width modulation and MIDI features.
In 2002, Robert Moog bought back the rights to the Moog name and purchased the company. That same year, Moog Co released the Minimoog Voyager, an improved version of the Minimoog that sold over 14,000 units, more than the original. Soon after, the Welsh version of Moog Music faced financial difficulties, but Winter kept the UK rights to the Moog name. The Minimoog Voyager was later released in the UK as the Voyager by Bob Moog.
In 2016, Moog Music started making an updated version of the Model D, featuring an independent LFO, MIDI, aftertouch, and a velocity-sensitive keyboard. Production ended in August 2017. In 2018, Moog Music released the Minimoog Model D app for iOS. In 2022, the Model D was reissued for the third time, with new features like a spring-loaded pitch-bend wheel and an updated MIDI specification.
Impact
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 common analog keyboard found in many pop, rock, hip-hop, and techno songs from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s." It was also important because it was easy to carry around. Borden said the Minimoog "took the synthesizer out of the studio and put it into the concert hall." According to David McNamee of The Guardian, "Tweaked so the synthesizer could reliably perform as either a melodic lead or a bass instrument (rather than just a complex sound-generating machine), the Minimoog changed everything… the Moogs had a unique sound. Their music could be playful, unusual, or powerful, but it was always clearly Moog."
The Minimoog changed how rock bands worked. For the first time, keyboardists could play solos in the style of lead guitarists or play synthesized basslines. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman said: "For the first time, you could go on [stage] and give the guitarist a run for his money… A guitarist would say, 'Oh shoot, he's got a Minimoog,' so they would turn up their volume to the maximum—the only way they could compete." Wakeman said the instrument "completely changed the face of music."
The Minimoog became popular in mainstream Black music, especially in the work of Stevie Wonder. Its use for basslines became common in funk, as in the Parliament song "Flash Light." It was also used in jazz, and Sun Ra became one of the first musicians 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 users in jazz.
The Minimoog became a common tool in progressive rock. In the early 1970s, Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer added the Minimoog to his modular "Monster Moog" as part of his performances. Wakeman used five Minimoogs on stage so he could play different sounds without changing the setup. The instrument was also used by electronic artists like Kraftwerk, who included it in their albums Autobahn (1974) and The Man-Machine (1978), and later by Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Gary Numan. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was widely used in the disco genre by artists such as ABBA and Giorgio Moroder.
In 2005, the Minimoog was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame, an honor given to "products and innovations that have had a lasting impact on audio technology." In 2012, to celebrate Bob Moog's birthday, Google created an interactive Minimoog-inspired web application as its Google Doodle. In 2017, Roland released the SE-02, a small synthesizer modeled after the Minimoog, as part of their Boutique series.