Moog Music Inc. (pronounced "MOHG") is an American company that makes synthesizers. It is based in Asheville, North Carolina. The company was started in 1953 as R. A. Moog Co. by Robert Moog and his father. In 1972, it was renamed Moog Music. Its early products included the Moog synthesizer, which was the first commercial synthesizer, and the Minimoog, introduced in 1970. Both instruments were very influential in electronic music.

In 1973, after a recession, Robert Moog sold Moog Music to Norlin Musical Instruments. He continued working there as a designer until 1977. In 1978, he started a new company called Big Briar. Moog Music went bankrupt in 1987. In 2002, the Moog Music trademark was returned to Robert Moog, and Big Briar began operating again under the name Moog Music. In June 2023, Moog Music was bought by inMusic.

Moog Music also managed Moogfest, an important electronic music and music technology festival held in Durham, North Carolina.

History

In 1953, when Robert Moog was 19 years old, he started a company called R. A. Moog Co. with his father. At first, the company sold theremin kits and theremins through mail order from Robert’s parents’ home in Flushing, Queens, New York. After Robert married, the company operated from his home in Ithaca. In 1963, the company moved to its first commercial space at 41 East Main Street in Trumansburg, New York.

In 1963, Moog met Herbert Deutsch, an experimental composer, at a music education conference in Rochester, New York. Deutsch had built a theremin based on Moog’s design. With help from Deutsch and other musicians, Moog created the Moog synthesizer, the first voltage-controlled synthesizer that used a keyboard.

By 1967, R. A. Moog Co. had grown into a larger business. While it still sold theremin kits, most sales focused on its large modular Moog synthesizer systems. The Moog synthesizer became famous after Wendy Carlos’s Switched-On Bach was released, but its size, cost, and practicality limited its market. The company only made a profit in 1969, after Switched-On Bach became popular.

In November 1971, a rival company called muSonics bought R. A. Moog, Inc. and moved the company to Williamsville, New York. The company purchased an old factory on Academy Street and was later renamed Moog Musonics, then Moog Music, Inc.

In 1972, David VanKouvering, a former televangelist and salesman, joined the company as VP of Marketing. He helped create a network of retail stores worldwide. Despite the success of the Minimoog, competition from companies like ARP Instruments, Oberheim Electronics, and Electronic Music Studios caused the company to go deeper into debt. In 1973, Moog Music, Inc. was sold to Norlin Industries. At this time, rival companies produced more popular synthesizers, and by 1975, ARP Instruments owned 40% of the synthesizer market.

In 1976, Norlin moved the company to a facility on Walden Avenue in Cheektowaga. In 1977, Robert Moog left the company after his contract with Norlin ended. He started his own firm called Big Briar.

By 1978, Moog Music, Inc. released several products, including the Vocoder, Micromoog, Multimoog, Polymoog, and Taurus bass pedals. However, none of these achieved the same success as the Minimoog. That same year, Sequential Circuits released the Prophet-5, which became a new industry standard and further reduced Moog’s market share. Competition from Japanese companies like Roland, Korg, and Yamaha, who produced similar analog synthesizers at lower prices, worsened Moog’s financial situation.

In 1981, the company began contract manufacturing in other industries, such as subway system repairs and air conditioning systems. Around the same time, digital synthesis became a viable alternative to analog synthesizers. In 1979, the Fairlight CMI was released as a digital synthesizer and sampler. In 1983, the MIDI interface allowed Yamaha to create the DX7, the first commercially successful digital synthesizer. Moog Music tried to switch to producing digital synthesizers but declared bankruptcy in 1987.

In the 1990s, interest in the classic analog sound of Moog and Minimoog synthesizers grew. Musicians like David Foster continued to use them, and Minimoogs became valuable collector’s items. In 1994, the Moog Music trademark expired and was bought by Don Martin. A legal battle over the name occurred in 2000, and it was returned to Robert Moog in 2002.

Moog Music moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and continued developing products from Big Briar, such as the Moogerfooger pedals and theremins. New products like the Minimoog Voyager, Little Phatty, Sub 37, and Mother 32 were introduced. Some of these products are still produced today. The company saw growth due to the popularity of analog synthesizers, with many companies releasing new analog models.

After Robert Moog died in 2005 from brain cancer, his collaborator Michael Adams became president. In 2010, the company moved to a former Buick dealership on Broadway Street. In 2015, 49% of the company was owned by its 62 employees. Recently, the company has introduced new products and limited reissues of historic synthesizers. It also entered the Eurorack synthesizer market with instruments like the Mother 32, DFAM, Grandmother, Matriarch, and Subharmonicon.

On June 1, 2022, employees formed a union called Moog Workers Unite with IBEW. In June 2023, Moog Music was acquired by inMusic. In September 2023, more than half of the staff at the Asheville headquarters were laid off. Design, development, and engineering moved to the Asheville Citizen-Times building on O. Henry Street.

From 2011 to 2024, Moog sold its synthesizers at the Moog Store. The factory remained in operation, and the Moogseum on Broadway Street in Asheville continued to educate people about the company’s history.

Major products

In 1964, composer Herbert Deutsch inspired Robert Moog to create the Moog synthesizer. This instrument used separate parts, or modules, such as oscillators, filters, amplifiers, and envelope generators. These modules could be connected in different ways to make complex sounds. Unlike other synthesizers of the time, the Moog used a keyboard, while some competitors, like Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments, tried different control methods instead.

Moog presented the synthesizer at the 1964 Audio Engineering Society conference, where it became well-known. Experimental artists like Paul Beaver, Suzanne Ciani, and David Borden used it in their work. As psychedelic rock grew in the 1960s, many famous musicians, including the Monkees, the Byrds, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Doors, also used the Moog in their music.

The Moog gained major success in 1968 with Wendy Carlos’s album Switched-On Bach, which sold over a million copies and won three Grammy Awards. This album led to a short trend of "Switched-On" music, which ended by 1970.

Despite its success, the Moog was large and not easy to use everywhere. To solve this, Moog and engineers Jim Scott and Bill Hemsath created the Minimoog. The Minimoog used fewer modules, had no patch cords, and was smaller. It also introduced a pitch wheel, which allowed musicians to change pitch and add vibrato. Its size and sound variety made it popular, with over 13,000 units sold in a decade. The Minimoog appeared on the 1972 album Fragile by Yes and was used by artists like Rick Wakeman with Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Weather Report, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Tangerine Dream, and others.

Other versions of the Minimoog were made, but none were as successful as the original. In 2016, the company released an updated version of the Minimoog.

The first Moog bass instrument was the Moog Taurus, a pedal-operated synthesizer. It was monophonic, meaning it could play only one note at a time. The first model had 13 pedals, and later models had 18 or returned to 13. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Rush, Yes, Genesis, and Dream Theater used the Taurus.

Though Moog created a vocoder in 1968, the commercial version was not released until 1978. It was based on Harald Bode’s design, but other companies like Korg and Roland had already made their own vocoders. The Moog vocoder did not support MIDI, which limited its popularity over time.

The Moogerfooger, made by Big Briar, was an analog effects pedal that let users apply Moog-style modules to any sound. Effects included ring modulation, low-pass filters, ladder filters, and flanging. It was successful and had many models before being discontinued in 2018.

In 2002, Moog Music reacquired the trademark and released the Minimoog Voyager, an updated version of the classic Minimoog. It had a true analog signal path and digital controls for features like preset storage.

In 2006, the Little Phatty was introduced as a portable, affordable analog synthesizer. It was the last instrument Robert Moog helped design, released after his death in 2005.

In 2013, the Sub Phatty was released, featuring new circuitry and an updated analog sound. This led to later models like the Sub 37 and Subsequent 37, which added features like a sequencer and easier access to controls.

As interest in modular synthesis grew, Moog Music introduced the Mother-32, a Eurorack-compatible synthesizer with Moog sound. They later released other modules and synthesizers.

In 2017, Moog Music unveiled the DFAM, a percussive synthesizer for creating drum sounds.

Following earlier modular reissues, Moog introduced the semi-modular Moog Grandmother, combining modular flexibility with easy-to-use controls.

In 2019, the Matriarch was released as a larger version of the Grandmother, with more modules, a wider keyboard, and an analog delay instead of a spring reverb.

Continuing the Mother line, the Subharmonicon is a Eurorack-compatible synthesizer based on subharmonics and polyrhythms.

The Spectravox adds a sophisticated vocoder and filter bank, allowing for drones and tonal sweeps.

The Labyrinth includes two sequencers, a wavefolder, and a state-variable filter, and is also Eurorack-compatible.

The Matriarch is an eight-voice instrument with two oscillators, a mod oscillator, three LFOs, two filters, two envelopes, a digital delay, and aftertouch.

Moog Music also introduced the Messenger, a monophonic synthesizer.

Moogfest

Moogfest is a festival first held in New York City in 2004 to celebrate the work of Robert Moog, the founder of Moog, as well as electronic music, technology, and innovation. In 2010, the festival moved to downtown Asheville, North Carolina, where Moog Music was based. In 2012, Moogfest ended its partnership with AC Entertainment and relocated to Durham, North Carolina, because there was a greater focus on supporting the technology and development aspects of the festival, and Durham was recognized as a growing center for technology.

The festival featured well-known performers such as Keith Emerson, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, and Jónsi of Sigur Rós, along with many new and experimental artists. It also included workshops and presentations about instrument creation, music technology, and research. For example, the Moog Werkstatt-Ø1 was first introduced as a hands-on building activity during the festival.

However, Moogfest and its parent company, Moog Music Inc., faced several legal challenges, including lawsuits related to contract violations, unpaid debts, and fraud. These included a 2019 lawsuit by Q Level LLC, a 2021 lawsuit involving Moogfest LLC and UG Strategies LLC, and a 2020 lawsuit filed by a former employee alleging sexual discrimination.

List of synthesizer models

• Moog modular synthesizer (1963 to 1980, 2015 to present)
• Minimoog (1970 to 1981, 2016 to 2017, 2022 to present)
• Moog Satellite (1974 to 1979)
• Moog Sonic Six (1974 to 1979)
• Minitmoog (1975 to 1976)
• Micromoog (1975 to 1979)
• Polymoog (1975 to 1980)
• Moog Taurus (bass pedals) (1976 to 1983)
• Multimoog (1978 to 1981)
• Moog Prodigy (1979 to 1984)
• Moog Liberation (1980 to 1981)
• Moog Opus 3 (1980 to 1983)
• Moog Concertmate MG-1 (1981 to 1983)
• Moog Rogue (1981 to 1983)
• Moog Source (1981 to 1984)
• Memorymoog (1982 to 1985)
• Moog SL-8 prototype (1983)
• Moogerfooger (1998 to 2018)
• Minimoog Voyager (2002 to 2015)
• Moog Little Phatty (2006 to 2013)
• Slim Phatty (2010 to 2014)
• Taurus 3 bass pedal (2011)
• Minitaur (2012)
• Sub Phatty (2013)
• Sub 37 (2014)
• Moog Werkstatt-Ø1 (2014 kit, 2014 retail) limited edition kit for the 2014 Moogfest Engineering Workshop, available for sale later in the same year
• Emerson Moog Modular (2014)
• Mother-32 (2015 to present)
• Moog BFAM (Brother From Another Mother) (2016) limited edition kit for the 2017 Moogfest Engineering Workshop
• Subsequent 37 CV (2017) limited to 2,000 units
• Subsequent 37 (2017 to present)
• Moog DFAM (Drummer From Another Mother) (2017 kit, 2018 to present) limited edition kit for the 2017 Moogfest Engineering Workshop, available for sale in 2018
• Moog Subharmonicon (2018 kit, 2020 to present) limited edition kit for the 2018 Moogfest Engineering Workshop, retail version released in 2020
• Moog Grandmother (2018 to present)
• Moog One (2018 to present)
• Sirin: Analog Messenger of Joy (2019 to present)
• Moog Spectravox (2019) limited edition kit for the 2019 Moogfest Engineering Workshop
• Moog Matriarch (2019 to present)
• Moog Mavis (2022 to present)
• Moog Labyrinth (2024)
• Moog Muse (2024)
• Moog Messenger (2025)