[NAMM] Bob Moog Foundation exhibits rare synths

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At the Winter NAMM show, the Bob Moog Foundation will feature historic modular synthesizers.

Continuing its multi-year effort to provide access to historic modular synthesizers at the Winter NAMM show, this year the Bob Moog Foundation will feature an original 1967 R.A. Moog modular and an Aries modular synthesizer at the Anaheim Convention Center. Also on display will be a custom dual-manual keyboard controller, originally designed for synth wizard Roger Powell by Bob Moog in 1974 The synthesizers and the controller, all part of the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, have recently been restored and will be available for NAMM attendees to explore.

The Powell dual-manual controller was originally designed by Bob Moog to be used with Powell’s monolithic Moog modular, which he used both for demonstrations and in live performance as a member of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. It features separate volume control for simultaneous patches, and is the only controller of its kind in the existence. Powell donated the controller to the Foundation in 2012.

The 1967 R. A. Moog Co modular originally belonged to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and was gifted to the Foundation as part of a wider permanent loan. It most closely resembles a Moog System 35, but has a fixed filter bank, and some original components designed by Professor Art Hunkin, who attended Moog's 1965 seminar on synthesizers in Trumansburg, New York.

The lesser-known Aries System 300 is a classic modular system that distinguished itself by the use of minijacks, an implementation more ubiquitous today with the rise of the eurorack modular. The series of modules featured in the Series 300 were designed by Denis Collins, former engineer for ARP synthesizers. Collins passed away in 2015. This is the first time that this unit has been on display outside its use at the university.

The Foundation hence continues to build on its mission of education and historical preservation through these instruments, providing NAMM attendees the opportunity to discover modular synthesis at its very roots as oart of a rich historical experience.

David VanKoevering will also be appearing in the Bob Moog Foundation booth throughout the weekend, signing copies of the Foundation’s “Moog Is Now” 2016 archival calendar. The calendar charts VanKoevering’s course as a musician and a lauded salesman for the Minimoog Model D when it was first released in 1970, and before it was understood as a musical instrument.

The Bob Moog Foundation is at Booth 5410 at the Winter NAMM Show, January 21–24, 2016.