Flying to Detroit? See a Real Moog

[Joshua Stephen Landau]

I'll try - no  guarantee as to when I'll have time, but ASAP I'll go (it's
a 30 minute drive, so....)

Josh Landau
Shadow Sound Design.Recording
Ann Arbor, MI

On Tue, 16 Jan 2001, Jim Patchell wrote:

>     It would be nice if there was a list member in Detroit who could go
> there, take a picture, and post it on the internet.  I am sure we would
> all get a kick out of it.
> 
>     -Jim
> 
> theinmans at mindspring.com wrote:
> 
> > There I am with 20 minutes to kill in the Detroit Metro
> > Airport, so I'm walking and walking and walking and walking.
> > My mind begins to wander and I am walking and walking and...
> > all of the sudden, I stop.  What was THAT?  I turn around and
> > there, in a glass case, as part of some technology installation,
> > is a real Moog -- a detached keyboard and a couple of big wood
> > boxes with some silver and classic black metal Moog faceplates.
> > Only these were not pefectly finished.  The wood boxes look like
> > they were stained by a beginner.  They were not even well sanded.
> > And the faceplates looked like they were something right out of
> > the rack of, well, a beginner.  Knobs were in not quite the right
> > places and some of the wording seems odd.  For example, three
> > knobs on the keyboard read (left to right):  Sustain Height,
> > Attack Height, Attack Duration.  Aren't those in the wrong
> > order?  Hey, that looks just like the stuff I make!
> >
> > As it turns out, the signs say, this is one of two prototype
> > (1964) modulars used by Walter Carlos (no mention of Wendy) for
> > the Switched on Bach records. It includes the keyboard and
> > two large boxes.  Some of it looks very "Moog."  For example,
> > there is a Bandpass 904 module.  Some of the others are unfamiliar
> > to me.  There were two VCOs and two VCAs.  However, the VCOs were
> > titled, "Generator Module."  There was also a white noise
> > generator.
> >
> > What was so cool about this Moog was the whole DIY look of it.
> > Different modules in different colors (black, silver).  Some
> > went across and some were up and down.  The wooden boxes that
> > may have once looked better, but could never have been as slick
> > as the minimoog.  The knobs in odd places, perhaps out of
> > left-to-right order with odd names.  There is a lot of extra
> > space on the faceplates and even the modules with more knobs
> > and jacks are not as tightly laid out as later mass-production
> > Moogs -- an obvious lesson learned by anyone who has tried to
> > jam too much into a physically small design.  This thing was
> > the ultimate DIY synth.  In a real way, it made me feel much
> > better about some of the things I have thrown together.
> >
> > What it is doing in the Detroit Metro Airport, I have no idea.
> > I can't find anything on the Internet about the installation, so
> > I can't say why it is there or how long it will be.  But, if you
> > have a few minutes to kill in the Detroir Metro Airport, the
> > installation is right where gates A-D and E-G break.  Have fun.
> >
> > Elliot
> 
>