MOOG Multimoog

images via this auction
"This Multimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1978 to 1981. Derived from the earlier Micromoog, the Multimoog was intended to be a less expensive alternative to Moog's flagship, Minimoog. It nevertheless had some advanced features which the Minimoog did not include: It was one of the earliest synthesizers to feature aftertouch capability (pressure-sensitive keys).

Key features include:
♫ 44 note monophonic keyboard with aftertouch
♫ Ribbon-type pitch bend controller
♫ Glide (portamento)
♫ Two voltage-controlled oscillators with waveform continuously adjustable from sawtooth, through square, to narrow pulse
♫ Oscillator sync
♫ Noise source
♫ 24db/octave Moog transistor-ladder lowpass voltage controlled filter
♫ Dedicated low frequency oscillator with triangle, square, and random waveforms
♫ Extensive modulation routing options, including sample & hold, audio-frequency modulation of the VCF for quasi-ring modulation, waveform sweep/quasi-pulse width modulation, and more
♫ Two AR (attack/release) envelope generators with switchable percussive/sustaining profiles
♫ * * * External audio input for processing instruments, vocals, etc.
♫ External control voltage and trigger inputs/outputs for interfacing with other synthesizer equipment
(Serial #2173)

What's cool about this one is pressure (not velocity) sensitive keys. By pushing a little harder on the key, you can bend the note by routing its pressure sensitivity to either or both oscillators, a filter or some other effect. It's especially cool when doing the intro to Loverboy's, "Take Me to the Top," or anything from Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

On the far left, there's a pitch ribbon - basically, a metal screen stretched over a resistive material - like a tuning knob you adjust with your finger tip. By running your finger above or below center, you change the pitch of the note. Next to that, there's a wheel that changes the note in other ways, depending on which filter or effect you route it to. The kinds of sounds you can make with this thing are nearly endless. It's the beauty of analog.

Pitch ribbons eventually need to be rebuilt or replaced because over time, the screen flexes inward, touching the resistive layer underneith it, leading to notes you weren't expecting. Most of the time, this one works. Occasionally, it sticks. Luckily, Moog Music has them, as do other suppliers. If you decide to get one, contact Mike Bucki at ModuSonics Music, 6300 Old Beattie Rd. Lockport, NY 14094 Phone/Fax (716) 438-0756.

Likewise, switches, keys and potentiometers (volume & tuning knobs) get dusty or oxydised on the inside and lose their connections or sound fuzzy when you turn them. Whenever this happens, all you need to do is move them back and forth until the metal or resistive surfaces inside them are shiny again. Whenever a key stops making contact, simply turn the synthesizer over, pull out the two plastic covers, exposing the wires below the keys, and rub the surface of the larger wire with your fingertip or an alcohol-soaked swab or some fine-grit sandpaper. The keys have small vertical wires below them that when pressed, connect these small wires to a thicker horizontal wire. Once a year or so, pull the panels off and clean the larger wire. If one of the smaller wires looks out of place, it's easy to bend it back to look more like the ones on the other keys. Do this while the unit is turned off and unplugged."

I once picked up a Pro-One from Guitar Center for $125 because it had a sticky note. Turn out one of the J-Wires (as pictured here on the Multimoog) was bent and in constant contact with the bar. I bent it back and it was fine.