Moog Liberation Keytar Analog Synthesizer

images via this auction

"This is a real Moog Analog, 100% Analog, 2 Analog Oscillators, 2 Moog Analog 4-pole filters synthesizer. Did I mention, this is all ANALOG!!!! Anyway, before digital modeling and sampling became the things in synthesizer, Moog ruled the synth world with their high quality instruments. This thing does not play realistic piano or accordion sounds but if you want the screaming, rich, fat sounds that ELP, Pink Floyd, Yes and Return to Forever used - this is the beast for you.

It was designed for the keyboard player who wanted to get out from behind the keyboard. It was designed to strap-on like a guitar so that you could get out in front and do soaring leads. The left hand controls are designed to give you full range of pitch bend, volume control, modulations and glide. The right hand plays the keys and works the other controls (the envelopes, waveforms, mix, octaves, etc). The Liberation is pretty straight-forward to use if you understand synth terminology. I played the thing on top of another keyboard or on a stand. If you strap it on, you won't to do that all night. It is heavier than a heavy Les Paul guitar at 13.5 lbs. But it is not bad for all it does.

It is made of wood and metal. All the pictures I have seen of Moog Liberations are black. This one is orangey-yellow. I have remove the bottom panel and it was yellow inside, too which leads me to believe it came from the factory this way but I don't know. Being almost 30 years old, it has nicks (at the tip of the arm) and a crack that has been glued and repaired (see pictures). Also, the syn switch had the arm broken off and was repaired with a long screw and spacer and works fine."

via everything2:

"A 2-voice polyphonic analog strap-on synthesizer with a 44-note keyboard. Manufactured from 1980 to 1984.

The Liberation features two VCOs with a 3-octave range. They can be set to play in a thicker 2-oscillator monophony in addition to the 1-osc polyphonic mode. VCO1 is switchable between sawtooth, triangle and pulse waveforms, while VCO2 substitutes pulse with square wave. The oscillators can be synced, with a manual "interval" knob for adjusting the sync depth. A pink noise generator is also included. Moog's patented 4-pole (24dB/octave) low-pass VCF is included as the filter. It has the typical cut-off and resonance controls, plus three keyboard tracking modes. The VCF and VCA both offer their own ADS envelope generator. A single LFO is available, with the choice of triangle, square and sample/hold. It can be used to modulate the VCO sync depth by using the keyboard's aftertouch sensitivity. The unit also offers a ring modulator.

As mentioned above, the Liberation is a strap-on synth designed to be played like a guitar. Its neck features controls for filter cut-off (with a spring returning it to 0), modulation, volume, aftertouch sensitivity and portamento, plus a ribbon controller for pitch bend. The strap-on part of the Liberation is connected with a cable to its other, rackmount section. It features the synth's power supply and a CV/gate interface."