MOOG Micromoog 2090

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"Bob Moog had proved that pre-patched synths were a going commercial concern following the success of the MiniMoog (and, of course, its rival, the ARP Odyssey) but despite the relative affordability of these two instruments (around $1,500 compared with the $15,000 of their modular predecessors!), it was clear that there were still musicians gagging to get their hands on a synth but who simply couldn't afford one and so, in much the same way he stripped his modular synths down to the bare basics to make the Mini, Dr Moog stripped the Mini down to the bare basics to make the Micro.

Featuring just one oscillator, it was clear that you were faced with compromise but to counter this, the MicroMoog did offer various sub-octave footages to beef the sound up. However, these were phase-locked to the master oscillator and didn't offer the rich detune one might expect of a synth from the Moog stable. The filter was, of course, classic Moog and the envelopes were lifted directly from the Mini being of the ADS type with a switchable R stage that took its time from the setting of the Decay control. New to the Micro was a simple LFO for vibrato and filter modulation. Interestingly, the Micro also allowed cross modulation of the filter by the audio oscillator which offered some interesting possibilities. Unfortunately, as the oscillator was the only audio source, all it could do in most circumstances was to add a certain 'rasp' to the sound. However, when the filter was self-oscillating, some interesting pseudo ring modulation sounds could be created. The Micro was a departure from the Mini as well in that it employed a ribbon controller for pitchbend instead of the Mini's wheel (there was still a wheel for modulation though and this was quite versatile in what it could control)."