RIP Dr. John Eaton

Videos by The Snapshots Foundation

Dr. John Eaton passed away yesterday on Dec 2 at the age of 80. For those not familiar with him he was a composer who worked closely with Bob Moog in the 1960s, influencing the development of the first synthesizers as we have come to know them today. The first synthesizer to feature a keyboard, the Synket by Paul Ketoff, was made for John Eaton. Above is a collection of interviews by The Snapshots Foundation starting with the Synket [see the Synket channel for previous post including images].

Playlist:
Dr. John Eaton: Synket & Moog History
Dr. John Eaton Interview pt.1
Dr. John Eaton Interview pt.2
Bob Moog Remembered pt2.

On the Synket via Wikipedia: "A working group at Roman Electronic Music Center, composer Gino Marinuzzi, Jr., designer Giuliano Strini, MSEE, and sound engineer and technician Paolo Ketoff in Italy; their vacuum-tube modular 'FonoSynth' slightly predated (1957–58) Moog and Buchla's work. Later the group created a solid-state version, the 'Synket'. Both devices remained prototypes (except a model made for John Eaton who wrote a 'Concert Piece for Synket and Orchestra'), owned and used only by Marinuzzi, notably in the original soundtrack of Mario Bava's sci-fi film 'Terrore nello spazio"'(a.k.a. Planet of the Vampires, 1965), and a RAI-TV mini-series, "Jeckyll".[30][31][32]"

Image and quote from John Eaton via The Bob Moog Foundation.

"I think of all of the people that I've known in my life, Bob Moog was the most generous. He was the most interested in other people's ideas. He was just and extraordinary human being." -- John Eaton (March 30, 1935 - December 2, 2015)"