via the Bob Moog Foundation newsletter:"Keyboard Magazine Presents: Synth Gods, edited by former Keyboard editor Ernie Rideout, includes interviews from the last 40 years with some, but not all, synthesizer legends from the 70s and 80s -- both musicians and designers. Included in the group are Wendy Carlos, Brian Eno, Rick Wakeman, Dave Smith, Richard Barbeiri, Jan Hammer, Edgar Winter, Prince, Bernie Worrell, Joe Zawinul, Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream and Bob Moog.
Synth Gods was dedicated to Bob by the author.
You can read a review of Synth Gods here.
In honor of Bob's recent birthday and in honor of his 50 year career, we are offering Keyboard Presents: Synth Gods, signed by our Executive Director and Bob's daughter Michelle Moog-Koussa, as your gift with a donation of $50.00. This offer runs through May 31, 2011.
Support our programs and honor Bob by making your donation here.
Below is an excerpt from Bob's interview in Synth Gods:
"But musicians always come up with stuff I couldn’t imagine, using my instruments. I can get a sense of whether something would be a good musical resource, but I don’t do music. I’m a toolmaker. It’s always amazing what someone like Herbie Hancock, Wendy Carlos, or Stevie Wonder can come up with. What they’ll do when you put something new in front of them is they’ll turn a couple knobs and listen, and immediately get a sense of where to go. The muse talks to them.”
The “muse” plays a big part in Bob Moog’s own work, though he maintains that he’s anything but a musician. “I call it the Cosmic Network, the source of creativity. It’s really out there. It’s not just for music, it’s for writing, and for designing hardware. I think different people experience it in different ways. Sometimes an idea will come to me as I’m waking up. Sometimes it will come to me here in the office, with the phones ringing all around.
“There’s no way to do this just by opening up an engineering book and finding the formula,” he says. “It’s a matter of judgment and intuition. That’s what I’ve been doing all my life.” He smiles, “I’m pretty good at it now.”
From Keyboard Presents: Synth Gods, edited by Ernie Rideout, (c) 2011 by New Bay Media LLC. Published by Backbeat Books, an imprint of Hal Leonard. ISBN: 978-0-87930-999-2. Reprinted with permission. www.backbeatbooks.com.
Make a donation honoring Bob's birthday and his legacy here."
Book image via Amazon
Update: Not to be confused with the film Synth God previously posted here in 2007 and here in 2006 when that project first started.
