The donation includes vintage synths and prototypes as well as rare letters and schematics.
The Bob Moog Foundation has announced a major expansion to its archives, with a major donation from inMusic Brands, the parent company of Moog Music.
Among the extensive collection of test models are Moogerfooger prototypes, a Multiple Resonant Filter (MuRF) test fixture, and a Moog Phone Controller model PC-30. Also included are 16 multi-drawer cabinets filled with countless capacitors, integrated circuits, and other electronic components used in the creation and repair of Moog synthesizers.
The items donated include:
- 4,489 items from Bob Moog’s personal office effects, including well over 500 schematics and 700 letters.
- Vintage synthesizers and prototype models were also donated, including a Fairlight CMI, a Synton System 3000 modular synth, a bench-model Minimoog Voyager prototype, and more.
- Hundreds of back issues of industry magazines and dozens of rare product catalogs for almost every imaginable peer company in the electronic music instrument industry from the past several decades.
- Letters of correspondence between Bob Moog and dozens of industry luminaries, including Wendy Carlos, Herb Deutsch, Felix Visser, and Lydia Kavina.
- Bob Moog’s drafts for book forewords and technical articles for several publications.
- His invaluable artwork and handwritten engineering notes can be found in a collection of schematic notebooks.
The Bob Moog Foundation was established in 2005 to pay tribute to the godfather of subtractive synthesis and an icon of electronic music.
“We are proud to contribute these materials so they can be preserved and made accessible to researchers, educators, musicians, and fans,” said Joe Richardson, President of Moog Music and Executive Vice President of inMusic. “As Moog Music continues to bring creative tools to artists around the world, the Foundation’s educational mission helps ensure that the ideas, curiosity, and ingenuity that defined Bob Moog continue to inspire others.”
The Foundation says that this donation continues a collaborative relationship among inMusic, Moog Music, and the Bob Moog Foundation. Earlier inMusic donations to the Bob Moog Foundation Archives include Bob Moog’s 2002 Technical Grammy and the original woodworking lathe used by Bob Moog and his father, George Moog, to craft handmade cabinetry for very early Moog instruments.
“The Bob Moog Foundation is deeply grateful to inMusic for this incredible, generous donation of historical archival material,” says Michelle Moog-Koussa, Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation. “Every donated piece helps us tell the story of Bob’s complex, indelible legacy. This donation helps solidify the Bob Moog Foundation Archives as a world-class repository for Moog and electronic music history.”
The Bob Moog Foundation is an independent non-profit that has the goal of preserving the legacy of pioneering synth designer Dr Bob Moog. Key projects include the Moogseum, the Archives and a STEAM program that helps kids learn about science through sound and music.
