Bob Moog Foundation announces Memorymoog Plus Raffle
If you fancy and are feeling lucky and want to get your hands on a fully restored Moog Memorymoog worth $15,000, now is your chance. Here’s how you can win the one owned by the guy who literally wrote the book on it.
The Bob Moog Foundation has announced that a Memorymoog Plus, owned and signed by Dominic Milano, is being raffled off, with 5,000 tickets available to purchase.
The raffle began October 16, 2023 and ends on Monday, November 6, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. EDT, or when all 5,000 tickets are sold. Tickets are $25 each, 5 for $100, 12 for $200, and 35 for $500. The winner of the instrument will also receive an original Memorymoog manual that will be inscribed to the winner by Milano. Tickets can be purchased at this link.
Milano is the former editorial director of Keyboard magazine, which he helped to launch back in the 1975, and also the author of the original Memorymoog manual and a long-time friend of synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog, after the two met for an interview for the very first issue of Keyboard.
He was given the Memorymoog Plus as partial payment for writing the manual in the mid-1980s. As a former member of the Bob Moog Foundation Board of Directors and a current member of its Board of Advisors, Milano saw the instrument’s potential after a recent restoration by renowned synthesizer technician Wes Taggart.
“After hearing Wes gush about what a great synth it was … I figured it would be perfect for the [Bob Moog] Foundation,” said Milano.
He generously donated the synth to The Bob Moog Foundation, an organisation set up to “inspire creative thinking at the intersection of science, music, history, and innovation through its three hallmark projects: Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool, the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, and the Moogseum”.
The Memorymoog Plus was Moog Music’s follow-up to the original Memorymoog, Moog’s first production instrument to offer programmable patches saved to a memory bank. This enabled users to recall pre-programmed sounds instantly. In addition to the instrument’s massive sound, made possible by six-voice polyphony and three voltage-controlled oscillators, Milano cites the 100-patch memory bank as a favourite feature.
“Being able to use a foot switch to advance through patches was a godsend for live gigs,” he recounts.
The Memorymoog Plus added functionality over the original model with a MIDI interface, as well as polyphonic and monophonic sequencers. The model being auctioned off has been completely restored and is signed by Milano, as is the manual he wrote that also comes with the synth.
The Memorymoog Plus up for raffle is noteworthy not only for its massive sound and historic innovations but also
its unique provenance. The instrument was owned exclusively by Milano, who helped launch Keyboard magazine in 1975 as assistant editor and would eventually become its editor-in-chief and editorial director.
Keyboard magazine quickly established itself as a publication at the forefront of the rapidly evolving synthesizer industry. Milano and Keyboard magazine Founding Editor Tom Darter interviewed Bob Moog for the magazine’s first issue. This interview sparked an ongoing relationship between Bob Moog and the publication, with Bob Moog agreeing to write a regular column, “On Synthesizers.”
“That was the start of a multi-decade friendship that I will always cherish,” Milano said.
The Bob Moog Foundation is proud to offer this historic instrument to the public to enhance its ability to inspire new generations of creators and innovators for years to come.
“Keyboard magazine was an essential source of information for a burgeoning synthesizer community when the technology was quickly evolving,” says Michelle Moog-Koussa, Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation. “Thousands of synthesists have Dominic and the Keyboard team of editors and writers to thank for what quickly became an indispensable resource for a worldwide community.”
All proceeds from the raffle of the instrument, valued at $15,000, will benefit the Bob Moog Foundation, an 
independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that seeks to inspire creative thinking at the intersection of science, music, history, and innovation through its three hallmark projects: Dr.Bob’s SoundSchool, the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, and the Moogseum.
The Memorymoog Plus raffle ends on Monday, November 6, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. EDT, or when all 5,000 tickets are sold. They cost $25 each, 5 for $100, 12 for $200, and 35 for $500.
Enter the raffle at the Bob Moog Foundation website.
