![\"bach_to_moog\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/bach_to_moog.jpg\")
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During a press conference held amidst the April 2014 Moogfest<\/a> \u2013 the last time that festival would be held in Asheville, NC, home of Moog Music and the adopted hometown of the late Dr. R.A. (Bob) Moog<\/a><\/b> \u2013 Moog personnel and famed musician\/composer Keith Emerson<\/a><\/b> unveiled a new build of Emerson’s classic \u201cbeast,\u201d the modular Moog synthesizer he used in recordings and onstage from the very early 1970s onward. This new instrument \u2013 the Moog Modular 55 Synthesizer \u2013 is said to \u201cduplicate and modernise the iconic Moog modular synthesizers of the 1970s.\u201d<\/p>\n In he very early days of the analog synthesizer, the Moog was viewed by many as little more than a curiosity, not taken seriously as a proper musical instrument. That changed for the better when Wendy<\/b> (then Walter) Carlos<\/b> recorded the landmark and influential 1968 album Switched-on Bach<\/i>, a reading of Johann Sebastian Bach<\/b>‘s music realized solely using the Moog. That release made skeptics sit up and take notice, as it displayed the versatility and breadth of expression contained in the modular Moog (assuming one could sort out how to operate the machine). With nothing like modern presets, the modular Moog had to have its sounds \u201cbuilt\u201d by the user connecting countless patch cables into a panel that looked very much like a telephone operator’s switchboard ( younger readers: ask your parents or consult Wikipedia). Moreover, the Moog was prone to \u201cpitch drift,\u201d meaning that it resolutely refused to stay in tune for any length of time, and it was notoriously vulnerable to changes in temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. In sum, a beast to be reckoned with, one not approached lightly.<\/p>\n