The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Inventors Hall of Fame have announced that Robert Moog (1934-2005) will be inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame for his invention of the modern synthesizer.
They note:
In 1964, Moog introduced the first complete voltage controlled modular synthesizer, an instrument capable of producing a wide variety of electronic sounds. His synthesizer helped revolutionize the face of music, giving artists and composers the capability to create a brand new palette of sounds.
The National Inventors Hall of Fame annually accepts nominations for men and women whose work has changed society and improved the quality of life. The candidate’s invention must be covered by a U.S. patent, and the work must have had a major impact on society, the public welfare, and the progress of science and the ‘useful arts’.
This year’s induction ceremony will take place on May 1, 2013 at the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
Bout time.
well deserved , and sorely missed
Darn right it’s about time.
And speaking of time….I did not know that he was born the same year as my father who passed in 2008 and invented the voltage controlled synth the year I was born. Although us boomers get all the press nowadays it seems….that “silent” generation born in the Great Depression have contributed a lot. While described in a quote from Time magazine in Wikipedia as…..
“The label “Silent Generation” was first coined in the November 5, 1951 cover story of Time to refer to the generation coming of age at the time, born during the Great Depression and World War II, including the bulk of those who fought during the Korean War. The article found its characteristics as grave and fatalistic, conventional, possessing confused morals, expecting disappointment but desiring faith, and for women, desiring both a career and a family.[2] The article stated: “Youth today is waiting for the hand of fate to fall on its shoulders, meanwhile working fairly hard and saying almost nothing.”……
I think this observation fit Moog better ……….
“They have also been called the “Lucky Few” by Elwood D. Carlson, Ph.D. in his 2008 book titled The Lucky Few: Between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boom.[5] Carlson is the Charles B. Nam Professor in Sociology of Population at Florida State University. He was the director of FSU’s Center for Demography and Population Health from 2003 through 2007.[6]……….
……In Generations William Strauss and Neil Howe define the Silents / Lucky Few as an Artist/Adaptive generation. An Artist (or Adaptive) generation is born during a Crisis, spends its rising adult years in a new High, spends midlife in an Awakening, and spends old age in an Unraveling. Artistic leaders have been advocates of fairness and the politics of inclusion, irrepressible in the wake of failure.”
Moog was certainly that…..an engineering artist. God bless you Robert…..and thank you.
VERY well put.
Bob is a legend, no doubt, and this is well earned praise. I bet Raymond Scott and Leon Theremin would be looking on with beaming smiles as well.
Thank You Bob for all the ear damage and hours of fun on my synths.
It is too bad they could not do this during his lifetime – but it’s good to see him get the recognition he deserves.
There’s no doubt that the synthesizer changed the sound of music as much as an instrument.