Dr Moog is dead - NME.COM

DR MOOG IS DEAD



DR ROBERT MOOG, the synthesiser pioneer, has died at the age of 71.

He passed away at his North Carolina home yesterday (August 21) four months after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

Born in the Queens district of New York, Moog?s instruments were made famous by bands such as The Beatles and The Doors.

Moog built his first instrument ? a Theremin ? at the age of 14. The electronic device can be heard on The Beach Boys? classic ?Good Vibrations?.

He made the MiniMoog in 1964, which was described as ?the first compact, easy-to-use synthesiser? and later won the Polar Prize - Sweden?s ?music Nobel Prize - in 2001.

A message on his official website moogmusic.com said: ?Bob was warm and outgoing. He enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. He especially appreciated what Ileana (his wife) referred to as ?the magical connection? between music-makers and their instruments.?

No public memorial is planned, though friends and fans can express their sympathies at caringbridge.com/visit/bobmoog.

Moog?s family has also established The Bob Moog Foundation dedicated to the advancement of electronic music in his memory.

Many of the late pioneer?s long-time collaborators including musicians, engineers and educators such as David Borden, John Eaton, Wendy Carlos and Rick Wakeman have agreed to sit on its executive board.

Moog had received both radiation treatment and chemotherapy to help combat his brain disease. He is survived by his wife Ileana and five children.