To celebrate what would have been the great Bob Moog’s birthday, Moog Music has created a special online ‘virtual experience’ that celebrates arguably his greatest invention, the Minimoog Model D.
The highlight here might well be the free virtual Minimoog. This features more than 45 classic artist presets and can be both played and recorded across three tracks (though not edited, sadly). There are some nice ‘sleeve notes’ that tell you plenty about the songs/artists and the sounds being recreated - names such as Wings, ELO, Bee Gees, Phil Collins, Moby, Air, Portishead and Radiohead all crop up.
Elsewhere in this ‘Minimoog Factory’ there’s an online jukebox that contains 45 of the most influential ‘Minimoog songs’, though you’ll need a Spotify account to access that.
The colourful virtual experience draws inspiration from ‘90s video games and websites, and is a collaboration with design studio Pentagram. Other highlights include an archive room that enables you to explore the Minimoog’s history, a theatre that offers access to a treasure trove of classic Moog-infused performances, and a ‘build-a-synth’ section that provides a PDF that you can print out, cut up and fold to create your own paper Minimoog.
There’s even an Instagram filter that uses your facial expressions and body movements to trigger the Minimoog’s controls - what will they think of next, etc - and, of course, a gift shop full of Moog merch.
As well as marking Bob Moog’s birthday, the experience is part of the Moog company’s 70th birthday celebrations, which kicked off in earnest last year when the Model D was reissued. Moog Music is also collaborating with the Bob Moog Foundation on a raffle that could see you winning a reissued Minimoog with serial number 1 (tickets cost $20 each or less if you buy them in a bundle).
Start exploring on the special Minimoog Model D microsite.
