Moog Percussion Synthesizer – truly one of a kind

Paris – City of Art. In the museum of the Philharmonie de Paris, there is a unique one-off: a huge Moog Percussion Synthesizer. It’s an oversized drum computer, consisting of various Moog Modular drum- and percussionmodules, some noise generators and a specially designed keyboard controller.

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The system was manufactured in 1971 for composer Eric Siday (1905-1976). The English musician and pioneer of electroacoustic music also worked with one of the early Moog Modular systems

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Siday was the first composer to systematically utilize electro-acoustic sound potential within the television medium, particularly with his invention of the sound logo and the Musical Rorschach test (which is part of the entrance examination at many universities of music worldwide).

Back to the Moog Percussion Synthesizer, back to Paris. A visit to the Philharmonie de Paris is truly recommended. Go to a classical music concert (the large concert hall is a real architectural treasure), enjoy an exciting museum visit … or check out the museum online

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Right now, there’s a major focus on Pierre Boulez, respecting the memory of this great composer, conductor, writer and pianist, who died January 5th, 2016. He was the founder and director of the Paris-based Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM). And he was one of the most important musicians of all times.

In the museum, there are heaps of instruments of all kinds. Like the Moog Percussion Synthesizer and other Moog one-offs.Philharmonie-de-Paris-Moog-Percussion-04

All photos were made by Claude Germain.

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Other images can be found on the website of the Philharmonie de Paris where you can study carefully all details of the percussion synthesizer. This instrument is a very unusual and definitely unique drum machine by Bob Moog.


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Filed under 2016, General

“Es genügt, einen Ton schön zu spielen” sagte der Komponist Arvo Pärt im Jahre 2005. Diese Aussage ist ebenso einfach wie ich auch exzellent: Es braucht kein Meer an Tönen, denn entscheidend ist der Klang. Dass so mancher Vintage-Synthesizer der 70er und 80er Jahre teils unerreicht hochwertige Klänge liefert, steht außer Frage. Doch tatsächlich leben wir “heute” in einer nahezu perfekten Zeit. Einerseits hat man – mehr oder weniger – noch Zugriff auf die Vintage Analogen, andererseits wird auch bei Neugeräten die wichtige Komponente des hochwertigen Klanges wieder zunehmend berücksichtigt. Doepfer, Cwejman, Synthesizers.com, MacBeth, Moog, GRP, Studio Electronics, COTK, John Bowen und andere Hersteller bauen hervorragende Synthesizer, die den “Klassikern” in nichts nachstehen. All diesen (alten wie neuen) “großartigen” Instrumenten ist Great Synthesizers gewidmet. _________________________________________________________ In 2005 composer Arvo Pärt said: “Playing one tone really well is enough”. In other words, it is sufficient to play one tone 'beautifully'. I agree with that. All musical efforts are focused on the sound itself. Although I studied classical music (piano and drums), it’s the electronic sound that inspires me. Synthesizers are the epitome of new sounds and exciting tonal spheres. Today, many companies produce high-quality - excellent! - synthesizers: Doepfer, Cwejman, MacBeth, Moog, GRP, Synthesizers.com, COTK, Studio Electronics, John Bowen and others. It's their products I'm really interested in ... apart from Vintage Synthesizers, which I have been collecting for 20 years. Subsequent to our former websites Bluesynths and Blogasys, Peter Mahr and I have now created GreatSynthesizers. We hope you like it.