Front End Audio Attends Moogfest 2010

Being in the music industry always has some great moments. For us, as dealers, one of those moments is when we get the opportunity to take on new product lines. An example of this is when we recently were able to start carrying the illustrious products of Moog Music Inc. And I couldn’t think of a better time to take on such a great line of gear. Not only because of the changes in the music industry, putting the freedom of creativity back in the hands of the artists, but because of Moogfest. The same month that we teamed up with Moog (October), is the same month this great festival was taking place. This year, it was right next door in Asheville North Carolina, where the Moog Company recently moved its operations from New York. In its sixth year, Moogfest is still bringing to the forefront the many great ways Dr. Robert Moog changed the face of music in the 1960’s. Featuring a ton of great music acts, and extremely informative workshops, the three day festival of Moogfest is a must to experience for lovers of the analog synth.

October 29, 2012, I (Ryan Ferris) and fellow FEA employee, Gerald Collison, got the great opportunity to be a part of Moogfest. Leaving straight from work that Friday, we got into Asheville about 9pm and immediately checked in to the festival. That night was all about the music. Moogfest spanned over five different locations all over downtown Asheville, including: The Asheville Civic Center, the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, the Orange Peel, the Moogaplex, and Stella Blue. Needless to say, there was something fun happening somewhere. We first hit the Civic Center to enjoy the music of MGMT. The music was great, the video and light show that accompanied it was very cool, and the place was packed! They rocked it out to a full house, playing all the songs the fans wanted to hear. Of course there was a Moog synth, center stage, and MGMT was happy to demonstrate how the Moog played a strong role in their creative sound. After that, we walked a couple blocks down the road to the Orange Peel. I say that this is my kind of place.

The Orange Peel is a classic large club that has hosted the likes of Megadeth, George Clinton, The Beastie Boys, and Cannibal Corpse. They have something for everyone. Many other cool aspects of the club is the Orange Pulp, a VIP bar downstairs that hosts a flat screen HDTV and small PA system, so you can enjoy the upstairs performance in a bit more intimate environment. The Orange Peel also houses and eight foot tall by five foot wide museum like display case that features an original Minimoog and a bunch of cool notes and schematics from the mind of Dr. Moog himself. This was such a cool thing to see, and we later learned that the ribbon cutting ceremony and the unveiling of this display was performed by The Beastie Boys.  While we enjoyed the club, we got to enjoy the music of RJD2 (a great dance DJ that had the house bouncing), and Mutemath. For both Gerald and I, Mutemath was the show to see. They absolutely rocked out, and put on one of the best performances I have seen (and I have been to a lot of shows!). Of course, once again, there was a beautiful Moog synth on stage, so Mutemath could share with the crowd just how integral they are.

On Saturday, we got to attend several great workshops that shared so much with us about the history of the Moog Company, as well as Dr. Moog himself. We also got to see live demonstrations of the Moog Theremin and Moog guitar, which really showcased how unique those instruments are. One of the best parts of the workshops (held in the Moogaplex at Asheville’s Haywood Park Hotel) was that they had all the Moog instruments set up for everyone to play and experience first hand! Of course we took the time to enjoy this aspect of the workshops.

The Voyager, being their flagship line, has a lot to offer musicians and can provide some very cool soundscaping. It is THE analog synth, and will give you everything you want from an analog synth and more, expanding the possibilities of sound creation. If you are looking for something a little more straight forward, but that will not sacrifice quality and expandability, the Little Phatty or Slim Phatty (for those that have a controller and just want the analog brain) are very useful and extremely easy to use. Saws, square clips, noise generators, filters, envelops, res cuts, pitch bend, and modulation; all done with that traditional articulate and beautiful Moog design. You then get into the Moog Guitar and this brings a whole new world to the guitarist. It has the build and feel of a truly high class guitar, and a great sound to go with its feel, playability, and great looks. The Piezo pickup offers a clean and clear traditional guitar sound, however it is the additional features that make this guitar so unique. It will give you infinite sustain on all strings, or just the one you are playing. The sustain can also be switched to harmonic sustain, to get that perfect “feedback” sound. In return you can also reverse the sustain feature to completely kill the sustain and have a creative deadening character. The expression pedal that is included with the guitar can be used to seamlessly flow from sustain to harmonic sustain, or activate modulation, and much more. They even have a midi option so you can use the guitar as a controller for any of your favorite guitar synths and processors. Now the most unique instrument of all is the Theremin. The Theremin uses radio waves and their interaction with the bones in your hands to cause dynamic increase and decrease (with the loop on the left side) and pitch with the antenna on the left. It is not an instrument that you can just step up to and start playing (and be good at), it is quite intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, they are very cool, and the possibilities start swirling around in your head. The great thing about all the Moog synths is that they all have Control Voltage Control outputs, so you can infinitely interconnect them to open endless sound creation. Use a Moog guitar on sustain, and play some chords with the sounds being generated via a Little Phatty running to a couple MoogerFooger pedals, while you control the dynamics with a Theremin. Sounds crazy, but oh so sweet. The possibilities are endless!

The actual workshops were great. The first one we got to attend was the “Synth History Panel – The Birth of the MiniMoog”. Featuring a panel of designers and musicians that had a hand in the history of the company, the speakers included; Herb Deutsch – Co-collaborator on the first modular in 1963, Bill Hemsath – creator of the first MiniMoog prototype (known then as the MIN A Moog), Dave Van Koevering – the first salesman and VP of marketing for the MiniMoog in the 70’s, Tom Rhea – design consultant and author of the MiniMoog manual, and Brian Kehew – Historian for the Bob Moog Foundation and a Keyboardist. Their discussion traced the roots of the Moog Company from the early 60’s with the development of the Minimoog to how the company has evolved today. The seminar started with Bob creating the first voltage-controlled subtractive synthesizer that used a keyboard for controlling/playing it in 1964, to the creation of the Moog Voyager. Of course the history goes back before the 60’s, when Moog built his first Theremin.

And that first Theremin leads us to the second workshop that was a lesson and performance with Kevin Kissinger. They set up an area of about ten Theremins for individuals to play and learn while under the instruction of Mr. Kissinger. After giving an overview of the instrument, he then had a volunteer come on stage to demonstrate the instrument as he gave an in depth lesson on the techniques of playing it. This was followed by a great performance, where Kevin played a special Halloween song.

The next workshop was a discussion on the Moog Archives and Moogseum. The archives are a collection of reel tapes that are verbal notes and tests by Dr. Moog, documenting his designs and the prototypes of the various synths that were in development at the time. We were lucky enough to actually hear clips from the archives, and given that these clips took place in the 60’s, it was a treat to hear a profound piece of musical history as it happened. The archives are being restored and digitally backed up by various engineers (including Seva David Ball – one of the speakers), and is funded by donations, as well as a very nice grant from the Grammy Foundation. The Moogseum is a work in the planning stage, to open a large museum that displays the history of the Moog Company, Dr. Moog’s work, and houses many of the various instruments and prototypes that were designed and put in production over the years. This museum is currently funded by donations and can greatly benefit by your help. Once building is funded and approved, it will find its home in the lovely downtown Asheville area. For more information on the archives and the Moogseum, please visit www.moogfoundation.org (and don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter, as well as make a donation to help preserve this great work of music history). The speakers at this workshop included; Brian Kehew – Historian and keyboardist, Seva David Ball – Archive Preservationist, currently working on the Moog reel to reel tapes, and Dr. Moog’s daughter Michelle Moog-Koussa – Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation.

The last workshop we got to see on Saturday was the Moog Guitar Sound Sculpting workshop, with Saul Zonana. As a guitarist, this was an exciting event for me. The new world that the Moog guitar opens up for you, as a musician, is limited only by your creativity. While one might be a bit shy when faced with this new array of sound, function, and expandability, once you feel the guitar and experience the sounds you can create, it is a breath of fresh air. For me, the Moog guitar is very similar in weight and feel to my Custom 24 PRS. It is fully capable of any style of music, and can really shred if you want to push it to those areas. The unique sustaining capabilities and control voltage control expansion really sets this guitar apart from the rest of the guitar world. Saul was using the Moog with the Tremolo and midi options, and that just made things cooler. Of course most guitarist love the expression a tremolo can add, but add in the ability to build further sound sculpting with a midi synth and the universe just got a lot bigger. Experiencing first hand what the guitar could do in the hands of someone that knows how to use it, really shows the depth of what can be created. This was by far my favorite workshop.

Saturday night was filled with more great live music and, once again, there was no shortage of fun to be had.  Massive Attack took center stage at the Civic Center and there performance was right up there with that of MGMT. The light show behind the main stage was simply breathtaking. Random and thought provoking words were furiously flashed across the backdrop, only to stop for a second and then continue scrolling again.  This along with a beautiful use of red, white, green, and blue lighting effects really helped to set the mood of Massive Attack’s rolling synth bass lines and hypnotic vocals.  The Disco Biscuits were playing simultaneously in The Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, which is housed in the same complex as the Civic Center. While there music wasn’t as stimulating as some of the other acts from the weekend, the energy in the room was high and, again, was complemented by a stellar lighting display.

All in all Moogfest was a great experience. The informative workshops combined with great live performances blended together to create a concoction the likes of which I have never seen or been a part of.  While the main demographic of the festival was twenty to thirty somethings, there was still a large variety of ages in attendance, with a surprising amount of older guests in the fifty to sixty year old range.  Proving it can be an event that attracts all ages with varied musical backgrounds and tastes, Moogfest seems to be in position to be around for years to come. And that’s quite alright in my book.