Robert Moog, RIP

I was saddened to read today that Robert Moog, inventor of the line of electronic synthesizers bearing his name, died yesterday of a brain tumor.

Moog instruments play prominent roles in much of my favorite music from my childhood and teen years: from the Moog Taurus pedals and MiniMoogs that brought to life the Rush albums from 1977 through 1981, to the Moog III that Keith Emerson took on tour, to the eerie soundscapes that Wendy Carlos evoked in her soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange.

I own a Moog synthesizer, the Liberation.

Mr. Moog will be missed. I have been meaning to buy the Fjellestad biography, and will now make a point of doing so.