“Moog! I see that on all your web sites,” you say to yourself. And it’s true, I’ve used the name “moog” as handles, web sites, e-mail addresses and the likes. So much so that it has become almost an attribute of my personality. When word of Mr. Moog’s death hit the news Monday, I got e-mails from friends all over, even if they didn’t know what Moog really was and only saw it because it was on my web site.

Robert Moog was the inventor of the Moog synthesizer - or electronic keyboard. And while Moog was a brand of keyboard, it was also the first electronic keyboard. Mr. Moog invented the first synthesizer. Now think about that for a minute. Think about all the music you listen to that has used electronic machines in some way - either a keyboard, drum machine, just about anything stems from Moog’s first synthesizer.

Without the Moog synth there would be no or less of the following music: New Order, Led Zepplin, The Doors, Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, ELO, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, and oh yeah, the Beatles.

Moog’s impact on the world of music - and thus culture at large - cannot be measured. He wasn’t trying to change the world though, he was trying to develop a cool electronic gadget. He was an engineer by trade that knew how circuits and voltage worked - he didn’t know music, but he was able to listen to musicians and get them what they wanted. A poor business man, yes, but he was able to deliver which some brands can’t even say today.

Now in my story, the name “Moog” didn’t come to me until high school. But ever since I was little I loved playing on my Casio keyboard. I think every kid had the same one - it was tiny, came in pink, white, and blue (mine was blue) and could play as four instruments and had a killer demo.

I used to play my keyboard along with my video games. Before too long I was able to play the entire “Ironsword” soundtrack on my keyboard. Then when we’d go out shopping I’d go rip ass at RadioShack on their big mamajama keyboards. Later I got my own mamajama synth - it was a Yamaha - and I loved it. I loved music and the keyboard was so easy to play it was silly. Combine easy accessibility with my knack for being able to play what I hear and I could copy about any type of sound.

But video games was a perfect match, frankly, after all, they were electronic too. Being raised on Nintendo, I go through life with a 8-bit soundtrack in my head. Synthesizers just came naturally.

Then came high school when a kid in the band was playing The Moog Cookbook. The Moog Cookbook was a duo of guys that played covers of popular tunes - like Nirvana and REM - with only synthesizers. I was instantly hooked on the tunes because 1) they were keyboards only, an instrument I could play; 2) They were sounds I recognized, and 3) it sounded like video game versions of popular songs.

I ran out and got the disc and did some research on Moog and found the entire history and an entire world of synth music that had existed way before I did. Based on these sounds and music I took on the name when I went on-line. Honestly, the word looked and sounded cool. However, I do say it incorrectly, sort of. While I always say “moog” like “mood,” the truth is the man’s name is “Moog” like “vogue” - but I thought the long “O” was much more fun to say and bottomline, if you go up to someone and ask them to pronounce the word, they’ll say “moog” like “mood.”

My handle on-line was “Moogman” and even my web site was “moogman.com” - for a long time I just associated the name Moog with everything. It was fun. The music is fun. Moog being a sort of “fringe” item to most people, I had the joy of introducing the Moog sound and music to many. Watching their faces and ears close up at the high pitches but then their eyes growing huge because they recognize the song.

I admit Moog is not for everyone. Running a Moog community site, I know many of them are of the nerd ilk, as anyone would really expect. Four out of ten people would turn the station if they heard Moog, but the four that would stay would love it and want more.

Without Robert Moog and his wacky electric keyboard, a big part of who I became wouldn’t have happened. Moog is one of things in my life that gives me that happy feeling no matter when I hear it. No matter where I go, the sounds of Moog are not far behind. It reminds me that music can be different while being fun. More importantly, it has taught me that it doesn’t matter if something was designed to do one thing, it can always be made to do another. Ben Franklin didn’t harness electricity intended to bust out tunes on his synthesizer. But Bob Moog took what he knew best, electronics, and turned it into something that changed the world.

It changed the world on many levels, even down the little people like myself. I don’t own a Moog (as they are quite expensive) and all my Moog music is in MP3 form shy a long vinyl album or two. There are bigger nerds out there, but I love the sound and I think that’s really what matters in the end. I will never understand how the Moog works, or how a Mooger Fooger really works, but I know I like what it makes - kind of like baking a cake. It doesn’t matter how to mix it all up, so long as the end result tastes good.

Nothing will change with the death of Bob Moog. He left his mark, and a big one at that, but he will go as an unsung hero. For all intensive purposes, he’s the inventor of the synthesizer. Think about that one little thing changed music, then think of how music effects people, then think how people effect the world.

Thank you Robert Moog. Thank you for the innovation. Thank you for the sounds. Thank you for being a part of what makes my life fun and happy.

Robert A. Moog passed away on Sunday, August 21, 2005 from brain cancer. He was 71-years-old.