Archives - 1977
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Contemporary Keyboard
January 1977
Modulation, Part III: Clangorous Sounds
Bob Moog
Clangorous sounds are periodic (pitched) sounds that have some harmonics whose frequencies are not whole-number multiples of that of the perceived pitch. Gong, drum, chime, and "ring modulator" tones are examples of clangorous sounds.
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Contemporary Keyboard
February 1977
Amplitude And Ring Modulation
Bob Moog
In addition to frequency modulation (the subject of my last two columns), most synthesizers provide for at least one of these common types of modulation: amplitude modulation, ring modulation, filter (or formant) modulation, and waveform width modulation.
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Contemporary Keyboard
March 1977
Filter Modulation And Phase Shift
Bob Moog
The voltage-controlled filter is the basic tone-coloring sound modifier in most synthesizers. A lowpass-resonant filter, the most popular type of voltage-controlled filter, allows frequencies up to its cutoff frequency to pass, and attenuates those frequencies above cutoff.
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Contemporary Keyboard
April 1977
Oscillating Filter Modulation & Waveform Modulation
Bob Moog
My past five columns have dealt with modulation in general, and with the specific properties of frequency, amplitude, and filter modulation. In this column I'll go into some characteristics of oscillating filter modulation and waveform modulation.
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Contemporary Keyboard
May 1977
Synthesizer Sound Systems, Part I
Bob Moog
In this column I'll talk about power amplifier and loudspeaker portions of synthesizer sound systems. Next column will deal with sound system front ends: tone controls, equalizers, mixers, and compressors.
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Contemporary Keyboard
June 1977
Synthesizer Sound Systems, Part II: Front Ends
Bob Moog
The front end (circuitry preceding the power amplifier) of a synthesizer sound system provides level adjustment (for loudness balance), some equalization (for tonal balance), and a means of mixing all the keyboard signals into one or more output lines.
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Contemporary Keyboard
July 1977
Accessories, Part I: Phasers
Bob Moog
Go into any music store and you'll probably find a glass display case containing a variety of little boxes with knobs, arrayed like so many candy bars.
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Contemporary Keyboard
August 1977
Accessories, Part II: Flangers
Bob Moog
Flangers are among the newer stars in the sound-modifier accessory constellation. Made possible by the availability of a new type of integrated circuit called a bucket brigade delay line, these new units offer the musician convincing vibrato and chorus effects as well as the basic "flanging sound" of a swept, harmonically related multiple resonance frequency.
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Forbes
September 1, 1977
The Electronic Muse
BELGIAN-BORN Adolphe Sax earned a modest niche in music history by developing the saxophone. But Robert A. Moog (rhymes with rogue) invented the Moog synthesizer and "bent the course of music forever," says Rolling Stone magazine.
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Contemporary Keyboard
September 1977
Accessories, Part III: Reverb Unit
Bob Moog
Reverberation is the series of closely spaced, overlapping echoes of sounds that imparts a feeling of space or ambience.
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Electronic Music
October/November 1977
ROBERT A. MOOG
INTRODUCTION:
What is electronic music? Is it a brand new kind of music, or is it rooted firmly in our musical traditions? Must it use only sounds that are electronically generated, or are electronically processed "natural" sounds also permissable?
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Music Market Canada
October 1977
Synthesizing
As recently as eight years ago, synthesizers were virtually unknown to the majority of the music trade. Since that time though, worldwide sales have expanded to an estimated $15 million, at retail, thanks, in part to acceptance of the instrument by professional musicians such as, Keith Emerson, and Stevie Wonder.
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Contemporary Keyboard
October 1977
More On Reverb Unit
Bob Moog
In last month's column I described the operation of the basic wire coil delay line of the sort used in spring reverbs.
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Contemporary Keyboard
November 1977
Graphic and Parametric Equalizers
Bob Moog
Back in the days when the only electronics on the bandstand was for the singer (and it wasn't that long ago!), equalizers were used primarily to compensate for deficiencies in the PA system and the acoustic environment.
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Contemporary Keyboard
December 1977
Specmanship, part I: Levels
Bob Moog
My last few columns have dealt with the properties of specific types of amplifiers and sound modifiers. In the next two columns, I'll conclude our rap on synthesizer accessories (for the time being) with a discussion of levels and impedance.
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