LET'S CELEBRATE!
Former Trumansburg resident and inventor of the Moog synthesizer, Robert Moog, will finally receive some due commemoration with a historical marker on Main Street. Please, help fund this day of celebration in recognition of Moog's invention and impact on popular culture and as an important part of Trumansburg history!
EVENT
On Sunday, May 22, the Village of Trumansburg and Trumansburg Area Chamber of Commerce will host a day of celebration in honor of Robert Moog's achievements that began right on Main Street in Trumansburg.
The reveal of the historical marker and dedication will take place at 1pm in front of the former site of R.A. Moog Co., now Little Venice restaurant.
The event will then continue with talks at the Ulysses Historical Society beginning at 2pm. Speakers will include Trevor Pinch, author of Analog Days, David Borden, musician and founder of the world's first synthesizer ensemble (with the generous support of Robert Moog), and Greg McGrath, music producer and local Moog enthusiast.
Following the talks, at 4pm, the Ulysses Philomathic Library will host a DIY makers event where people can get hands on experience making their own mini-synthesizer.
Visit Atlas Bowl between 5:30-8:30pm for a free live vinyl showcase and half-priced bowling all night long. The owner of Angry Mom Records, George
Johann (aka DJ Charcoal Heart), will be sifting through his inventory
and personal collection to bring you an eclectic sampling of music that
features the Moog synthesizers.
And, the celebration will conclude at the Rongovian Embassy with free musical performances, which of course will include the Moog synthesizer! Additional happenings around town are also in the works. Stayed tuned for a full list of events and schedule!
COSTS
Historical Marker - $1,200
30 DIY Sythesizers - $1,200 (approx. $40 each)
Performers & Sound - $1,200
Presenters - $400
Event Promo & Photography - $1,000HISTORY
Robert Moog came to Trumansburg in 1963 as he worked on PhD. in solid state physics at Cornell University. In order to feed his young family he went into business manufacturing electronics devices for music applications. As other projects failed, Bob was inspired by Hofstra University Music Professor Herb Deutsch, to experiment on a system of external control over electronic circuits for musical purposes, which developed into The Moog Synthesizer.
In the mid sixties the world was in the midst of a consumer electronic revolution driven by the miniaturization of solid state electronics. Sophisticated music circuitry had been available in laboratories and institutions in the previous generation of tube circuits, but the cost, size, weight and immense power consumption predetermined those devices to be out of reach of commercial success. The first commercial silicon transistors were produced in 1954 and by Mid 1964 Bob Moog had a working model of his portable modular synthesizer.
Manipulating audio to transmit, enhance or even create music had been in most American homes since the beginning of the Great Depression, but never had the depth and manner of creative design and interactive musicality in Bob Moog’s processes been available anywhere on earth. From Main Street in Trumansburg they were shipped around the world to notable pop music icons and advertising houses on to the avant-garde creators and institutions of higher learning.
The Beatles and The Stones each bought one, and Wendy Carlos performed the highest selling “classical” album of all time entirely on electronic circuits built in Trumansburg. It was a curiosity and a break through in empowering the sonically adventurous to put their hands directly on controls that allowed them to “see” the sound that was in their heads and thereby deliver to the ears and hearts what once might have taken an entire orchestra to derive.
Bob’s invention turned out to be an empowerment to artists in the same way that the demand for civil rights and feminism gave rise to the great social upheaval of the Sixties. It is because of this legacy that we ask you to make a donation so that we may celebrate the memory of Bob Moog!
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