page_title: Minimoog
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Minimoog / Development
caption_attribution_description: Minimoog model D (early 1970s), MIM PHX
context_page_description: The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. In the 1960s, synthesizers—in the form of large, expensive, and complex modular synthesizers—were inaccessible to most musicians. The Minimoog was designed as an affordable, portable, simplified instrument which combined the most useful components of the Moog synthesizer in single device. It was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popular with progressive rock and jazz musicians and found wide use in disco, pop, rock and electronic music.
  After the sale of Moog Music, production of the Minimoog stopped in the early 1980s. In 2002, after founder Robert Moog regained the rights to the Moog brand and bought the company, the Minimoog Voyager, an updated version, was released. In 2016, Moog Music released a new version of the original Minimoog.
context_section_description: In the 1960s, RA Moog Co manufactured Moog synthesizers, which helped bring electronic sounds to music but remained inaccessible to ordinary people. These modular synthesizers were difficult to use and required users to connect components manually with patch cables to create sounds. They were also sensitive to temperature and humidity, and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Most were owned by universities or record labels, and used to create soundtracks or jingles; by 1970, only 28 were owned by musicians.
  Moog engineer Bill Hemsath wondered if the company could create a smaller, more reliable synthesizer. He created a prototype by sawing a keyboard in half and wiring several components into a small cabinet. Moog president Robert Moog felt the prototype was fun, but did not initially see a market for it. Hemsath, other engineers and later Moog created several more prototypes, adding features such as the suitcase design to aid portability.
  In early 1970, Moog Co began losing money as interest in its modular synthesizers fell. While Moog was away, the engineers, fearing they would lose their jobs if the company closed, developed a version of Hemsath's miniature synthesizer, the Minimoog Model D. Moog chastised them, but came to see the potential in the Model D and authorized its production.
  The engineers could not get the power supply to stabilise properly, which meant that the Minimoog's three oscillators were never completely synchronized. Although unintentional, this created the synthesizer's "warm, rich" sound. Its voltage-controlled filter was unique, allowing users to shape sounds to create "everything from blistering, funky bass blurps ... to spacey whistle lead tones". The Minimoog also was the first synthesizer to feature a pitch wheel, which allows players to bend notes as a guitarist or saxophonist does, allowing for more expressive playing. According to David Borden, one of the first users of the Minimoog, if Moog had patented the pitch wheel "he would have been an extremely wealthy man".
caption: An early 1970s Minimoog Model D synthesizer
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