In the mid-1960s, electric music pioneer Robert Moog created modular synthesizers using transistor technologies. His early synths featured modules that generate and modify the pitch, timbre, and volume of sounds when connected, or “patched” by cables. This allowed for unprecedented control of sonic parameters but made it difficult to replicate the same sound twice. Moog’s inventions came to the attention of the rock world when they were demonstrated at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The following year, Wendy Carlos’s album Switched-On Bach became the first chart-topping hit utilizing a Moog synthesizer. The instrument has its performance debut at a 1969 concert in the Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, where Moog introduced a quartet of synthesizers built specifically for live events. Continue reading Eye On Design: Keith Emerson’s Moog Synthesizer→
Prog Rock Keyboard Legend and all-around Musical Genius, Keith Emerson, passed away last night, March 10th, 2016, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. My Obit for Keith up is now at Ink19 Dot Com.
The Birth Machine Baby sculpture pictured above was photographed by me in the Last Rites Gallery in Manhattan, which has a number of original HR Giger pieces on display. Giger, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 74, is perhaps best known in popular culture as the designer of the Alien creatures in the film franchise of the same name, or, if you are a bit older, the designer of the cover of Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s 1973 epic prog rock masterpiece, Brain Salad Surgery. But his career was about so much more than that. Continue reading HR Giger’s Birth Machine Baby→
Whenever anyone mentions legendary prog rock drummer Carl Palmer, I can’t help but flash back to an image of Palmer that is burned into my brain: that of his performance with Emerson, Lake & Palmer at the 1974 California Jam, where he performed an extended drum solo for “Karn Evil 9,” during which played part of his kit with his teeth. It’s not something one forgets. Continue reading Review: Carl Palmer Drum Solos DVD→
