Moog Music Resumes Production Of The World’s First Portable Synthesizer

Asheville, NC, July 20, 2016 — Today, Moog Music announces that they have resumed production of the Minimoog Model D synthesizer after more than 30 years. Introduced in 1970, the Minimoog Model D was the first portable synthesizer and served as the archetype for all electronic keyboards that followed.  Conceived as a response to the large-scale modular synthesizers of the 1960’s, the Minimoog’s portability, affordability and accessibility made it the go-to instrument for musicians looking to expand beyond the traditional sounds of the time.  Bernie Worrell used the Minimoog to establish Parliament Funkadelic’s futuristic funk sound.  Kraftwerk employed the Minimoog on the successful concept album Autobahn, sparking an entirely new genre.  Gary Numan replaced his live band’s guitars with Minimoog’s, creating the prototype for industrial music.  The classic sound of the Minimoog Model D can be heard on Bob Marley’s Catch A Fire, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic; Detailed in the mini-doc series “A Brief History Of The Minimoog”. Moog Music today releases the second installment of the series chronicling the influential artists of the 80’s & 90’s who used the Minimoog Model D to explore new genres and discover the sounds of tomorrow.

Each Minimoog Model D is lovingly handcrafted at Moog’s employee-owned factory in Asheville, NC.  This legendary 3-oscillator monophonic instrument is securely housed in a hand-finished aluminum chassis and  locally-sourced Appalachian hard-wood enclosure.  To realize the unmistakable sound of the world’s first performance synthesizer,  Moog Music preserves the component placement and through-hole design of the original analog circuit boards, employing military-spec precision resistors and custom-reissued transistors to complete the circuit.

Though no changes have been made to the original sound engine or audio signal path, the Minimoog Model D now includes a series of functional modifications to expand the instrument’s sonic capabilities beyond the factory specifications of a 1970’s production unit. These modifications include a premium Fatar keybed with velocity and after pressure available via top panel CV jacks, a dedicated analog LFO with triangle and square waveshapes, CV outputs for pitch, gate, velocity and after pressure, basic MIDI integration, and a mixer overload modification, which when engaged, allows the Minimoog Model D to conjure thicker and far more overdriven sounds than before.

The Minimoog Model D is now available for order through authorized Moog dealers world-wide.

*NOTE: Due to the complexity of the build process coupled with the demand for other Moog instruments, we are only able to produce a small number of Minimoog Model D units per month.