The Memorymoog is a

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

electronic music

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

manufactured by

Moog Music Moog Music Inc. () is an American synthesizer company based in Asheville, North Carolina. It was founded in 1953 as R. A. Moog Co. by Robert Moog and his father and was renamed Moog Music in 1972. Its early instruments included the Moog synthesi ...

from 1982 to 1985, the last polyphonic synthesizer to be released by Moog Music before the company declared

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in 1987. While comparable to other polyphonic synthesizers of the time period, such as the

Sequential Circuits Sequential is an American synthesizer company founded in 1974 as Sequential Circuits by Dave Smith. In 1978, Sequential released the Prophet-5, the first programmable polyphonic synthesizer; it became a market leader and industry standard, use ...

Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977, who used Microprocessor, m ...

and

Oberheim OB-Xa The Oberheim OB-Xa was the second of Oberheim's OB-series polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizers, replacing the OB-X with updated features. History The OB-Xa was released in December 1980, replacing the OB-X after only a year on the marke ...

, the Memorymoog distinguished itself with 3 audio oscillators per voice and greater preset storage capacity.

Overview

While the earlier

Polymoog The Polymoog is a hybrid polyphony (instrument), polyphonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on Frequency divider, divide-down oscillator technology similar to electronic organs an ...

synthesizer (1975) featured unlimited polyphony via divide-down technology, the 6-voice Memorymoog was the first polyphonic Moog to feature dedicated oscillators and filters for each voice. It is often described architecturally as six

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

s in one unit. Each of the six voices of the Memorymoog is made up of 3

voltage-controlled oscillator A microwave (12–18GHz) voltage-controlled oscillator A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is an electronic oscillator whose oscillation frequency is controlled by a voltage input. The applied input voltage determines the instantaneous oscilla ...

s that can be set to any combination of pulse (variable width), saw, and triangle

waveform In electronics, acoustics, and related fields, the waveform of a signal is the shape of its graph as a function of time, independent of its time and magnitude scales and of any displacement in time.David Crecraft, David Gorham, ''Electronic ...

s and freely switched over a 4–

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

initial range. Each voice also has its own 24 dB/Octave Low Pass

voltage-controlled filter A voltage-controlled filter (VCF) is an electronic filter whose operating characteristics (primarily cutoff frequency) can be set by an input control voltage. Voltage controlled filters are widely used in synthesizers. A music synthesizer VCF ...

. Moog Music wisely included a discrete implementation of its famed, patented transistor ladder filter, which was first introduced in the Moog Modular systems of the 1960s and subsequently came into widespread prominence in the Minimoog. In Mono mode, the Memorymoog functions as a traditional monophonic synthesizer with 1–18 oscillators selectable in unison for powerful

leads Lead is a chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead or The Lead may also refer to: Animal handling * Leash, or lead * Lead (leg), the leg that advances most in a quadruped's cantering or galloping stride * Lead (tack), a lin ...

and

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

s. The user may also specify any combination of Low-, Latest- or High-Note Priority keying and Single or Multiple Triggering, for an impressive degree of control. A Chord Memory function (for single key, parallel chord "planing" effects) and an Arpeggiator are also included, while an independent LFO with 5 non-mixable waveforms allows simultaneous

modulation In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the ''carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informatio ...

of each VCO frequency, oscillator pulse width and filter cutoff frequency in any combination. Further, as on the Minimoog, VCO-3 can also be used as a Low- or Audio-Frequency modulation source. With careful programming, audio frequency modulation using Oscillator 3 can produce convincing pseudo-acoustic and FM-like timbres typically not associated with analog subtractive synthesis.

Voicing

The Memorymoog uses Curtis CEM 3340 IC's as opposed to the discrete Moog

oscillator Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...

s used in the Minimoog and Modular units. With 18 oscillators, 6 voices, the Moog VCF and subtle on-board overdrive via the Mixer section, the instrument has a massive sound all its own and is capable of dominating the mix in which it is used.

In use

Due to its complex analog architecture, the Memorymoog has been historically prone to certain reliability problems, and subsequently developed a reputation for non-roadworthiness. However, several factory updates - most notably the AutoTune Upgrade, which increases the "capture range" of the autotune circuit, allowing the instrument to tune itself more successfully – have made the Memorymoog a far more reliable instrument. Physically, the Memorymoog was extremely well constructed utilizing solid walnut cabinetry – again a nod to its Minimoog heritage - and brushed aluminum front/rear panels.

Versions

Shortly after its initial release of the Memorymoog, Moog Music introduced the Memorymoog Plus (or Memorymoog+) as a replacement. The Plus featured a factory-installed

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

interface – making it amongst the very first electronic instruments to include a MIDI implementation – and a basic polyphonic and monophonic sequencer, the latter of which is used to control an externally interfaced monophonic synthesizer (via rear panel CV/gate/trigger jacks). The "Plus" MIDI/Sequencer package was also available from Moog Music as a field or factory retrofit for original "non-Plus" Memorymoogs. Much discussion has centered around the comparative playability and sonic differences between the Plus and Non-Plus Memorymoogs; notably, some Non-Plus owners insist that the original units are superior to the Plus model, as the on-board

Zilog Z80 The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples wer ...

microprocessor reportedly has difficulty keeping up with the added demands of the MIDI/Sequencer circuitry, resulting in discernible latency and attack smearing. Moog also produced about 100 Memorymoogs re-branded with the name Sanctuary at the request of David VanKoevering, a longtime friend of Robert Moog and a Moog Music marketing evangelist. The Sanctuary was marketed to churches and Christian music groups.

Upgrades

In 1992, the German company Lintronics

in association with the then Bob Moog-owned company Big Briar, introduced the Lintronics Advanced Memory Moog upgrade (LAMM), an extensive rebuild of the original hardware and software of both stock Memorymoog versions, with claims of far greater reliability and tuning stability, achieved mainly through replacement of critical voice card components, the notoriously failure-prone multi-pin connectors, and many other parts. This upgrade also introduces a significantly improved MIDI implementation over the original MIDI-capable version, the Memorymoog Plus, which included ''only'' Note On/Off and Program Change in their original MIDI implementation, allowing the LAMM to respond to key velocity when controlled via MIDI. It further adds full MIDI control of virtually all front-panel controls, as well as MIDI sync for the arpeggiator and new arpeggiator modes. It also adds the ability to mix the various LFO waveforms. New 1/4” jacks are fitted for audio input to the filter and stereo outputs with fixed panning for each of the six voices. The sequencer is removed from the stock Memorymoog Plus during this upgrade. Since Lintronics replaces the entire CPU with a newer part and adds a new operating system, this obviates any concerns regarding perceived higher latency of Plus models over the original version. As part of the idea behind the LAMM is to pre-empt any hardware issues that might arise over time, the upgrade has been expanded dramatically over the years, as experience with failing components has led to their being added to the standard replacement list. A LAMM upgrade from 1992, or even 2005, is thus not comparable to one performed in 2015.Source: Rudi Linhard, owner of Lintronics As of 2020, the LAMM upgrade included replacement of over 1700 parts and required ca. eight weeks of workshop time.

Notable users

French duo Space Art (band), Space Art used a Memorymoog during the recording of their second album, ''Trip in the Centre Head''.

References

External links

Memorymoog at Synthmuseum.comMemorymoog at Vintage Synth ExplorerMemorymoog at Memorymoog
{{Moog Music Moog synthesizers Analog synthesizers Polyphonic synthesizers