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1. Moog Minimoog

Could it have been any other instrument? The Minimoog is the classic vintage synthesizer and with good reason. Its design is the template that influences synthesizer manufacturers to this day.

With a trio of oscillators (the third of which could be used as a modulation source), noise generator and quite possibly the best sounding filter ever created, the Mini put synthesizers within the reach of the gigging musician. Once they got their paws on the thing, those musicians injected the sound of electronic music into the mainstream.

Thanks to the Minimoog, electronic music was pulled down from its lofty academic perch and allowed to run free among the uncouth and unruly, and thank goodness for that. Maybe we should thank Bill Hemsath, the Moog employee who spent his lunch hours in the attic, kludging together the first Minimoog from bits and bobs from Moog's massive modular systems. He just wanted a portable instrument he could take home. He couldn't have known that he was creating a legend.

"Could it have been any other instrument? The Minimoog is the classic vintage synthesizer and with good reason."

What makes the Mini so great? A number of things, actually. First, its relatively limited number of parameters make it pretty easy to use. Yet they were carefully chosen to offer sufficient flexibility to create a wide range of sounds.

Second, there is the sound. Though many instruments are said to be possessed of a special and elusive character, the Minimoog really has it, and then some. The oscillators are rich, and the envelopes are snappy, if simple. Its highs are piercing and crystal clear, and the bass has rightfully become the stuff of legend. It's big, ballsy and its nigh on impossible to make the thing sound bad!

The fact is that neither you or we have ever used a synthesizer that didn't owe something to the Minimoog. Never, ever turn down an opportunity to play one.

All images courtesy of Vintage Synth Explorer, a highly-recommended site that features the finest database of classic synth hardware on the internet.

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Around the web:

• Craig W. Morrisonyepper
• Whatever synthesier Dream Theater uses. That's the best one.
• Gilberto StrapazonThanks for including the JD-800 in the list. As a proud fan, I, love it! I take the comments to my JD blog, hope this allowed. Also included the back links of course. Thanks for supporting this great synth and all another super machines we have to create music. Best regards