With 23 adjustable settings, a full piano keyboard and the ability to record your tune and play it back, the Google Doodle in tribute to Robert Moog is almost as complicated as the original Moog synthesizer. A great inventor, Robert Arthur Moog studied engineering physics, getting a PhD from Cornell University.
A tinker and creator of musical instruments from his teenage years, Moog invented several instruments and synthesizers. He sold his gadgets through two companies he created - .Moog Music and Big Briar.
Nowadays, music synthesizers that create a variety of sounds, using a piano keyboard as input, are a common sight among professional musicians and bedroom bands alike.
However, Moog first came up with an easy-to-use and practical device, which was capable of recreating almost any sound at the touch of a button.
That machine was the Moog synthesizer, introduced in 1964.
That one, and others like the Minimoog Model D, Minimoog Voyager, Little Phatty etc, went on to revolutionize the music industry, giving a tremendous boost to the field of electronic musical instruments.
For his part, Moog credited the artists. He said that he was only the creator of tools but it was the musicians used the tools effectively who made the magic happen.
It was a humble saying, considering that bands like the Beatles used his synthesizer.
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The doodle is in honour of his 78th birthday. Moog died in 2005 from a brain tumour.
