Robert Moog, Toolmaker, 1934-2005

Yesterday's news of Robert Moog's death at the age of 71 was sobering, to say the least. My musical tastes have been at least partially indebted to his synthesizer since I purchased Wendy Carlos' Switched On Bach at the age of ten and insisted my music teacher play the tape during class (my classmates didn't get it). I had the good fortune of meeting Bob Moog when he gave a short lecture at my school on the history of the theremin--a lecture that quickly turned into a Q & A on the history of the Moog synthesizer. He only reluctantly acknowledged his influence as a pioneer of electronic music, seeing himself instead as an engineer devoted to musicians. To him, the Moog wasn't a revolution--it was a tool. In light of that, this paragraph in today's NYT coverage of Moog's life and work really resonated with me:

"Artist feedback drove all my development work," Mr. Moog said in an interview with the online magazine Salon in 2000. "The first synthesizers I made were in response to what [composer] Herb Deutsch wanted. The now-famous Moog filter was suggested by several musicians... The point is that I don't design stuff for myself. I'm a toolmaker. I design things that other people want to use."

If you've ever played with a Moog, you know why people so loved using them; tweaking the knobs of an analog modular synthesizer is among the most gratifying things you'll ever do with a circuit. Musicians have accomplished so much with the Moog (and its numerous successors) because it's such an addictive tool--one of the most transformative to the arts in the last century. What Bob Moog did right in building his synthesizer is not much different from what we try to do as toolmakers today; he built a simple, gratifying tool and let its use dictate its design. To properly honor Robert Moog's achievements, you have to see him not only for his influence on music, but also for his devotion to the craft of user interface design. In fact, to anybody whose work involves the creation of tools--analog, digital, mechanical, whatever--I would say, simply: consider Robert Moog.

electronic music-ish , geek-ish , interface-ish , music-ish by tangentialist at 07:36 PM on 22 Aug 05 | Perm-a-link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Arthur Chi'en Back On The F***ing Job!

Our dear friend Arthur Chi'en, last we heard, was still reeling after his unjust dismissal for reacting like an average local New Yorker to two average local New York morons on a local New York newscast. Today, justice is done, Gothamist points out, as Chi'en gets his due at Channel 11. Chi'en's twelve years in broadcast journalism (and gritty insouciance) were clearly too much for the WB to resist. You can look forward to his general-reporting debut on Monday at 10, and read more about A.C.'s new gig in Newsday's coverage.

arthur chi'en-ish , speech-ish by tangentialist at 04:51 PM on 17 Aug 05 | Perm-a-link | TrackBack (0)

Taco Chulo: Guess What's Missing

Tonight's dinner mission was Taco Chulo, the anxiously-awaited new Mexican joint in my neighborhood, on Grand Street's Happening Restaurant Row. On a visit during the renovation we were told the owner(s) is/are from Berkeley, which would suggest a mastery of the burrito form, but tonight's burritos (carnitas and vegetarian, respectively) were missing one key ingredient; mystifyingly, there was no spanish rice inside the burrito. Instead, you get potatoes. Don't bother asking to substitute rice, because there is not a grain in the establishment (except weekend brunches, apparently, when it sneaks into the "Guacamole Breakfast"). Yes, there are refried beans, and an excellent salsa, and the carnitas were "succulent" as advertised. There is simply no rice, and it's only now that I realize how much less satisfying burritos are when it's missing. Also, there was no guacamole, but I've never been a fan anyhow. I'm inclined to think the tacos will be less disappointing, since they don't depend so much on the One True Starch, so I'll hit that next time, along with the intriguing "warm chocolate-coconut
tamales served with chocolate-chile sauce" for dessert. You can't mess up a chocolate-coconut tamale served with chocolate-chile sauce, can you?

brooklyn-ish , food-ish , williamsburg-ish by tangentialist at 11:20 PM on 10 Aug 05 | Perm-a-link | TrackBack (0)

Life As A Saudi Prince

In today's New York Times coverage of King Fahd's death in Saudi Arabia, I couldn't help but notice this rare insight into the hard-as-nails Saudi royal parenting method:

Still, King Saud was strict. In an interview in the early 1970's, then Prince Fahd recalled the time his father locked him in a room for over two hours because he had had a fight with a neighbor's son. The King knew the other boy had provoked the quarrel, but wanted to show impartiality, Fahd said.

OVER TWO HOURS??

journalism-ish , middle east-ish , new york times-ish by tangentialist at 10:32 AM on 01 Aug 05 | Perm-a-link | TrackBack (0)