A Magnificent New Moog Synthesizer
By James Grahame
Allow me to introduce you to the brand new Moog Little Phatty, priced at an almost reasonable $1475. Once you get past the name, you'll discover a very cool little analog monosynth designed by the master himself. Bob Moog's analog audio synthesis circuits have been melded with a decidedly modern digital front panel that features four rotary encoders, 100 programmable memories and a plethora of nice-looking blue backlit buttons. My verdict: fantastic design with a cheeky name (which fits well with their Moogerfooger effects line). The first 1,200 units are individually numbered Bob Moog Tribute Editions, in honor of Bob who passed away before this little gem made it to market.
Here's how Moog President Mike Adams describes the birth of this beautiful product:
"I am not exactly sure when the concept first entered Bob’s mind but I do have notes on it from early 2004 when we had a product planning meeting and Turnkey [a shop in London] requested us to give this some consideration but I am sure he had thought about of it long before that. Then during the Summer of 2004 Steve and Bob really began the serious work of technical conception which resulted in Steve writing the initial technical spec in August, 2004. From there my memory gets a little fuzzy because 2005 was such a difficult year. What I do remember is that we sent off our first ideas to Axel Hartmann around October of 2004 and we met with him at the NAMM Show in 2005. (Axel Hartmann and his Design Box industrial design associates have been a long time collaborators of the company.) At NAMM and then subsequently at last year’s [Frankfurt Musik]Messe, the first concepts of this keyboard began to take shape."