The Moog Music installation at Rough Trade NYC featured a collection of Moog’s most popular products for artists to come and test out during the month of March.
As a precursor to its annual MoogFest in Asheville, NC, the innovative synthesizer company Moog held a residency at Rough Trade NYC in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg during the month of March, welcoming anyone to come in and experiment with one of the largest collections of Moog equipment in one location.
Musician J. G. Thirwell (AKA Foetus) examines the drone towers at the Moog installation at Rough Trade.
On March 28, we caught up with Moog’s Artist Relations manager Jason Daniello, who gave us a tour of the installation.
“This is the first time we’ve done this. This installation is meant to bring an awareness of our upcoming Moogfest, and of synthesizers in general,” Daniello explained. “We welcome anyone to come in and just turn knobs and check out the gear.”
The installation, set up in one of the upper showcase rooms of Rough Trade NYC, a record store and live music venue on N. 9th Street in Williamsburg, NY, included various stations of Moog devices hooked up to different instruments. Among the stations were a ‘producers station,’ with a Moog Sub Phatty hooked up to Mini Moog Voyagers, Slim Phattys and Mooger Foogers. The entire set up was compatible with any DAW, Daniello said.
Across from the producers station was an arrangement of three ‘drone towers,’ as Daniello called it, with stacks of Slim Phattys, Mini Moog Voyagers, Moog VX351s, VX 352s, two CP251s per tower, and six Mooger Foogers for those artists looking to experiment with a variety of gear all at once. Other stations included drums, guitar and keyboards.
“We have a total of 10 mini Moog Voyagers in the room, 14 Slim Phattys, 30 Mooger Foogers, and 20 Mini Mooger Foogers,” Daniello said.
The producers station at the Moog Music Installation includes a Moog Sub Phatty hooked up to Mini Moog Voyagers, Slim Phattys and Mooger Foogers.
The installation also had a Moog Etherwave Theremin, which was played without the artist touching the instrument, but instead by maneuvering your hands through the electric signals projected from the theremin’s two metal antennas.
“The theremin was how Bob Moog got into electronic music,” Daniello explained. “That was his first love.”
The Moog Etherwave Theremin.
Curated by Rough Trade’s co-owner Stephen Godfrey, the installation also hosted private recording sessions with local electronic music artists, and performances by artists including Lauren Flax, Maria Chavez, Suzi Analogue and more.
Moog
www.moogmusic.com
Rough Trade NYC
www.roughtrade.com
