Pinch finds keynotes to Moog and famous synthesizer, right here

By Franklin Crawford

When Trevor Pinch came to Cornell in 1990, as an associate professor of science and technology studies, he had no idea that Robert Moog, the inventor of the Moog synthesizer, was a Cornell Ph.D. (1964) who had fine-tuned and manufactured the first commercial synthesizers in a nearby Trumansburg storefront from 1964 to 1971. Nor did he know that at least four of Moog's associates were working right here at Cornell.

Pinch

In 1994, Pinch attended a visiting lecture at Cornell by Moog. That's when music started, so to speak. By 1996, Pinch, a widely published author, was planning a project that summoned his interests in science, technology, music and society. The result: Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer (Harvard University Press, 2002). The principle character, of course, is Robert Moog (rhymes with "rogue").

Co-authored with Frank Trocco, the book was a five-year project involving 40 interviews with famous rock stars as well as obscure avant-garde musicians, engineers and salesmen. Also interviewed were four current members of the Cornell community who had worked and played alongside Moog: David Borden, director of Cornell's Digital Music Program; Linda Fisher, a Web developer at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations; Kenneth Fung, a technical services supervisor in the Lincoln Hall music library; and Bernie Hutchins, a lecturer in electrical and computer engineering.

Today the synthesizer fits on a microchip and is the source of more ambient noise in the world than politicians. When it first hit the scene, the synthesizer was nothing short of revolutionary, and Pinch maintains that it is one of the greatest American inventions of the 20th century.

Robert Moog, left, and Keith Emerson, keyboard player with the rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP), pose in front of one of Moog's synthesizers at Rich Stadium in Buffalo in 1974. David Van Koevering

Pinch (now a full professor and chair of the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell) has a personal affinity for Moog's revolutionary gizmo. As an impoverished undergrad in physics at Imperial College in London, Pinch earned rent by playing accordion in tube stops -- but at 19 years of age, he also built his own synthesizer, inspired by Moog's prototype.

"When I first called Moog, I had introduced myself as a Cornell professor, but that didn't cut much ice with him," said Pinch. "What caught his attention was that I had built my own synthesizer -- that's when he invited me down to Asheville [North Carolina] to visit him."

Pinch said that at first he thought the book "would just be a story for us '60s folk. Wrong. Moog is now a cult hero for all sorts of pop and electronic musicians, and the story of the synthesizer has not been fully told."

Concerned that his academic demeanor might be off-putting to his subjects, Pinch recruited Trocco, who had come from Union Institute to study for a Ph.D. with Pinch in 1996. Coincidentally, Trocco also played accordion. More importantly, Trocco had traveled extensively, taping traditional and old-time musicians for the Library of Congress Folk Archives.

"I've written about 12 books, but I'm used to interviewing scientists and Frank had more experience with musicians," Pinch said. "It was a good combo."

By 2000, Pinch had organized an exhibit and concert at the Smithsonian Institute in Moog's honor "The Keyboard Meets Modern Technology," with a panel discussion that included Keith Emerson, formerly of the rock trio Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP), Moog and Borden.

Borden and Emerson proved to be vital -- if polar opposite -- sources in the making of the book. Co-founder of Mother Mallard, one of the world's first portable synthesizer ensembles, Borden is no glam rocker. His compositions have won critical, if not wide popular, acclaim. Emerson is the quintessential performer, but an accomplished musician as well. Interviewing the latter posed its own challenges at first, said Pinch. After a 1999 concert in Los Angeles, Pinch tried to quiz Emerson, who was in a post-concert daze and repeatedly distracted by autograph seekers. But Emerson was responsive to Pinch's invite for the Moog panel at the Smithsonian.

"Keith turned out to be a really nice guy -- and was actually wary about talking in public, which seemed strange for a person so used to performing before huge crowds," Pinch said. "Three days in a hotel and we got to know each other fairly well and we're actually kind of mates now and keep in touch."

The book is purposely written in an engaging "popular" style, and Pinch saves much of the hard sci-tech of the synthesizer for the final chapters. Moog emerges as more that just an inventor, but a struggling entrepreneur whose business eventually tanked and was bought out by another company. But his invention proved revolutionary indeed. Pinch reminds readers that it was Moog's use of the conventional piano keyboard that made his device so extraordinary. In fact, Moog faced a serious challenge from another inventor named Don Buchla. The Moog synthesizer ultimately triumphed over the "Buchla Box" for one reason: Moog's use of the standard keyboard.

But beyond the technological achievement itself, Pinch says Moog's true gift was his willingness to bring performing musicians of every caliber into the process of fine-tuning and idiot-proofing his invention. Moog was not proprietorial about his creation, Pinch said. From the outset, he wanted a user-friendly instrument.

In his next book on the subject, Pinch will follow the synthesizer's evolution into digital technology. Future interviewees may include electronic pop stars such as Moby, Pinch said. He's looking forward to it.