So Long -- Robert Moog to Infinity

Asheville, North Carolina, August 22, 2005. Robert Moog, 71, the inventor of the synthesizer, died today at his home, from an inoperable brain tumor. A childhood interest in the theremin led him to create sound modules, creating the first synthesizers used in early electronic recordings such as 'The Nonesuch Guide to Electronic Music.'

Early recording artists such as Walter Carlos -- later Wendy Carlos -- and two musicians I met in a Los Angeles Warehouse, Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause -- brought synthesized sound into the radio landscape, where it has become the background music for our lives today and into the future.

Despite hobnobbing with headliner musicians world-wide, Moog remained quite humble about his place in the world.

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