Moog synthesizers in 2007

Historical Moog synthesizers[1]		Moog synthesizers in early 1970s

Moog synthesizer (pronounced /ˈmoʊɡ/ MOHG; often anglicized to /ˈmuːɡ/ MOOG, though Robert Moog preferred the former^[2]) may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled analog synthesizer systems in the early 1950s. The technological development that led to the creation of the Moog synthesizer was the invention of the transistor, which enabled researchers like Moog to build electronic music systems that were considerably smaller, cheaper and far more reliable than earlier vacuum tube-based systems.

The Moog synthesizer gained wider attention in the music industry after it was demonstrated at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967. The commercial breakthrough of a Moog recording was made by Wendy Carlos in the 1968 record Switched-On Bach, which became one of the highest-selling classical music recordings of its era.^[3] The success of Switched-On Bach sparked a slew of other synthesizer records in the late 1960s to mid 1970s.

Later Moog modular systems featured various improvements, such as a scaled-down, simplified, self-contained musical instrument designed for use in live performance.

Early history[link]

The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled analog synthesizer systems. Company founder Dr. Robert Arthur Moog had begun manufacturing and selling vacuum-tube theremins in kit form while he was a student in the early 1950s and marketed his first transistorized theremin kits in 1961.^[4] Moog became interested in the design and construction of complex electronic music systems in the mid 1960s and the burgeoning interest in his designs enabled him to establish a small company (R. A. Moog Co., which became Moog Music and later, Moog Electronics) to manufacture and market the new devices.

Pioneering electronic music experimenters like Leon Theremin, Louis and Bebe Barron, Christopher R. Morgan, and Raymond Scott had built sound-generating devices and systems of varying complexity, and several large electronic synthesizers (e.g. the RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer) had been built prior to the advent of the Moog, but these were essentially unique, custom-built devices or systems. Electronic music studios typically had many different oscillators, filters and other devices to generate and manipulate electronic sound. In the case of the electronic score for the 1955 science fiction film Forbidden Planet, the Barrons had to design and build many different circuits to produce particular sounds, and each could only perform a limited range of functions.

Early electronic music performance devices like the Theremin were also relatively limited in function. The classic Theremin, for example, produces only a simple sine wave tone, and the antennae which control the pitch and volume respond to small changes in the proximity of the operator's hands to the device, making it difficult to play accurately.

In the period from 1950 to the mid-1960s, studio musicians and composers were also heavily dependent on magnetic tape to realize their works. The limitations of existing electronic music components meant that in many cases each note or tone had to be recorded separately, with changes in pitch often achieved by speeding up or slowing down the tape, and then splicing or overdubbing the result into the master tape. These tape-recorded electronic works could be extremely laborious and time-consuming to create—according to the 1967 Moog 900 Series demonstration record,^[5] such recordings could have as many as eight edits per inch of tape. The key technological development that led to the creation of the Moog synthesizer was the invention of the transistor, which enabled researchers like Moog to build electronic music systems that were considerably smaller, cheaper and far more reliable than earlier systems, which depended on the older vacuum tube technology.

1st commercially sold Moog synthesizer prototype in 1964, commissioned by the Alwin Nikolais Dance Theater of NY ^[6]

Moog began to develop his synthesizer systems after he met educator and composer Herbert Deutsch at a conference in late 1963. Over the next year, with encouragement from Myron Hoffman of the University of Toronto, Moog and Deutsch developed the first modular voltage-controlled subtractive synthesizer. Through Hoffman, Moog was invited to demonstrate these prototype devices at the Audio Engineering Society convention in October 1964,^[7] where composer Alwin Nikolais saw them and immediately placed an order.

Moog's innovations were set out in his 1964 paper Voltage-Controlled Electronic Music Modules,^[8] presented at the AES conference in October 1964, where he also demonstrated his prototype synthesizer modules. There were two key features in Moog's new system: he analyzed and systematized the production of electronically generated sounds, breaking down the process into a number of basic functional "blocks", which could be carried out by standardized modules. He proposed the use of a standardized scale of voltages for the electrical signals that controlled the various functions of these modules—the Moog oscillators and keyboard, for example, used a standard progression of 1 volt per octave for pitch control.

At a time when digital circuits were still relatively costly and in an early stage of development, voltage control was a practical design choice. In the Moog topology, each voltage-controllable module has one or more inputs that accept a voltage of typically 10 V or less. The magnitude of this voltage controls one or more key parameters of the module's circuits, such as the frequency of an audio (or sub-audio—"low frequency") oscillator, the attenuation or gain of an amplifier, or the cutoff frequency of a wide-frequency-range filter. Thus, frequency determines pitch, attenuation determines instantaneous loudness (as well as silence between notes), and cutoff frequency determines relative timbre.

Voltage control in analog music synthesizers is similar in principle to how voltage is used in electronic analog computers, in which voltage is a scaled analog of a quantity that is part of the computation. For instance, control voltages can be added or subtracted in a circuit almost identical to an adder in such a computer. Inside a synthesizer VCO, an analog exponential function provides the 1 volt per octave control of an oscillator that basically runs on a volts/kHz basis. Positive voltage polarity raises pitch, and negative lowers it. The result is that, for example, a standard keyboard can have its output scaled to that of a quarter-tone keyboard by changing its output to one-half volt per octave, with no other technical changes.

Using this approach, Moog built a range of signal-generating, signal-modifying and controller modules, each of which could be easily inter-connected to control or modify the functions and outputs of any other. The central component was the voltage-controlled oscillator, which generated the primary sound signal, capable of producing a variety of waveforms including sawtooth, square and sine waves. The output from the VCO could then be modified and shaped by feeding the signal into other modules such as voltage-controlled amplifiers, voltage-controlled filters, envelope generators, and ring modulators. Another customization as part of the Moog Modular Synthesizer is the sequencer, which provided a source of timed step control voltages that were programmed to create repetitive note patterns, without using the keyboard.^[9] The inputs and outputs of any module could be cross-linked with patch cords (using tip-sleeve ("mono") ¼-inch plugs) and, together with the module control knobs and switches, could create a nearly infinite variety of sounds and effects.

The final output could be controlled by an organ-style keyboard as the primary user interface, but the notes—individual sounds—could also be triggered and/or modulated by a ribbon controller or by other modules such as white noise generators or low-frequency oscillators. The Moog modular systems were not designed as a performance instrument, but rather a sophisticated, studio-based professional audio system which could be used as a musical instrument for creating and recording electronic music in the studio.^[10]

1CA Chris Swanson Modular System in 1965, is an earliest system for demonstration.^[1]

Moog's first customised modular systems were built during 1965 and demonstrated at a summer workshop at Moog's Trumansburg, New York, factory in August 1965, culminating with an afternoon concert of electronic music and musique concrète on August 28. Although far more compact than previous tube-based systems (e.g. the RCA Mark II) the Moog modular systems were quite large by modern standards, since they predated the introduction of integrated circuit ("microchip") technology; one the biggest of these, the Moog-based "TONTO" system (built by Malcolm Cecil and used by Stevie Wonder in the 1970s) occupies several cubic meters when fully assembled. These early Moogs were also complex to operate—it sometimes took hours to set up the machine for a new sound—and they were prone to pitch instability because the oscillators tended to drift out of tune as the device heated up.^[11] As a result, ownership and use was at first mainly limited to clients such as educational institutions and major recording studios and a handful of adventurous audio professionals.

Ca. 1967, through contacts at the Columbia-Princeton Center, Moog met Wendy (then Walter) Carlos, a recording engineer at New York's studio Gotham Recording and a former student of Vladimir Ussachevsky. Carlos was then building an electronic music system and began ordering Moog modules. Moog credits Carlos with making many suggestions and improvements to his systems. During 1967 Moog introduced its first production model, the 900 series, which was promoted with a free demonstration record composed, realised and produced by Carlos.^[4] After assembling a Moog system and a custom-built 8-track recorder in early 1968, Carlos and collaborator Rachel Elkind (secretary to CBS Records president Goddard Lieberson) began recording pieces by Bach which were entirely realized on the new Moog. When Moog played one of their pieces at the AES convention in 1968 it received a standing ovation.

The use of flexible cords with plugs at their ends and sockets (jacks) to make temporary connections dates back to cord-type manually operated telephone switchboards (if not even earlier, possibly for telegraph circuits). Cords with plugs at both ends had been used for many decades before the advent of Dr. Moog's synthesizers to make temporary connections ("patches") in such places as radio and recording studios. These came to be known as "patch cords", and that term was also used for Moog modular systems. As familiarity developed, a given setup of the synthesizer (both cord connections and knob settings) came to be referred to as a "patch", and the term has persisted, applying to systems that do not use patch cords.

Late 1960s[link]

Max Brand Synthesizer (1968),^[12] also known as "Moogtonium",^[13] is a custom made Moog modular version of Mixtur-Trautonium

The Moog synthesizer began to gain wider attention in the music industry after it was demonstrated at the epochal Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. Electronic music pioneers Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause had bought one of Moog's first synthesizers in 1966 and had spent a fruitless year trying to interest Hollywood studios in its use for movie soundtracks. In June 1967 they set up a booth at the Monterey festival to demonstrate the Moog, and it attracted the interest of several of the major acts who attended, including The Byrds and Simon & Garfunkel.^[14] This quickly built into a steady stream of studio session work in Los Angeles and a recording contract with Warner Brothers.

Some of the first rock recordings to feature the Moog synthesizer included the Diana Ross & the Supremes single, "Reflections" (released July 1967) and prominently throughout albums of the Summer of Love era such as on Strange Days by The Doors (released September 1967)^[15] Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones, Ltd. by The Monkees, Cosmic Sounds by The Zodiac ,^[16] (the latter two both released November 1967), Their Satanic Majesties Request by The Rolling Stones (released December 1967), The Notorious Byrd Brothers by The Byrds (released January 1968), and Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends (released April 1968). Buck Owens made the second purchase of the Moog, his longtime collaborator Jeff Haskell recording Switched On Buck, an album of Owens material recorded entirely on the Moog and released by Capitol Records in 1971. (Carlos purchased the first and Micky Dolenz of the Monkees purchased the third model).

At this early stage the Moog synthesizer was still widely perceived as a novel form of electronic keyboard, not unlike the Mellotron, which had appeared a few years earlier. Most early Moog appearances on popular recordings tended to make limited use of the synthesizer, exploiting the new device for its novel sonic qualities, and it was generally only used to augment or 'color' standard rock arrangements, rather than as an alternative to them—as for example in its use by Simon and Garfunkel on their 1968 LP Bookends and The Beatles' Abbey Road.^[17]

According to the American Physical Society, "The first live performance of a music synthesizer was made by pianist Paul Bley at Lincoln Center in New York City on December 26, 1969. Bley developed a proprietary interface that allowed real-time performance on the music synthesizer." However, according to biographical notes on the Hofstra University website, Herbert Deutsch gave a concert at the New York Town Hall on September 25, 1965 with his New York Improvisation Quartet which included the first live performance with a Moog synthesizer.^[18][19][20] The Moog was also heard on August 28, 1969 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in a performance which included Moog and Deutsch.^[21][22] Keyboardist/composer Keith Emerson is also pointed as the first musician to play live with a Moog in 1968 with his band The Nice accompanied by orchestra.

Commercial breakthrough[link]

Moog 3P (1968) and Sequencer module

The commercial breakthrough was made by New York-based recording engineer, musician and composer Wendy Carlos who, with producer and collaborator Rachel Elkind, was primarily responsible for introducing the Moog synthesizer to the general public and demonstrating its extraordinary musical possibilities. Carlos worked closely with Moog during 1967-68, suggesting many improvements and refinements to his modules, and during 1967 Carlos composed, realized and produced electronic sounds and music for a demonstration record for the Moog company. Carlos purchased a large Moog modular system in 1968 and then constructed a state-of-the-art eight-track multitrack recorder from superseded studio equipment.^[23] Carlos and Elkind then began recording a selection of instrumental compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, realized entirely on the Moog synthesizer, with each piece painstakingly assembled one part at a time on the multitrack tape.

The resulting album was released by CBS Records in late 1968 under the title Switched-On Bach. It quickly captured the public imagination, becoming one of the highest-selling classical music recordings ever released up to that time and earning Carlos three Grammy awards.^[3] The success of Switched-On Bach led to 3 more successful albums of electronically realized Baroque music by Carlos, as well as the acclaimed electronic soundtrack music for the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, which featured original music by Carlos along with several Moog versions of classical pieces by Beethoven and Rossini. Still in 1968 Keith Emerson purchased the second Moog modular system in the UK after hearing Switched-On Bach. Having problems with its assembly and tuning, he met and collaborated with Dr. Moog so helping to develop even more stable oscillators and many new features for live and studio performance. This led the way to full commercial production of many types of synthesizers on the next decade and brought new rival manufacturers to the market.

In July, 1969 Dick Hyman's recording of his jazz composition "The Minotaur" became the first Moog-based Billboard Top 40 hit single.^[24] Other early modular Moog users were Bread on 'London Bridge' released in 1969, Leon Russell on "Stranger In A Strange Land" (programmed by Terry Manning), recorded in 1970, and Terry Manning's Home Sweet Home, (programmed by Dr. Robert Moog himself) recorded in 1968, but released in 1970. The Beatles have also experimented with the use of the Moog synthesizer during the recording of their album, Abbey Road, used prominently in the songs "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "Because", "Here Comes the Sun", and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".

The success of Switched-On Bach sparked a slew of other synthesizer records in the late '60s–mid '70s. Most of these albums featured cover versions of songs arranged for Moog synthesizer in the most dramatic and flamboyant way possible, covering rock, country and other genres of music. The albums often had "Moog" in their titles (i.e. Country Moog Classics, Martin Denny's Exotic Moog, Gershon Kingsley's Music To Moog By etc.) although many used a variety of other brands of synthesizers and even organs as well. The kitsch appeal of these albums continue to have a small fanbase and the 1990s band The Moog Cookbook is a tribute to this style of music. Indeed, considering it was the first practical and widely used analog synthesizer, many people came to use "moog" to refer to music synthesizers.

1970s[link]

Moog Modular 55 (1974)

One of the most important and successful uses of the Moog in popular music in the early-to-mid 1970s was the extended collaboration between Stevie Wonder and electronic musicians Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff on the series of albums Wonder released during this period. These recordings made extensive use of the duo's large synthesiser system, which they dubbed TONTO (an acronym for "The Original New Timbral Orchestra"), reputedly the world's first and largest multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer. Designed and constructed by Cecil, it was based on Moog Series III components, together with additional modules made by other manufacturers including ARP.

A riff played on a Moog synthesizer has been used as the background for the WGBH Boston logo since 1972.

The duo's 1971 album Zero Time – released under the pseudonym "Tonto's Expanding Head Band" – gained critical acclaim and attracted the attention of many musicians including Wonder. He first worked with Cecil, Margouleff and TONTO on his 1972 album Music of My Mind and the collaboration continued and expanded over his subsequent albums, Talking Book (1972), which won several Grammy awards, Innervisions (1973), which won the 'Album of the Year' Grammy, Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974) and Songs In The Key Of Life (1976).

A more portable version was created and the "Minimoog" was played by a number of musicians, most notably by Jan Hammer in the Mahavishnu Orchestra beginning in 1971. The Minimoog proved versatile enough to allow Hammer to solo with equal musicality/facility to that of his colleagues John McLaughlin on guitar and Jerry Goodman on violin. Avant garde jazz musician Sun Ra often used the Moog as his instrument of choice to achieve his unique sound. A custom Moog Modular System was also featured prominently on Emerson, Lake & Palmer's song "Lucky Man", Keith Emerson's Moog solo at the end. Another famous use of the Moog was in Tangerine Dream's electronic landmark album Phaedra in 1974, which was a major hit in the UK—it reached #15 on the British album charts and playing a significant role in establishing the fledgling independent label Virgin Records.

Perhaps the most commercially successful, pop-industry recording primarily featuring the Moog was of Popcorn (instrumental) performed by Hot Butter and released in 1972, which made #1 in Australia and in a series of European countries, and made the Top 10 in both the UK #5 and in US #9.

In 1974 the German electronic group Kraftwerk used several types of synthesizer including a Minimoog in their album Autobahn. A single featuring an edited version of the title track became an international hit in early 1975, reaching #25 in the USA and #11 in the UK. Gary Wright was one of the first musicians to perfect the Moog sound on his album The Dream Weaver.

German-based Italian producer-composer Giorgio Moroder helped to shape the development of disco music by incorporating the Moog synthesizer in the 1975 Donna Summer hit "Love to Love You Baby". The use of the synthesizer created the sensual feel that is characteristic of disco and paved the way for Donna Summer's landmark hit "I Feel Love" in 1977. The Moog bassline in this song, combined with the syn-drum created the hi-NRG category of disco music.^[25]

In 1976, the Gordon Lightfoot standard The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald would feature a Moog unit that appears on the verse that included the line ... "and later that night when its lights went out of sight, came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

On the 1977 Beach Boys album Love You, Brian Wilson, who composed almost every song on the album, used the Moog on a great number of tracks.

In the late 70s and early 80s, Tejano music groups such as Mazz began using Moogs which would later be used as part of what is called modern Tejano.

Bernard Herrmann also used two Moog synthesizers in his chilling score for Brian de Palma's Sisters (1973 film).

Contemporary composer Christopher R. Morgan used nearly two dozen Moog synthesizers for his second album, "The Quad: C."

Product development[link]

An early Minimoog Model D (1970) by R. A. Moog

Minimoog Model D (produced from 1970 to 1981)^[4]

Later Moog modular systems featured improvements to the electronics design, and in the early 1970s Moog introduced new models featuring scaled-down, simplified designs that made them much more stable and well suited to real-time musical performance. In 1970 Moog (R. A. Moog Inc. at that time) began production of the Minimoog Model D,^[4] a small, monophonic three-oscillator keyboard synthesizer which—alongside the British-made EMS VCS 3 — was one of the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable synthesizers. Unlike the early modular systems, the Minimoog was specifically created as a self-contained musical instrument designed for use in live performance by keyboard players. Although its sonic capabilities were drastically reduced from the large modular systems, the Minimoog combined a user-friendly physical design, pitch stability, portability and the ability to create wide range of sounds and effects.

An extremely important Minimoog innovation was the introduction of its now-famous wheel controllers, with which the musician could easily bend pitch and add modulation effects in real time. The two wheels are mounted to the left of the keyboard, next to the lowest key. The function of the Pitch wheel was assigned solely to control oscillator pitch (either sharp or flat from a default, detented, non spring-loaded center position), whereas its neighboring Mod (Modulation) wheel was assignable to control a mixable amount of oscillator 3 and/or Noise routed to the three oscillators and/or the VCF cutoff frequency. In particular, the intuitive function and feel of the Pitch wheel allowed Minimoog users to create similar expressive pitch-bending effects that musicians such as guitarists achieve by physically 'bending' strings and using "whammy" bars.

Although many other types of left hand controllers have been used by various synthesizer manufacturers over the years - including levers, joysticks, ribbon controllers and buttons - the Pitch and Mod wheels introduced on the Minimoog have become de facto standard 'left-hand controllers' and have since been used by almost every major synthesizer manufacturer, including Korg, Yamaha, Kawai and (now defunct) Sequential Circuits on their ground-breaking Prophet-5 programmable polyphonic synthesizer (1977). A notable exception is the Japanese manufacturer Roland, who have never included Pitch and Modulation wheels on any synthesizer they have produced, opting instead to include alternative controllers of their own design.

The Minimoog was the first product to really solidify the synthesizer's popular image as a "keyboard" instrument and the most monophonic synthesizer sold approximately 13,180 units between 1970 and 1981,^[4] and it was quickly taken up by leading rock and electronic music groups such as the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Tangerine Dream and Gary Numan. Although the popularity of analog synthesis faded in the 1980s with the advent of affordable digital synthesizers and sampling keyboards, the Minimoog remained a sought-after instrument for producers and recording artists, and it continued to be used extensively on electronic, techno, dance and disco recordings into the 1980s due to its distinctive tonal qualities, particularly that of its patented Moog "ladder" filter.

The rarest Moog production model was the little Minitmoog (1975–76), a direct descendant of the rather obscure Moog Satellite preset synthesizer. It is rumored that only a few hundred Minitmoogs were made, although firm numbers are unavailable. While it lacked programmability and memory storage, the Minitmoog did offer some forward features, such as keyboard aftertouch and a sync-sweep feature, thanks to its dual voltage controlled oscillators.

Moog Taurus (1976)

Moog Taurus 3 (2010)

The Taurus bass pedal synthesizer was released in 1975. Its 13-note pedalboard was similar in design to small spinet organ pedals and triggered bold, penetrating synthesized bass sounds. The Taurus was known for an especially "fat" bass timbre and was used by Genesis, Rush, Electric Light Orchestra, Yes, Pink Floyd, Parliament-Funkadelic, Paul Davis, and many others. Production of the original was discontinued in 1981, when it was replaced by the Taurus II. In November 2009, Moog Music introduced the limited production Moog Taurus 3 pedal synthesizer, which, the company reports, exactly duplicates the original Taurus I timbre and presets, while adding modern features such as velocity sensitivity, greatly expanded memory for user presets, a backlit LC display, and MIDI and USB interfacing. Still, the original Taurus I units are highly sought after and typically command a high resale value on the used market.

Moog Music was the first company to commercially release a keytar, the Moog Liberation. The last Moog synthesizer released by the original Moog Music, the programmable polyphonic Memorymoog (and subsequent Memorymoog Plus), was manufactured from 1983–85, just before the company declared bankruptcy in 1986.

Minimoog Voyager (2002)

Little Phatty (2006)

Moog Guitar (2008)

MP-201 Multi-Pedal

Moogerfooger (1998–)

By the mid-1990s, analog synthesizers were again highly sought after and prized for their classic sound. In 2001, Robert Moog's company Big Briar was able to acquire the rights to the Moog name and officially became Moog Music. Moog Music has been producing the Minimoog Voyager modeled after the original Minimoog since 2002. As of 2006, more than 15 companies are making Moog-style synthesizer modules.

In March 2006, Moog Music unveiled the Little Phatty Analog Synthesizer, boasting "hand-built quality and that unmatched Moog sound, at a price every musician can afford". The first limited edition run of 1200 were a Bob Moog Tribute Edition with a Performer edition announced subsequently. In 2011, a number of Moog products can still be purchased, such as Moogerfoogers, Taurus 3 bass pedals and Minimoog Voyagers.

List of models[link]

• Moog modular synthesizer (1963–80)
• Minimoog (1970–81) ^[4]
• Moog Satellite (1974–79)
• Moog Sonic 6 (1974–79)
• Minitmoog (1975–76)
• Micromoog (1975–79)
• Polymoog (1975–80)
• Moog Taurus (bass pedals) (1976–83)
• Multimoog (1978–81)
• Moog Prodigy (1979–84)
• Moog Liberation (1980)
• Moog Opus-3 (1980)
• Moog Concertmate MG-1 (1981)
• Moog Rogue (1981)
• Moog Source (1981)
• Memorymoog (1982–85)
• Moogerfooger (1998–present)
• Minimoog Voyager (2002–present)
• Moog Little Phatty (2006–present)
• Minimoog Voyager (2008–09)
• Slim Phatty (2010)
• Taurus 3 bass pedal (2011)
• Minitaur (2011)

Legacy[link]

On 23 May 2012, a replica of the Moog synthesizer was featured as a Google Doodle honoring Dr. Robert Moog's 78th birthday.^[26]

See also[link]

• List of Moog synthesizer players

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Trevor Pinch, Frank Trocco, Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer. Harvard University Press, 2004, 368pp. ISBN 0-674-01617-3.

External links[link]

• Using the Moog synthesizer
• The Bob Moog Foundation
• Waves of Inspiration: The Legacy of Moog—an exhibit at the Museum of Making Music, National Association of Music Merchants, Carlsbad, California, in collaboration with the Bob Moog Foundation
• Robert Moog discography at Discogs
• Robert Moog Synthesizer

Hans Jorgen Fjellestad (born 2 May, 1968) is a musician and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Fjellestad co-founded the Trummerflora Collective, and has worked as a curator/producer for the international art initiative, inSite 05. A classically trained pianist, he studied music composition and improvisation at University of California, San Diego. Fjellestad has composed for film, video, theater, dance and has toured with his music and film work throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, Mexico and Brazil.

Film career[link]

He is best known as the director of Moog (2004), the feature-length documentary on synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog. He is also credited as producer, writer and editor. Fjellestad's previous film Frontier Life (2002) is a documentary feature that explores the world of Tijuana, Mexico, with a focus on the vibrant electronic music scene thriving there. Fjellestad began working on film, television and multimedia projects in the mid-1990s. He directed/edited music videos and enhanced cd content for the likes of Soundgarden, John Lydon, the Monkees and Terence Trent D'Arby. In 2000, partnering with producer Ryan Page, he started the Los Angeles-based independent film production firm ZU33, which develops music-oriented film projects.

Music career[link]

As a musician, Fjellestad has an extensive discography both as a solo artist and in collaboration with many musicians in the international experimental music scene including Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis, Peter Kowald, Lé Quan Ninh, Lisle Ellis, Haco, Miya Masaoka, Money Mark, Trummerflora Collective, Thomas Dimuzio, Tetsu Saitoh, David Slusser, Baiyon, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Jakob Riis, P.O. Jørgens, Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen, Mike Keneally, Nortec Collective, among many others. His music is available on Hollywood Records, Accretions Records, Circumvention Music, Brain Escape Sandwich, Barely Auditable Records, Pan Handler and Vinyl Communications.

Fjellestad usually records and performs under his own name, but has sporadically employed his alter-ego 33, as with recent performances at The Roxy in Prague and Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco. His track "Abominatron" on the Moog original film soundtrack (on Hollywood Records) is credited as 33. Strangely, 33 is also the title of Fjellestad's 2003 solo cd (on Accretions Records), making the artist's intentions behind the moniker somewhat unclear.

Fjellestad began playing the piano in 1973, at age 5. He first encountered the synthesizer (a Minimoog model D) three years later and has been fascinated by both instruments ever since. His music is often characterized as experimental, avant-garde, free jazz or outside electronica.

Kobe Live House (on Accretions Records) was released in February 2006 and is a prime example of how the keyboardist approaches his unconventional mix of acoustic and electronic sounds. Recorded live on October 17, 2003, at Big Apple (a jazz club in Chūō-ku, Kobe, Japan) the concert was part of the club's 14th Anniversary Special Concert Series. Both sets are unedited and appear as they did the night of the show in Kobe, performed with a grand piano, Nord Lead 3 synthesizer and a custom software instrument programmed in MaxMSP. More recently his music projects in the studio and on the stage are produced almost entirely on analog electronic instruments (mainly Moog).

References[link]

External links[link]

• Hans Fjellestad official website.
• ZU33.
• Accretions Records.
• Moog film official website.
• Trummerflora Collective.
• inSite 05.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2010)

Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson performing in St. Petersburg, September 2008
Background information
Birth name	Keith Noel Emerson
Born	(1944-11-02) 2 November 1944 (age 67) Todmorden, England
Genres	Progressive rock, Classic rock, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, European Classical music
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Keyboards, piano, Synthesiser, Organ
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Edel Records Victor Entertainment Shout! Factory Varèse Sarabande Rhino Entertainment Manticore Records J!MCO Records Sanctuary Records EMI Marquee Inc. Charly Records Gunslinger Records Cinevox Records
Associated acts	Gary Farr & The T-Bones, The V.I.P.'s, P.P. Arnold, The Nice, Free Creek, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Emerson, Lake & Powell, 3, Keith Emerson Band
Website	Official website

Keith Noel Emerson (born 2 November 1944, Todmorden, West Yorkshire) is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, The V.I.P.'s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice (which evolved from P.P. Arnold's band), he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early supergroups, in 1970. Following the breakup of ELP, circa 1979, Emerson had modest success with Emerson, Lake & Powell in the 1980s as well as with 3, with the album To the Power of Three. ELP reunited during the early 1990s, releasing the album Black Moon. Emerson also reunited The Nice in 2002 for a tour. His latest album, Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla, was released in 2008.

Along with contemporaries Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, Tony Banks of Genesis, and Rick Wakeman of Yes, Emerson is widely regarded as one of the top keyboard players of the progressive rock era.^[1][2][3][4] Allmusic refers to Emerson as "perhaps the greatest, most technically accomplished keyboardist in rock history".^[5]

Biography[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (September 2007)

Emerson performing in concert with ELP in 1977

Emerson grew up in the seaside resort of Worthing, West Sussex, England. As a child, he learned western classical music, from which he derived a lot of inspiration to create his own style, combining classical music, jazz, and rock themes. Emerson became intrigued with the Hammond organ after hearing jazz organist Jack McDuff perform "Rock Candy" and it subsequently became his instrument of choice for performing in the late 1960s. This blending of elements is illustrated in his participation in the 1969 Music From Free Creek "supersession" project, where Emerson performs with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Chuck Rainey covering, among other tracks, the Eddie Harris instrumental "Freedom Jazz Dance".

Emerson acquired his first Hammond organ when he was 15 or 16, an L-100, on "hire purchase," also known as rent-to-own.^[6]

The flamboyance that Emerson came to be known for began by chance when a fight broke out during a V.I.P.s performance in France. The band told him to keep playing so he made some explosion and machine gun sounds with his Hammond organ, which stopped the fight; everyone looked on with amazement. The other band members told him to do it at the next concert, which he did with success.^[7]

Emerson first heard the Moog when a record shop owner played Switched-On Bach for him. Emerson said: "My God that's incredible, what is that played on?" The owner then showed him the album cover. So I said, "What is that?" And he said, "That's the Moog synthesizer." My first impression was that it looked a bit like electronic skiffle."^[7]

Without one of his own, Emerson borrowed Mike Vickers' Moog for an upcoming Nice concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London with the Royal Philharmonic. Mike helped patch the Moog and the concert was a great success. Emerson's performance of Also sprach Zarathustra from the recently released 2001: A Space Odyssey was a show stopper. Emerson: "I thought this was great. I've got to have one of these."^[7]

With ELP's record deal with Atlantic came funds to buy the Moog. Keith: "It cost a lot of money and it arrived and I excitedly got it out of the box stuck it on the table and thought, 'Wow That's Great! a Moog synthesizer [pause] How do you switch it on?...There were all these leads and stuff, there was no instruction manual." Mike Vickers came through by patching it to produce six sounds and those six sounds became the foundation of ELP's sound.^[7]

In 1969, Emerson incorporated the Moog modular synthesizer into his battery of keyboards. While other artists such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones had used the Moog in studio recordings, Emerson was the first artist to tour with one. Emerson's use of the Moog was so important to the development of new models that he was given prototypes, such as the Constellation he took on one tour^[7] and the Apollo, which had its debut on the opening track of Brain Salad Surgery, "Jerusalem."

The Moog was a temperamental device; the oscillators went out of tune with temperature change. Emerson: "I had my faithful roady Rocky tune the instrument to A 440 just prior to the audience coming in, but once the audience came into the auditorium and the temperature rose up then everything went out of tune."^[7]

Emerson with the Moog.

His willingness to experiment with the Moog led to unexpected results, such as the time he stumbled into the signature sound for Hoedown, one of ELP's most popular tunes. Emerson: "We'd started working on that arrangement and then I hit, I don't know what, I switched a blue button and I put a patch cord in there, but anyway 'whoooeee.'"^[7]

The so-called "Monster Moog," built from numerous modules, weighed in at a whopping 550 pounds, stood 10 feet tall and took 4 roadies to move. Even with its unpredictability, it became an indispensable component of not only ELP's concerts but also Emerson's.^[8]

He is known for his technical skill and for his live antics, including using knives to wedge down specific keys of his Hammond organ during solos, playing the organ upside down while having it lie over him and backwards while standing behind it, and has cited guitarist Jimi Hendrix and English organist Don Shinn as his chief theatrical influences. He also employed a special rig to rotate his piano end-over-end while he was playing it, though this of course is purely for visual effect, as a piano cannot operate as an instrument while upside down.

Emerson has performed several notable rock arrangements of classical compositions, ranging from J. S. Bach via Modest Mussorgsky to 20th century composers such as Béla Bartók, Aaron Copland, Leoš Janáček and Alberto Ginastera. Occasionally Emerson has quoted from classical and jazz works without giving credit, particularly early in his career, from the late 1960s until 1972. The song "Rondo" by The Nice is a 4/4 interpretation of "Blue Rondo à la Turk" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, originally in 9/8 time signature. The piece is introduced by an extensive quote from Bach's Italian Concerto, third movement. In fact, considering the Bach and Emerson's own improvisations, the Brubeck contribution is merely the anchoring theme.

On ELP's eponymous first album, Emerson's classical quotes went largely uncredited. "The Barbarian" is heavily influenced by "Allegro barbaro" by Bartók, and "Knife Edge" was virtually a note-for-note restatement of "Sinfonietta" by Janáček. Note-for-note extracts were taken from pieces by Bartók, Janáček and Bach, mixed in with some original material, and credited completely to Emerson, Lake, Palmer and roadie Richard Fraser. By 1971, with the releases Pictures at an Exhibition and Trilogy, Emerson began to fully credit classical composers, Modest Mussorgsky for the piano piece which inspired the first album, and Aaron Copland for "Hoedown" on the second. Emerson was adamant that he did not use Maurice Ravel's orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition in developing his own version.

Emerson, photographed in the mid-1980s.

Emerson provided music for a number of films since 1980, including Dario Argento's Inferno and World of Horror, the 1981 thriller Nighthawks and, more recently, Godzilla: Final Wars. He was also the composer for the short-lived 1994 animated television series Iron Man.

In 1990 Emerson toured with The Best, a short-lived supergroup which also included John Entwistle, Joe Walsh, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and Simon Phillips.

In 2002 Emerson re-formed and toured with The Nice, though performing a longer set of ELP music using a backing band including guitarist/vocalist Dave Kilminster.

In 2004, Emerson published his autobiography entitled Pictures of an Exhibitionist, which dealt with his entire career, particularly focusing on his early days with The Nice, and his nearly career-ending nerve-graft surgery in 1993. Emerson was the headliner of both the first and third Moogfest, a festival held in honour of Robert Moog at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City in 2004 and 2006 respectively.^[9][10]

Emerson opened the Led Zeppelin reunion/Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert at the O2 Arena in London on 10 December 2007, along with Chris Squire and Alan White (Yes) and Simon Kirke (Bad Company/Free). The supergroup played the new arrangement of "Fanfare for the Common Man".

The album Keith Emerson Band Featuring Marc Bonilla was released in August 2008. He toured with his own band in Russia, the Baltic States and Japan between August and October 2008. The tour band members were Marc Bonilla, Travis Davis and Tony Pia. On 30 June 2009, Emerson appeared as a guest during Spinal Tap's 'One Night Only World Tour' at Wembley Arena, during the songs "Short And Sweet" and "Heavy Duty".

In March 2010, Emerson received a Frankfurt Music Prize from the city of Frankfurt. In the same month, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra made a premier performance of "Tarkus" arranged by a renowned Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu.

Keith Emerson & Monster Moog synthesizer, May 2010

Emerson toured with Greg Lake in the US and Canada during spring of 2010, doing a series of "An Intimate Evening with Emerson and Lake" duo shows in which they performed newly arranged versions of the music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Nice, and King Crimson as well as Emerson's new original composition.

On 25 July 2010, a one-off Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunion concert closed the High Voltage Festival as the main act in Victoria Park, East London to commemorate the band's 40th anniversary.

In September 2010, Emerson released a message stating "During a routine medical examination, a colonoscopy revealed a rather dangerous polyp in my lower colon. It is of the conclusion of the doctors here in London that I must undergo surgery immediately. Unfortunately, the timing of this urgent surgery does not allow me to start touring in early October because of the required period of hospitalization and recuperation. I must remain optimistic that all will turn out well".

In September 2011, Emerson began working with the renowned conductor Terje Mikkelsen, along with the Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla and The Munich Radio Orchestra on new orchestral renditions of ELP classics and their new compositions. In recent years, several notable classic music composers, conductors and musicians have been performing various orchestral versions of Emerson’s compositions, such as “Tarkus” and “Piano Concerto No.1”, around the world. As of 2011, the documentary film about Emerson is in production. He occasionally sits in with jazz orchestras performing new arrangements of ELP pieces as well as standard jazz pieces.

Instrumentation and playing style[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (February 2011)

On stage Emerson started out on Hammond organ, with a grand piano toward the back of the stage. By the end of his time with The Nice, the standard arrangement was two Hammond organs, a C-3 (only cosmetically different than a B-3) and an L-100, placed facing each other with the C-3 to the left from the audience point of view. The L-100 took plenty of abuse during the stage act and was usually reinforced, to the point where it weighed so much that, on at least one occasion, Emerson became trapped beneath it and had to be rescued by a roadie. At any given time Emerson is said to have owned several L-100 models, in various stages of repair, to support his act. The C-3, in contrast, seems to have lasted for years.

Although the Hammond L-100 with its shorter manuals is considered a "poor man's" Hammond, Emerson not only played much of the early Nice music on his L-100, but also made good use of some of its unique features which his bigger Hammond C-3 does not provide. The L-100 has a self-starting motor, which - if turned off and on in short intervals - renders the whole organ into a wailing howl while the note generator, which is tied to a synchronous motor, tries to recover to pitch. The L-100 also features a spring-loaded reverb tank, which produces bomb-like noises if shaken. Both effects can be heard in abundance on "Rondo 69". On "Ars Longa Vita Brevis" Emerson even uses the reverb tank as a musical instrument, tapping the internal spring against the tank bottom in an effort to create a chromatic scale of "boings".

With ELP, Emerson added the Moog synthesiser behind the C-3 with the keyboard and ribbon controller stacked on the top of the organ. The ribbon controller allowed Emerson to vary pitch, volume or timbre of the output from the Moog by moving his finger up and down the length of a touch-sensitive strip. It also could be used as a phallic symbol, which quickly became a feature of the act. When the Minimoog entered the act it was placed where needed, such as on top of the grand piano. The same location was also used for an electric Clavinet keyboard, used almost exclusively for the encore piece "Nut Rocker".

During the Brain Salad Surgery tour of 1974 (one show of which was documented on the 3-LP set, Welcome Back My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends), Emerson's keyboard setup included the Hammond C-3 organ, run through multiple Leslie speakers driven by HiWatt guitar amplifiers, the Moog 3C modular synthesiser (modified by addition of various modules and an oscilloscope) with ribbon controller, a Steinway concert grand piano with a Moog Minimoog synthesiser on top of it (used for the steel drum part on Karn Evil 9, 2nd Impression), an upright acoustic-electric piano that was used for honky-tonk piano sounds, a Hohner Clavinet and another Moog Minimoog synthesiser. Emerson also used a prototype polyphonic synthesiser produced by Moog, which was the test bed for the Moog Polymoog polyphonic synthesiser. The original synthesiser setup as envisioned by Moog was called the Constellation, and consisted of three instruments - the polyphonic synthesiser, called the Apollo, a monophonic lead synthesizer called the Lyra, and a bass-pedal synthesiser, called the Taurus. Moog eventually produced the Moog Taurus bass pedal synthesiser as a separate instrument, as well as the Polymoog Synthesiser and Polymoog Keyboard. The Apollo polyphonic synthesiser is currently at a keyboard museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Emerson still owns the Lyra synthesiser.

Occasionally Emerson used a pipe organ, when available. In particular, at the Newcastle City Hall he used the Harrison & Harrison pipe organ for the introductory section of Pictures at an Exhibition. The organ is located at the rear above the stage, at the top of a series of steps where choirs can stand. The end of the introductory passage is followed by a drum roll, covering the time while Emerson descended the steps. While all went well for the recording used to produce the album, the debut tour performance at the same venue ground to a halt as the power failed, just as Emerson arrived at the Hammond organ to open the next part of the piece. After a lengthy delay the performance continued with only the Hammond L-100 functioning.

Emerson also used the organ at the Royal Festival Hall for "The Three Fates" from the eponymous debut album by the group. He also used another pipe organ for "The Only Way (Hymn)" from Tarkus. It is not known if he used it in a live context outside of the aforementioned Pictures.

Amplifiers and speakers behind Emerson became more elaborate, including a Leslie unit. There was also a board attached to the front of the stack, intended as a target for his knife throwing. He was given his trademark knife, an authentic Nazi dagger, by Lemmy, who was a roadie for The Nice in his earlier days.^[11] During the Brain Salad Surgery tour, at the end of the show, a sequencer in the Moog Modular synthesiser was set running at an increasing rate, with the Moog Synthesiser pivoting to face the audience while a large pair of silver bat wings was deployed at the back of the synthesiser.

As the technology of electronic keyboard instruments became more sophisticated, Emerson was quick to adopt new instruments, such as the Yamaha GX1 polyphonic synthesiser, one of which can be seen on the video promoting "Fanfare for the Common Man". Emerson was reported to have spent $50,000 to buy the Yamaha GX-1 synthesiser at the time of the Works Volume 1 album. Emerson later bought a 2nd GX-1 from John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, to use to repair his GX-1, which was damaged by a tractor crash into Emerson's home studio. At the time that Emerson left England in the early 1990s to move to Santa Monica, California, he sold the majority of his keyboard equipment, though not the modular Moog. The original Yamaha GX-1 was bought by Hans Zimmer of movie soundtrack fame, while the John Paul Jones GX-1 was bought by a collector in Italy.

In 1978, Emerson became the official endorser of the world's first fully polyphonic synthesisers, the Korg PS-3300 and PS-3100. He started recording with them around this time too and the Korg PS-3300 was heavily used on the ELP album Love Beach. He carried on using it into the 1980s, the instrument dominating the 1981 film soundtrack for Nighthawks which starred Sylvester Stallone.

On the grand piano, Emerson refused to limit his technique. He would sometimes reach into the interior and hit, pluck or strum the strings with his hand. The introduction to "Take a Pebble" included chords and arpeggios played by pressing down on keys, to raise the dampers from the strings, and playing the strings inside the piano as one might play the autoharp. In the live performance of "Hang On to A Dream" with the Nice, recorded for the post-breakup album Elegy, he performed a cadenza of sorts hitting the piano strings with a small hammer, followed by a lengthy wind-down, returning to the song in which he alternated keyboard arpeggios with blows directly on the bass strings. The standard finale to the song has him reaching into the piano with fingers spread on both hands to pluck the final chord, presumably depressing the sustain pedal at the same time to lift all the string dampers. This can be clearly seen on a performance filmed for the television programme, Beat Club.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• Inferno - soundtrack (1980)
• Nighthawks - soundtrack (1981)
• Honky (1982)
• Best Revenge - soundtrack (1985)
• Murder Rock - soundtrack (1986)
• The Emerson Collection (1986)
• Harmageddon/China Free Fall (1987)
• The Christmas Album (1988)
• Changing States (aka Cream of Emerson Soup) (1995)
• Emerson Plays Emerson (2002)
• La Chiesa - soundtrack (2002)
• Godzilla: Final Wars - soundtrack (2004)
• At the Movies (2005)
• Hammer It Out (anthology) (2005)
• Off the Shelf (2006)
• Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla (2008)
• "Moscow" - live album CD & DVD (2010)

As part of a group[link]

For Emerson's work with The Nice, see The Nice Discography. For Emerson's work with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, see Emerson, Lake & Palmer discography. For Emerson's work with Emerson, Lake & Powell, see Emerson, Lake & Powell Discography. For Emerson's work with 3, see 3 Discography.

Emerson also appeared with the short-lived group Aliens of Extraordinary Ability with Stuart Smith, Richie Onori, Marvin Sperling and Robbie Wykoff.^[12]

Partial list of pieces based on other composers' works[link]

Note that lack of credit does not imply plagiarism. It is certain that, where required, royalties were paid to composers or their estates. Permission to use pieces was sometimes denied by the composer's family or estate, as for instance with Gustav Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War. Aaron Copland was said to be somewhat puzzled by Emerson's take on Fanfare For the Common Man, but approved its use. Alberto Ginastera, on the other hand, was thrilled by Emerson's electronic realization of his first piano concerto, the fourth movement of which appeared on their album Brain Salad Surgery under the title "Toccata," and declared that he wished he could have done it in that fashion.

With the Nice[link]

• "America, 2nd Amendment", from West Side Story's "America", by Leonard Bernstein, credited, quoting Antonín Dvořák's symphony No. 9, From the New World, uncredited.
• "Rondo", derived from Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo à la Turk", uncredited, quoting Bach, Italian Concerto third movement, uncredited.
• "Diary of an Empty Day", from Symphonie Espagnole by Édouard Lalo, credited.
• "Azrael Revisited", quoting Sergei Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor, credited, and Lennie Tristano's Turkish Mambo, uncredited.
• "Ars Longa Vita Brevis" - Bach, the third Brandenburg Concerto, Allegro, credited.
• "Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite" - Sibelius, credited.
• "Pathetique", Symphony No. 6 by Tchaikovsky, credited.
• "Hang on to a Dream", from "How Can We Hang On To A Dream?" by Tim Hardin, credited, quoting (during a live recording) "Summertime", from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, uncredited.
• "She Belongs to Me", by Bob Dylan, credited, quoting Bach, uncredited, and fragments of the theme from The Magnificent Seven, by Elmer Bernstein, uncredited.
• "Country Pie", by Bob Dylan, credited, lyrics partly set to Bach, the sixth Brandenburg Concerto, credited.

With ELP[link]

• "The Barbarian", based on Allegro barbaro, Sz. 49, BB 63 by Béla Bartók, uncredited on US release of Emerson Lake & Palmer (credited on the British Manticore re-pressing of the original LP, on the back cover of the LP jacket).
• "Knife Edge", based on Sinfonietta by Leoš Janáček, uncredited on US release (credited on the British Manticore re-pressing of the original LP, on the back cover of the LP jacket); middle section based on French Suites by J.S. Bach, uncredited.
• "The Only Way (Hymn)", incorporating (in the song's introduction and bridge) J.S. Bach's Toccata in F and Prelude VI, credited on Tarkus.
• "Are You Ready Eddy?", based on the tune of Bobby Troup's song "The Girl Can't Help It" and including a quote from the Assembly bugle call, both uncredited (on Tarkus).
• Pictures at an Exhibition, by Modest Mussorgsky, credited.
• "Blues Variation" from Pictures at an Exhibition also contains an uncredited quote of the 'head' of Bill Evans' minor blues piece "Interplay", during Keith Emerson's Hammond Organ solo.
• "Nutrocker", adapted by Kim Fowley (credited) from Tchaikovsky's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" (uncredited).
• "Hoedown", from Rodeo by Aaron Copland, credited, quoting "Shortenin' Bread" and "Turkey in the Straw"", both traditional.
• "Abaddon's Bolero", quoting "The Girl I Left Behind", traditional.
• "Jerusalem", by C. Hubert H. Parry, credited.
• "Toccata", from a piano concerto by Alberto Ginastera, endorsed by the composer, credited.
• "Karn Evil 9, 2nd Impression", quoting "St. Thomas", a Caribbean melody sometimes attributed to Sonny Rollins, uncredited.
• "Fanfare for the Common Man", by Aaron Copland, credited.
• Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff, quoted in an extended solo in live recordings from Poland.
• With Emerson, Lake & Powell, the main theme to "Touch & Go" is identical to the English folk song "Lovely Joan", better known as the counterpoint tune in Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves Not credited.^[13]
• "Romeo & Juliet" from Romeo and Juliet suite by Sergei Prokofiev, credited.
• "Love at First Sight" intro, 12 Etudes Op.10 (a son ami Franz Liszst) - No.1 in C major, allegro, by Frederic Chopin, uncredited.

With Billy Sherwood[link]

• "In The Flesh" (and Steve Porcaro + Vinnie Colaiuta, on Back Against The Wall) (2005)
• "Black Dog" (and Alan White, on Led box The ultimate Led Zeppelin tribute) (2008)

Contemporary usage[link]

The surreal comedy series, Big Train, featured Emerson portrayed by Kevin Eldon, as a Roman slave fighting his enemies with progressive rock.^[14]

See also[link]

• List of Hammond organ players
• List of Moog synthesizer players

References[link]

• Forrester, George, Martyn Hanson and Frank Askew. Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Show That Never Ends, A Musical Biography. (2001) Helter Skelter Publishing ISBN 1-900924-17-X.
• Keith Emerson, Pictures of an Exhibitionist. (2004) ISBN 1-84454-053-7

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keith Emerson

• Official website
• Keith Emerson at Allmusic
• Keith Emerson at the Internet Movie Database
• Official ELP website