Herbert Deutsch
Co-Inventor of Moog Synthesizer, Musician, Educator
In this interview, Herbert Deutsch recounts his life in music—including the genesis and collaborative process behind creating the first Moog synthesizer with Bob Moog. These two pioneers of synthesis worked together to create a portable electronic instrument with endless sound potential, thanks to the power of “voltage control.” The Moog prototype is an essential part of music history; its sound has continued to impact popular and experimental music alike since the 1960s. Today, Moog Music, Inc. continues to revolutionize synthesis—while paying homage to the root notes of its past.
So went downstairs, and downstairs, in the cellar of this little shop, there was a table and two tape recorders and the little keyboard and his basic amplifier—his basic oscillators. And he said, "Okay, where do we go from here?"Herbert Deutsch on Bob Moog’s workshop
About the Innovator
Herbert Deutsch is a pioneer of synthesized music. As a long-time composer, music educator, and author, he has taught at Hofstra University since 1961. In 1964, Deutsch composed Jazz Images, a Worksong and Blues—the first piece of Moog synthesizer music, created on the prototype in The Henry Ford’s collections. He was also the first musician to use a Moog in a public performance, using the instrument during a jazz program at the Museum of Modern Art. Deutsch served as the Director of Marketing & Sales during the heyday of Moog Music (1979-1983), and was a consultant for the Roland Corporation and Jim Henson’s Muppets.
Why He Innovates
When Deutsch (an experimental composer) first met Moog (an electrical engineer) and described the types of sounds he wanted to make, the pair realized that the instrument didn’t exist—so they worked as a team to create it. Their exchanges over whether to give their instrument a keyboard, its qualities of dynamics, attack, and decay—and one remarkable epiphany about a doorbell—coalesced to give the instrument form.