The Rare Moog Sanctuary

Moog Sanctuary Repair (by synthpro) video upload by synthpro

"This is a look at a very rare synth called the Sanctuary. This is bascially a rebadged Memorymoog Plus that was to be advertised/sold to churches here in the South, it was a push to help get synthesizers used in worship. This may not seem that big of a deal today with all the electronic worship music out there but this was a HUGE step back in this era."

You can find a small handful of posts mentioning the Moog Sanctuary in previous posts here.

David Van Koevering Has Passed Away

Update: this post will be pinned on top for the day. You can find newer posts below.

Brian Kehew wrote in to let us know synth legend David Van Koevering passed away yesterday at the age of 77. Per Brian, "So many people in the industry knew him; such a long and varied life!" Indeed. The following is the obituary sent to him from Van Koevering's family.

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Moog Sanctuary (MemoryMoog+) SN 3136

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via ISLA Instruments Reverb

Note auction links are affiliate links. See the site's privacy policy for more info.

Video in the listing previously posted here.

"The Moog 'Sanctuary', of which only 100 units were ever made was the brainchild of David Van Koevering. Moog Music brought Van Koevering in to guide their marketing efforts when the company had developed a stronger national presence. David worked with local church groups to find a unique marketing outlet for a custom-named set of Moog instruments (the Sanctuary and Joyful Noise designs,) re-branded versions of Moog instruments designed and programmed to appeal to more traditional church markets.

This was recently serviced (November '22) by 'SynthPro' Jareth Lackey. (invoice for works carried out included) and also now includes a modern, bespoke internal powersupply from 'Synthtaste' for added reliability.

Everything works as it should, pots and switches are all behaving perfectly.

The cabinetry is in stunning condition, it really is a synth to behold.

A short video is attached which Jareth recorded after repairs were carried out."

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Moog - Early Days in Rock

A great post on the AH mailing list came up on the first use of Moog synths in Rock and Roll. Bill noted the following:

"- The Doors (first rock band to use a Moog on their "Stange Days"
track/album in Oct. '67)
- The Monkees (first pop band to use a Moog on the track "Daily
Nightly" in Nov. '67 - see YouTube)"

vids:
The Doors - Strange Days


The Monkees Daily Nightly

YouTube via Gowansgroupie

"Micky Dolenz singing Daily Nightly"

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MOOG Meets Taco Bell and Goes to Church

I'm currently reading "Analog Days" by Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco. You can find the book in the Synth Books section on the right of this site. I just got to the part were the Minimoog Model D finally came into fruition in 1970. According to the book, it was first introduced to music stores by David VanKoevering. David was putting on a show with a theremin when he first met Bob Moog. Bob went to his show and invited him to come see Gershon Kingsley perform at Carnegie Hall with the MOOG modular. Soon after, David ended up picking up a MOOG Model 10 according to this site. What was particularly interesting was how David first began to promote MOOG.

"Like a traveling medicine show, Van Koevering moved thousands of Minimoogs by using innovative marketing techniques. In Florida, he hooked up with Taco Bell, handing out free coupons to the restaurant, and then showing up later in the evening to play to diners. He promoted the "Island of Electronicus," an artificial land mass connected by a causeway to the Florida coast, where a Moog concert was scheduled. The radio ads announced, 'Where is the Moog synthesizer? It's here now ... to stimulate your feelings, thought, and your love for your fellow man.'"

Yes, this Taco Bell. :)

The above quote comes from this article from the San Antonio Current. BTW, I couldn't find an image of the Taco Bell flyer although there is one pictured in Analog Days. If anyone knows where I can find one online, feel free to comment. The image in this post is of David's "The Island of Electronics" which he formed shortly after. You can also read more about this on VOTAGE::MAIN where I found the image. Be sure to check out all the links in this post for more of the fascinating story and of course "Analog Days."

David later repackaged the Memorymoog as the "Sanctuary Synthesizer" and sold them to a number of churches. I wonder how many are still sitting in storage... (image via this post)

Note: according to some on AH and other sites there are inaccuracies in the book, "Analog Days." I haven't discovered a comprehensive list. If you know of such a list, please comment. If you know of the inaccuracies also feel free to comment. If there is enough interest I could create the list with a sticky post for us. Regardless, the book is a great read. It is well written and a fascinating story of the birth of MOOG, and it touches on Buchla.

Update via marr in the comments:

"There's a scan of the flyer on moogarchives...
http://moogarchives.com/vako2.jpg
http://moogarchives.com/vako3.jpg"

George Harrison & His Moog Modular - Zapple & Electronic Sound

via the Beatle Photo Blog.

via Wikipedia: "Electronic Sound is George Harrison's second album. Released in May 1969, it was the second and final record released on the Beatles' short-lived Zapple Records label, a subsidiary of Apple Records. The album features two lengthy pieces performed on the Moog synthesizer. It was one of the first albums to make exclusive use of the instrument.

Zapple was intended as a creative outlet for avant-garde musical works. Not long after the release of this album The Zapple label was folded at the insistence of the Beatles' then-manager Allen Klein. Because of its experimental and highly non-commercial nature, Electronic Sound failed to chart in the United Kingdom, and barely made the United States Billboard 200 album chart, peaking at #191.

The album was issued on CD for the first time in late 1996. CD versions of the album have the recordings (but not the titles) in the wrong order. In recent years this error has led many listeners to confuse the two tracks.

The track on LP side one "Under The Mersey Wall" (25 minutes) begins with a series of gunshot-like sounds and appears to be a performance of a single Moog instrument, though often making use of tape delay and echo effects. Portions of white noise from this track are used throughout "I Remember Jeep," one of several jams included on Harrison's third solo album, All Things Must Pass, released in 1970.

The second LP side "No Time Or Space" (18 minutes) uses the sound of two Moog instruments playing at the same time, an effect made possible through the use of overdubbing.

The cover of Electronic Sound was painted by Harrison himself. The inside sleeve included minimal notes on the album and a quotation attributed to Arthur Wax: "There are a lot of people around, making a lot of noise; here's some more."

Synthesist Bernie Krause later pursued legal action against Harrison, claiming that "No Time Or Space" (side two of the original vinyl album; track one of the CD) was essentially a recording of him demonstrating the Moog III to Harrison (this is detailed in Krause's book Into a Wild Sanctuary). Krause also claimed that the demonstration was recorded without his knowledge or consent. Krause's name was originally credited on the front cover under Harrison's cover credit, but it was painted over at his insistence. Despite this, the words "Assisted by Bernie Krause" can still be read from under the silver ink on the original LP pressings.

The words "Produced by George Harrison" appear on front cover of the original LP pressings printed in light blue ink, but were recolored in dark blue and red on later re-issues.

Track listing

All pieces credited to George Harrison.

Side one

"Under the Mersey Wall" – 25:10
Recorded in Esher, England, in February 1969 with the assistance of Rupert and Jostick, the Siamese Twins

Side two

"No Time or Space" – 18:41
Recorded in California in November 1968 with the assistance of Bernie Krause

Note: This is how the titles appear on the original LP pressings. Later CD versions incorrectly switched the actual order of the recordings and the timings but failed to switch the titles."

This one in via Steve Sciulli of Life In Balance & Raised by Machines

Also see:
George Harrison's Electronic Sound
John Lennon playing the Moog at Abbey Road Studios

Vintage MOOG SANCTUARY Synth, Rick Powell Collection

via this auction

Church targeted version of the Memorymoog.

"It is part of the Rick Powell Collection. Rick was a musician, a major producer and a contemporary and close friend of Bob Moog, among others, and often received original units from manufacturers to test in the studios. Rick was my studio partner up until the day he passed away and his wife has asked me to sell some of the items that were studio kept for many years. There are many treasures in this collection and we will be adding them as they are photographed, tested and cataloged."

MOOG Sanctuary

Via Ron West on AH.

Update via Mark G on AH:

"As I recall, Dave van Koevering was marketing these to the church market.
Joe Rivers told me there were either 50 or 100 of them done for him."

MOOGFEST 2016 Lineup & Details Announced

Moogfest 2016 Talent Announcement with Reggie Watts

Published on Dec 8, 2015 Moogfest

"Headlining performances include Gary Numan playing a three night residency of his trailblazing early albums, a two-night residency by GZA, ODESZA, Laurie Anderson, Oneohtrix Point Never, Suzanne Ciani, Blood Orange, and Sun Ra Arkestra; with keynote presentations by transhumanist activist and pharma tycoon Dr. Martine Rothblatt, and computer scientist Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in the field of virtual reality.

More than one hundred other acts are already confirmed to perform, while the conference program continues to develop in partnership with a range of esteemed universities, innovative businesses, and art/technology organizations. Program partners include MIT Media Lab, Google, Duke University, Georgia Institute of Technology, The New Museum’s New Inc., IDEO, Gray Area, and the EyeO Festival.

For the first time ever, Moogfest will take place in Durham, NC. Moogfest activates seventeen venues, throughout the walkable downtown core, from intimate galleries to grand theatres, including a free outdoor stage with participatory, all-ages programming. Durham promises to be an ideal setting for Moogfest: a city uniquely blending diversity, authenticity, world class innovation, and culture, with a long history of great music.

Program highlights:
Pioneers in Electronic Music
Electronic music pioneer Gary Numan will perform his first three albums (Replicas, The Pleasure Principle, and Telekon) over three consecutive nights in three different venues. Musical experimentalist Laurie Anderson weaves stories and song in her solo performance, “The Language of the Future” and then returns to the stage the next day to hosts a daytime conversation.

Future Pop
Headlining talent also charts a zig-zagging course across today’s synthesizer infused pop landscape, from the vibrant electronic duo ODESZA, to the future soul of Blood Orange (playing in North Carolina for the first time), a return of utopian rockers YACHT, and even the comic stylings of Reggie Watts.

Experimentalists
Immersive noise and minimalist sonic-scapes from some of today’s most progressive experimental artists, including sunn O))), Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, Silver Apples, Oneohtrix Point Never, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Olivia Block, Alessandro Cortini, and Lotic.

Ambient Music Innovators
A rich program of sustained tones and cascading moods led by Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno’s prolific Grammy winning protege, Suzanne Ciani, and the UK’s originators of ambient house The Orb.

Hip-Hop
GZA leads Moogfest’s strongest ever hip-hop and rap lineup, supported by a roster of emerging talent including Lunice, Tory Lanez, Denzel Curry, Dr. Dre protege King Mez, and Well$.

The Future of Creativity
Futurist philosophers set the tone for a mind-expanding conference. Keynotes by Dr. Martine Rothblatt, author, entrepreneur, transhumanist, inventor of satellite radio, and Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist and composer who has pioneered the field of virtual reality. Other visionaries include sound explorer Onyx Ashanti and his 'exo-voice' sonic prosthesis, Tod Machover from MIT Media LAB presenting his work in HyperInstruments, and Gil Weinberg and The Robotic Musicianship Group at Georgia Tech performing with Shimon, an improvising robotic marimba player that uses artificial intelligence.

Orchestral Ensembles
The intergalactic voyagers of Sun Ra Arkestra channel the cosmic philosopher himself. Arthur Russell’s Instrumentals ensemble, making their US debut. Floating Points’ live project veers fluidly from warm electronic to jazz to sonic space rhythms.

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Lisa Bella Donna's hidden sonic sanctuary

video upload by EarthQuakerDevices

"Join us as we take a detailed tour of Lisa Bella Donna's legendary home studio, Appalachian Recordings, deep in the Appalachian mountains of the eastern United States. Lisa is a longtime friend of Jamie Stillman’s since before the inception of EarthQuaker Devices in the early 90s, when they would play punk house shows together. Lisa is a renowned recording artist, composer, sound designer, modular synthesist and educator.

In this incredible episode of Show Us Your Junk, Lisa talks about her early inspirations that led her to start playing music, and eventually using electronic synthesis to craft the unique voice that she envisioned. After hearing Black Sabbath's “Paranoid” and Wendy Carlos's “Switched on Bach” and “Sonic Seasons,” it became clear that music was her destiny. Her stories include recording and editing commercial jingles in the 80s, selling her car to put a down payment on an Arp 2600 synthesizer, and discovering the rich characteristics of recording to 8-track tape.

While this studio packs in a ton of rare gear, Lisa claims she doesn’t consider herself a collector. “My choices are very utilitarian; pretty much everything in here is here for a purpose, and it’s part of the big picture - the great stream of what my albums become,” she says. Some of her staple instruments include the ARP 2600, ARP Odyssey, ARP Omni, Mini Moog, and Fender Rhodes. EQD pedals she frequently uses include the Rainbow Machine, Arpanoid, and Grand Orbiter, but her favorite EQD pedal is the Avalanche Run. She loves it so much that she had a custom rack mount version built, which is patched directly to her main console. “It's one of my favorite reverbs still - one of my most used for sure.”

Lisa has an interesting perspective when it comes to connecting music to visual concepts in nature and her environment. “When I compose music, I see it just as much as I hear it. I look at my arrangements as landscapes or deep woods mountain paths with all the textures and colors of the elements that surround it,” she says. This all makes sense when you see the picturesque plot of land in which she chose to settle down to build her studio and raise her daughter.

Shot by Chris Tran, Jeff France, David Whited, Dannesh Moosa
Edited by David Whited
Additional footage shot by Tristan Whitney Weary
Music by Lisa Bella Donna, EYE, Deadsea

Music Provided by Lisa Bella Donna
'Turning Points'
'Twi Spirit, One Life'
'Kohoutek'
'Emerald's Run'
'Ascension'
'Pure Stereo Time Machine'
'Falling Leaves'

Special thanks to:
Moog Music Inc.
Waves Audio
Antonus Synthesizers
Hologram Electronics
Lower West Side Studio / Canada
Behind The Sky Records
SFI Records

Check out more of Lisa Bella Donna's work:
https://lisabelladonna.bandcamp.com/
https://lisabelladonna.com/"

Sanctuary - New Flickr Shot

Shot by Luca Capozzi. I saw this shot and the first thing that came to mind was how un-Moogy a Roland JP8080 was. I thought of perspectives on how Roland has not come out with something innovative in years, how "digital" the JP8080 was, and how far away from the mighty moog analog sound it was. A lot of people see Roland and their digital synths as the anithesis of Moog. Then I saw the title of the shot, and I remembered how Bob described himself. He described himself as a tool-maker who made wonderful musical instruments for people to enjoy; magical instruments at that. There is no doubt in my mind that a JP8080 is capable of bringing this magic to its owners. Bob brought synthesis to the mainstream, making it affordable and accessible. This shot forces you to see that. A shot of the Roland JP8080, the magic synthesis brings and respect to Bob.

An Interview with Barry Schrader

Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in.  New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process.  If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com.  This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!

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Bernie Krause - Wild Sanctuary

via Lorne in Canada:
"Bernie Krause is a global treasure and people newly discovering the history of analog synths should know about him. I (and so many others) bought all the albums and his more recent books are a wonderful discovery for gear heads who need to get out more Smile emoticon. One book (w cd) is on rare vanishing soundscapes of our planet and why he walked away from the studio life and the other is a basic book on how to get started recording the sounds of other life forms around us. It was written in the age of minidiscs and DATs but still worth reading. And he was there at the start with the first Moog in LA working the studios and sitting in the background of so many famous albums. The site is a great read, images and sounds. Bring the world into your studio if you can't get out."

http://www.wildsanctuary.com/foraudiophilesonly.html
Don't miss his anchored field recordings in Google earth, look for the green dots and click.

Cherry Audio Memorymode - Sound Bank '79

video upload by Polydata

"Drawing from the earliest days of polyphonic synthesizers, Sound Bank ‘79 for the Cherry Audio Memorymode finds its inspiration in synthesizer music found in documentaries and library music from the late 70’s and early 80’s.

A bank comprising 40 patches for instant inspiration. The goal was to squeeze as much vintage analog juice out of this plug-in as possible, primarily working within the constraints of the original Moog Memorymoog analog poly synth. There's a unique richness to the sound of a Memorymoog, along with it's expanded feature set, and Cherry Audio have definitely captured that.

Sound Bank '79 is a series of vintage tones for different synths and plug-ins, so look out for future releases. Recorded completely dry with no external effects or processing.

Link:
polydata.bigcartel.com"

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Beaver and Krause - Spaced - Original THX Theme

Another interesting tidbit from Analog Days. At the end of Beaver and Krause's track "Spaced," is the classic THX theme of rising notes. It was originally played on a MOOG in 1970 and was later copied by a famous Marin County film company. Guess the company and when it was copied. BTW if you have Napster, Rhapsody or any other subscription music service you can listen to the track. Just search for Beaver and Krause. It's on "In a Wild Sanctuary/Gardharva." The theme comes in at the very end.

Previous post. Update: Also check out THX on Music Thing, for the story behind the THX theme. Andy Moorer, the composer of the THX theme, makes no mention of Krause. Stuff like this always fascinates me. People do come up with the same ideas independently of each other, so who knows... It's fascinating either way - by chance or a copy without credit.

Legowelt... Ah, gear lust...

Legowelt sums up gear lust perfectly. Click here for more pictures. Crazy cat, Legowelt is... I love his writing sytle.

From the site:
"The studio is where its at'..the place where the music is made.A sanctuary, a gearfreak's fatherland or whatever. A dangerous place also...You might spend days here forgetting there is a world outside. The machines are no machines anymore: you treat them with respect, they have personalities...some of them love, others don't give a fuck...but they are alive...and might even be considered close family.

Its difficult to describe to a stranger what it is like to be a 'gearfreak' (i.e. having a keen interest in electronic music instruments, especially old analog ones). Bob Moog ( a famous inventor of synthesizers) once said: "its halfway between being a musician and hot-rodding your car" and thats pretty much right...its nerdy but macho at the same time, and for fellow gearfreaks there is nothing quite like the exhiliration of the 'gearlist'...where the people tell what gear they use and have.

That is the point of this part of the Legowelt site, to see what gear is used in the Legowelt studio. For a non-gearfreak this might be complete nonsense, but for those who dig it....here it is (with the additional pictures!)..and also remember there is some fancy shit here, but also lot of tracks are actually made ghetto style in the living room or on the road on cheap ass equipment such as Amiga computers, boss drummachines and borrowed portable grooveboxes, just to be mixed in this studio on the mixing desk...and fuck yeah sometimes that don't even happen. "