Arturia Minimoog V User Manual page 68

The modular system III (1967)
Courtesy of Roger Luther, MoogArchives.com
Success grew, and big groups like Tangerine Dream, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones
would also become modular Moog owners.
In 1969, the company which at that time had around 40 employees was building up to 3
modulars per week and the order book was always full. The modular synthesizer series
had 5 years of high sales, and sold around 200 models in the United States*.
However, the sales would rapidly decrease, because the gigantic proportions of modular
units puts a damper on the interest of most musicians and also prevents the instrument
from entering most music shops, and therefore from being known. Furthermore, a
serious competitor, ARP, has just arrived on the market.
In the same time, Bob Moog received requests for a more compact instrument that could
be transported more easily, directed more to stage than studio. With the help of an
engineer from Berkeley, Jim Scott, and the advice from numerous musicians he was
about to create another legendary synthesizer: the Minimoog...
«Here it is! A compact, moderately priced electronic music synthesizer designed for live
performance.» This is the way the Minimoog is introduced on the very first promotional
brochure, in the midst of 1971. The Minimoog synthesizer required several months of
research and development and 4 prototypes, before leading to the commercial model.
More than 12,000 units were sold until 1981. They were quite far from the 10 modular
units per month that Moog Music produced in the late 60's.
* : In 2003, Arturia has released a software emulation of the famous modular Moog synthesizers under the
name of Moog Modular V.
68
ARTURIA – minimoog V – USER'S MANUAL