Synthesizer IIIc

The masterminds at Moog are rediscovering their past with the reintroduction of the Moog Synthesizer IIIc Modular system. Built using all-original documentation, art, and circuit board files, each Synthesizer IIIc features 36 hand-stuffed, hand-soldered modules, including ten 901-Series audio oscillators, the 984 Matrix Mixer, and the 905 Spring Reverb. It's been 50 years since the introduction of the first Synthesizer IIIc, but its triumphant return is certainly something to get excited about. However, production is highly limited, only 25 units will be produced and sold worldwide.

In 1965, Bob Moog began taking orders for customized modular systems and individual synthesizer modules. By 1967, he and a team of ten skilled technicians were hand-building production models in an unassuming brick storefront in Trumansburg, NY. The cutting-edge musical instruments that they called “synthesizers” signaled electronic music’s maturation from an awkward and shy intruder in the realm of music to a dynamic and significant medium of musical expression.

The first models were aptly named Synthesizer I, II, and III. With the introduction of the Moog Synthesizer IIIc -- the “c” referring to the walnut “console” cabinet -- musicians could purchase a complete instrument pre-configured for logical access to a range of facilities usually associated with the largest classical studios. Each synthesizer took weeks of patient, steady crafting to complete, but the payoff would be rich -- a tool that would change the landscape of music.

The world got turned on to the idea of the synthesizer -- and electronic music -- through the visionary works of experimental musicians like Wendy Carlos and Isao Tomita. Sonic masterpieces like Switched On Bach and Snowflakes Are Dancing were made possible by the early modular Moog Synthesizers. These original modular systems designed by Bob Moog are inimitable in sonic character and remain highly coveted for their limitless re-configurability and vibrantly organic musicality.