In 1955, Harry Olson and Herbert Belar created the world’s first electronic synthesizer. Little could they have known then how much their invention would change the way people make music. From a song like Blue Monday from New Order to Midnight City from M83, so many era-defining tracks from the past few decades wouldn’t have been possible to record without synths in all their various forms. In honor of that legacy, Moog Music is launching a new documentary series. Dubbed Giants, it will tell the story of some of the people who helped shape both synths and electronic music as an art form.
You can watch the first episode starting today on Moog Music’s YouTube channel. It features Herb Deutsch, the co-creator of the Moog modular synth, talking about, among other things, how he and Bob Moog met. The footage of Deutsch talking is broken up with archival images and clips. It’s all pretty standard stuff, but if you’re a music nerd, you’ll want to check out the video.
In future installments of Giants, Moog has promised to feature individuals like Daniel Miller, the founder of legendary British music label Mute Records, and Bernie Krause, who alongside Paul Beaver, helped introduce people like George Harrison to electronic music. If you want to keep up with Giants, Moog suggests signing up for its newsletter.