Adrian Freed

This is why I find current historical accounts of the pioneers of electronic music so unsatisfying. So many of them use "know-that" and "know-who" accounting cutting the individual from their creative context to fit the facts into the "creative, lone genius inventor" frame. They dont fit as soon as "know-how" and "know-why" accounts are included. Why did Moog build a ribbon controller module for his synthesizers? Was this his invention to address the need for continuous pitch control? No, Moog started out selling theremins and Theremin had already built an electronic cello with a ribbon to control pitch. Moog was recasting what was already known and implemented in tube technology into transistor technology.