There's a great photo of Hans Zimmer with a synth the size of a wall doing the rounds that has, for quite some time now, set the internet ablaze with all sorts of rumours: like it was shot in 1970 when Zimmer was just 13, and that it's a Roland and not a Moog synth.
However, a 1982 interview with Zimmer reveals another story behind the photo: that he was 23 and had bought the Moog modular system from Tangerine Dream. But there's more, a lot more, and it turns out that the huge synth beast in the picture could be one of the most important synthesisers ever made.
The now famous photo (above) of a young Hans Zimmer with a synth the size of a wall has appeared on all sorts of websites, from Facebook to Reddit, with various stories, mostly made up, about its origins.
Hans was dabbling in various bands, having been in The Buggles with Trevor Horn, and teaming up with Ultravox drummer Warren Cann
The truth, as they say, could well be even stranger than the fiction, because Hans explained the photo in an all-but forgotten interview with Electronics & Music Maker in July 1982.
Hans is now, of course, famous for his film scores, for which he's won multiple awards, including Grammys (four, including The Lion King), Golden Globes (three, including Gladiator) and Oscars (two, including 2022's Dune).
But back in the 1980s, he was a successful jingle writer with (it seems) cash to burn on gear. And he was also dabbling in various bands, having been in The Buggles with Trevor Horn, and teaming up with Ultravox drummer Warren Cann for two relatively short-lived projects: Helden and Ronny's Electro-Music Cabaret with French singer Ronny.
It was during an interview for the latter project with Cann that Zimmer explained the photo in Electronics & Music Maker. "I'm aged 23 [in the photo]," he explained. "[I had] met Chris Franke from Tangerine Dream. Chris basically put this 'little dog' in me and I would spend long hours jamming with him.
A That Moog is the original instrument built by Robert Moog himself and it was used by Wendy Carlos for the Switched on Bach LPs.
Hans Zimmer
"Later, he sold me his huge Moog synthesiser. You could say that this was better than the one he has now! Chris wanted to do a tour with less gear, but the tour never came about because he couldn't find anything to replace it!"
Which is pretty extraordinary in itself, but prepare to be even more amazed.
"That Moog," Zimmer continued, "the one I now use on stage, is the original instrument built by Robert Moog himself and it was used by Wendy Carlos for the Switched on Bach LPs.
"I suppose it should eventually end up in a museum, because it was really the first modern patch synthesiser. It works beautifully, it never goes wrong. I have had it heavily modified so it can run off a computer and now patch leads don't have to be used any more."
Hang on a second, let's just unpack that, because there are not one but four almighty claims to digest here: it was (iconic German electronic band) Tangerine Dream's synth; it was electronic pioneer Wendy Carlos' synth; it was used on the first ever synthesiser album Switched on Bach; and more crazy than any of those, Hans took it out and played live with it!
The likely scenario is that it has some or many modules that were originally used by Carlos. Why would Zimmer be loose with the truth on that?
Several Redditers, Instagrammers, and Facebookers have claimed variances in the story: that Carlos still has her Moog, and that it's actually a Roland System 700 in the photo.
But a likely scenario is that the synth has some or many modules that were originally used by Carlos. Why would Zimmer be loose with the truth on that?
And the story doesn't quite end there, because we've also uncovered another couple of early appearances of what could be the synth. Its highest profile outing (bits of it anyway) might have been in the video to Buggles hit Video Killed the Radio Star. Check the young and excited Zimmer at 2:50. (He also hits a drum earlier on in the video.)
Better still is this photo from a magazine called One Two Testing from January 1983. It's from an interview with Hans Zimmer and Warren Cann's engineer Steve Rance publicising the Helden project. Steve is pictured left, with Zimmer on the right. The Moog modular looks to be behind Zimmer, with his actual Roland System synth behind to the left (on top of a Korg 3300).
It's quite a setup, even in black and white. Check out the Minimoog, Prophet 5 and Jupiter 8 while you're at it. Those jingles must have been paying well…
We believe Zimmer then: it's a Moog, not a Roland, and some, if not all of it was owned by both Tangerine Dream and perhaps Wendy Carlos. And it looks like Hans still owns the original Moog. In this rather glitchy Collider video from 2010, he claims it's Bob Moog's first synth, so is, almost by definition, one that was played by Wendy Carlos.
And we get a really good look at the synth in this more recent and brilliantly shot video from Spitfire Audio…
The synth is stunning, as is Zimmer's studio. Oh and one most definite last fact is that a 'first-ever' Moog synth owned by Hans Zimmer, Tangerine Dream and (most likely) Wendy Carlos, is probably the most important (not to mention most valuable) synth in the history of the instrument. We'll take two.
