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Louder
Louder
Entertainment
Martin Kielty

“The Rolling Stones and The Beatles paid for theirs. I see no reason why you shouldn’t pay for yours”: When Keith Emerson tried to blag a £55,000 synth for free

Keith Emerson of Emerson Lake & Palmer in the 1970s with his Moog synth(Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage).

The 20th century was a period of explosive advancement in the music industry, introducing electric instruments and amplification, stage and lighting innovations, recording developments and much more.

Among all of those was the Moog synthesiser, developed by American engineer Bob Moog and first launched in 1964. Within a few years, and partly thanks to Wendy Carlos’ Switched-On Bach album, everyone who was anyone was using a Moog – providing they could afford it.

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