Moog Prodigy
Encyclopedia
The Moog Prodigy was a synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

 produced by Moog Music
Moog Music
Moog Music is an American company based in Asheville, North Carolina which manufactures electronic musical instruments. The current Moog Music is the second company to trade under that name.-R.A. Moog Co. and the original Moog Music:...

 from 1979 to 1984. Of the 11,000 produced, versions released after 1981 included a control voltage/gate input on the back that allowed the VCF of the filter to be triggered and controlled by an external source.
These later versions began at serial number 4160.
The official model number of the instrument is 336.
336A would indicate a domestic (US) model, while a 336BX would indicate an export unit.

The Prodigy featured two VCO
Voltage-controlled oscillator
A voltage-controlled oscillator or VCO is an electronic oscillator designed to be controlled in oscillation frequency by a voltage input. The frequency of oscillation is varied by the applied DC voltage, while modulating signals may also be fed into the VCO to cause frequency modulation or phase...

's (Voltage Controlled Oscillators), one with a sawtooth waveform
Waveform
Waveform means the shape and form of a signal such as a wave moving in a physical medium or an abstract representation.In many cases the medium in which the wave is being propagated does not permit a direct visual image of the form. In these cases, the term 'waveform' refers to the shape of a graph...

, a triangle waveform, and a rectangle waveform, the second with a sawtooth, a triangle, and a square waveform. These waveforms could be detuned up or down by more than a fifth, allowing for the creation of thick pads as well as atonal sounds. The two oscillators could be sync'ed as well, then altered using the pitch wheel (in sync mode, the pitch wheel would alter the tonality of the sound, not the pitch. Roaring synth leads were made possible using this feature.)

The Prodigy was capable of a full range of synthetic sounds, from a gentle whistle or flute in the upper ranges, to sub-level bass (a sub oscillator allowed for very deep lows.) The VCA
VCA
VCA may refer to:* Vehicle Certification Agency* Video Content Analysis* voltage-controlled amplifier also called a variable-gain amplifier* Virtual Clustering Agent, a load-balancing protocol...

 (voltage controlled amplifier) was controllable only via a 3 stage ADR envelope controller (ADR short for Attack Decay Release). The Prodigy did not feature a white noise
White noise
White noise is a random signal with a flat power spectral density. In other words, the signal contains equal power within a fixed bandwidth at any center frequency...

 or pink noise
Pink noise
Pink noise or 1/ƒ noise is a signal or process with a frequency spectrum such that the power spectral density is inversely proportional to the frequency. In pink noise, each octave carries an equal amount of noise power...

 generator.

The LFO
LFO
LFO may refer to:* LFO , an English techno act* LFO , an American three-man pop/rap group** LFO , an album released by the American pop group LFO* Light Finding Operation, a form of mecha from the anime TV series Eureka Seven...

 (low frequency oscillator) of the Prodigy featured a triangle and square waveform which could be routed to the VCO or VCF to create pitch or filter modulation effects.

The Moog Source
Moog Source
The Moog Source is a monophonic Z80 microprocessor-controlled analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1981 to 1985. The Source was Moog's first synthesizer to offer patch memory storage...

, which began production in 1981, featured internal workings very similar to the Prodigy in a much sleeker physical design that featured programmability, arpeggiator/sequencer and white noise.

It inspired the name of British electronic
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...

 band The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...

 whilst recording their first album. The band's frontman, Liam Howlett
Liam Howlett
Liam Paris Howlett known as Liam Howlett , is a member of the English band The Prodigy, occasional DJ, and a music producer.-Life and career:...

, is known to have used the synthesizer in some of the songs he made at the beginning of the 1990s.

Users

It has been used by many artists such as:
  • Massive Attack
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  • The Prodigy
    The Prodigy
    The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...

     (named after the Moog Prodigy)
  • Howard Jones
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  • Depeche Mode
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  • Blur
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  • The Album Leaf
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  • Fatboy Slim
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  • Kontour
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     (Some Bizzare Records
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    )
  • 808 State
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  • Sturm Cafe
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  • The New Deal (band)
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  • The Get Up Kids
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  • Reggie and the Full Effect
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  • Nine Inch Nails
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  • The Anniversary
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  • The Hippos
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  • History of Guns
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  • Moloko
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  • Tegan and Sara
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  • Rammstein
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     (Christian Lorenz)
  • Snap!
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     (Luca Anzilotti a.k.a. John VIRGO Garrett III)
  • Offlaga Disco Pax
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  • Der Blutharsch
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  • Black Moth Super Rainbow
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  • Shout Out Louds
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     (Bebban Stenborg)
  • Rubblebucket
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    -Formation:Musical couple Alex Toth and Kalmia Traver first met at the University of Vermont where they were both enrolled as music majors...

  • Miguel Mateos
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