Robert Moog may not be as much of a celebrity as the musicians who used his pioneering devices to create electronic music, but today’s Google doodle gives us a glimpse into what his most famous creation, the Moog synthesizer, sounds like.
Play the doodle and record your tunes: Screengrab from Google
Visitors to the Google homepage are greeted by what seems to be a complex looking piano with multiple dials and a recording device on the side. Adjusting each of the dials allows you to modify the sound of each key, with results that are definitely unusual.
The doodle marks the 78th birth anniversary of Moog, who died in 2005 of a brain tumour.
The doodle has been described by Google’s Chief Doodler Ryan Germick and engineer Joey Hurst as a “tribute to someone who was like a patron saint of the nerdy arts”. Incidentally the duo last collaborated to create a Les Paul guitar doodle last year which was perhaps as much a hit with music aficionados.
Describing the complex electronic device that greets users visiting the Google search page and describing its genesis, Mashable said:
The Google Moog has 19 full-functioning knobs, one wheel, a switch and four tracks that let you record up to 30 seconds of overlaid audio. As with the Les Paul Guitar doodle, you can play, record and share, via a link or Google Plus.
However, given the eclectic sounds that the device allows you to create, most users may be safer staying away from the clips their friends send them.
