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In this case, the waves are sound waves and radio waves. On Saturday, I drove up to Asheville NC for some sightseeing. Although I've been to stamp and model-train shows south of town nearby many times, I had never done any real sightseeing downtown, only driven through it.
Stop 1
My main destination downtown was the Moogseum, which showcases the life and work of Robert Moog, of synthesizer fame. He moved to the Asheville area after retiring from his signature company in New York.
The museum is small but has interesting exhibits about Moog's life and the history of synthesized music, including predecessors to the Moog synthesizers such as the theremin and the ondes Martenot, with which I'm acquainted via Olivier Messiaen's music. Moog started his career by building and selling theremins as a teenager in the 1950s. There's a reconstruction of Moog's workbench as it was when he died in 2005. I was amused to recognize items that my students and I used in undergraduate labs: Fluke multimeters, Tektronix oscilloscopes, etc.
When I was in high school in the late 1960s, two of the first albums I bought were Walter/Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach and The Well-Tempered Synthesizer, which helped make Moog famous.
Unfortunately, the museum doesn't allow photography except in the entrance area / gift shop. Underneath the portrait is a couch made up to look like a synthesizer.
Because of its small size and Covid restrictions, the museum can currently accommodate only a limited number of visitors at a time. I bought my ticket and made a reservation for a specific hour online.
Stop 1
My main destination downtown was the Moogseum, which showcases the life and work of Robert Moog, of synthesizer fame. He moved to the Asheville area after retiring from his signature company in New York.
The museum is small but has interesting exhibits about Moog's life and the history of synthesized music, including predecessors to the Moog synthesizers such as the theremin and the ondes Martenot, with which I'm acquainted via Olivier Messiaen's music. Moog started his career by building and selling theremins as a teenager in the 1950s. There's a reconstruction of Moog's workbench as it was when he died in 2005. I was amused to recognize items that my students and I used in undergraduate labs: Fluke multimeters, Tektronix oscilloscopes, etc.
When I was in high school in the late 1960s, two of the first albums I bought were Walter/Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach and The Well-Tempered Synthesizer, which helped make Moog famous.
Unfortunately, the museum doesn't allow photography except in the entrance area / gift shop. Underneath the portrait is a couch made up to look like a synthesizer.
Because of its small size and Covid restrictions, the museum can currently accommodate only a limited number of visitors at a time. I bought my ticket and made a reservation for a specific hour online.
