Moog Liberation

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The Moog Liberation is the first mass-produced analog synthesizer to hang around your neck ( Keytar ). The prototype was presented in January 1980 at the NAMM in Anaheim and went into series production that same year until around 1984.

It consists on the one hand of a monophonic synthesizer part and on the other hand of a polyphonic part that could only produce a square waveform. The keyboard has 44 keys from F to C, it has a kind of aftertouch , in which a spring-loaded rail attached under the keyboard can also be pressed down after the key has actually been struck, in order to serve as another “ modulation wheel ” . The "guitar neck" also contains the actual classic playing aids such as modulation wheels and pitch benders .

construction

Oscillators

Control panel

The 2 with the waveforms sawtooth, triangle (for both OSCs) and pulse wave (pulse width 10%) for OSC1 and rectangle for OSC2. The pitch can be set to 32 ', 16' and 8 'for OSC1 and 16', 8 'and 4' for OSC2. Oscillator synchronization is also available, and OSC2 can be fine-tuned compared to OSC1 (a little more than the fifth).

filter

Only 1 filter type, namely the 24dB - octave Moog low pass filter, with the control options "Cutoff", "Emphasis" (resonance) and "Filter amount". Keyboard tracking is also possible in the 3 levels "off", "½" and "1".

Envelopes

Two of them, one of which is a filter envelope and a volume envelope, both with “Attack”, “Decay / Release” and “Sustain” controls, whereby the release can be switched on separately for both curves and then takes over the value of the decay.

mixer

Here not only the two oscillators and the polyphony, but also the pink noise and the ring modulation can be mixed.

modulation

1 LFO with the waveforms triangle, square and sample + hold. The speed ranges from 0.3 to 30 Hz. It can be applied to the filter and the pitch of the OSC1 + 2 (but not to that of the polysection). The LFO can also trigger the envelope.

Playing aids in the "guitar neck"

"Guitar neck"
  • " Pitch ribbon controller " with a range of more than 5 semitones in both directions
  • "Volume wheel" to control the volume
  • "Filter wheel" this is spring-loaded (lets the wheel snap back to the zero position after it is released) and its function is logically to open and close the filter
  • "Modulation wheel" to control the modulation strength by the LFO
  • "Glide On / Off Switch" for switching the glide function on and off, the duration of which is also adjustable
  • "Force wheel" for regulating the modulation strength through the aftertouch
  • "Bend / Mod switch" for selecting the function of the aftertouch

Aftertouch

This can be used as a “modulation wheel” for the LFO (Mod) or as a modulation that reacts to pressure, meaning the stronger the pressure, the stronger the modulated effect (bend). Pitch, filter and hard sync can be influenced with the help of aftertouch.

polyphony

The polyphonic section of the Liberation is achieved using the frequency division technique. However, there is only one waveform available for this, the square wave. It is mixed in in the mixer and then only passes through the filter and the envelopes. It cannot be modulated with the pitch bend, but the number of voices is unlimited.

particularities

  • The Liberation essentially consists of 2 parts, the instrument itself and the “Power Supply Interface”, both connected by a 12 m long 6-pin XLR cable. The power supply and the external control outputs are located in the interface.
  • The Liberation could be ordered in black, red or white, and there was also the option of having it with a pitch ribbon controller or pitch wheel ( Tom Coster preferred the wheel, for example).
  • After switching on, the Liberation needs approx. 10 minutes until the oscillators are brought to the correct temperature and are therefore tuned.
  • One of the few Moogs with ring modulation, of the small ones only the Concertmate-MG1 had a ring modulator.

mass and weight

  • instrument
Height 13.6 cm; Width 32.7 cm; Length 118.8 cm; Weight 6.35 kg
  • Power supply interface
Height 9.2 cm; Width 20.3 cm; Length 48.2 cm; Weight 3.18 kg

Known users

swell