Modular V · Armon.ai

How it works

Modular subtractive synthesis

Subtractive synthesis starts from harmonically rich waveforms produced by voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs): sawtooth (all harmonics), square/pulse (odd harmonics, or variable with pulse width), triangle (a few odd harmonics), sine (no harmonics). The filter (VCF) removes part of the spectrum: a low-pass lets through the frequencies below the cutoff and attenuates those above it, with a slope (24 dB/octave in the Moog ladder = a decisive cut); the resonance emphasizes the area around the cutoff. The amplifier (VCA) decides the volume over time, driven by an envelope (ADSR: attack, decay, sustain, release).

Control voltages

In a modular every parameter can be controlled by a voltage: the keyboard sends a voltage proportional to the note (1 volt per octave) and a gate/trigger signal when you press a key; envelopes, LFOs, sequencers, sample & hold and envelope followers produce other voltages. Connecting with a cable an output to a modulation input means deciding who controls what: an envelope on the filter cutoff creates the typical opening of basses, an LFO on the pitch creates vibrato, one audio oscillator on the pitch of another creates FM.

Modules and signals

There is no fixed path: there are sources (oscillators, noise), processors (filters, VCAs, ring modulator, frequency shifter, formants, mixer) and controls (envelopes, LFOs, trigger delay, sequencer, key follow). The golden rule is to keep audio signals (to be heard) separate from control signals (which move parameters), even though in a modular they can be swapped: a slow oscillator becomes an LFO, an envelope can modulate another envelope.

Drivers and slaves

Moog oscillators are organized in groups: a driver controls the pitch and pulse width of three slaves, each of which can have its own octave and tuning. Three slightly detuned slaves, mixed together, give the classic Moog wall of sound.

Character and tone

The Moog sound by definition: warm, slightly unstable oscillators, a round 24 dB/octave ladder low-pass filter with full basses and a resonance that bites without becoming shrill; when you mix several oscillators into saturation you get an almost physical density. Very strong in the bass (40–200 Hz) and in leads in the midrange, soft in the highs. The modular nature allows sounds that are impossible on a pre-wired synth: FM between oscillators, filters in series and in parallel, ring mod, Bode frequency shifter, formant filter, complex sequences. Limitations: patches take a long time to build, there is a risk of confusion and excessive levels, and CPU load is high with many voices; polyphony is a modern addition (the original was monophonic). Compared to Mini V it is far more flexible but less immediate; compared to ARP 2600 V it has rounder filters and less shrill grit; compared to Buchla Easel V it is purely east-coast (subtractive), not west-coast.

Architecture

Original Moog modular

First prototypes in 1964 (Bob Moog with Herbert Deutsch), presented at the AES; 900 series on sale from 1965; Systems I, II, III from 1967; System 15, 35, 55 from 1974. About 200 systems sold in the USA in the golden period; Wendy Carlos's album Switched-On Bach (1968) made them famous.
Typical modules: 901 oscillators and later 921 (921A driver and 921B slave) with sawtooth, sine, triangle, pulse; 904A 24 dB/oct ladder low-pass filter, 904B high-pass, 904C coupler (band-pass and notch); 911 envelopes (contour generator), 902 VCA, 903 noise generator (white and pink), 984 mixer, 911A trigger delay, 914 fixed filter bank, 960 sequencer with 3 rows × 8 steps and the 962 sequential switch, envelope follower, ring modulator and 1630 Bode frequency shifter.
Monophonic: one keyboard = one voltage and one gate.

Modular V (Arturia; V3 in V Collection 9)

TAE modeling: alias-free oscillators, faithful analog waveforms, direct modeling of the filter circuits.
9 oscillators (3 groups, each with 1 921A driver + 3 921B slaves; sine, triangle, sawtooth, square simultaneously; ranges Low, 32', 16', 8', 4', 2'; hard/soft sync; exponential and linear FM).
3 selectable filters: 904A 24 dB low-pass, 904B 24 dB high-pass, 904C 24 dB band-pass/band-reject, 12 dB multimode (LP, BP, notch, HP, low shelf, high shelf, bell).
6 modulation ADSR envelopes, 2 output VCAs with slope envelope (A, slope time and level, D, S, R), pan and soft clip; 16 linkable VCAs/mixers; 2 LFOs (5 waveforms, MIDI sync, delay and fade-in); dual trigger delay; white and pink noise generator with 6 dB filters; interchangeable modules in the upper slots: ring modulator, 4 envelope followers, 2 sample & holds, Bode frequency shifter, formant filter.
960-style sequencer (8 steps × 3 rows, up to 24 steps, 4 outputs, smooth, jumps, random, MIDI sync).
Effects: fixed resonant filter bank (14 bands from 80 Hz to 6.4 kHz), chorus or phaser (6/12 stages), stereo delay with cross-feedback.
4 configurable key follows (slope, pivot, threshold, trigger zones, portamento/bend), 2 XY pads, envelope sliders, quick cutoff controls, velocity and aftertouch as sources, external audio input; Mono, Unison, Poly (16, 32 or 64 voices), Legato and Retrigger modes.

The controls, one by one

921A driver oscillator (three groups)

Frequency: Common tuning of the group's three slaves: ±1 octave in semitones or ±6 octaves in fifths and fourths, depending on State.
State: Mode of the Frequency knob (semitone or octave/fifth).
Width (impulse width): Pulse width applied to sawtooth, square and triangle of all three slaves: 50% = square, narrow values = nasal timbre.
FM inputs (2 exponential + 1 Lin): Frequency modulation of the group: exponential for vibrato and pitch envelope (maximum ±4 octaves), linear for more stable audio-rate FM. Click on the jack to adjust the amount (center = 0, right positive, left negative).
PWM inputs (2): Pulse width modulation (slow LFO = chorused PWM).
Keyboard follow: Which key follow (1–4) tunes the group; no = fixed on C3; LFO = group independent of the keyboard, usable as a modulator.
Sequencer choice: Which sequencer output (1–4) tunes the group (or none).

921B slave oscillators

Frequency: Tuning: left click in semitones (±1 octave), right click fine (±1 semitone). 2–7 cents between slaves = fat beating.
Range: Low (very slow modulation, cycles up to 6 minutes), 32', 16', 8', 4', 2' (C3 sounds C1…C5).
Synchronization (Soft/Hard): Hard: the slave restarts at every cycle of the syncing oscillator (sharp leads); Soft: it restarts only if it is near the end of its cycle (gentler sync).
Synchro input: Choice of the syncing oscillator.
FM inputs (2): Individual modulation: detuning with LFO or key follow, audio FM between oscillators for metallic timbres.
Sawtooth, Sine, Triangle, Square outputs (+ trigger): Four simultaneous outputs; a trigger output synchronous with the square wave lets you cyclically trigger envelopes and sequencers.

Filters (3 slots, selectable type)

904A Low-pass 24 dB/oct — Frequency: Moog ladder cutoff: basses 150–600 Hz, leads 800 Hz–3 kHz.
904A — Resonance: Emphasis; high = whistling peak and self-oscillation, but it thins out the bass.
904A — 3 modulation inputs: Cutoff modulation (up to ±9 octaves); typically envelope, LFO, velocity.
904B High-pass 24 dB/oct: Without resonance: Frequency and 3 FM inputs; to remove the low end from pads or percussion.
904C Band-pass/Band-reject 24 dB: Frequency (center), Resonance (width 1/3–3 octaves), Type (band-pass or band-reject), width modulation input and two FM inputs.
Multimode 12 dB/oct: Type: low-pass, band-pass, notch, high-pass, low-shelf, high-shelf, bell; Frequency, Resonance, Gain (for shelf and bell), ModRes input and FM: the only one with modulatable resonance (useful with the XY pads).
Keyboard follow / Sequencer choice (filters): Internal key tracking (1–4) and the sequencer output that drives the cutoff.

Modulation envelopes (6)

Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release: Classic Moog ADSR: for the filter of a bass, A 0–5 ms, D 150–400 ms, S 20–40%, R 100 ms.
Input Trigg: Trigger source: keyboard, trigger delay, oscillator/LFO triggers or sequencer.
Output: Control output to connect to cutoff, pitch, PWM, VCA, etc.

Output VCAs (2) with envelope

Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release: Final volume envelope.
Slope Time and Slope Level: Intermediate stage between attack and decay: a short peak followed by a second drop (more natural attacks, pianos and plucks).
Input Trigg: Envelope trigger source.
Gain: VCA input volume.
AM Input: Amplitude modulation (tremolo, audio-rate ring mod).
Panoramic: Stereo position: VCA 1 on the left and VCA 2 on the right for stereo without effects.
Soft Clip: Soft saturation of the original VCAs (more warmth, more CPU).
Envelope out / Trigger out: Envelope output for other modulations; trigger when the signal dies out (e.g. to stop the sequencer).

LFOs (2)

Frequency and Mode: Speed (low, mid or synced to MIDI tempo).
Width and PWM input: Waveform symmetry.
Delay: Delay from the start of the note before the LFO starts.
Fade in: Time for the modulation to build up gradually.
FM input: Modulation of the LFO speed.
Sawtooth, sine, triangle, square, random outputs (+ trigger): Five simultaneous waveforms and a cyclic trigger.

VCA / Mixer (16)

Volume: Input gain.
AM Input: Amplitude modulation (the 4 on the right are linear, the others exponential).
Link: Joins the amplifier to the next one: the output of the first becomes the sum (mixer).
Soft Clip: Soft saturation.
Inverse: Inverts the input signal (negative modulations, cancellations).

Utility and special modules

Trigger delay (Time 1, Time 2, Trigg input, Mode): Two independent trigger delays, in parallel or in series: envelopes that start later, flams, rhythmic bounces.
Noise generator: Independent white and pink outputs, 6 dB/oct LP and HP filters with Frequency: breaths, wind, snares, hi-hats.
Sample and hold: Clock Rate, Trigg selection (internal clock or external trigger), Trigg input, Glide (smooths the steps), input and output: random values from noise, sci-fi bleeps.
Envelope follower: Time choice (short/long), Time, Threshold, Follower in/out, Comparator in; generates envelopes from audio and positive/negative threshold triggers.
Ring modulator: Frequency and Depth of the internal sine (or external signal on the Mul Signal input), HiQ, modulation inputs: sum and difference frequencies, metallic timbres.
Formant filter: Four bell filters in series with modulatable Frequency, Resonance, Gain and preset Vowels (also modulatable): synthetic voices.
Bode Frequency Shifter: Scale (exp 2–1024 Hz or ±5, 50, 500, 5000 Hz), Amount of Shift, Mix, positive, negative and mixed outputs, FM input: shifts all frequencies by the same number of Hz, making any sound inharmonic; small shifts (1–5 Hz) give phasing and stereo width.

960 Sequencer

Frequency and MIDI Synchronization: Clock speed, free or in multiples of the DAW tempo.
On / Off and their trigger inputs: Start and stop (also from a trigger); on start it returns to the first step.
Length: Duration of the trigger generated at each step (short gate = staccato).
Fw / Fw-Bw: Forward or forward-backward.
8 columns × 3 knobs: Three levels per step (rows 1–3), e.g. note, cutoff and velocity.
Hold, Next step, Forcing, Repetition, Link: Hold = number of pulses to stay on the step; Next step = next step (1–8, random, stop); Forcing = jump to that step (also from a trigger); Repetition = trigger on every pulse; Link = trigger on step change.
Smooth 1–4: Portamento between step values for each output.
Mode Output 4 and On Line 1–3: Output 4 runs through the rows: L123/L321 (24 steps), L12, L13, L23 (16 steps), C123… (changes row on every pulse), Rand, or a row forced by hand or by trigger.

Effects

Resonant filter bank: 14 bands (LP 80 Hz, then 125–5600 Hz, HP 6.4 kHz) with ± Gain and Resonance per band, Output gain, Reset, assignment to VCA 1/VCA 2: the classic 914 bank for sculpting the timbre.
Chorus: Types (simple, medium, complex), Rate, Depth, Time, Stereo Rate, Stereo Width, Dry, Wet, VCA1/VCA2.
Phaser (alternative to chorus): Amount, Rate, Sweep/Resonance, Stages 6 or 12, Stereo width, Dry, Wet.
Stereo Delay: MIDI sync, Time L/R, Feedback L/R, Cross feedback, Dry, Wet, VCA1/VCA2.

External connections section

External audio in: Input for processing external audio with the modules (Modular V as an effect).
Out L/R and sequencer inputs/outputs: General outputs that can be reused in feedback and for connections between sections.
Key follow outputs, velocity, aftertouch, mod wheel, XY pads: Jacks for the keyboard's control sources.
A440: Reference tone for tuning.

Keyboard — Key follow (4)

Slope: Key follow slope (1 = follows the octave exactly; other values for stretched scales or for filters).
Pivot: Reference note around which the slope pivots.
Threshold: Note from which the slope becomes zero.
Low / High: Zone of notes that generates the key follow trigger (trigger split; by inverting the notes, the trigger fires outside the zone).
Bend / Portamento (Glissando): Whether the key follow receives pitch bend (also inverted) and continuous or semitone portamento.

Keyboard — General and performance controls

Mono / Unison / Poly: Monophonic like the original, unison (all voices on one note), polyphonic.
Poly (16, 32, 64) and Nbr Release: Number of voices and of notes in release.
Legato: In mono: portamento on all notes (not just legato ones).
Re Trigger: In mono: retriggers the envelopes even when playing legato.
Glide and On: Portamento time and activation.
Course Bend (tune) and (filter): Pitch bend range on the oscillators (up to ±4 octaves in semitones) and on the cutoff.
Velocity and Aftertouch: Sources that can be connected to any input.
VCA 1 and 2 envelope sliders: The ADSR of the output VCAs at your fingertips.
XY Pads (2): Four outputs assignable via cable (e.g. cutoff and resonance of the multimode).
Filter cutoffs 1–3: Quick controls (light on if the filter is in use).
Volume and Tune: Master volume and tuning ±1 tone.

Sound design tips

Build the patch in order

Always start from the minimal chain: oscillator → filter → output VCA, with the VCA envelope on the keyboard trigger. Only when it sounds, add modulations one at a time, listening to each cable.
Keep audio and control sources separate: a common mistake is to connect an audio output to a modulation input with a high amount and end up with noise or unwanted FM.

Oscillators

Three slaves on the same driver: one at 16', one at 16' detuned by 3–6 cents, one at 8' or 32' give thickness without chorus. Too much detuning (over 10–15 cents) makes basses lose their tonal center.
For basses use sawtooth + square; for clean subs, a sine at 32' mixed low. Remember that more oscillators use more CPU even if you can't hear them: unplug the ones you don't need.
Linear FM between slaves for stable metallic timbres; exponential FM for pitch envelope and vibrato.

Ladder filter

The 904A loses low end when you raise the resonance: for full basses keep it below 40% or mix an unfiltered oscillator in at a low level.
The filter opening is the character of the sound: filter decay shorter than the VCA decay = pluck; equal = filtered organ; slower filter = swell.
Key follow on the filter at 50–100% for leads that stay bright in the high register; 0% for basses that stay dark.
Pushing the mixer (linked VCAs) into the filter input and using Soft Clip creates Moog saturation: compensate the levels.

Frequencies and mix

Moog basses have strong energy between 40 and 120 Hz and a peak between 600 Hz and 1.5 kHz with the resonance: leave the kick at 50–60 Hz or below and carve out the bass accordingly, or use sidechain.
In polyphony, many voices with thick oscillators get muddy: for pads use a high-pass (904B or multimode) at 100–200 Hz.

Movement

A slow LFO on the PWM and small LFOs or key follow on the detuning simulate analog instability.
Sequencer: use one row for the notes, one for the cutoff, one for the accent on the VCA or the envelope; a low Smooth on the notes for a slight glide.
Trigger delay for offset envelopes: a second envelope that starts 50–150 ms later for a two-stage attack.

Common mistakes

Forgetting to set the Keyboard follow of the oscillator group: the sound stays on C3.
Leaving the VCA envelope without a trigger: no sound.
A mixer with too many oscillators at full volume: internal clipping and a muddy sound.
Poly with 64 voices and complex patches: CPU through the roof; limit the voices.

Presets to recreate

Modular Moog bass

Bass · Funk, synthwave, techno

Fat, round '70s bass: three slave oscillators in octaves into the 904A ladder filter, with the VCA Soft Clip on.

Oscillators: group 1 with Keyboard follow 1; slave 1 sawtooth 16', slave 2 square 16' (Width 50%) at +4 cents, slave 3 sawtooth 32'.
Mixer: three mixer VCAs at 80%, 70% and 40%, output to filter 1.
Filter: 904A low-pass 24 dB/oct, Frequency 250 Hz, Resonance 25%, Keyboard follow 1 at 30%; Velocity on the modulation input (+1 octave).
Filter envelope: envelope 1 on the cutoff (+4 octaves), Attack 2 ms, Decay 280 ms, Sustain 25%, Release 120 ms, trigger from keyboard.
Amplitude envelope: output VCA 1 Attack 2 ms, short Slope, Decay 600 ms, Sustain 80%, Release 100 ms; Soft Clip ON.
LFO and modulations: no LFO.
Voice and glide: Mono with Re Trigger ON; Glide 30 ms, Legato OFF.
Effects: no modulation effects; just a light, short Stereo Delay (Dry/Wet 8%) if you need air.

Berlin School sequence

Sequence · Berlin School, kosmische

A 16-note looping ostinato with a breathing filter: the cutoff changes at every step and a very slow LFO opens and closes it over time.

Oscillators: group 1 with Sequencer choice 4; slave 1 sawtooth 8', slave 2 square 8' at +5 cents.
Mixer: slave 1 at 80%, slave 2 at 60%, to filter 1.
Filter: 904A low-pass 24 dB/oct, Frequency 600 Hz, Resonance 45%; input 1 from sequencer output 2 (cutoff per step), input 2 from LFO 1.
Filter envelope: envelope 1 triggered by the sequencer, Attack 0 ms, Decay 150 ms, Sustain 0%.
Amplitude envelope: VCA 1 triggered by the sequencer, Attack 1 ms, Decay 250 ms, Sustain 0%.
LFO and modulations: LFO 1 sine 0.05 Hz on the cutoff; sequencer with MIDI Sync at 1/16, row 1 with the notes of a minor scale (A C E G A E C D), row 2 with different cutoff values, 16 steps.
Voice and glide: Mono, Glide 0.
Effects: Stereo Delay synced at 3/16 on the left and 1/4 on the right (feedback 35%) → light Chorus.

Bright Moog brass

Brass / lead · '60s–'70s Moog modular, progressive rock

Bright, noble synthetic brass, the timbre that made the Moog modular famous in the late '60s; also suited to progressive rock leads.

Oscillators: group 1, three sawtooth 8' slaves with detunings of 0, +5 and -5 cents.
Mixer: three slaves at 75%, to filter 1.
Filter: 904A low-pass 24 dB/oct, Frequency 700 Hz, Resonance 15%, Keyboard follow 1 at 70%; Velocity on the cutoff (+1 octave).
Filter envelope: envelope 1 on the cutoff, Attack 80 ms, Decay 300 ms, Sustain 60%, Release 200 ms.
Amplitude envelope: VCA 1 Attack 40 ms, Decay 200 ms, Sustain 85%, Release 180 ms.
LFO and modulations: LFO 1 sine 5.5 Hz on the driver's exponential FM input, Delay 300 ms and Fade in 400 ms (the vibrato comes in after the attack).
Voice and glide: Poly 8 voices for chords, Mono with Glide 40 ms for solos.
Effects: Stereo Delay 1/8 (Dry/Wet 12%) → hall reverb on a send (2 s).

Analog kick and toms

Percussion · Analog techno and electro

Deep kick and synthetic toms: a sine wave with a fast pitch drop and a click of filtered noise.

Oscillators: group 3, slave 1 sine 32', Keyboard follow on no (fixed pitch) or with reduced follow for the toms.
Mixer: sine at 100%; white noise in another VCA at 15% through the 904B.
Filter: 904B high-pass 24 dB/oct at 3 kHz on the noise only (click); sine straight to the VCA; filter bank +3 dB at 80 Hz and -3 dB at 350 Hz.
Pitch envelope: envelope 2 on the driver's exponential FM input, Attack 0, Decay 90 ms, Sustain 0% (drop of 2–3 octaves); click with envelope Decay 10 ms.
Amplitude envelope: VCA 2 Attack 0, Decay 400 ms, Sustain 0%, Release 50 ms; Soft Clip ON.
LFO and modulations: trigger from the sequencer in 4/4 or from the keyboard.
Voice and glide: Mono with Re Trigger, Glide 0.
Effects: none, or a light saturation.

Metallic drone with Bode

Drone / sound design · Sci-fi soundtracks, ambient

Inharmonic, shifting texture: the Bode frequency shifter moves all the partials by the same amount in Hz and breaks the harmonic ratios.

Oscillators: group 2 in LFO mode (independent of the keyboard); slave 1 sawtooth 32', slave 2 triangle 16'.
Mixer: slaves at 70% and 50% to the Bode Frequency Shifter (Scale 50, Amount 10 Hz, Mix centered); copy into the ring modulator (Frequency 500 Hz, Depth 40%).
Filter: 12 dB/oct multimode in band-pass, Frequency 1 kHz, Resonance 30%; sample and hold with high Glide on the cutoff.
Filter envelope: not used.
Amplitude envelope: VCA 1 and 2 Attack 3 s, Sustain 100%, Release 6 s; Bode positive output to VCA 1 (pan left), negative to VCA 2 (pan right).
LFO and modulations: LFO 2 slow random (0.1 Hz) on the Bode's FM input.
Voice and glide: Mono, Glide 0.
Effects: slow 12-stage Phaser (0.1 Hz) → long Stereo Delay (1/2, feedback 50%, Dry/Wet 30%).

Polyphonic PWM pad

Pad · Synthpop and '80s soundtracks

Soft, chorused analog pad: two LFOs at different speeds move the pulse width.

Oscillators: group 1, slave 1 square 8' (Width 50%), slave 2 square 8' at +7 cents, slave 3 sawtooth 16'.
Mixer: slaves 1 and 2 at 70%, slave 3 at 30%.
Filter: 12 dB/oct multimode low-pass, Frequency 2 kHz, Resonance 10%, in series with the 904B high-pass at 120 Hz.
Filter envelope: envelope 1 Attack 1 s, Decay 1 s, Sustain 70%, Release 1.5 s, light amount on the cutoff.
Amplitude envelope: VCA 1 and 2 Attack 700 ms, Decay 1 s, Sustain 90%, Release 1.8 s, opposite pans.
LFO and modulations: LFO 1 triangle 0.4 Hz and LFO 2 triangle 0.27 Hz on the driver's two PWM inputs.
Voice and glide: Poly 16 voices, Glide 0.
Effects: complex Chorus (Dry/Wet 30%) → long Stereo Delay with cross-feedback (Dry/Wet 20%).

I Feel Love — sequenced bass

Bass / Sequence · Donna Summer — I Feel Love (1977)

The pulsing, sequenced bass of I Feel Love. In the original, Giorgio Moroder and his team built it on a Moog modular borrowed from composer Eberhard Schoener, with the help of his assistant Robby Wedel; the Moog kept going out of tune and was recorded in stretches of 20–30 seconds. Here with Modular V.

Oscillators: group 1 with Sequencer choice 1; slave 1 sawtooth 16', slave 2 sawtooth 16' at +3 cents.
Mixer: slave 1 at 80%, slave 2 at 60%.
Filter: 904A low-pass 24 dB/oct, Frequency 350 Hz, Resonance 30%, Keyboard follow 1 at 40%.
Filter envelope: envelope 1 triggered by the sequencer, Attack 0 ms, Decay 120 ms, Sustain 10%, Release 60 ms, amount +3 octaves.
Amplitude envelope: VCA 1 Attack 1 ms, Decay 180 ms, Sustain 30%, Release 60 ms.
LFO and modulations: sequencer in MIDI Sync at 1/16 with an octave figure repeated on the root and passing notes; Stereo Delay 1/16 as a rhythmic echo.
Voice and glide: Mono, Glide 0.
Effects: Stereo Delay synced at 1/16 (feedback 20%, Dry/Wet 25%); hi-hat from white noise in a VCA with 40 ms decay and 904B at 6 kHz.

In genres and records

Experimental and studio electronic music: the Moog modular grew out of Robert Moog's collaboration with composer Herb Deutsch and developed around the requests of Vladimir Ussachevsky, Richard Teitelbaum and Wendy Carlos; Mort Garson used it for The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds (1967) and for the music of the live TV broadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
'60s–'70s rock and pop: The Doors used it on Strange Days (1967), the Monkees on Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., the Beatles on several tracks of Abbey Road; George Harrison recorded an entire Moog album, Electronic Sound; Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones are among its users.
Progressive rock: Keith Emerson was the first major rock musician to play it live and made it a trademark with Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Yes are among its users. Powerful leads and basses.
Berlin School and kosmische: Tangerine Dream; looping sequences and basses.
Electronic disco: Donna Summer's I Feel Love, produced by Giorgio Moroder, is built on a Moog modular borrowed from Eberhard Schoener; even the hi-hat comes from the Moog's white noise.
Jazz: Herbie Hancock, Jan Hammer and Sun Ra.
Synthwave, techno and minimal: modulated sequences, sequenced basses, synthetic percussion.
Ambient, drone, IDM and experimental: evolving textures, frequency shifter, band filters.
Hip hop and trap: synthetic kicks and 808s from the sine oscillator with a pitch envelope.
Cinematic and trailer music: basses and drones.