Moog Prodigy
The Prodigy was an entry-level monosynth from Moog, which has since become a very popular and widely used Bass-synth in techno and electronic music. It was designed as an affordable dual-oscillator synth. It was, however, designed without any help from Bob Moog himself. But that didn't stop the Prodigy from becoming an excellent analog synth!
Its simple yet effective design employs two voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) with saw, triangle and pulse waveforms...all classic analog stuff! There's also a genuine Moog 24dB / octave lowpass filter (emphasis), A/D/S envelope generator, and LFO with square or triangle waveforms and routing to the VCF, VCO or both! Even Portamento, Pitch and Mod wheels. To save money there are no highly flexible modulation routings, no on-board sequencers or arpeggiators, and a simple 32 note keyboard.
If you can't afford a Minimoog, look into the Prodigy! It's a simple design with strikingly good sound, and it's perfect for learning analog synthesis with. Love the wood casing! Simple, sweet, Moog. It is used by Überzone, Cirrus, Astral Projection, Fatboy Slim, Depeche Mode, 808 State, Prodigy, Howard Jones, Blur, The New Deal, Solaris, Jimmy Edgar, and the Hippos.
- Demos & Media
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Video 1 - Moog Prodigy Analog Synthesizer (1979)Audio Clip 1 - Some sample basslines off the Future Music CD, issue 78.
- Specifications
- Polyphony - Monophonic
- Oscillators - 2 VCO's with sawtooth, triangle, and pulse (narrow/square) waveforms
- LFO - Square or Triangle
- Filter - 24 dB/oct lowpass w/ cutoff, emphasis, A/D/S envelope
- VCA - Attack, Decay, Sustain
- Keyboard - 32 keys (no velocity & aftertouch)
- Arpeg/Seq - None
- Control - CV / Gate
- Date Produced - 1979 - 1984
- Websites of Interest
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Synhouse MIDIJACK - adds MIDI to most analog synthesizers for $99
Moog Archives - Rare documents, photographs, and memorabilia
- Resources & Credits
Images from Perfect Circuit Audio.
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You can google "moog prodigy user manual download" and find the manual, which is 45 pages long. I just took mine apart and cleaned the contacts. I bought it new when they first came out. Lot's of dirt. Plays like new now. I used Radio Shack contact cleaner and instructions I found on the web, at bustedgear dot com, I think.