PolyMoog 

Keith Emerson
Photo taken By Mark Glinsky Copyright 2006 Mark Glinsky.
and Permission has been given by Mark  to use this image
http://www.markglinsky.com

The  prototype of PolyMoog was used by Keith Emerson
And it was called Apollo(Which was the Polymoog ancestor - the Lyra was a solo synthesizer that sat on top of the Apollo, and which Keith
apparently still owns)


Apollo and Lyra on top
http://www.dubsounds.com/polymoog.htm for moore history of PolyMoog

  
Apollo and Lyra



1976-80 PolyMoog Keyboard/Synthesiser and PolyMoog Keyboard

There are today 2 models of PolyMoog
First version come1976  as The PolyMoog Keyboard ( with theSynthesiser part) .
Then come 1978 a stripped version Now called PolyMoog Keyboard,  the first model   was renamed  PolyMoog Synth.

One of the most popular users in Sweden :
ABBA  Benny Andersson (B.A)
He got the First PolyMoog who arrived to Sweden (1976-77) stolen 1982
                                                                 
 
The synths used in ABBA original recording.
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight ((Andersson-Ulvaeus) Lead Vocals -Agnetha Recorded August 1979
Keyboards & Synthesizers?-Benny Andersson
The Synthesiser on"Gimmie, gimme, gimme"is a MiniMoog who makes the half  bass job together with Rutger Gunnarson on Bass.
But the most eyecatching part is the melody loop . The Loop is a little bit of a Pan flute like sound with trianglewaves and weak sawtoth together with a spoon of "pinknoise"
But the Minimoog is not alone in the originalrecording. There is a unknown stringdub behind? But There is also real strings in the recording Not shure if it's this who dubs.
Can be another Moog  addition.?
(On DVD ABBA in concert you can see and hear the Moog alone in this melody)

ABBA IN THE STUDIO
As told by Michael Tretow 1980

The sound of ABBA can basically be described as a mixture of the Phil Spector sound and modern technology - it is definitely a big sound. In concept they are a recording group who are quite happy to work in their home territory especially since they built their own studio, Polar.

This article has been written to describe the techniques I use to get the sound. The typical set-up for the basic tracks is as follows: drums, bass, piano or Polymoog, electric guitar, two or more ambience mics and one or two mics for the cue vocals.

The Polymoog creates very special problems. The signal-to-noise ratio in the instrument is probably around 3dB or so, so I used to feed it through a Dolby 361 unit in the decode position. If you're careful with the level this will not affect the sound but you have to level out the dynamics, if there are any, and then compensate for the lost dynamics in the mix. Anyway, it's a good method of cleaning up noisy tracks. The Polymoog's got its own balanced line output so I use that, sometimes with a miked amp as well.

On one song (Arrival) the Moog was picked up by two ambience mics only. To get a 'natural' sound, as if it were a bunch of real instruments playing out in the studio, I moved the amp in the room for every overdub we made, and recorded each harmony in stereo on two tracks. If you listen to the record it's very hard to tell what instrument it is; it sounds like all-metal bagpipes - or something.

http://www.abbamail.com/feature/soundint_feb1980_instudio.htm   for the complete article

My Own work

1974-80  Worked as Engineer at Malmsjö /Viscount Electronic .(service, modifying and quality tests)
1980-1995 Worked  with service on musical electronic instruments at my company SoundLab.
My experience is from the 70:s organ industry in repair and construction and quality problems.
But remember that the technic with TOS and ic dividers was new around 1975 and the education of organs and synthesizer repair was normally only by self learning or for those who had access to the manufactures education.
The top Octave synthesizer (TOS)MK5024 and Divider Ic:s SAJ110/210, MM5823  and lots of other special ic circuits  cooming  .
In Europe SGS ATES did many types and  Texas Instruments Semiconductor Italy did special circuits

The bad reputation of  instruments is also comming from less good repair techs .There was a lot of problem to solve and help with  education in the  servicechain. Most help of the the problems was done by telephone support/ assist.
PolyMoog get a bad reputation. Because of  the quality and the difficulty to service the instrument. It was not so common this time to see any PolyMoog and play them.. How many arrived to Sweden?.

During that period a lot of different keyboard instruments and PA passed the factory. Not only Viscount organs, It was common to compare  synthesisers and    different organs from different  manufactures that period.
Sound and quality.
Elex, Yamaha, Moog, Parie,Hammond (LEM ,Leslie ,Sharma ) etc.
                                                                                 
I  saw one organ  from Parie  it was a  a clone of a Hammond with electromechanial tone system.
it was the only organ I saw from this manufacture (1974 I think it was)
http://www.parieorgan.it/organ_en.htm

And I also seen and tested a Moog CDX(Moog Organ by Cordovox) made in Italy.

Quality of products during 1970:s
The 70:s electronic generation had lot of quality problems.