Little Phatty
Encyclopedia
The Little Phatty is a monophonic analog synthesizer
manufactured by Moog Music
since 2006, preceded by the Voyager and succeeded by Voyager Old School. Its design was conceived, in part, by Robert Moog
himself, and is the last instrument to have that distinction, although the primary engineer was Cyril Lance. It is also the first Moog product to be produced following his death.
It is one of the few Moog synthesizer
s to utilize MIDI from the factory (the others being the Minimoog Voyager
and the earlier Memorymoog+
). This allows for better integration in the modern studio and for live performance.
There are currently three versions of the Little Phatty. Aside from a few cosmetic differences (and price), all units have nearly identical sound generation circuitry. The earlier 'Tribute Edition', a limited run of 1200 units, featured blue LED lighting, wooden side panels and Bob Moog's signature decaled onto the convex back panel. The later 'Stage Edition' featured orange and red lighting, grey rubberized panels and the classic Moog logo replacing the signature. The third version, called the Stage II, had some minor mechanical and electrical tweaks as well as adding a USB interface, becoming the first Moog instrument to offer USB connectivity to date, as well as the ability to daisy-chain one or more Stage Editions to make a single polyphonic instrument.
Analog synthesizer
An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies...
manufactured by Moog Music
Moog Music
Moog Music is an American company based in Asheville, North Carolina which manufactures electronic musical instruments. The current Moog Music is the second company to trade under that name.-R.A. Moog Co. and the original Moog Music:...
since 2006, preceded by the Voyager and succeeded by Voyager Old School. Its design was conceived, in part, by Robert Moog
Robert Moog
Robert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:...
himself, and is the last instrument to have that distinction, although the primary engineer was Cyril Lance. It is also the first Moog product to be produced following his death.
It is one of the few Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
s to utilize MIDI from the factory (the others being the Minimoog Voyager
Minimoog Voyager
The Minimoog Voyager or Voyager is a monophonic analog synthesizer, designed by Robert Moog and released in 2002 by Moog Music. The Voyager was modeled after the classic Minimoog synthesizer that was popular in the 1970s, and is meant to be a successor to that instrument.-Design:Like the original...
and the earlier Memorymoog+
Memorymoog
The Memorymoog is a polyphonic electronic music synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1981 to 1983, the last polyphonic synthesizer to be released by Moog Music before the company was sold to management and renamed Moog Electronics...
). This allows for better integration in the modern studio and for live performance.
There are currently three versions of the Little Phatty. Aside from a few cosmetic differences (and price), all units have nearly identical sound generation circuitry. The earlier 'Tribute Edition', a limited run of 1200 units, featured blue LED lighting, wooden side panels and Bob Moog's signature decaled onto the convex back panel. The later 'Stage Edition' featured orange and red lighting, grey rubberized panels and the classic Moog logo replacing the signature. The third version, called the Stage II, had some minor mechanical and electrical tweaks as well as adding a USB interface, becoming the first Moog instrument to offer USB connectivity to date, as well as the ability to daisy-chain one or more Stage Editions to make a single polyphonic instrument.