Herb Deutsch, Moog Synthesizer Co-Inventor, Dies at 90

Herb Deutsch, the co-inventor of the Moog synthesizer and professor at Long Island’s Hofstra University, died on Friday (December 9). “Herb’s legacy and place in the history of music will never be forgotten. And here at Moog, his laughter will be missed and cherished,” Moog Music Inc. wrote on Facebook. “We are endlessly grateful for your friendship, collaboration, guidance, and creative spirit, Herb. Our love is with you and your family.” Deutsch was 90 years old.

Born in 1932 in Hempstead, New York, Deutsch took to music at the age of 4 and fell in love with performing and studying it. He eventually earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Manhattan School of Music. In 1963, he became friends with Bob Moog after introducing himself to the engineer at a music education conference and revealing that he’d assembled a Melodia theremin based on Moog’s design.

In 1964, Deutsch and Moog started working on a new instrument that would eventually become the first-ever Moog synthesizer, with Deutsch largely handling the keyboard interface. He knew he wanted it to be a “small and affordable music synthesizer” that could appeal to a wide range of musicians. “People have accused me of modesty, but actually I think that someone else would have been in the same place and gotten to a similar point within a short time. It was a direction that fit into the history of technology and its inevitable link with the arts,” Deutsch later said when asked about their collaboration. Deutsch composed “Jazz Images – A Worksong and Blues,” the first piece ever written for the Moog, and frequently performed it at early Moog concerts at the Museum of Modern Art, the Town Hall, and elsewhere.

“There is nobody more important to the Moog legacy than Herb,” the Bob Moog Foundation wrote in a statement. “His deep creativity, curiosity, intelligence, and pursuit of musical frontiers prompted Bob Moog to design the first Moog synthesizer with Herb’s invaluable guidance and collaboration. As the prototype evolved into larger modular systems, Herb and Bob worked together to promote this revolutionary instrument, with Herb composing and performing on them and teaching about them at seminars and in his classroom.”

Beyond his role as an inventor and composer, Deutsch was also a lifelong educator. He was a teacher at St. Agnes High School in Rockville Centre, New York in the 1970s. He was also a professor at Hofstra University for over 50 years, chairing the music department.