A couple of months back we were lucky enough to be present at a rehearsal of the Moog Ensemble. It's a group of mono-synth playing musician's headed up by Will Gregory - one half of pop-art group Goldfrapp.

As well as playing classical pieces - Bach - inspired by Wendy/Walter Carlos' Switched On Bach recordings, they also play contemporary pieces, especially written for the ensemble.

We spoke to Will Gregory about his reasons for putting the group together and some of the challenges faced when trying to gig a bunch of 30+ year old technology.

To be fair, it's not quite that there's a collection of old and new synths, plus the expressive use of a couple of wind controllers. If you didn't know Will also has been known to be a  world class saxophone player in previous musical projects.

This rehearsal didn't feature the full ensemble, there are up to 12 of them for a full performance.

Players

Will Gregory - Minimoog and wind controller

Hazel Mills - Roland SH-09

Simon Haram - Arturia MiniBrute and wind controller

Vyvian Hope-Scott - various modular gear

Simon Clark - Minimoog

Pete Rosser - Korg MS-20

More Information

• WGMoogs.co.uk

 

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