Today marks two years since we lost one of electronic music‘s founding fathers, Bob Moog. I attended an event held in his honor in Asheville, North Carolina, three days after his passing. Here‘s an email I sent to the other EM editors the next day, describing the experience:

The Moog memorial event yesterday was just incredible. Bob’s son Matt organized the whole thing and served as master of ceremonies for a gathering of almost 300. From noon until 4:00, about 15 friends and family members took turns telling stories about Bob, most of them very humorous, very touching, or very enlightening, and often all three. The stories only reinforced what we already know about what a colorful character and what a genuinely modest, funny, and warm human being Bob was.

The celebration began with music from Bob’s favorite local band, Toubab Krewe. The first speaker was Herb Deutsch, who told how in 1963, he coaxed Bob into creating an instrument that musicians could really use, which led to the first keyboard synthesizers and a lifelong friendship. Dave Borden, who apparently had a talent for blowing up electronic circuits, told of how Bob gave him a key to provide full nighttime access to the Moog studio, where he was unknowingly used to idiot-proof synth modules.

Wendy Carlos was positioned as the keynote speaker. She began with an account of how she and Bob met at AES; her most quotable quote was that he was a scientist who spoke music, and she was a musician who spoke science. Alongside her stories about Bob, she played four recorded examples of her work, ranging from Switched-On Bach to Beauty in the Beast. Her recording of the Henry Purcell’s funeral procession from “A Clockwork Orange” was especially poignant.

Steve Dunnington, Moog Music’s heir apparent, played “Amazing Grace” on the theremin. Cyril Lance, a very talented musician and reportedly brilliant physicist who was Bob’s most favored choice to carry on his work, played guitar and sang a couple songs. Steve Martin, the director of the film “Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey,” told great stories of his experiences with Bob, Leon Theremin, and Clara Rockmore. Bob’s wife Ileana Grams and all his children shared their stories and feelings with the audience. The final speaker was a famous Japanese synthesist who had a close lifelong friendship with Bob and considered him his “master.” Bob even suggested the name for his daughter, Eureka, who had accompanied him and his wife from Japan the day before. Unfortunately, I don’t recall his name.

After the official event, a couple dozen of us relocated to Bob and Ileana’s house. Ileana gave a detailed account of how she and Bob discovered the cancer and how it progressed. He died at home, and they kept him there until the funeral. Wendy pointed out that Larry Fast’s father died of the same illness last year. A room full of synthesists was quite a stimulus for conversation. I was the first to leave, at about 9:30, and I got home at midnight–12 hours after the memorial celebration had begun.

Obviously, Bob had lots of very good friends who thought the world of him.