Max Brand (1886-1980) was an Austrian composer and pioneer of synthesizer and electronic music. The moogtonium or Max Brand synthesizer is an early synthesizer prototype built by Bob Moog between 1967-60 for the exiled composer in New York. The rare synthesizer prototype was Moog´s interpretation of a trautonium.
Article on the origin and rediscovery of the moogtonium on the moog-foundation website.
The moogtonium was one of the main exhibits in the 2008 show Zauberhafte Klangmaschinen / Magical Sound Machines on the histories of sound generator, sound recorders and sound transmitters at the Kulturfabrik Hainburg (a repurposed tobacco factory), curated by IMA, the Institute of Media Archeology.
The instrument is part of the Max Brand archive.
Watch it being played live at the Ars Electronica (festival for arts, technology and society held in Linz, Austria) by Clemens Hausch and Gerald Krist. To listen to more compositions on this fascinating instrument, as well as Brand´s own, check out the CD "Kabelbrand- sounds from the Max Brand synthesizer" released on the label Moozak.
