Bjooks The Minimoog Book takes you on a written journey through the sounds, stories, and technology of Bob Moog’s legendary monophonic analog Synthesizer.
Update: Now on Kickstarter
Today’s Synthesizer world is very digital. We watch videos, buy synths and sounds online, comment on social media, etc. Everything is digital. The fascination with synthesizers can also be explored analogously. Besides making music offline, you can attend events like Superbooth. It’s amazing to see real-life people who share the same hobby. And you don’t need to give likes, shares, or anything like that.
You don’t also need any of that with the books from Kim Bjorn’s BJOOKS. His best-selling books (Push Turn Move, Inspire The Music…) take readers into the world of synthesizers and electronic music visually, informally, and musically in a very analog, cozy way. Another book will be added this year. Bjooks dedicates this to the most legendary of all legendary synths, the Minimoog.
Bjooks The Minimoog Book
Years in the making, the Minimoog Book illustrates more than five decades of electronic music history through the lens of the Synthesizer that changed everything, as described in the official press release.
As the book title suggests, this is about the legendary Moog Minimoog by Bob Moog. The book traces the history of the Minimoog from the first prototypes and the very first Model D’s through the Minimoog Voyager models and into the present day.
In addition to many stories and background information, it offers numerous unpublished photos, circuit diagrams, and historical advertising material. It’s not just a book for Minimoog fans. The author also takes the reader on a journey, showing what influence the synth had on other instruments and on music.
Like in the other Bjooks titles, readers can also expect exclusive interviews and features with legendary musicians:
Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Chick Corea, Tony Visconti (David Bowie), George Duke, Anne Dudley (Art of Noise), Bernie Worrell, Devo, Kraftwerk, Air, J Dilla, Gary Numan, and many others — as well as some of today’s most respected songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, such as Greg Kurstin (Adele), Yumiko Ohno (Buffalo Daughter), Mac DeMarco, and more.
As an extra bonus, the opening of Takes offers a foreword from Geddy Lee, frontman of the legendary prog rock band Rush. Someone who used the Minimoog in many recordings.
Kim Bjørn, founder of BJOOKS shared
“THE MINIMOOG BOOK is our most vital project yet, documenting and delving deep into the iconic electronic instrument that has shaped generations of musicians and songs.”
“We’re deeply privileged to bring this beautiful book to Kickstarter for our loyal readers and enthusiasts everywhere. Your support in making this labor of love a reality will mean the world to our small team.”
First Impression
It’s a must-have book for Minimoog fans. It is also for synthesizer fans who would like to find out more about the Minimoog creation and everything that happened afterward in an analog way. The first pictures of the book look promising. I’m looking forward to browsing through the finished work
Bjooks The Minimoog Book will be available for pre-order on Kickstarter later in April. Early supporters will get access to special perks and insider info like never-before-seen photos, behind-the-scenes content, a special edition of the book, and more.
More information here: Bjooks
Big thanks to Synthanatomy for allowing me to post, as ‘synthtopia’ seems to have a block on me, which is interesting as there are at least a thousand other people that work where I do, and at least half of the posts on that site are vile opinionated insults, but here goes: the Minimoog revolutionized music and put balls on every keyboardist in the 70s who had to compete with a guitarist for solo time and space in an arrangement. Bill Hemsath, standing on the shoulders of Dr. Bob Moog, effectively invented an entirely new musical instrument. I’d love to read this book before I invested in it, in order to make sure the author got the story correct…
Oh, we got it right – JoE Silva (the author) interviewed both Bill Hemsath and Jim Scott. In all our titles we try hard to be very thorough with sources, research and fact checking. (I’m the publisher 🙂
Too bad all their books are extremely overpriced. Otherwise it would’ve been a nice Christmas gift.
what should they cost in your opinion?
500,- euro for 8 books (this is with discount, no shipping) is what it would cost now. I would say at half the price (including shipping) I would start thinking about buying.
I hope you know what kind of costs are involved in making books like this: prints in this quality of paper is high, the authors and all other members involved in these projects should be paid fair, the publishing company must have a marge otherwise it’s not a sustainable business, paying taxes, etc….
Plus, they work with distributors and retailers who also take a part of the cake. Half the price, I’m pretty that would be not sustainable at all. With E-book/PDF versions only it be possible. Not with print and not in the quantity. The Bjook releases are not produced like the latest crime release but it’s a niche market.
I suggest signinf up to be first in line for the Kickstarter: then you can save quite a bit.