The Cleaner posted:

I guess I'll bite. I can't top the moops joke.

Bob Moog really is the grandaddy of synthesis. Don Buchla and Ray "The Singularity" Kurzweil also developed in the game, but Bob really started things with his modules and designs. Blah blah blah history lesson aside he has probably held the most consistent company with the Moog synthesizer. That is to say, the company never really vanished or developed a bad rep over the past 40 years. They have been putting out top quality USA-made synthesizers since around 1971.

Not only are the products some of the better built quality-wise, but the sound very celebrated. Mainly for its filter, however the whole thing really has a unique sound. Every synthesizer is designed to synthesize sound of course, and therefore you might say they sound similar - yet different. Every electric guitar has 6 strings, a neck, some pickups, etc.. yet the difference between a $4,000 Custom Les Paul and some cheap $150 Yamaha will be noticeable, especially to a guitar player who has played all his life. Especially when he's about to go into the studio to record.

As far as your "Keys in the 70's sounded great what haaapppened, mannnnn?" question... Obviously your romanticizing the era and playing style. Alot of new music is not only recorded with Moog synths, but actual equipment from the 1970's that is still around in the home of (hipster) musicians. And of course playing styles and such have drastically changed in the past 40 years, alot with production styles. And music in general.

HOWEVER I'm also willing to bet that if your referring to early-to-mid 1970's music, then what your probably hearing most of the time aren't even synthesizers at all, but organs and instruments like the Mellotron, which are not even synthesizers.