Matthew Moldover (born April 24, 1980), known as Moldover, is a musician and instrument designer based in San Francisco, CA. He is known for his musical instruments, including the Mojo, Robocaster, Octamasher and Guitar Wing.

Early life

Moldover is originally from the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

area and began playing guitar at the age of 13 in

Rockville, MD Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth-largest incorporated city ...

. He discovered

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

on the internet and moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

to attend in 1998. He earned a degree in electronic music composition in 2002, and then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to play in a variety of bands. He soon transitioned to a focus on solo performance; a 2003 visit to

Burning Man Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the penultimate night of the event: the ...

Festival in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

led to him moving to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 2008.

Career

Moldover has released a significant amount of media content in different arenas including 4 studio albums of music, many live videos of his performance known as "Live Remashing" and also instructional videos for ''Ask Video'' and others. Before releasing an official Studio album, Moldover released a series of live recordings called ''Live Remashing''. These were his preliminary journeys into Controllerism before he had come up with the term. In 2006, Marc Urselli of ''Chain D.L.K.'' described ''Live Remashing'' as "an encyclopedia of modern pop culture in sound format" and "the best example of how to use modern technologies to enhance and extend musicianship and artistic vision", and "the new form of DJing." In 2009, Moldover released his debut album ''Moldover''. Of the variety of price tiers for the release of the album, the steepest version included a fully playable circuit board, thus highlighting what is termed ''playable packaging''. The track listings themselves were created using circuitry. Inside the package is a small playable light-theremin. In 2016, Moldover released the studio album ''4 Track'' which included the playable packaging ''Voice Crusher''.

Controllerism

The

MIDI Manufacturers Association The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) is a non-profit trade organization where companies work together to create MIDI standards comparison, MIDI standards that assure compatibility among MIDI products. The MMA is a U.S. organization established ...

has referred to him as the "Godfather of

Controllerism Controllerism is the art and practice of using musical software controllers, e.g. MIDI, OSC, DJ controller, joystick, etc., to build upon, mix, scratch, remix, effect, modify, or otherwise create music, usually by a digital DJ or Live PA per ...

". Moldover suggests that the Controller is "the instrument of the next generation." In 2005, he coined the term ''

'' with the encouragement of his manager of the time, DJ Shakey. On the development of Controllerism he said that "the basic styles of DJing weren't satisfying to me, I was used to a more visceral way of performing; playing guitar, singing, and producing sound with my body in real time. For me, controllerism is more along those lines than DJing." In a 2007 article in ''

Remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

'', Moldover stated that "Controllerism borrows its name from

turntablism Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more Phonograph, turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into ...

. These terms are essentially the same idea, but they revolve around different instruments."

Instrument design

Frankentroller

The Frankentroller started as a Novation Remote 25 SL Keyboard; Moldover adapted its hardware to make it a new instrument by adding a Kurzweil keyboard touchstrip, a Korg Kaoss Pad, as well as refashioning some of the keyboards black keys to be used as crossfaders. Ean Golden of ''Remix'' subsequently stated that the Frankentroller had earned Moldover wins his personal award for "most creative mod."

Mojo

In 2010, Moldover released the ''MOJO'', "Limited-Edition Performance MIDI Controller". This is his first "made from scratch" midi controller. It figures prominently in his live performances. In 2012, Moldover made the design for the Mojo open source. Artist Ill Gates called the Mojo, "the single greatest controller in the history of MIDI."

Robocaster

The Robocaster is a custom-made signature guitar produced by Visionary Instruments: a "hybrid instrument", it incorporates several MIDI controller options, including "gaming buttons, touch-strips, knobs, faders, switches, motion sensors, a pressure pad and a joystick." Moldover said that he wanted to create the Robocaster as a more tactile and less sample-based instrument that allows for more traditional musicianship combined with advanced FX tweaking and midi integration.

Guitar Wing

Directly inspired by the Robocaster, the Guitar Wing adds an ergonomic, wireless MIDI controller to any electric guitar or bass. The Guitar Wing was created in collaboration with ''Livid Instruments''. ''

Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

'' noted that it allows "near effortless control over effects, software, digital audio workstations and even stage lights between strums."

Octamasher Jambox

Originally designed as a gift for Burning Man participants, the Octamasher is "a multi-input combination of 8 modified keyboards that link to a single brain (computer), the output of which is coordinated and controlled to allow for multiple users combining to perform new music."

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Moldover'' (2009) * ''Say It - Remix EP'' (2014) * ''Four Track'' (2016)

Live Controllerism Mixes

* ''Live Remashing (Live Controllerism Mix 6/20, 11/6 & 11/9 2004)'' * ''Live at Warper (Live Controllerism Mix 2/21/2006)'' * ''Live at BassWerks LA (Live Controllerism Mix 1/17/2008)'' * ''Friendly Fire (Mixtape 2018)''

Videography

Demonstration Videos

* ''Moldover, Live Remashing Demonstration (2006)'' * ''Moldover's Octamasher (2006)'' * ''Moldover's Approach to Controllerism (2007)'' * ''MTV's The How-To Show - Moldover (2008)'' * ''Moldover's Album - Circuit Board Instrument (2009)'' * ''The Mojo: Moldover's New Controller (Sneak Peak) (2010)'' * ''Moldover's Scene TOAST on iPhone (2011)'' * ''TRAKTOR KONTROL F1 - Controllerism with Moldover , Native Instruments (2012)'' * ''How to Build a Controller (Making of the Mojo) (2012)'' * ''Moldover's Jamboxes (2012)'' * ''ASK VIDEO COURSE: Moldover : Sound Control (2013)'' * ''Moldover's Four Track Documentary (2013)'' * ''The Robocaster and the Guitar Wing - Moldover Interview (2015)'' * ''ASK VIDEO COURSE : Making Music With Game Controllers (2017) ''

Music videos

* ''Young One (2012)'' * ''Say It (2012)'' * ''Not Your Mirror (2016)''

Live Performance Videos

* ''Moldover - Live at Warper 7/26/2006 (2006)'' * ''Moldover - Live at BassWerks LA 1/18/2008 (2008)'' * ''Moldover - Live at Future Everything 5/14/10 (2011)'' * ''Controller Battle - MOLDOVER (Special Exhibition) (2011)'' * ''Novation//Twitch DJ Controller Mash-up by Moldover (2012)'' * ''Moldover - Not Your Mirror (2012)'' * ''Moldover and the Guitar Wing (2014)'' * ''Moldover - Alone (2015)'' * ''Moldover - Plastic Smile (2017)'' * ''Moldover - Live at Bottom of the Hill 12/16/17 (2018)''

Instruments

Instrument Design & System Architect

* ''The Mojo - A hyper-ergonomic performance controller for 60-Works (2010)'' * ''The Bass Finger - An ultra-rugged DJ controller for artist Bassnectar (2012)'' * ''The Robocaster - A controller-guitar hybrid for Visionary Instruments (2013)'' * ''Guitar Wing - A guitar-attaching control surface for Livid Instruments (2014)'' * ''RAMU - A multitude of hardware and software instruments collaboratively created for Mickey Hart (The Grateful Dead/Dead & Co.) (2016–2019)'' * ''Arcadia - Combination keyboard and finger drumming controller for artist Glasys (2018)'' * ''The MC1 - A microphone-attaching controller for personal performances (2019)''

Multiplayer Instrument Design ("Jamboxes")

* ''The Octamasher - For casual interaction at festivals and parties (2005)'' * '' The Syncomasher - For performances by professional controllerists (2009)'' * ''The Minimasher - For young people and people with disabilities (2010)'' * ''ConnecTable - Iterative modular platform for productizing the jambox (2013)'' * ''8 Bit Boombox - Retro gaming and chiptune themed portable jambox (2018)''

Casual Playable Packaging instruments

* ''Light Theremin CD-case (2008)'' * ''Voice Crusher USB-drive in cassette form-factor (2014)'' * ''Do-It-Yourself kit version of Light Theremin (2012) and Voice Crusher (2018)''

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.moldover.com
Controllerism Official

YouTube Official
Electronic musical instruments Sound production technology Musical techniques American electronic musicians Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area American experimental musicians 1980 births Living people Breakcore musicians