Google gave us a new toy today via Google Doodle –- a virtual Moog synthesizer, which lets anyone celebrate the 78th birthday of Moog inventor Robert Moog by crafting Moog-y renditions of the popular hits of today and yesterday and uploading the video of them to YouTube. Here’s six of the better ways people have spent their day crafting Moog-y covers.
1. Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”
A little goes a long way when covering a pop hit on a browser-based Moog, and this rendition of “Bad Romance” wisely keeps things to a mere thirty seconds. Even better, it just does the famous parts, so you can cut right to the chase when forcing your friends/roommates/family members to play “Name That Tune” with you.
2. Van Halen’s “Jump”
Singer/songwriter Aaron Isles apparently, took the existence of the Google Doodle Moog as something of a challenge, recording a half-dozen covers (or snippets of covers) since its unveiling. Rather than just plunking on keys, Isles’ renditions have rich textures that make the 0:25 seconds you spend listening to the intro to “Jump” feel like a genuinely musical moment.
3. Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water”
The execution on this cover of “Smoke On The Water,” most likely performed by some old dude who spent his college years trying to pick up girls by playing the song’s signature riff, is a bit belabored – we watch as he crafts individual pieces of the song and works them into the full thing, which takes nearly four minutes. Still, at the end, you get not only a Moog-ified version of “Smoke on the Water,” but a weird, abstract documentary about the making of the song.
4. Daft Punk’s “Aerodynamic”
Mildly Internet-famous YouTube musician Brett Domino offers a positively jaunty version of Daft Punk’s “Aerodynamic” for your listening pleasure.
5. The Cure’s “In Between Days”
Aaron Isles is back at work here, delivering a maddeningly short tease of the intro to “In Between Days” that clocks in at a mere 23 seconds. What happened to you yesterday, Aaron Isles? Did you get so old you felt like you might die? We’ll never know until you record the full song.
6. The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”
This version of “Hey Jude” is dark and hard-edged, with an eerie, moody feeling to it that belies the sweetness of Paul McCartney’s reassuring ode to the fact that John Lennon treated his son Julian kinda badly. It also long, without the atmospherics or artistry present in the work of an Aaron Isles or a Brett Domino. Still, if you ever wondered what “Hey Jude” would sound like in a darker key and played on a virtual Moog by someone controlling the keys with his mouse, well, now you know.
Create your own Google Doodle Moog masterpiece, with these handy instructions.
