Moog Polymoog 203a

The Moog Polymoog 203a is a polyphonic Analog synthesizer manufactured between 1975 and 1980 by Moog Music. It had a touch-sensitive keyboard, and was revered by musicians for its rather unlimited polyphony.

Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel and Larry Fast have all used Polymoogs during their career.

Tony Banks' Polymoog
The Polymoog was one of Tony Banks' preferred synthesizers during the mid-late 1970s and early 1980s.

He liked using the Polymoog's foot pedal for controlling the VCF, resulting the distinctive swelling effect heard on songs like "From The Undertow" from his solo album A Curious Feeling (1979). Another example of the Polymoog is on "Snowbound" (from ...And Then There Were Three), where for one of the string sounds he did a pitch-bending effect up a minor 3rd using the volume pedal. However, he found the Polymoog's string sounds weren't a very good imitation of real strings, so he preferred a Roland RS-202 for that purpose.

The only time he used the Polymoog live was during the ...And Then There Were Three tour with Genesis in 1978. It replaced the RMI electric piano for producing more sustained piano & organ-like sounds. Like the RMI, it was fed through an MXR Phase 100. Even though the Polymoog was eventually excluded from his stage rig as it evolved, Tony remained partial to the synth and continued to use it (at least) as a studio keyboard on Genesis' next two albums: Duke and Abacab.

Peter Gabriel's Polymoog
The Polymoog was one of Peter Gabriel's first synthesizers, but one he is probably least known for using. He played it during his first tour as a solo artist in 1977, mounted on top of an acoustic grand piano. Probably the second tour leg, from September 1977 onwards.

Peter Gabriel used the Polymoog again on his fourth album (known as Security). It is visible amongst his recording rig in documentary footage from the making of the album: adjacent to the Yamaha CP-70, with the Fairlight CMI keyboard on top. However, Peter seemed to prefer the Prophet-5 for its easier programmability, so the Polymoog did not see as much use besides for specific textures and so on. On the album, Peter played the Polymoog (simply credited as the 'Moog') on "I Have The Touch", and so had co-producer David Lord on "Lay Your Hands On Me". It is possible Peter also played the Polymoog in places on his third album, Melt.

Larry Fast's Polymoog
Synthesist Larry Fast played the Polymoog on Peter Gabriel's early solo efforts, from Car through to Security. He relied on it heavily on the first two albums, but on the latter two he did not use it as much, given he preferred the Prophet-5 by then.