TONTO (The Original New Timbral Orchestra)

Built starting in 1968 by engineer Malcolm Cecil and producer Robert Margouleff — whose newly purchased Moog Series IIIc modular formed the seed system — TONTO grew into a curved bank of cabinets integrating two Moog Series IIIs, four Oberheim SEMs, two ARP 2600s, and modules from Serge, EMS, Roland, and Yamaha, widely regarded as the largest and most complex multitimbral analog synthesizer ever built. Cecil and Margouleff served as engineers and programmers on Stevie Wonder’s Music of My Mind (1972), Talking Book (1972), Innervisions (1973, winning an engineering Grammy), and Fulfillingness’ First Finale (1974). Cecil bought out Margouleff’s share in 1975 and continued developing the instrument for decades; it was acquired by the National Music Centre (Studio Bell) in Calgary in 2013, fully restored by 2017, and remains a playable, publicly viewable instrument there today.