Michael Iceberg

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Michael Iceberg was a performer at Walt Disney World in the mid-1970s to late-1980s and a highly visible early-adopter of new keyboard and synthesizer technology. Thousands of visitors to the park over the years enjoyed his frenetic live performances on his "Amazing Iceberg Machine" which were demonstrations of not only his prowess as a keyboard performer but also his ingenuity in creating new sounds. The show was performed at Tomorrowland Terrace where Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe currently sits, and in the early 1980s also on the Space Stage (where the 3-d theater was built to accommodate the Captain EO film).

Michael's "machine" was created from a collection of synthesizers and mixing devices Michael referred to as "The Mechanical Contraption". The result was humorous, educational and amazing. Hunter S. Thompson once said about Michael: "Now, here's somebody crazier than me!"

During the mid- to late-1970's, Michael used a custom Chamberlin he had put together (an ancestor to the Mellotron, using bicycle gearing to changes voicings while he played, an Oberheim 4-voice synthesizer and DS-2 Digital Sequencer, a prototype Moog Polymoog synthesizer, which was later sold to make way for a Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 Synthesizer with sequencer, as well as other bits and pieces, some of which were custom-made or modified to facilitate playing in live performance by one person. The Chamberlin was often used to play back sound effects, such as the horse whinney during the William Tell Overture, wind effects, or to simulate having pigs "sing in A", as well as providing realistic violin sounds. The mainstay of his show was arrangements of classical pieces and movie music, including a Baroque Hoedown, the Star Wars / Close Encounters theme, and the end of the William Tell Overture ("Lone Ranger theme") as the close to the show. There were also some rock-oriented songs (the Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin"), Disney songs and an original called "Fanfare" that Michael wrote for his wife Nancy, which he sang. He also wrote the Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade theme.

A major portion of Michael's show was the visual presentation, which started off with a mirror behind and above him, that allowed audiences to see him play his multiple keyboards. Eventually, the "machine" came to encompass a 10-foot pyramid that opened up to reveal Michael and the Machine inside, with the mirror in the top part of the pyramid, an extensive light show and dry ice fog.

Michael had many guest performances and performed on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.

After leaving Disney (where he eventually performed at both Disney World in Florida and at Disneyland in California), Michael played the Iceberg Machine on lucrative corporate engagements, including for IBM. These allowed him to return to his hometown of Aspen and semi-retire where he lived as a neighbor to Michael Eisner above Snowmass Creek.