Moog Music Forum

I'm curious what Keith Emerson's done with those pedals. He was the only one to own a Moog Constilation system, which included the first version of the Taurus pedals. I've always imagined that Emerson made use of the pedals onstage, so Greg Lake could play guitar. That's parallel to Geddy Lee's techniques.

A new set of Taurus (Leo!) pedals doesn't have to be all that expensive - the trick is you don't have to recreate the Hammond-style organ pedals and cabinet. You can get better (and cheaper) results by simply mounting footswitch contacts in a keyboard format (white key, black key, etc.). Check out those eBay listings for a $39 MIDI pedal controller from Howard Cano ... he shows an example. Put a simple Moog filter/oscillator/envelope in there, and you've got all you need.

I use MIDI pedals now, but to tell the truth, I would much rather have everything in one box, with an AC power cord and every function having one toeswitch. None of that "hit the program button, then tap in the program change number by striking the proper sequence of pedals ..." Who has time for that when you are playing live?

And as far as the velocity sensitive organ-style pedals ... don't really need 'em.

northern hope wrote: A step sequencer for the Moogerfooger line would be great as well.

Hey, has anybody gotten to use the MuRF, yet? Those demos from this site's main page sound pretty impressive. It's supposed to function kind of like a step sequencer, but with filter cut-offs. How does it seem to work "in the flesh?"

ebg31 wrote:To MC,

Just go with a Kenton kit, man. If you could use the same kit that was made for the Source, you might be able to have 512 memory patches . . . if that kit includes a return MIDI signal.

Kenton's current product is not good enough for me. I don't want to interface via v/hz signal. Kenton used to make an interface specifically designed for the Taurus that was much more reliable and more useful - discontinued long ago.

I may have to roll my own interface.

northern hope wrote:
In my opinion, a portable monosynth in the $1000 range would absolutely rule the market. It would give everyone the opportunity to have something with the Moog logo on it, and it would ultimately serve as an amazing live synth. I don't take my Voyager out of the studio because of its weight and worth, but something smaller and cheaper would be perfect to take out.

Two oscillators, memory, midi, cv/gate ins and outs....something basic but effective.

I can get behind that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ebg31 wrote:Hey, has anybody gotten to use the MuRF, yet? Those demos from this site's main page sound pretty impressive. It's supposed to function kind of like a step sequencer, but with filter cut-offs. How does it seem to work "in the flesh?"

It's great - it produces a wide variety of interesting and unusual filter effects. The filters can really sound really lush and wet and there is plenty of variation possible thanks to the envelope, rate, lfo and sliders. It can produce that stepping filter sound, but it is also capable of creating swept modulation effects and even textures that sound like granular synthesis...

Cool! Can the envelope controls be used to create funky reverse delay sounds?

Well, sort of. It's not a delay so you there's no regeneration in it, but when the envelope shape is inverse (i.e. long attack) and you set the sliders and rate right it does produce textures that I can best describe as stretched. if the source material is suitable it will sound (somewhat) reversed and certainly different from merely setting a long attack on the sound itself...

Since this has basically become yet another thread for the longing of Taurus pedals, I'll bring this up. Sometimes, just for fun I do a kind of live on man band thing. I do this by playing an acoustic guitar (Yamaha FG-110) with my hands, controlling a drum machine (Siel MDP-40) with my left foot, and playing the bass pedals of my organ (Thomas Californian-263) with right foot. The problem is I can never take this show on the road because I can't haul a full size electric organ anywhere. I was wondering if A) There is some sort of SIMPLE foot-bass system that can be purchased B) Or if thats not available, some sort of SIMPLE bass-brain that can be controlled via midi C) Or if that isn't available, if there is some sort of way to buy a cheap, thrift-store organ and remove only the parts that make up the bass and output section.

I hope you guys can help...maybe this should have been it's own thread...

northern hope wrote: It seems like a recreation of the Taurus Pedals wouldn't really fit in with Moog's current mindset....it's a bit too novelty and I think the company wants to put things out that have a wider range and scope.

In my opinion... ...I hate you.

Just kidding! But sadly, you've probably stumbled upon the reason that moog refuses to rerelease the taurus pedals. I wouldn't care if they were more expensive than the originals, I'd just love to see some good ol' moog ingenuity go into designing some type of new pedal synth system. Even if it was made in a cheap, one dimensional manner- I'm sure you could create a cheap pedal, a one trick pony, that would capture the essence of the taurus if you really devoted some time to the task. But moog probably wouldn't do this, being the high quality establishment that they are. At least not while Bob's still around... ...and, oddly, I agree.... ...but... oh, well. Guess I'll have to keep looking for a used set.