Moog Taurus 3 Bass Pedals Get Official Specs, Pricing

Moog Music has announced official specs and pricing for the new Taurus 3 Bass Pedals.

“Developing the Taurus 3 has been a labor of love for all of us at the factory” said Moog Music President, Mike Adams.  “We started with an in-depth analysis of the original Taurus I sound and circuitry, and then added modern amenities like MIDI and USB.  We didn’t stop until we had created a work of art. The response from the music community throughout the project has been incredible.”

Details specs below.

Performance Interface

• 13-note velocity sensitive bass pedals
• 1 Volume Footwheel Controller
• 1 Programmable Footwheel Controller
• 9 Footswitches for selecting Bank and Presets, Transpose, Glide On/Off, Decay On/Off, and Octave Up/Down

Synthesizer Sound Engine

• 100% Analog Audio signal path based entirely on the highly acclaimed Taurus I synthesizer circuits
• 2 x VCOs (Voltage Controlled Oscillators) with sawtooth waveform outputs
• 1 x VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter) with 24dB/Octave Lowpass Filter with the classic Moog Ladder Filter topology. 20Hz-20KHz Frequency Response
• 1 x VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier)

Synthesizer Modifiers

• 2 x ASD (Attack-Sustain-Decay) Envelope Generators with adjustable Attack, Sustain and Decay Parameters; one each for VCF and VCA contours
• 1 x LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) with Triangle, Square, Sawtooth, and Ramp waveforms with adjustable amounts to the VCOs and VCF. The LFO is syncable to MIDI Clock or Tap Tempo
• 1 x Arpeggiator with Latch Mode for generating recurring musical patterns from Bass Pedal Input. The Arpeggiator is syncable to MIDI Clock or Tap Tempo

Programming Interface

• 52 Presets total in non-volatile memory consisting of one bank of 4 factory presets, and 12 banks of 4 user-programmable presets
• Preset selection can be performed with the Value knob, or the combination of Bank footswitch, Bass Pedal, and Preset footswitch
• Factory Presets include the classic Taurus, Bass, and Tuba presets, plus the new “Taurus III” preset
• Two selectable levels of LED illuminated switches access the classic Taurus parameters or the Taurus 3 LFO and Arpeggiator parameters for editing with the Control Footwheel or the Value Knob
• 15-segment LED bargraph displays the value of the currently selected parameter

Classic Taurus Parameters in the OSCILLATOR section

• B.FREQ: Oscillator B Frequency coarse offset to Oscillator A
• BEAT: Oscillator B Frequency fine offset to Oscillator A
• GLIDE: Glide Rate
• OCTAVE: Low, Medium or High
• MIX: sets the loudness ratio between Oscillators A and B
• ATTACK: sets the Rise time for the VCA Envelope Generator when a note is played
• SUSTAIN: sets the maximum level for the VCA Envelope Generator when a note is held
• DECAY: sets the fall time for the VCA Envelope Generator when a note is released

Classic Taurus Parameters in the FILTER section

• CUTOFF: sets the lowpass filter cutoff frequency
• RESONANCE: sets the amount of signal fed from the output to the input of the lowpass filter. Can be set for filter self-oscillation
• ATTACK: sets the Rise time for the VCF Envelope Generator when a note is played
• DECAY: sets the fall time for the VCF Envelope Generator when a note is released
• AMOUNT: sets how much the VCF cutoff frequency is modified by the VCF Envelope Generator signal

Taurus 3 Parameters in the LFO Section

• SQUARE: “Radio button” type switch selects the LFO square waveform
• TRIANGLE: “Radio button” type switch selects the LFO triangle waveform
• RAMP: “Radio button” type switch selects the LFO ramp waveform
• SAW: “Radio button” type switch selects the LFO sawtooth waveform
• RATE: sets the LFO Rate
• LFO FILTER AMOUNT: sets the amount the LFO modulates the filter cutoff frequency
• LFO PITCH AMOUNT: sets the amount the LFO modulates the VCOs’ frequencies
• LFO SYNC: On/Off switch enables starting the LFO waveform cycle with each note played on the Bass Pedals

Taurus 3 Parameters in the ARPEGGIATOR Section

• PATTERN: sets the pattern of the arpeggiator
• ORDER: sets the order that the pattern of the arpeggiator is output
• OCTAVE: sets the number of octaves for the arpeggiator pattern
• ON/OFF: turns the arpeggiator on or off
• LATCH: turns the arpeggiator latch function on or off
• VALUE knob is used for selecting presets or editing parameters
• PRESET switch toggles between the current stored preset and its edited form
• MASTER switch selects a menu of Advanced Preset functions, Global settings, and System Utilities
• CURSOR switch navigates the screen of the LCD User Interface
• STORE switch initiates the storing of presets
• Field-upgradeable firmware using MIDI SysEx

MIDI Implementation

• Presets selectable by MIDI Program Change messages
• Taurus Sound engine can be played by MIDI Note messages
• Preset parameters controllable by MIDI Control Change (CC) messages
• Bass pedals transmit MIDI Note On/Note Off messages with user selectable velocity resolution
• Volume Footwheel transmits MIDI CC 7 (Volume) data
• Control Footwheel transmits MIDI CC corresponding to selected parameter
• Presets and Global Settings can be sent or received through MIDI SysEx

I/O panel

• HI-Z Output: ¼” output jack outputs the Taurus audio signal from the classic higher impedance Taurus output stage. For use with Bass Amplifier instrument inputs
• LO-Z Output: ¼” output jack outputs the Taurus audio signal from a low impedance output stage. For use with line-level inputs
• PITCH CV Input: ¼” TRS jack accepts expression pedal (such as Moog EP-2) or 0V to +5V Control Voltage inputs for modifying the VCOs’ frequencies
• FILTER CV Input: ¼” TRS jack accepts expression pedal (such as Moog EP-2) or 0V to +5V Control Voltage inputs for modifying the VCF cutoff frequency
• VOLUME CV Input: ¼” TRS jack accepts expression pedal (such as Moog EP-2) or 0V to +5V Control Voltage inputs for modifying the VCA gain
• GATE Input: ¼” input jack accepts +5V gate signal for triggering the Taurus EGs
• MIDI In: standard DIN MIDI input connector
• MIDI Out: standard DIN MIDI output connector
• USB: bi-directional USB MIDI port
• Power Inlet: IEC connector accepts 90-250V AC 50-60 Hz
• Power Switch: turns unit On or Off

Chassis Specifications

• Rugged metal enclosure with steel feet, front panel, structural panels and extruded aluminum back panel
• Weight: 45lbs
• Dimensions: 25" wide X 24" deep X 8 1/2" high

Pricing and Availability

Moog expects to ship the $1,995.00 Taurus 3 by the end of the year.

Link:

• Taurus 3 at Moog

James Lewin
Twitter @podcasting_news

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