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AMPEDNews / Synths

Moog Taurus 3 Bass Pedals Get Official Specs, Pricing

New Pedals A Labor Of Love 26-Nov-09

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

4 Comments... Post a comment original story

Marc JX8P Said...

Beautiful, a work of art indeed!

26-Nov-09 03:28 AM

mystic radio Said...

WOW..... i thought the first gen was purdy.. these are amazing. Probably sound stellar. I wonder if the guys in Genesis will buy these?

26-Nov-09 04:30 PM

the nameless one Said...

moog music should have included pulse, and triangle waveforms; it would have given the taurus 3 a much more diverse pallete of timbre. The design is wonderfull. Looks like something you could hang on your wall!(or in a famous gallery.) :)

03-Jan-10 12:30 AM

Peter Kadar Said...

I can't WAIT for mine to arrive!

08-Jan-10 02:56 AM