thumb|Several Moogerfoogers pedals.

Moogerfooger is the trademark for a series of analog effects pedals manufactured by Moog Music. There are currently eight different pedals produced; however, one of these models is designed for processing control voltages rather than audio signal. A sixth model, the Analog Delay, was released in a limited edition of 1000 units and has become a collector's item. Moog Music announced on August 28, 2018, that the Moogerfooger, CP-251, Minifooger, Voyager synthesizers, and some other product lines were being built using the remaining parts on hand and discontinued thereafter.

Audio moogerfoogers consist of a black wedge-shaped box, approximately , with walnut edges. The face contains an array of knobs, switches and LEDs. There is also a foot switch that allows the user to toggle the effect on and off and a knob that controls the gain. True to the nature of modular synthesizers, all parameters on the pedals are variable using control voltages which may be plugged into the rear of the pedal using 1/4" jacks.

MF-101

thumb|right|220px|moogerfooger MF-101 Lowpass Filter

The MF-101 is an independent analog low-pass filter. Based on the amplitude of the dry audio signal, an envelope is generated. This envelope alters the filter's cutoff frequency and its amount is variable. Knobs also allow controlling of the filter's frequency (from 20 Hz to 12 kHz) and resonance. The resonance can be increased to the point of self-feedback producing a pitch that follows the filter cutoff frequency. The MF-101 was released by Big Briar (now Moog Music) in 1998.

MF-102

The MF-102 is an analog ring modulator. The user can select between two LFO waveshapes, either a square or sine-like (really a triangle) wave. The frequency range of the LFO was continuously variable from 0.1 Hz (one cycle every ten seconds) to 25 Hz. The user can also vary the amount, if any at all, which the LFO affects the carrier frequency. Like the MF-101, the MF-102 was released in 1998.

MF-103

The MF-103 is an analog twelve stage phaser. The unit has two outputs for either Mono or Stereo operation. When both the left and right output jacks are used, the odd-numbered filters are sent to the left channel, and the even-numbered filters are sent to the right channel. This allows for the spreading of a sound's frequencies between two speakers.

Moog also released Pattern editing software for the MF-105 which users can run on their home computers to create their own Animations that could be loaded into the unit. The MIDI MuRF Pattern Editor is available for download free of charge from Moog Music. It provides easy access to parameters only available through MIDI CC commands. Saving and storing patterns on a computer allows for an unlimited number of available pattern variations.

MF-107

The FreqBox or MF-107 was added to the moogerfooger series in early 2007. It was not designed by Bob Moog and it was the first new stomp box to be produced by Moog Music after Bob Moog's death. In general the FreqBox sounds similar to a synthesizer because its interior is actually a VCO that is modified by the input signal.

The left hand side of the control panel for the FreqBox contains a VCO which has two knobs to control frequency and waveshape. The waveshape is continuously variable from triangle wave to sawtooth wave to square wave to pulse wave. There is a hard sync on/off switch that turns on hard syncing the VCO signal with the input signals frequency. The amplitude of the VCO is controlled by the amplitude of the input signal.

On the right hand side there are three knobs. A mix knob to mix the level of input signal with the level of the VCO signal, an FM Amount knob that allows the input signal to modulate the VCO with frequency modulation, and an Env. Amount knob that sets an envelope to the frequency modulation.

MF-108M

June 15, 2011 Moog Music announced the release of the Cluster Flux which was a signal processor that produced flanging and chorusing effects. It had a six-waveform modulation section, a knob that added either positive or negative feedback, a jack for inserting effects into the Feedback Loop, a Tap Tempo switch, a 5 Pin DIN input for MIDI Control and dual outputs for either Mono or Stereo. The Second output had a dip switch configurable for either Stereo out (two

types), Delay only out, or dual Mono out.

CP-251

The CP-251 is a control voltage processor that is designed to be used with any of the moogerfoogers or any other audio device that can be manipulated with control voltages. The moogerfooger 4'33" supposedly had only one button, which would silence any inputs for exactly 4 minutes and 33 seconds. The name and function of the unit was a reference to John Cage's famous composition 4′33″.

The MF / FM

thumb|155x155px|Moogerfooger MF FM

In late March 2007 Gizmodo.com ran an article announcing the Moogerfooger MF/FM. Pictured was an effect pedal modeled after the classic Moogerfooger design with a linear FM Tuner and a Green rocker switch. The device supposedly was able to lock into FM radio frequencies to create sounds weirder than ever before. The April 1 availability date was a giveaway that this was just another April Fool's Day joke. In theory however, if the device did exist it could have operated as described. Aleatory or chance operations were tools that 20th Century Music composers would use in their pieces to introduce random elements or "found objects" into performances of their works. Radio broadcasts in particular were largely unpredictable, plus they added elements of noise, static and different signals fading in and out as you would tune into different stations that would be used as texture in these pieces. The joke alludes to works by composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, whose compositions Kurzwellen and Hymnen incorporate sounds from Short Wave Radio broadcasts. In popular music The Beatles used a live radio broadcast in their song “I Am The Walrus”, and Pink Floyd's “Wish You Were Here” opened with randomly changing the tuner frequency through live broadcasts on David Gilmour's car radio, which the songs opening bars were then also transmitted to, to complete the effect.

MF-106TC

thumb|159x159px|Moogerfooger MF-106 Time Compressor

On April 1, 2009, Moog Music's website announced another new moogerfooger as an April Fool's Day joke. The MF-106TC Analog Time Compressor supposedly had the ability to compress the time stream rather than expanding it like a delay pedal, which would then give musicians the ability to hear notes before they actually played them.

According to Amos Gaynes of Moog Music, given the possible fictitious title of Temporal Engineer, this was discovered when they accidentally reversed the clock phasing in the time generation on the MF-104Z Analog Delay, and discovered that it can actually work in reverse, compressing the time stream instead of expanding it. According to Moog, however, in a Consumer Product Safety Warning, customers should not attempt to reverse the clock phasing of the time generation circuit on their MF-104Z Delay to mimic the capabilities of the MF-106TC Analog Time Compressor, because without the factory-installed flux capacitor added, a standard MF-104Z will be seriously damaged.

Software plugins

In 2000, digital effects recording studio Bomb Factory worked with Bob Moog to develop music plugins for Pro Tools based on the MF-101, MF-102, MF-103 and MF-104. The plugins allowed the user to replicate the effects of the moogerfoogers while editing or processing digital audio on their computer.

In 2022, Moog Music developed new audio plugins based on seven of the moogerfoogers: MF-101, MF-102, MF-103, MF-104, MF-105, MF-107 and MF-108. The plugins were released as AAX, VST3, and AU for DAWs on Windows and Mac. In addition to replicating the effects, they included digital CV so moogerfooger plug-ins could be connected to each other like the original hardware.

References

  • Moog Music website
  • MF-101
  • MF-102
  • MF-103
  • MF-104
  • MuRF
  • FreqBox
  • CP-251
  • [https://thequietus.com/articles/25203-moog-discontinue-moogerfooger-analogue-pedals]