Classic Moog Sound for the Next Generation of Producers
Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins are a re-invention of Moog’s coveted analog effects pedals, bringing the legendary tone, musicality, and interconnectivity of the original hardware effects to your digital music production environment.
Designed by Bob Moog and his engineering team in the late '90s and '00s, Moogerfooger effects pedals were direct descendants of the original Moog modular synthesizers, adapted to process, modulate, and play with inputs ranging from guitar, voice, and synthesizer to any imaginable audio source. From the MF-104's lush, warm analog delay circuit to the swirling phaser effects of the MF-103 and legendary resonant ladder lowpass filter in the MF-101, Moogerfoogers have become renowned for their sound and adopted by studios and performers around the world.
Each of the seven effects (plus a brand newsaturation tool) have been meticulously renewed with reverence for the lush, distinctive tones of the original analog circuits—retaining the exceptional sound quality the pedals are known for, while expanding on what's possible in the hardware realm. With stereo functionality and an extended feature set, these plug-ins further tailor the classic Moogerfooger functionality to the modern digital creator. With all parameters ready to be automated as well as the ability to save and manage presets, Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins mutate and re-shape themselves around your audio tracks.
Creative Tools Designed with Interconnectivity in Mind
The original collection of Moogerfoogers were more than the sum of their parts due to their powerful and flexible control voltage inputs and outputs—able to play amongst themselves and combine into dynamic inter-related effects.
Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins recreate that CV interconnectivity, allowing each instance of a Moogerfooger to modulate the parameters of any other across your project in any major DAW. With digital attenuverters added to every CV input, side-chain capabilities, and DC offset capabilities, Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins allow for deep control over every aspect of your sound.Meet the Moogerfoogers: Each Effect Explained
Each member of the Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins family has been designed to embody not only the warm and vibrant sound of Moog’s original analog effects pedals, but also the organic way in which the parameters interact to create a musical playing experience. With CV interconnectivity, stereo functionality, an extended feature set, the ability to run multiple instances, and presets, these effects tailor the classic Moogerfooger functionality to the modern digital creator.
- The MF-101S Lowpass Filter honors Bob Moog’s design of the classic Moog ladder filter. This effect pairs the filter with an envelope follower to impart dynamic motion to the filtered sound.
- The spaced-out, retro-futuristic sound of the MF-102SRing Modulator features a wide-range carrier oscillator paired with an LFO for effects from soft tremolo to far-out clangorous ring modulation tones.
- A descendant of the vibrant 1970s rack-mounted Moog phaser with an on-board LFO, the MF-103S 12-Stage Phaser gives users access to the pedal’s distinct psychedelic enveloping sound.
- Rich and full-bodied, the MF-104S Analog Delay captures the warm, organic texture and character of Moog’s sought-after analog delay circuitry, while adding modern flexibility and ease of use.
- The MF-105S MuRF (Multiple Resonant Filter Array) combines a resonant filter bank with a pattern generator and skewing envelope for vibrant animation of an incoming sound.
- Unconventional, eccentric, freaky: the MF-107S FreqBox lives up to its name with gnarly synced VCO sounds plus envelope and FM modulation.
- For flexible processing, the MF-108S Cluster Flux can do it all. Modulate between chorus, flanging, and vibrato to achieve sounds ranging from subtle swirling to intense flanging.
- The new software-only MF-109S Saturator is a powerful saturation tool based on the classic Moogerfooger input drive stage that adds warmth, distortion, and compression to any sound.
This feature-packed suite of Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins is now available to purchase at moogmusic.com. Click here to get started!
Moog’s Focus on Making Its Instruments More Accessible
The company’s foray into the software space began just over a decade ago with the release of Moog’s first iOS app. Its growing collection of budget-friendly applications for iOS and macOS users has made it possible for more creatives around the world to experiment with sound design and synthesis concepts.
With today’s announcement of the new Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins, available for both Apple and Windows, the team at Moog takes a giant leap forward in its mission to make professional-level audio production tools more accessible—and useful—for the artist community. Steve Dunnington, the company’s current VP of Engineering and former apprentice of Bob Moog, shares more on this evolution and the importance of paying tribute to Moog's heritage.
“Bob liked to describe himself as a toolmaker for musicians,” Steve recalls. “He felt that technology should not drive the needs of musicians, but that engineers and toolmakers should use the needs of musicians to harness the power of technologies to serve those needs. He was never dogmatic about whether analog or digital was better; he saw both technologies as different means to serve the musicians that he respected and admired.”
The Moog veteran of 28 years and counting has worked on the development of dozens of hardware and software instruments, including both the classic analog Moogerfooger and new plug-in emulations.
“As we began the development of the Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins, it was of paramount importance not just to clone the devices, but to look for opportunities where digital technology could improve some of their characteristics. This is in alignment with Bob Moog’s philosophies—he was reluctant to copy his old designs but preferred to continue to refine and improve them based on the needs of musicians. Thus, the envelope follower controls on the MF-101S become more flexible for a wider variety of program material than the original MF-101, thanks to the possibilities provided by digital technology. Other examples abound in the Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins, where inspiration was taken from the original with the addition of useful improvements. They sound great, like the classic Moog circuits we know and love.”
Ty Segall Creates Original Song with Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins, Vintage Minimoog Model D & More
In a new video from Moog Music, Ty Segall invites you inside Harmonizer Studio, home to his wonderland of custom and vintage instruments. Witness the musician and producer’s creative process as he builds an original composition piece by piece using guitar, bass, piano, synthesizer, a mix of percussion, and Moog’s new software effects plug-ins.
In the making of “Frog Meets Fly” Ty demonstrates the sonic range and transformative potential of these effects. Using the MF-107S FreqBox to morph metallic percussion into synth voices and imitate 60s-style fuzz tones on the track’s bass line, adding depth to his Rhodes with multiple instances of the MF-108S Cluster Flux, transforming clean electric guitar into alien lead lines via the MF-102S Ring Modulator, and adding vintage-toned delay to his Minimoog Model D with the MF-104S Delay, Ty puts the processing power of these effects on full display over the 15 separate tracks in this arrangement.
Watch the debut of “Frog Meets Fly” by Ty Segall on Moog’s YouTube channel Here.
Expand Your Effects Collection
In addition to the full collection of all eight effects, these professional sound design and audio production plug-ins are now available individually or in bundles of two or four.
- Individual Purchase (1 Plug-in): $59-$79 each
- Build-Your-Own Set (2 Plug-ins): $99
- Build-Your-Own Set (4 Plug-ins): $149
- Complete Suite (8 Plug-ins) : $279
Ty Segall | Frog Meets Fly | Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins
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Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, EGC Chessie in hands, coaxing some nasty tones from his Hiwatt.
The Jesus Lizard’s sixth album, Blue, served as the band’s final statement from the frontlines of noisy rock for the next 26 years. By the time of their dissolution in 1999, they’d earned a reputation for extreme performances chock full of hard-hitting, machine-like grooves delivered by bassist David Wm. Sims and, at their conclusion, drummer Mac McNeilly, at times aided and at other times punctured by the frontline of guitarist Duane Denison’s incisive, dissonant riffing, and presided over by the cantankerous howl of vocalist David Yow. In the years since, performative, thrilling bands such as Pissed Jeans, METZ, and Idles have built upon the Lizard’s musical foundation.
Denison has kept himself plenty busy over the last couple decades, forming the avant-rock supergroup Tomahawk—with vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn (both from Mr. Bungle), and drummer John Stanier of Helmet—and alongside various other projects including Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and Hank Williams III. The Jesus Lizard eventually reunited, but until now have only celebrated their catalog, never releasing new jams.
The Jesus Lizard, from left: bassist David Wm. Sims, singer David Yow, drummer Mac McNeilly, and guitarist Duane Denison.
Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins
Back in 2018, Denison, hanging in a hotel room with Yow, played a riff on his unplugged electric guitar that caught the singer’s ear. That song, called “West Side,” will remain unreleased for now, but Denison explains: “He said, ‘Wow, that’s really good. What is that?’ And I said, ‘It’s just some new thing. Why don’t we do an album?’” From those unassuming beginnings, the Jesus Lizard’s creative juices started flowing.
So, how does a band—especially one who so indelibly captured the ineffable energy of live rock performance—prepare to get a new record together 26 years after their last? Back in their earlier days, the members all lived together in a band house, collectively tending to the creative fire when inspiration struck. All these years later, they reside in different cities, so their process requires sending files back and forth and only meeting up for occasional demo sessions over the course of “three or four years.”
“When the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.” —Duane Denison
the Jesus Lizard "Alexis Feels Sick"
Distance creates an obstacle to striking while the proverbial iron is hot, but Denison has a method to keep things energized: “Practice loud.” The guitarist professes the importance of practice, in general, and especially with a metronome. “We keep very detailed records of what the beats per minute of these songs are,” he explains. “To me, the way to do it is to run it to a Bluetooth speaker and crank it, and then crank your amp. I play a little at home, but when the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.”
It’s a proven solution. On Rack—recorded at Patrick Carney’s Audio Eagle studio with producer Paul Allen—the band sound as vigorous as ever, proving they’ve not only remained in step with their younger selves, but they may have surpassed it with faders cranked. “Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style,” explains Allen. “The conviction in his playing that he is known for from his recordings in the ’80s and ’90s is still 100-percent intact and still driving full throttle today.”
“I try to be really, really precise,” he says. “I think we all do when it comes to the basic tracks, especially the rhythm parts. The band has always been this machine-like thing.” Together, they build a tension with Yow’s careening voice. “The vocals tend to be all over the place—in and out of tune, in and out of time,” he points out. “You’ve got this very free thing moving around in the foreground, and then you’ve got this very precise, detailed band playing behind it. That’s why it works.”
Before Rack, the Jesus Lizard hadn’t released a new record since 1998’s Blue.
Denison’s guitar also serves as the foreground foil to Yow’s unhinged raving, as on “Alexis Feels Sick,” where they form a demented harmony, or on the midnight creep of “What If,” where his vibrato-laden melodies bolster the singer’s unsettled, maniacal display. As precise as his riffs might be, his playing doesn’t stay strictly on the grid. On the slow, skulking “Armistice Day,” his percussive chording goes off the rails, giving way to a solo that slices that groove like a chef’s knife through warm butter as he reorganizes rock ’n’ roll histrionics into his own cut-up vocabulary.
“During recording sessions, his first solo takes are usually what we decide to keep,” explains Allen. “Listen to Duane’s guitar solos on Jack White’s ‘Morning, Noon, and Night,’ Tomahawk’s ‘Fatback,’ and ‘Grind’ off Rack. There’s a common ‘contained chaos’ thread among them that sounds like a harmonic Rubik’s cube that could only be solved by Duane.”
“Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style.” —Rack producer Paul Allen
To encapsulate just the right amount of intensity, “I don’t over practice everything,” the guitarist says. Instead, once he’s created a part, “I set it aside and don’t wear it out.” On Rack, it’s obvious not a single kilowatt of musical energy was lost in the rehearsal process.
Denison issues his noisy masterclass with assertive, overdriven tones supporting his dissonant voicings like barbed wire on top of an electric fence. The occasional application of slapback delay adds a threatening aura to his exacting riffage. His tones were just as carefully crafted as the parts he plays, and he relied mostly on his signature Electrical Guitar Company Chessie for the sessions, though a Fender Uptown Strat also appears, as well as a Taylor T5Z, which he chose for its “cleaner, hyper-articulated sound” on “Swan the Dog.” Though he’s been spotted at recent Jesus Lizard shows with a brand-new Powers Electric—he points out he played a demo model and says, “I just couldn’t let go of it,” so he ordered his own—that wasn’t until tracking was complete.
Duane Denison's Gear
Denison wields his Powers Electric at the Blue Room in Nashville last June.
Photo by Doug Coombe
Guitars
- Electrical Guitar Company Chessie
- Fender Uptown Strat
- Taylor T5Z
- Gibson ES-135
- Powers Electric
Amps
- Hiwatt Little J
- Hiwatt 2x12 cab with Fane F75 speakers
- Fender Super-Sonic combo
- Early ’60s Fender Bassman
- Marshall 1987X Plexi Reissue
- Victory Super Sheriff head
- Blackstar HT Stage 60—2 combos in stereo with Celestion Neo Creamback speakers and Mullard tubes
Effects
- Line 6 Helix
- Mantic Flex Pro
- TC Electronic G-Force
- Menatone Red Snapper
Strings and Picks
- Stringjoy Orbiters .0105 and .011 sets
- Dunlop celluloid white medium
- Sun Studios yellow picks
He ran through various amps—Marshalls, a Fender Bassman, two Fender Super-Sonic combos, and a Hiwatt Little J—at Audio Eagle. Live, if he’s not on backline gear, you’ll catch him mostly using 60-watt Blackstar HT Stage 60s loaded with Celestion Neo Creambacks. And while some boxes were stomped, he got most of his effects from a Line 6 Helix. “All of those sounds [in the Helix] are modeled on analog sounds, and you can tweak them endlessly,” he explains. “It’s just so practical and easy.”
The tools have only changed slightly since the band’s earlier days, when he favored Travis Beans and Hiwatts. Though he’s started to prefer higher gain sounds, Allen points out that “his guitar sound has always had teeth with a slightly bright sheen, and still does.”
“Honestly, I don’t think my tone has changed much over the past 30-something years,” Denison says. “I tend to favor a brighter, sharper sound with articulation. Someone sent me a video I had never seen of myself playing in the ’80s. I had a band called Cargo Cult in Austin, Texas. What struck me about it is it didn’t sound terribly different than what I sound like right now as far as the guitar sound and the approach. I don’t know what that tells you—I’m consistent?”
YouTube It
The Jesus Lizard take off at Nashville’s Blue Room this past June with “Hide & Seek” from Rack.
Keith Urban has spent decades traveling the world and topping global country-music charts, and on this episode of Wong Notes, the country-guitar hero tells host Cory Wong how he conquered the world—and what keeps him chasing new sounds on his 6-string via a new record, High, which releases on September 20.
Urban came up as guitarist and singer at the same time, and he details how his playing and singing have always worked as a duet in service of the song: “When I stop singing, [my guitar] wants to say something, and he says it in a different way.” Those traits served him well when he made his move into the American music industry, a story that begins in part with a fateful meeting with a 6-string banjo in a Nashville music store in 1995.
It’s a different world for working musicians now, and Urban weighs in on the state of radio, social media, and podcasts for modern guitarists, but he still believes in word-of-mouth over the algorithm when it comes to discovering exciting new players.
And in case you didn’t know, Keith Urban is a total gearhead. He shares his essential budget stomps and admits he’s a pedal hound, chasing new sounds week in and week out, but what role does new gear play in his routine? Urban puts it simply: “I’m not chasing tone, I’m pursuing inspiration.”
