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Understanding and Using
Your moogerfooger®
MF-105M MIDI MuRF®
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Getting Started............................................3
Frequencies and Filters...............................5
The MIDI MuRF’s Filters...........................7
Envelope Generators.................................10
Sequencers and Pattern Generation..........10
The MIDI MuRF’s Animation..................11
The MIDI MuRF’s Tap/Step Input..........13
Audio Level Controls and Mixing............14
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Welcome to the world of moogerfooger® Analog Effects Modules! Your model MF-105M MIDI MuRF is a rugged, professional-quality instrument, designed to be equally at home on stage or in the studio. Its great sound and jaw-dropping effects come from state-of-the-art analog circuitry, designed and built by the team at Moog Music in Asheville, North Carolina. The MF-105M is full of the very same analog goodness that Bob Moog designed into the original award-winning MF-105 MuRF and the MF-
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GETTING STARTED Here are some simple instructions on how to plug in and try out your MF-105M before you have read through the entire manual. 1. Unpack your MF-105M. Place it on a table while you become familiar with its controls and connections. Gently pat the wooden side pieces of your new moogerfooger to let it know that it has found its new home and that it will be well cared for. 2. Check that the power adaptor has a nominal rating of +9 volts, providing at least 300 mA (milliamper
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5. Connect a MIDI Cable from the MF-105M’s MIDI In to the MIDI Out on a MIDI Controller of your choice: MIDI sequencer, Drum Machine, a MIDI foot controller like the MP-201 Multi-pedal, or a MIDI keyboard. The MIDI MURF defaults to MIDI Channel One so make sure that the MIDI controller is transmitting on MIDI Channel 1. Be sure to check out the MIDI MuRF Controller and Pattern Editor application available from www.moogmusic.com. 6. Connect an instrument cable from your signal source to the
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automatically in sequence by the Animation at a tempo determined by the RATE control. Note that changing the ENVELOPE control affects the shape that turns the filters up and down. The PATTERN rotary switch selects different patterns that dictate the sequence that turns the Filters up and down automatically. The MIX control is used to blend the direct sound of your instrument with the effected sound. 8. If your MIDI controller can send MIDI Clock Messages, start sending them. The Rate LED
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In general, bright sounds have lots of strong overtones, while darker, mellower sounds have fewer (and weaker) overtones. A filter is a signal-modifying device that colors a sound by emphasizing some parts of the audio spectrum and attenuating (cutting down) other parts. In general, a filter has a quality of its own which is superimposed on the tone color of the original sound. Some types of filters (like the bass and treble controls on your sound system) have subtle, gentle effe
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The MIDI MuRF’s FILTERS The MIDI MuRF contains 8 filters that can be configured for bass or mid-frequency voicing by the FREQ slide switch on the front panel. In the BASS voicing, the lowest filter acts as a lowpass filter with a cutoff frequency of 110 Hz. This is ideal for bass players or bass sounds that need to retain the presence of all their lowest frequencies. The remaining seven filters are resonant filters with center frequencies of 160, 240, 350, 525, 775, 1200 and 1800 Hz.
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can hear the effect of just the filters. 3) Make sure the effect is on, and MIX is at 10. 4) Connect just the "left/mono" output to your amplification. You may want to experiment with the panel controls and switches as we discuss each of the parameters. Figure 5 - Testing the Filters 5) Now, play a bright, sustained sound, preferably of low pitch into the MIDI MuRF - keep in mind that filter effects work by removing frequencies, so you must have a bright sound to hear the effect! Figure
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Figure 7 - BASS Frequency Response 7) The Filters’ resonant frequencies can be shifted up and down by a small amount to create an effect similar to phasing. Figure 8 shows a graph that portrays the results of shifting a resonant filter’s center frequency. In the MIDI MuRF this can be done two ways, depending on the position of the LFO slider switch. When the slider is in the "OFF" position, the filters’ center frequencies can be shifted by an expression pedal (such as the Moog EP-2) or CV
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ENVELOPE GENERATORS Now that we have explained the MIDI MuRF’s filters, let’s proceed with some more definitions to explain the Animation function. The term "Envelope" is used to describe the changes that occur to a musical sound, from its start to its end. A musical sound can have a rapid onset, like the plucking of a string or the striking of a drum. It can also have a gradual onset, like a slowly bowed violin. With the term "Envelope", the shape of the start of a sound is cal
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well. Vintage sequencers were typically designed so there were a certain number of "steps". The term "step" refers to the individual components of a pattern. For instance in a bar of music in 4/4 you have four quarter notes. If the rhythmic activity is no more complicated than quarter notes, this would correspond to four steps. In vintage analog sequencers, a sequencer typically had eight or sixteen steps available to build a pattern. In its simplest form, as a sequencer plays back its
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individual filters. Illustrations of all the Patterns are in Appendix A, page 27. Return to the basic setting shown in figure 2, which features pattern 2. As you play your instrument through the MIDI MuRF, pay attention to the sound of the effect and how it Figure 10 - MIDS Pattern 2 corresponds to figure 10. You should hear the Animation "stair-stepping" through the filters. Turn the RATE control up and down and notice how the pattern speeds up and slows down. Now it’s time t
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11 shows the changes to the envelope times at different settings of the Envelope control. The Envelope times also change as the RATE Figure 11 - Envelope shape morphing with changes. Faster Rate settings the ENVELOPE control decrease the envelope times and slower Rate settings increase the envelope times. This makes the MIDI MuRF capable of both rhythmic and smooth-changing, swirling effects. Spend some time to get to know how this control interacts with the different patterns and yo
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THE AUDIO LEVEL CONTROLS AND MIXING The DRIVE control adjusts the signal level at the MIDI MuRF’s circuit input. With this control you can set the right input level for virtually any instrument or line-level signal source. Turn this control counterclockwise for strong input signals, and clockwise for weaker sound sources. The DRIVE light tells how strong the input signal is after being adjusted by the DRIVE control. As the signal level increases, the light goes from off, to green,
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of the left and right outputs when both the left and right output jacks are used. Note that the odd-numbered filters are sent to the left channel, and the even-numbered filters are sent to the right channel. This allows for spreading a sound’s frequencies between two speakers. Figure 12 - Left and Right Frequency Response of MIDS filters EXPRESSION PEDALS AND VOLTAGE CONTROL You now know what each of the rotary controls does to the sound of the MF-105M. The ENVELOPE, MIX, and RATE
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position increases that value, pulling back to heel position decreases the value. The expression pedal inputs can also be used as control signal inputs. This enables you to use your MF-105M with virtually any control signal source: modular analog synthesizers, MIDI-to-CV converters, etc. You will find information on interfacing your MF-105M with external control signal sources in the Technical Information section on page 23. USING MIDI WITH THE MIDI MuRF Up to this point, we have
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setting, and 13-24 are accessed by the PATTERN switch in the MIDS voicing setting. Using MIDI Program Change Messages values 0-23 accesses the MuRF patterns 1-24. This has no impact on the position of the FREQ switch, so that using MIDI, you can use any of the 24 patterns with either voicing, overriding the front panel PATTERN and FREQ switch positions. Moving the PATTERN rotary switch or the FREQ switch restores the MIDI MuRF to the state of those front panel controls. CONTROLLING PARAM
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MIX: CC8. When the MF-105M receives a CC8 message on the MIDI channel that is assigned, the value of the CC8 message overrides the setting of the front panel MIX control and any steady voltage at the MIX control input. Moving the front panel MIX control or modifying a voltage at the MIX control input restores this parameter to its front panel state. RATE: CC9 – When the MF-105M receives a CC9 message on the MIDI channel that is assigned, the value of the CC9 message overrides the front p
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setting (i.e. the switch in the ON position, and the MIDI CC85 value received is 0). Moving the front panel LFO switch restores this parameter to its front panel state. FREQ BASS/MIDS: CC86; Values 0-63=BASS; 64-127=MIDS. When the MF-105M receives a CC86 message on the MIDI channel that is assigned, the value of the CC86 message overrides the setting of the front panel FREQ switch if it is in the range of values that is opposite the current setting (i.e. the switch in the MIDS position, an
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clock and returns the MIDI MuRF’s filters to control by the EGRs triggered by the current Pattern. If the Pattern selected has no Animation (i.e. factory default pattern 1) then upon receiving one of these CC messages, the corresponding filter level is set by that CC value, while all other filter levels are set to ON (before the sliders). If the pattern selected has Animation (i.e. factory default pattern 2) then upon receiving one of these CC messages, the corresponding filter level is se
