"gurgle, gurble, gurgle, gurble, gurgle, gurble... wokwok wok wokwok wokwok wok wokwok ...cheeeee wwwin ggggg zoooo wweeeee...zingtock zingtock zingtock zingtock... chopboing chopboing chopboing" Bieke, HCFX, MuRF..."

Words were getting round early last year on a "new" pedal coming out from Moog. Since then, it has gathered lots of attention among effects enthusiasts over the Internet forum. It was said that this new effect is something that has not been done before. Considering that most of the effects pedals available are mostly design that has been around since the 70s or 80s, the idea of a "new" effect certainly got many people excited. But it wasn't till middle to the 3rd quarter of 2004 that this pedal actually got into the hand of guitar players round the various effect forums on the Internet.

From one of the earliest reviews online, it was mentioned that this pedal was a chorus, phaser, tremolo, delay, EQ, filter etc in one... Fascinating perhaps, but the effect isn't exactly and easily being defined as those mentioned.

So what are we looking at? It's none other than the moogerfooger MuRF (Multi Resonant Filter). Without wasting any more words, let's jump right into the MuRF and see what exactly is making effects enthusiasts so excited about it.

Housed in the same stylistic enclosure as other Moog pedals (Yes, the wood makes the difference, giving that mojo to its appearance!), the MuRF is unlike any other type of modulation effects that are commonly found in the market. To advertise it as a new type of effect, in my opinion, from a stompbox point of view, it certainly lives up to that description and so even more. It will be really hard to come up with something similar and even if there is in the future, I believe that it's hard to surpass it without having the "MuRF inspired" tag emblazoned with reverence on it.

So what is MuRF? To put it in the most simplified way, it's a filter type effect that "messes" with the frequency spectrum of the instrument signal (for this review, it's mainly through the electric guitar) to give a series of sequenced/random sound patterns. Some filtering effects includes phaser, flanger, wah wah pedal and even the effect of the tone knob on electric guitars. And of course, I must stress again, it is not as simple as that. Although the MuRF, at different settings and through a two-amp setup, does have shades of phasing/chorus effect, it will be doing a big injustice to this fun pedal to merely use it for those effects.

On the front panel, the controls include the following:

Drive- For gain adjustment of the audio input (guitars, keyboards,bass etc) to the effect.

Output- For volume adjustment between bypass and effect on.

Envelope- Morphs the shape of the patterns' envelope. In simple terms, this knob changes the "colour/sound" of the filtering effect. This knob is one of the amazing features on this pedal. Different "colours" of tone, from pulse like sequences to phaser-like sounds to backward effects to series of "gling glong" sounds are all possible!

Mix- As with the name, it blends the dry signal with the modulated tone, from a 100% dry signal to a 100% modulated signal. Any other settings in between is possible.

Rate- For adjustment of the speed in the modulated signal.

Patterns- A 12-position switch to select the various animation patterns. In simple terms, these 12 animations are sets of sound modules that modulate the dry signal to give a sequence of tones, some of it sounding like tremolo, random arppegiator or a series of "glingglong gling gling glong glong gling" kind of sound.

Bank slider switch- between position A and B. switching it to B will include LFO modulation of the filters' frequencies. Position A will not have any LFO modulation. In short, it adds changes or colours the animation pattern to give a slightly different tone. Together with the12 positions animation patterns, it gives the user 24 different sounding analogue filtering effects. Too much?? Oh well, more, is still more, even if less is more. Having more options in sound manipulation through any effects pedal is always welcome in my book.

8 band resonant filter- This 8 rows of slider switches act as a graphic EQ. When a filter's slider is at minimum, the gain is at 0 and thus the filter's output is 0. At maximum, the filter's output is at maximum. The frequencies of these 8 filters ranged from 200Hz to3.4 KHz. These 8 sliders will react with the animations patterns to give a straight filtering effect to a random arppegiator effect...

Stompswitch- Effect on and off

Next, let's take a look at the animation patterns. For bank A (Without LFO modulation), the 12 patterns include no animation (0 filtering sound), upward staircase, downward staircase, crisscross, tremolo, upward bounce, Brownian motion, random like, double up and down, downward band expansion, polyrhythm and rhythmicon. For bank B (with LFO modulation), the 12 patterns include no animation (0 filtering effect), downward staircase, upward cascade, down and up, come together, seesaw panner, rising falling, pulsar,upward notch, growing and shrinking band, double cascade, inverted rhythmicon.

From the name, it sort of gives the idea how it sounds like. But don't take my words for it; the MuRF is an experience that can never be described in words as easily as other pedals. Seriously, if one was to go through individual patterns and describe them in words, I don't think it can fit into review of 10 pages. Not too mention that we have not even touched on how the envelope knob totally alters the tone for each individual animation pattern and whether is it with or without LFO modulation added in. Little wonder that to date, there is a lack of detailed reviews over the Internet for the MuRF. And since I myself am also lacking the right words and ability to write a really detailed review on it, I will just touch on some of the more prominent features/characteristics. Lets go...

First of, with the animation patterns set to 1 (0 filtering effect), turning up the drive knob to max, output knob to a comfortable level and all the 8 band resonant filters to max, you will get a nice overdrive!! Yes, it can function as an overdrive pedal, but what the heck, if anyone is interested in getting the MuRF for this, you might as well give it to me as a backup for the one that I am using. I promise that I will put it to better use than overdriving it! (Ed.: So all you 44ofjuly fans out there, you know what to get for him this Christmas!)

Next, the greatest beauty of the MuRF is to use it with 2 amps (Yes, this must be emphasized again, 2 amps). Through one amp, the tonal palate is already impressive enough. But in order to fully understand the pedal and putting it to good use, using it in stereo output will greatly enhance the listening and playing pleasure. A unique character of this pedal, when using it with stereo output, the odd number filters (200Hz, 450Hz, 1KHz and 2.2KHz) are heard only from the left channel amp while the even number filters (300Hz, 675Hz, 1.5KHz and 3.4KHz) are heard from the right channel amp. Panning/rotary effects anyone??

The following is in stereo out: At any one of the animation patterns other than 1 (0 filtering effect), followed by setting all 8-filter sliders to minimum (the 8 band resonant filters start from 200Hz, 300Hz, 450Hz, 675Hz, 1KHz, 1.5 KHz, 2.2KHz and 3.4 KHz), there will not be any filtering effect as the gain of all the sliders are at minimum. Next, shift the 200Hz, 450Hz, 1KHz and 2.2KHz sliders to maximum while the rest (300Hz, 675Hz, 1.5KHz and 3.4KHz) are kept at minimum (Animation patterns set from 2 and above, any one of it will do). Envelope Knob (This is the knob behind the sonic mayhem) to any setting, mix knob to 12 o'clock position (50 percent dry/50 percent wet) and rate knob to taste. Strike a chord on the guitar and hear that only one amp is having the filtering effect and the other, just the normal guitar tone. To get the filtering effect from both amps, shift the sliders, which were at minimum earlier on to mid level or maximum.

Strum some chords, sit back, and let your mind get lost in the swirling beauty of your instrument's tone...

Another way to hear the differences between Bank A and B and all the animation patterns is to set the ENV, mix and rate knob at a fixed setting, switch among the 12 positions of the animation patterns in bank A, followed by the other 12 in bank B. And to hear it clearly, connect a dirt pedal to the MuRF and out to 2 amps. The outcome? I have no words to describe that. But if there is a chance, please try that out by facing towards the 2 amps and closing your eyes while strumming your favourite chords...

Moving on to the Envelope knob, in my opinion, this knob totally changes the characteristic of the filtering tone. All the settings from minimum to maximum and any of it in between are very usable. Through two amps, I had gotten sounds from a pulse like beat to a mild phasing effect, doubling (mild chorus) effect, tremolo, and backward sounding effect. From the manual, the envelope knob at various settings yields the following:

Envelope setting at 0- Filtering effect sounds rather choppy, as the decay time has decreased.

Envelope setting at 2- Filtering effect heard comes with a sharp attack and a decay that fades out smoothly but quickly.

Envelope setting at 5- Filtering effect will sound smooth, like a tremolo. Where the attack is the same as the decay.

Envelope setting at 6- Filtering effect becomes a swirl and the transition from filter to filter sounding blurred, as the attack and decay become so long that the effect is cross fading from one filter to the next.

Envelope setting at 8- Filtering effect will sound "backward" as the attack time is now smooth but fast, and the decay is abrupt. Together with the 8-band slider set to taste, the filtering sequence can be manipulated to sound similar to a sample and hold effect too.

With the above adjustments plus the mix knob and rate knob tweaked to taste, many other sounds can be gotten from it. As for how all these modulated signals can be used in a musical context that will be up to individual.

From the front panel, let's move on to the rear panel. There are a total of 7 jacks (excluding power supply in), namely:

Audio in- Instrument input

Left/mono out- Output to single amp

Right out- Output to 2nd amp for stereo application

Rate- For expression pedal control of filtering speed (Hands free control of the RATE knob on front panel)

ENV- For expression pedal control of changing the envelope knob setting

LFO/SWEEP- For expression pedal control of changing the speed of LFO modulation of the filters' frequencies when the 2-way bank switch is in B position (with LFO modulation on the animation patterns). Similarly, this can be used to vary the frequencies of the filters in Bank A position

Tap/Step in- Tap tempo function (equivalent to the tap tempo function usually found in delay pedals).   For syncing the tempo of the MuRF animation patterns to the tempo of the music. To use the tap tempo function, a separate Moog FS-1 footswitch is required (separate purchase). As I did not get that when I bought the MuRF, I just used a similar BOSS footswitch for the tap tempo function. It works perfectly fine too. From the manual, it stated that the tempo of the animation patterns is twice the rate that is tapped on the footswitch, which means, when I tap in quarter notes, the animation pattern will be in eighth notes, when tapping in eighth notes, the animation pattern will be in 16th notes and so on.

As some might notice, all the parameters (envelope/mix/rate/LFO/sweep) of this pedal can be controlled via expression pedals. Not only limited to the MuRF, all other Moog pedals (Phaser, low pass filter, ring modulate and delay) have jacks for control via expression pedals! In my opinion, this is one of the best features in any pedals that I have come across (as in having it stock, instead of providing the mods for it at an extra cost). Having all the parameters controlled via expression pedals can do lots of things. And if anyone is interested to have a setup for WORLD DOMINATION, get all the Moog pedals (minus the delay is ok, it's almost impossible to get one with a "humane" price now) plus the Moog Control Processor and loads of expression pedals. I guarantee that you will be lured into somewhere strange and exciting sounding, beyond just having guitars signal into pedals... Anyway, that is another story.

Let's get back to MuRF. Ready??

Let's go on with the other side of the MuRF, other than just the quality/type of sound it produces. Good or bad, you'll be the judge:

The stereo out will only work when the effect is engaged. This, to me, is a big let down. BUT... since the release of the pedal to public, it has been mentioned on a certain effects forum that the pedal can be sent back to Moog for modification, in having stereo out even when the effect is disengaged. BUT... again the trade-off is not having true bypass for it. True bypass or not, with an external true bypass box, it will just solve everything. No worries at all.

Power supply- This pedal is picky about sharing adaptors with other pedals. In my case, I used a one spot with the appropriate adaptor to power up. When having other pedals in line with it, there is a mild but can-be-a-real-pain-in-the-ass squealing sound from the pedal. Big deal? Not really, just use an individual adaptor for it.

Stompswitch having slight popping sound when effect is engaged-Although not as if it's a "speaker blowing" loud "thud", if you are concerned about this, use a true bypass box instead.

Slight hiss when pedal is in action- Of course; hiss has never been a big concern for me as long as it's within my tolerance range. Your mileage might vary of course.

Although it's a filter type effect and having an envelope knob, the MuRF does not do envelope filter sound (ala q-tron, auto wah etc). The MuRF is not touch sensitive. If you are looking for that, check out the Moog low pass filter, another great pedal from Moog.

The end!! Thanks for putting up with me so far. Seriously, it's hard to write about this pedal and figure out the many possibilities one can achieve with it. It is that amazing to me. And for those interested, this pedal is not a plug and play effect. You probably need a lot of time with it to get the hang of it and fully utilise it musically. Hopefully all the above can give a better idea of the MuRF for those interested in it. Don't just read up on reviews and not check the pedal out...A "NEW" pedal? You bet!!!