Moog Moogerfooger MF-107 FreqBox Guitar Demo

I got tired of watching demos for the Moog FreqBox where studio cats were simply running a drum machine through it and tweaking the knobs without EXPLAINING anything, so I wanted to really describe what it can do. This is my first guitar gear demo, so any questions, comments, and constructive criticism are appreciated.

[@louishwu]

This is sick. I got the ring mod in 2007 and tried the freqbox at the same time too, now im regretting not having both. Love that i found this video 14 years after you posted it. Still informative, still sounds awesome

[@MezcalPromotions]

Thanks man for the demo, i too am frustrated with the lack of guit/mfooger videos. i just ordered the low-pass filter and I cant wait for it. but now you got me thinking about these other SICK pedals or modules. post more vids

[@TUBEMAN192]

with the both on and the delay on = sonic heaven! i must get both of them. Absolutely brilliant demo.

[@fuzzy19]

I know this is an old video now, but thank you. This is the first one that actually shows you how each part of the pedal effects the rest, instead of just randomly turning things up and hearing the same envelope filter sound. Cheers.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

I still appreciate compliments! Thanks.

[@carpeteria]

Excellent stuff - thanks for these demos. I've used Moog products for years, but only synth and theremin stuff. I've been wanting to pull the trigger on a Fooger for sometime, and this sold me. Moog ought to send some royalties your way! Thanks again.

[@EvLoutonian]

You are getting some great sounds there.. It really pays to get a good understanding of how these things work, hey. Nice work! Thanks for the vid/

[@joshuafeichter]

you definitely sold me mate! i've been debating if i wanted to get a slim phatty for my bass rig or a Moogerfooger set. cannot wait to start jamming with it.

[@MauriceRKK]

Why do I torture myself by watching videos like this. Awesome gritty tones and crazy sounds out of this.

[@Efreeti]

Another amazing and interesting moog product. Thanks a lot for the informative review!

[@howardanderson3061]

I'm revisiting....still holds up. It does sound fuzz factory-ish. Thanks for posting this!

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Thank you. I'm amazed that people are still watching these videos after all these years. In 2020, the FreqBox is no longer on my pedalboard (I still have it). I've been using the WMD Geiger Counter for lo-fi fuzz/distortion tones. It's digital and weird, and sounds great.

[@howardanderson3061]

@@NicholasGreenwood yeah, I went through a moogerfooger phase and got the delay and Murf as well. Amazing stuff, I like to search KZbin search old pedals I like and give them a re listen...it’s kind of cool, when you put a KZbin out there....your frozen in time.

[@fNNR]

Excellent demonstration, thank you.

[@_thisiswhatyouwanted_]

I like that you mentioned the fuzz tonality I've always thought these things would be badass as fuzzes

[@martingerber1783]

Yeah, really good demonstration here. Thanks!

[@Rhythmicons]

I agree that there are not many videos on the net really showing off the subtleties of the Foogers. This is the goal of my videos as well. THanks for your effort. Moog Lives! Eric Rhythmicons

[@Starshine777]

Thanks for making this demo... you really do a thorough job showing how all the settings work and interact. The FreqBox seems like something I should really love, but it really just sounds like a glorified distortion to me... if there were a pedal that combined the best of this pedal and the Mothership, and then made it 6-channel multiphonic, that'd be the holy grail for guitar-synth enthusiasts :-D

[@WildMan2112]

Thanks Nicholas! Great Demo!

[@tomi1537]

great demo and great sound ideas!

[@NicholasGreenwood]

I would suggest putting a power strip inside the upper section of the board for any funky "wall-wart" power supplies... Like the Moogerfoogers need. I've got a Monster Power Pro 800 in mine and power everything (including the board's Power Pad) through it.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@unitykp The trouble where the FreqBox breaks up is if you play notes that are too high (as demonstrated in this vid). The FreqBox tracks extremely well with the low register. Sounds terrific with a bass and drop tunings will track well. The thing to keep in mind is that for whatever frequency range you're playing in (low register on bass, high register on guitar, etc.), there's a corresponding range on the Frequency knob. You won't be able to play super low tones with a guitar through it.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

You can run the Little Phatty (or any keyboard, or any sound source!) through the Moogerfoogers. In fact, they are designed to handle even line-level signals, which is not very common among pedals. The FreqBox can also be implemented as a third oscillator for the Little Phatty, since it only has two.

[@Vercus100]

Thanks for the great demo! I too was turned off by the "drum machine knob tweaking" video. Yours explained a LOT about how this thing works. It had be trying to decide if I liked it or not, and to be honest, I'm still not sure if I want to buy it or not. It's definitely an "out there" kinda pedal. Thanks!

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Thanks dude. This was sort of a "test" to see if anyone in KZbinLand would appreciate any gear demos I'd put out. Maybe I'll make more...

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@choobr549 Pair it with one of the other 'Foogers (for the CV options) or the EP-2 expression pedal and its musical usefulness is greatly expanded. Anyway, I am glad you were able to make an informed decision from one of my videos.

[@9dividedwestand]

the sounds at 7 min 51 sec are just mental ! good one mate

[@lokotron1]

those 2 boxes work amazingly together.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@camracca I don't have the Low Pass Filter. I've come close to buying a used one at least twice! If I come across another one and decide to buy it, I'll probably do a video.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Hell yeah! I've been using Pedal Pads for about four years by this point. The one you see in the video is my second Pedal Pad, and I've got even one more empty unit that I picked up off of Craigslist for cheap, sitting in my closet. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it yet.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@Desmaad I don't have the CP-251 like I've been "intending" to get for quite a while now. Lots of other gear have taken priority over it in the past year and a half, including a Gibson Flying V and a Jackson Soloist!... If (or rather when) I get the Control Processor, I will most certainly make videos showing off its chops.

[@SirCorn]

That sounds like a good idea. I imagine there is plenty of room underneath the panels?

[@NicholasGreenwood]

The EHX Microsynth seems like it's really an octave pedal with a filter section that creates the animated synth-y sounds. I'm not sure if the Microsynth has an oscillator in it, even though it's entirely analog. Chords, then, wouldn't really be an issue. I hope that made sense...

[@NicholasGreenwood]

The drive knob on the Ring Mod is constantly active, even when it's off. The FreqBox has proved to be a valuable companion to me in making a very WIDE array of sounds which have been useful both for live and recording purposes, so I don't mind having this big thing, especially when combined with another Moog pedal for interconnectivity. Sonic Infinity! That being said, I did have to carefully plan how and where everything was going to fit on my pedalboard.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

It sounds fantastic with a bass! You can play with the Frequency knob in its lower ranges without the oscillator cutting out.

[@mourningleaves]

This demo kicks ass!!

[@sliverhandsonbasses]

Clear Rewiew! Great job!

[@MedicineMelanch0ly]

All the guys asking how you'd use this in a live setting - did you not hear the awesome tones towards the end? Have you ever listened to a Daft Punk record? They use plenty of weird FM stuff to very musical effect.

[@tainteddrunk]

Hey Nick, great video, cheers. You're absolutely right, that does sound very like the Zvex FF, I was thinking exactly that as you were showing the frequency cutting out 'round about the 6 mins mark. Awesome, I want both pedals! It'll always be Moooog to me ;) Sorry, Dr. Bob.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

The Ring Modulator and the FreqBox complement each other very well.

[@allobarr]

hi..great demo and very intresting the combination between the 2 pedals and drive.. one question..the drive button on ring modulator do affect the sound when it's off? is this annoying or difficult to have it on your pedalboard?

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@goribigon Yes, you can. Just be aware of what you're using and what your audio card can handle. If it can truly handle a line level signal, you can use either the effect out or the oscillator output from the FreqBox. If it's only designed to accept an instrument level signal, you could only use the effect out (and be sure to be gentle with the output level knob).

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@danardone It's Moog as in, rhymes with 'Rogue' (the name of one their old synths, actually). Bob Moog himself talks about his name in the special features section of the documentary film DVD made about him.

[@dontbelievethahype]

Yep sounds great with bass. An excellent combo in an analog -1oct (no dry signal, just wet) like an OC-2 into a GEB-7 with highs cut&lows boosted into the Freqbox--- this aids significantly in tracking, allowing you to play with clean waveforms that will track way down below audible frequencies :D Put that through a Lowpass filter and you have a simple monosynth!

[@georgewagner2]

A random wave from the CP-251 would be awesome! I'm buying one of these as soon as I can afford one.

[@ShubaSalad]

I was able to achieve the drone note affect with a DD-7. Got some weird 8-bit/circuit bent kinda sounds with a Big Muff over it.

[@Gutie5g]

Great demo!

[@Pyriscent]

Amazing demo! Best I could find on this! YOu actually know how to use it ;) when is part 2? SUBSCRIBED!

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Thanks for subscribing! ...I'm on hiatus for a while from making new demo videos.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

I recently went through a "phase" where I was maybe interested in getting a fuzz pedal... I checked out a few, including Death By Audio's Supersonic Fuzz Gun. I gave up the search. My FreqBox rules.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

It helps to think of it more in terms of timbre or texture.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Error in communication. Yes, you can use an expression pedal in the same CV input jack(s) as you would plug in from "any other device".

[@caseystu123]

Awesome video man!

[@bigghettobooty]

God damn... Moog stuff is always so interesting....

[@adrianmeekings]

Great demo mate. Im using a Gibson SG with the rythm pickup only. otherwise the VCO cant seem to decide what harmonic to use. Clean chan. Buzz/Fuzz Dist. Frq 2, FM 10 Env 6 Mix 5 Wav 9 o'clk Driv 12 o'clk waH Harmonic slide fuzz vocoder emul. Frq 1 FM 0 Env 10 Mix 10 Wav 5 o'clk Driv 12 o'clk Play soft. Flat pick to get Wah, strike hard to get a squeel at start. Hit bottom e, let it ring - hear sort of harmonic slide. muff. dist. Frq 5 FM 7 env 3 mix 10 Wav 8 o'clk Drive 5 o'clk Cheers A

[@MRcyclon1]

Hi Nick ! very good and informative video! Which effect unit did you use for delay at 8.28 min ? Thanks!

[@NicholasGreenwood]

The FreqBox will track basic chords with the Sync on--fifths, otherwise known as POWER CHORDS. It has a hard time tracking anything more complex than that (open chords, major, minor, sevenths, ninths, etc.) because you're simply giving it too many different frequencies to reset the oscillator. You get a bunch of unwanted noise (unless you're that type). Stick to fifths and octaves.

[@thanman11]

hey this is a great vid, looks like a really cool pedal. BTW what is the delay you are using???

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Enough to work with, but it gets tight. Give yourself a good 2-3 hours to effectively plan out where everything is going to be: your pedals and velcro on top, and the power strip, power cables, and patch cables underneath. A lot of logistics mixed with trial-and-error, but when it's done, it's DONE. The Pedal Pad MPS-XL is one of the best investments I ever made.

[@psicolor]

Thank you for the demo! But what happens if sync is on and you play chords on your guitar?

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@XFattMonsterX Over the past couple of years, I've had a hard time deciding if I want to buy a fuzz pedal. I'll try one out and think, "My FreqBox is more flexible than this."

[@ThunderDashHub]

Dude, when you were tweaking that knob between waveforms, it sounded a little like a chorus in between

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@Itseasyifyoutry Yes, of course. Each of the knobs have a corresponding control jack on the back of the pedal that works with an expression pedal (watch my Moog EP-2 demo) or CV from an outside source (in this instance, the LFO from the Ring Mod).

[@jimmymarchisotto8152]

Thanx for the demo!

[@MrBluesilverred]

Thanks for the demo. You did a very in depth demo. However, I don't know what the fuck I would use this thing for. Thanks again!

[@jgk381]

sweet stuff, sounds like some funkadelic eddie hazel sounds

[@SirCorn]

Sweet dude! I'm about to get my first one, I'm pretty stoked. I've negated buying a pedal board for years until I saw them. They seem pretty legit. Man you could totally sell that one you've got in your closet to me, haha ;)

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Sounds sweet. I have a DD-7 now (downgraded from the DD-20 Giga Delay). I'm thinking about doing a video for it, except every other guitar player on KZbin has already done it.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@Vercus100 If I didn't also have the Ring Modulator (I use the Ring Mod's LFO to sweep the FreqBox's frequency input about 90% of the time), I probably wouldn't have kept the FreqBox.

[@eyeball226]

You say that with the mix turned down (dry) it warms up your signal. I'm not necessarily disputing this, but to attribute it to the analogue oscillator makes no sense. You're not in any way hearing the oscillator when the signal is 100% dry, the warmth is likely just due to the way the buffer stages are voiced and so on. Also, it doesn't look or sound like the first waveform is a sine (pure tone) but rather a triangle wave. In general though, a really useful demo.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

eyeball226 This was my first ever demo video, it was 2009, and I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I've certainly learned a lot about buffers (and oscillators/waveforms) since then.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

You could... turn the knob manually in a rhythmic back-and-forth motion. Other than that, you need the LFO sweep from the Ring Mod or from some other CV device.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

There's already a lot of Ring Mod demos available, so I wasn't originally planning on doing a video for that, but now that I'm asked... I can cut one next week.

[@grasshopperfiddler]

I understand how to use this pedal better thanks to you

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@CowardsBendTheKnee The closest you could get is by turning the Waveform and FM Amount knobs all the way down, and keeping the Envelope Amount in its lower range. I've had all of my gear at my band's practice space lately, so I can't try it out as I type this...

[@brianrodman1033]

This is the second one of your Moogerfooger Demo vids that had sold me on one of their pedals. The MF-102 demo was the other one. Enjoyed your farewell Moogerfooger video too. Did you end up getting a CP-251 at any point? Would have enjoyed seeing you demo that that along with your other Moog effects. I’m still trying to get the hang of mine. Using Sample and Hold with the Lowpass Filter is pretty cool.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Thanks man. Glad to know people are still coming back to these videos. I'm focused on songwriting these days--piecing Ableton Live demo tracks together with the end goal of building a band and recording again--other than taking care of family and professional career duties. I never did get the CP-251. Such a cool piece of gear that I would have loved to make a video for. If one comes into my line of sight for a REALLY good price, I'll get to it.

[@bostich1]

Nice!! Many thanks for post this video..

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Hey dude, I'm totally unfamiliar with Pat Metheny... I tried looking up his name with "Roland" or "guitar synth" so I could see what you were talking about, but to no avail. I've tried out the GK-3 pickup on a Roland-Ready Strat, but....? I'm sorry, but I cannot help you with your question.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@MRcyclon1 Thanks for the compliment! (Even though the video's old by now and I had no idea what I was doing at the time.) The delay used is a Boss RE-20 Space Echo.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@elefantkaputt True. Also, I had just had the amp for about a month before filming this and didn't know much about how to tweak it. But, your statement is 99% true.

[@BananielBoy]

Awesome pedal

[@NicholasGreenwood]

If you were to turn the Frequency knob all the way down, you would simply have a looow note. KEEP IN MIND, though, with the Sync switch in the On position, that the FreqBox's oscillator needs to be set higher than what you're playing on guitar... I mentioned in the video that it works great with bass; most of the notes you'd ["typically"] play on a bass would be lower than the FreqBox's oscillator, so the pedal tracks it very well. Hope this answers your question!

[@NicholasGreenwood]

@batitombo ...Yeah... I know... I had my amp for only about three months by that point and hadn't learned to really tweak it.

[@ThunderExpress]

Awesome! it sure sounds crazy! =D

[@ShubaSalad]

The DD-7 is fun to play with. I have it set to 50ms with the F.back at around 3 o'clock. At that point the D.Time basically is pitch control. I would imagine that using an expression peddle would basically turn it into a whammy. Include that into your video if you want to do something different with it.

[@SirCorn]

You got that stuff on a pedal pad??? Very nice!

[@tonycardinal413]

Can this box make your guitar sound like a Moog synth, like chick corea or snarky puppy?

[@reigengi5941]

I follow this question

[@naquelas123]

I couldn't understand the connection between the MF 107 and MF 102. Did you connect the guitar into de audio in of MF 102 and the MF 102 Audio out into the MF 107 audio in? Is that correctly? Later on the video, you connected the LFO out from the MF 102 to the Frequence Input of MF 107, right? Thanks!

[@josephcintron1980]

how do you think this pedal sounds on a Bass guitar. the Akai Deep Impact bass synthesizer is getting more expensive. last i check $800

[@horowizard]

You haven't quite fine-tuned it right to tap into the potential that the FreqBox has to offer. You really need to drive it a bit more with a cleaner sound and single note lines work best. It's tricky, but with a little patience and practice you can get the tone of the Phase-Synchronized Oscillator following the melodies you play. With the Moog foot pedal you can sweep the harmonic spectrum and it's quite expressive.

[@uppochner]

Could you get the sound at 8:25 without plugging in the ring mod (or any other device)? Cause I'd be more than willing to pay the 400 euros to get my guitar to sound like that! :D

[@JRP026]

can you please do a demo on the ring mod. please?

[@777jordan]

if you were on a desert island with one fooger, what one would it be?

[@joeknockane8831]

Good job.

[@Desmaad]

I think Moog should put a pitch-to-CV converter in this thing and make it a proper guitar synth. They should also make a dedicated fuzz/distortion pedal since the drive on this thing is so good!

[@diazr065]

can u do Satriani's souls of distortion FX w the freqbox?

[@goribigon]

hi, can u plug in direct to a "line in" input on a audio card ? tnx.

[@monasteryintibet]

Any chance u know if the solo at the end of “because” by the Beatles can be done with this using a guitar? It’s said that they used a Moog synthesizer

[@javiceres]

More or less if you know hot to set this up

[@monasteryintibet]

Awesome , thanks

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Hmm... I've only heard of a few artists using it so far. Depeche Mode on "Sounds Of The Universe" which came out this year (I haven't heard the album), and Tara Busch on her "Pilfershire Lane" (great album, I haven't been able to pick it out of all the synths, but I can ask her). I think Weezer uses the FreqBox in the background on the song "Miss Sweeney" from the deluxe version of the Red album.

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Commands the attention of every person in the room when it's used live.

[@psicolor]

Do you know the EHX Microsynth? It's able to track chords, as far as i understood it. But does this mean that the Microsynth has more then one oscillator?!

[@j3emt]

Love it!

[@bernhardtsen74]

It would be crazy to think what Buckethead could do with this Pedal!

[@uppochner]

But there's a expression-pedal input to do that, right?

[@vigolouis]

How does this stack up against the Electro-harminix Micro-synth?