Moog Taurus
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The first model of the Moog Taurus bass pedal synthesizer was created and manufactured by Moog Music from 1976 to 1981. Commonly called the Taurus I, it featured a 13 note piano-style foot pedal board that looked very similar to the foot pedals of an organ. In fact, the Taurus was intended to be part of a larger organ-like synthesizer nicknamed the Constellation that would have also included two keyboards that eventually became the PolyMoog and the MultiMoog. The Taurus I had a three-octave range and came with three preset sounds and one user-programmable patch, all controlable using foot switches. The three presets were named Tuba, Bass, and Taurus.
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An analog synthesizer housed in a sturdy rugged casing, the Taurus I was much more popular than its successor the Taurus II, produced from 1981 to 1983. The Taurus II featured more pedals in a new black casing and had a modulation wheel and a pitch bend wheel among other new features. The control panel on the Taurus II was raised to waist height on a central shaft. The lower-quality Taurus II is generally dismissed by musicians as a Moog Rogue that one plays with their feet.
Taurus pedals are very hard to find and often need the original bakelite pedals to be replaced because they have grown brittle over time. Many modifiers of this synthesizer make replacement pedals from wood. Today, Taurus II units will resell for around half as much as their predecessors.
Taurus pedals were used by such musicians as Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush, Styx, U2, Jon Anderson and Chris Squire from Yes, Sting and Andy Summers of the The Police, and Genesis.