Mu-Tron: The Groundbreaking Story of The Sound of The ‘70s | A Conversation with Mike Beigel
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- Опубліковано 13 лип 2020
- The Mu-Tron story starts with a synthesizer and includes a plane crash, a chicken-coop visitation from Stevie Wonder, and a downfall beset by a faulty gizmo called, appropriately enough, the Gizmotron. In this extended profile from our upcoming feature film, The Pedal Movie, Mike Beigel gives us his own take on the history of his famous circuitry.
Read more on Reverb : bit.ly/3gXEw2S
Learn more about The Pedal Movie: bit.ly/35ldq0F
"Higher Ground" Stevie Wonder 1974
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Larry Coryell & The Eleventh House: The Funky Waltz (Live)
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Amar Bose Photo by Michael Quan - Розваги
I had a Mu-Tron lll on my pedalboard along with an original Tube Screamer, Boss analog delay and a few other pedals and it got ripped off at a gig we were playing. That night I had to plug directly into my amp and I had to sit on a bar stool because they also stole my guitar strap. That was about 35 years ago and I'm still not over it.
Ugh that stinks!!!! I would need therapy to get over that. I have a bi-phase reissue on my board, and if I ever play shows again I may take it off the board. Either that or hire a security guard just to watch my pedals. I can't imagine someone stealing them. I'd be broken.
One Drum Those bastards!
That sucks so much. As a professional musician, and having struggled during COVID, having that happen to me would destroy me.
That hurts...
@@bsnyder921 I'm not sure to many people would know what they were looking at. Still, I hear you. I tend to stay near my stuff at gigs and watch when people check out my rig.
Best design / colour scheme of any pedal company, ever?!!
EHX!
6:30 that face you put when your bandmate takes a while soloing and has the coolest tone in the world
Dear Mr. Beigel, I cannot thank you enough for all the awesome pedals you have designed, first and foremost the Mu-Tron III and the Bi-Phase. I own and use both for a damn good reason: the legendary keyboard sounds of the legendary Wailers and, of course, Stevie Wonder. That is the soundtrack of my youth and it has stuck with me ever since. Imho the sexiest keyboard sounds ever. Period. I'm glad that you're back in business and keeping these beautiful sounds alive. YOU are the true star!!!
Playing bass in bands back in the 70s, I loved the auto-wah sound of The Sadistic Mika Band’s bassist on their Hot Menu album.
In an effort to emulate his sound I bought a Mu-Tron pedal.
I absolutely loved that pedal’s sound.
I later sold it to an eagle-eyed music shop assistant who spotted it in my guitar case and drooled over it.
Decades later I still regret that sale.
Watching this video made me think about my foolishness, and I wish I could hit a rewind button to go back and say, "Nope.. the Mu-Tron pedal isn’t for sale".
We live and learn.
Ive got one i'll sell
Love the “Estimated” background music at the beginning. That’s THE song for the mutron. Either that or Higher Ground
Totally agree. Gotta love that reverse wah on dancing on the street too!
Lets not forget Feel Like a Stranger (also using a Mu-Tron Octave Divider), Fire on the Mountain (also using both), Catfish John, Run for the Roses, Ruebin and Cherise and more. Also the end of Terrapin Station (live) he uses and Octave divider. Plus most space jams. Yeah I'm a head. I'll shut up now.
…dont tell me this town aint got no heart
I was wondering how long it would be before a Dead song makes its way into the video, but I wouldn't have guessed only four seconds in lol
Same. I’m mean, there were people not named Jerry Garcia that play a Mu-Tron?
@@ericcarpenter3263 Yes but other than the Fool in the Rain by Led Zep and Higher Ground By Stevie Wonder, Garcia was the Mu-tron III and Mu-tron Octave Divider king in my opinion. So many songs he used one or both. I have a Garcia rig and those two pedals are a must. I don't use them at all in my Classic Rock band.
@@Jeff-S Frank Zappa was an early, and enthusiastic Mu-tron user, with the Bi Phase, the Octave Divider and Mu-tron lll, as well as the Green Ringer, all providing a hefty dose of effectation in the Zappa rig for the latter half of the 70’s!
So that’s why my old Q-tron sounded so good! I’m glad to see Mu-tron back at it.
Hey Andy, by any chance do you know the music being played at around 13:10? It sounds like a video you did. I know the first track is from your vintage MXR Envelopfilter pedal vid. Btw, great vids dude!
@@kenster1790 Great ear! I don't recognize the clip by memory but it's definitely a rotary speaker or fast flanger.
@@AndyDemos Ah what a great hint! I found it. It was from your Earthquaker Devices "Pyramids" video. If anyone hasn't seen this video, please give it a watch! ua-cam.com/video/v19J4FeFOJQ/v-deo.html
I had same reaction! Didn't know it had same designer. My old Q-tron+ sits on the shelf because of its size (beast) and oddball power requirements, but still beats sound wise most of the pedalboard friendly replacements I have tried to replace it with. I will say that I finally settled on Analogman's MXR envelope filter clone as a practical solution
The 70s was a revolution in music. Awsome sounds!
See you guys on E-Bay
Dear Lord' He's The Genius Who Invented One of The Most Iconic Sounds That Shaped the 70's' What an Awesome Spirit of a Person' and Also an Awesome Electrical Engineer! Many Blessings Always To You Mike Beigel!🎸🎼🌈
Mike is incredibly generous with his time & knowledge. Super cool guy!
those 70's mu-trons are all graphic design classics (like the EHX big boxes)! they sounded stunning, but looked even more stunning. this is a wonderful vid - thanks
These documentaries are so incredible .. thank you for making this
Wow, fascinating to hear Mike's story, he created some magical audio devices. Always loved the Mu-Tron aesthetic too.
I love you Mike Beigel! Thank you for making the equipment that captured my ears as a kid and continues to inspire me to this day! My original Mu-Tron Phasor is my favorite among an extensive collection of phase shifters!
Thanks Mike for the amazing effects. I now own and use a Tru-Tron 3X and a Micro-Tron IV. I love them both so dearly. I am so happy i dont have to bring my old Mu-Tron out on the road anymore and yet i still have that amazing tone. Thanks again, you rock. :-)
Thanks for reminding me I'm still subscribed to your youtube channel. I pulled all my pedal listings and unfollowed on social media today but I knew I forgot something.
So damn glad and happy to own and use a Bi-Phase, a Mu-Tron III and the Volume/Wah. Mu-Trons are such overengineered and great sounding effects, just timeless and important masterpieces ❤
If we’re starting with Estimated Prophet, it’s gonna be a good video
Man, that was a really enlightening and cool interview. MORE OF THIS STUFF!
SUPERB. Really fascinating mini-documentary. Very much appreciate this.
Grateful Dead fans salute you
Fantastic interview. Thank you Mike for your contribution to the arts.
Guys like him, are the reason we have all these great guitar toys. Fantastic stuff
Such a well done interview! Really appreciate the higher level perspective on the changing business environment too!
So "Superstition" single-handedly legitimized the Clavinet AND the Mu-Tron.
"Superstition" cemented the Clavinet in the minds of the people..."Higher Ground" did it for the Mu-Tron III. Stevie was on the cutting edge for so many years!
MuTron was one of my first effects. Purchased at a music store on Mass Ave. in Boston. Since then I’ve played the QTrons and a couple of years went with his blue box MuTron. Amazing sounds, great service, and endless Jerry tones.
Same here. Wicked cool sound!
"The Mu-Tron Biphase: we run everything thru it, everything."
Honestly I wonder sometimes if that was a joke. There isn't a ton of phasing on that album, and Corgan said not too long ago that he used the MXR Phase 100 a lot for the lead sound on SD. I ended up buying one anyway (a bi-phase reissue) and I love it, so no regrets. I just can't say I hear that much (if at all) on SD.
@@bsnyder921 guitar-wise yes, but if you listen carefully there's some slow phasing in some parts of the album.. on the drums, on the vocals, sometimes on the whole track... I think the Biphase was used as a processor in multitracking, like you would use a pre, or some other studio "component" to give to the whole thing a vibe or a color.
@@nclsrfn I hear slow flanging, which was probably just done by playing around with the tape itself. For example - the intro/riff to Rocket has a very, very slow flange on it. Same with the clean guitar into in Cherub Rock (before the distortion kicks in). But to me, both of those sound very much like a slow flanger (delay-based), not a phaser.
@@bsnyder921 he seemed like he was joking/serious idk. Him & Butch just started rolling with the repeated joke but I'm sure it's on the record but I'd guess mainly solos. Maybe "Frail & Bedazzled" b-side pretty heavily as well.
Brian I definitely think it was a joke. Almost all of Corgan’s solos had slight phasing for Siamese Dream due to the Mu-tron but it was so subtle. All of his live rigs had a phase 90 and always on a really slow setting. I remember reading that it was the more reliable option for playing live
Really glad you're highlighting such a pivotal company. I've been wondering why they don't have as many followers on social media cause to me, watching Vieuphoria as a kid, Mu-Tron seemed liked the holy grail and always too expensive. Hope they come back cause this reminds me of when Moog came back in the early 00's (As well as EHX & Sequential)
This is so very very brilliant!!! Thank you!!!
George Duke and Zawinul liked to use Mu-Trons on their Rhodes ep’s 😎
I wish I could get a old 70's Mu-Tron III
The guitarist in my former band bought a vintage mutron 3 and it was the funk machine!
I hope UA-cam withholds at least 5% of the ad revenue on this video.
Why?
JamieVegas coz Reverb since being sold to Etsy and becoming a lot more corporate sucks 5% off all sales off musicians selling gear ( probably because they’re broke from not being able to gig for the past 4 or 5 months) yes they are a truly shitty company for doing that at this time or any.
because they are gouging in a time when it is even less acceptable
@@ogasi1798 no such thing as gouging. You have other ways to buy/sell gear, pony up the 5% or go elsewhere.. really simple.
@@bigbaby9189 Etsy ruined Etsy, so now they've got to find new marketplaces to ruin.
Luv this! More of this kind of content please!
Had a MuTron III in the late 70s. I remember using it when we did Stevie Wonder's Superstition. I also remember it sucked the tone out of my rig when off and having to replace the battery every gig.
Oh Yeah! they hadn't got it together in terms of input impedance, bypass, and sky's the limit on power supplies, and lack of a "standard", unless it was batteries. It was all so new. Sold my mint Uni-Vibe $100, Big Muffs $40, My 67/68 Fuzz Face is Up in Canada, my nephew won't cut it loose. All this stuff can be recreated. seeing those Dan Armstrong cubes for 300 + makes me laugh, and queasy at the same time. just a handful of parts. Late 90s Mutron lll may have been harder to fix...the switch, the LDR...but now work around parts, values, are common knowledge. Make your own, unless your collector. If you have no base working with elec./solder, ask around, chances are, family, neighbors, maybe your Aunt! lots of Women with electronic exp. B4 it all went overseas, many Women employed soldering/stuffing parts, consensus is/was they are better with repetitive tasks, among all the other stuff they're great at. If this seems condescending, not my intention, trying to close n just keep rambling....room mate tested + c19, now MORE ''quarantine''
That how my old 1974 small stone is, but there's nothing else like it !
Another belter from Reverb. Love your videos.
Very interesting indeed. Thanks for this.
This was REALLY good! You guys should do more like this!!! And more William Kirk!
Great interview thanks for sharing
Very cool interview.
Nice history lesson. Very cool.
Please do more of these!
Bootsy Collins epitomized the Mutrom lll in the bass realm of P-Funk and his Rubber Band!
what are some of the best examples of this?
@@robertsteinberger5667 'I'd Rather Be With You' and Parliament's 'Chocolate City'
Amazing documentary, please do more of these! Also, why no mentions of Lee Scratch Perry? He used the BiPhase in very creative ways.
Mu-Tron phasers beat ass. Im curious though, will the extra 5% y'all are adding to every purchase make me sound 5% better? Or are y'all just taking plays out of Ticketmaster's playbook?
Ticketbastard.
that's super cool to see the connection between the mutron and qtron. a few months ago i almost "upgraded" from the micro Qtron to the Micro tron IV, but then my ears decided that they sound close enough to the exact same that i stuck with the Qtron, and the Micro Qtron is such a beautiful pedal I wasn't liking the thought of taking it off my pedal board even for replacing it with a dope mutron. I love that this video showed me the creator of the mutron and the Qtron are the same person, I will sleep better at night now that I know this, thanks Mike Beigel youre the man
Bought my Mu Tron III 18 yrs ago. Love It!!!
Great video - thank you , more like this please!
❤👍superb travail ...et magnifique création sur les sonorités cela a révolutioné la musique
Beautiful dude.
fascinating
Interesting guy. And a lovely story. 😊
I still have the mutton volume wah pedal. I use it as a type of tone control in the stuck position as well as a vol wah effect. Great pedal. The build quality is outstanding.
So cool!
Mike,
I'm from Rochester NY and I had some of ART's rackmount guitar gear years back. They did something with the envelope follower that nobody has since done; and I have actually contacted various companies to tell them how important a mod that it is.
The reason that Garcia had that preamp installed in his guitar was so that the pure signal from the pickups went straight to the mutron. Of course, the degree of effect from the mutron was linked to the level it got from the guitar, right? So you couldn't play soft rhythm guitar with the wah effect AND loud lead guitar with the same degree of effect. Your guitar volume knob changed the effect of the auto wah.
ART added an input level parameter...AND a pedal that could control that in real time. So when you went from rhythm to lead in a song, you would just compensate for the input difference to the unit by using the pedal. It totally did away with the need for this overly complicated setup that Garcia and his boys came up with.
I have sent many emails to various companies to incorporate this feature. ZOOM, for this one unit I have, lists this feature in the manual.....But in actuality it is not included and does not work! This kind of shit drives me crazy because its so important for a fluid, dynamic use of the auto wah.
So you keep this in mind if you are working on any new stuff.
Your pal,
Eric
And thanks for your past work. I don't know what this world would be like without Garcia's Whop, Whop...Whop Whop Whop!
*I've got the original EHX Q-Tron and it's the best sounding envelope filter ever!*
Estimated profit up 43%. Guess we're going back to eBay.
Best comment
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Great content! Is that a Languedoc in the background?
What a great guy!
Way back in my 'yoot' early 70s I had a Mutron III - Acoustic 150 head through a Guild 2-15" cab (huh?) and an SG. The only really cool sound I ever got - I didn't like the envelope quacks or ring mod noise - was when the 9v battery would get weak the unit would bleed compressed soaked sustain jumping octaves at will and just drippy frippy delight - but ONLY if it ran off the battery and the battery was on it's last legs. It made that loud transistor Acoustic 150 thru the Bass box sound like a Marshall stack on Purple Pyramid.That is, I *think* I remember that.....🎶
Duane Allman was into weak batteries on his effects. Interesting comparrison.
Loving the shirt
The lower module in the synthesizer looks a lot like some of the Scholz equipment of 20 years later!
Man, I tell you what, too. I have most of the new line of Mutrons, (at least one product from each type they make now, in some cases two different iterations of the effect as they've evolved over the last few years) and they are as good a product as you can buy. I always said that the Mutron Phasor II was the best Phaser I ever heard or played and I have a lot and have played more, and the new one tops the original. And the Microtrons are just simply the best Envelope Filters ever. My personal secret-weapon, though, is the Stratoblaster boost from the Boostrons. I have no use for an Octavider, but I bought one anyway because all the other products were so good.
Regardless, the return of Mutron has been a real blessing to me as a guitarist and pedal-head.
How about the phasor 1? Did you compare that with Phasor II?
@@musicxtn I did, about, sheesh, 18 years ago now so this will be filtered (ha!) through time, but I remember thinking that the II was a major step up from the Phasor and passed on the Phasor even though I was low-key collecting vintage pedals back then (when people weren't really and you could get them for a song). The Feedback loop on the II allowed you to make it very thick and chewy and, frankly, muscular, compared to the Phasor. And, even though I ran it pretty clean, I still ran it a little chewier than the Phasor could get.
@@honeychilerider thanks for the feedback man! Appreciate it. I was thinking of snagging a Phasor II but had my questions because of the material that was used at the time and if they still ended using Germanium components on Phasor 2 as well. Did you notice much of a difference in tone or character between the two? More smoothness in Phasor 1? Just curious, even though I’m sure the Phasor 2 would have taken the cake. I have a Mutron 3 and totally love it on synths. Looking at maybe snagging a Phasor or save up for an old bi-phase? Speaking of which, would you say getting a Bi-phase basically would eliminate any need for getting a Phasor 1 or 2? Thanks again!
@@musicxtn I personally felt that the Phasor II was the smoothest phaser I ever played. Even with Feedback dialed up there was a clarity to it that I just loved. I never bought the Bi-phase because even back then it was $400, which was a really high price for a vintage pedal at the time, about as high as the market got.
I can tell you that I have been buying their current products and their current phasers (as well as their envelope filter and a few others) are pretty great. Same old guy who made them in the 70s and his younger partner are making them. I used it on a gig recently and the frontman, who is a professional guitarist of 30 years, snapped his head around and asked me what I was using.
I want one!!!
Seems to miss that Mutron was selling like Hot Cakes when Bootsy Collins came out, all the Bass players were looking for that sound
I had a Mutron III and the small Micro V (Which was stolen) but had the III up til mid 90's when my brother's apt got flooded and ruined the pedal
Don't know bout everyone knowing Stevie used it (Most common musician on the street) but I say the pedal really got more famous through Bootsy & Parliament/Funkadelic use of the pedal.
Wish I could hear the interview over the "background" guitar...really needs a remix
Big time. Put a bass cut on the voice too so it's not making my whole phone vibrate too.
WHAT A GREAT DOC
Obscure fun fact; the guy making the Mutron III Plus reissue is the guy who makes the Haz Labs preamp for Spector. I don't know what's so special about that preamp that it's a grand upcharge with a years-long wait list, but it's still interesting.
I should have just searched on TalkBass before this comment lol. As far as I can tell, what's so "special" about it is the use of discreet FETs rather than ICs (which...is the same thing Spector plays up about their TonePump pre), but preamps with FETs are a dime a dozen nowadays (and is probably why they went with the Aguilar OP-2 for some of their offerings).
@@spynae Actually, FETs pres aren't that rare. It's a little like germanium transistors : everyone think it's the holy-grail. It saturates the sound analogically, and what makes it so "special" is that we're just used to digital clipping in recording now, instead of the natural analogue saturation that FETs transformers make possible. But FETs or no FETs, I guess that pre-amp is exceptional and that great marketing happened behind it as well. It's just a transformer - you can build a pre with FETs and still make it sound like crap, you can a build a pre with 5 bucks of parts and make it sound great, and I mean great in comparison to some big names (I've seen, and heard it). Engineering is just like anything : some people have talent, magic, most just follow a recipe.
In the end, it's an old technology, it's less reliable, and I believe we can replicate it digitally. There are certain instrument or sound we can't replicate of course. But that isn't the case. I heard the same thing in photography for years - "you can't replicate film"... I had an exhibition as a photographer where many other photo hobbyists were certain I shot film... I didn't... never paid for an expensive "film emulator"... all in all I want to see new stuff, new sounds, instead of the whole vintage trend going on.
Are you talking about rand Anderson? I know haz labs had zero to do with mutron but looked the same
Reverb has to be one of the few companies that hasn’t suffered from the pandemic. With so many people out of work more used gear goes up to make ends meet.. yet Reverb needs that extra % off our money at this time ?
... to support Marxist causes masquerading as "social and racial justice" with the purpose of ripping the Bill of Rights and America to shreds. Just lovely.
Don't use them then... It's not difficult. I've never bought or sold on reverb but I enjoy their videos
@Jay McDanieL Yeah, you're stupid. We get it.
Chris Squire used Mutron a lot in the Tormato Album
Thank you!!! Some one had to say it!
Reverb.com just totalllllllly rules.....this will go down in history....a verrrry important story wonderfully told.....thank you! ❤️❤️❤️🎼🎶
Yeah, but does it go up to 5...
... percent?
Can you play the synthesizer?? I would love know more about the Guild synth.
This video clarifies a mystery for me. I was told Oberheim invented the Phase Shifter.
Does anyone know more songs with this funky higher ground sound?
nice
Jerry!!❤️❤️
Just saw a Mu-tron 3x going for 20k on Reverb lol wow
I am very happy that you're giving these classic sounds a voice. Fantastic work from your media team, as usual. However, I will not buy from your company. Good luck with your future decisions.
Love the compact form factor, but please rotate the orientation and move the switches to opposite ends so I don't hit them both at once by accident with my big ass feets
I have no idea why they don’t reissue all these pedals. It seems like people freaking love them, and they don’t produce a few different models and they don’t even look anything like the old ones. People would buy them up.
*Nothing about BOOTSY COLLINS? !!!*
I know, right?!
i‘am 5% less invested in watching this.
Why is the audio in this video so boomy? Even the speech is making my speaker buzz.
Wow.
my very first pedal was a mutron III
I had a Mutron III and Bi Phase back in 1978. If I knew then what I know now.
8:38. Why does bob moog look just like Lee Anderson??
16 minute video of mu-tron .. not once is Bootsy 🤩🤘 mentioned .. pfff 👎 ..
or Zappa
Or Laswell
Glory be...well the funk's on me. How did you guys miss including Bootsy?
radsketchpad .. For sure their nose will grow 🤥
Yeah kinda weird, Bootsy was my intro to the MIII, even before Garcia, Squire, etc.
Estimated Prophet
He looks like if you combined Robin Williams with Micky Dolenz. Cool guy!
Steve Hillage used some of these pedals to the most fantastic effect. Discuss with me his genius if you like!
I don’t anything about him or his sounds but I like your comment n wanted to let u know I appreciate your enthusiasm on the subject
grant jonsn Pentatonic guitar boy genius that put some extra blast into Gong. Well worth the time to get into (both the Steve Hillage Band and Gong).
Crys Stoll for a young musician like me, that music completely changed the trajectory of my whole life. The implications of understanding even some of the concepts they were working with can be enough to satisfy even the most intense philosophical inquiries. Really the most psychedelic thing I’ve ever experienced, and I don’t mean psychedelic in the normal way people think of. These musicians had a practical understanding of the psychological implications of listening to music that scientists are just now beginning to grasp..
Joshua Blou t I appreciate your appreciation! I’m really really passionate about music, life, learning etc etc etc mostly thanks to this guy.
grant jonsn Totally agree. I’ve gotten many profound insights from my experiences with Gong (live shows, records, hanging out with Daevid, etc.)
Are these the Boots Collins style of pedals that gets that Fart Sound on bass that I've been looking for.
Miss my Mutron Bi phase, should have never sold it
@15:58 "it's important to make things people can afford"
looks up new mu-tron...
...$279!
I'll just get a Q-tron or something
If I buy a new Mu Tron I would change the knobs right away with something more genuine. Thanks for the itw!
I posted this as a reply to another comment as well, but I'm with you on the knobs. I think the knobs they're using on the smaller pedals look so damn cheap. There is such a fun variety of pedal knobs out there these days, why not use something with style? If I'm paying $300+ for a pedal I'd like it to have some knobs that don't look like they were found in a bargain bin.
no mention of Bootsy Collins?
@ 3:12 "Fender storms" ? What is he saying?
Thunderstorms. You've never heard this term before?