Here’s another look at the new Arturia MicroBrute analog synthesizer, via SourceDistributionTV.

In the video, Alex from Source Distribution UK puts it through its paces. Skip to 4:07 for Sounds, 8:23 for Sequences, 11:39 for Drum Processing. 

Here’s what Alex has to say about the MicroBrute & the video demo:

Why is MicroBrute such a big deal? It packs an insane amount of features for the price into a very small package, and with a character that’s properly its own.

It’s got an (up to) 64 note sequencer (with tap tempo!) so you can program and loop complex melodic ideas on it (with rests), and you can use that sequencer to sequence other analogue gear (and while the sequencer doesn’t output MIDI – the keyboard, via USB, can be used as a convenient little DAW master keyboard with velocity – and obviously you can send MIDI INTO it). You can advance the sequencer using an external analogue gate source, or use the sequencer gate out to drive other analogue gear (rests do not output a gate, which can be cool if you want to output irregular gate patterns). You can transpose the sequence in real time using the keyboard, MIDI, USB and CV – that’s fun done live as you see here.

It’s semi modular so you decide where to apply the LFO and ENV. You can drive up to about 4 CV destinations using those outputs (without signal drop) and you can send CV to multiple destinations with any old headphone splitter as Alex mentions (it doesn’t have to be some special type). This would mean you can use the MicroBrute ENV and LFO to send to external analogue gear, to a MiniBrute for example! You can also try putting them into the expression inputs of compatible guitar pedals to add modulation. Or of course to your modular!

You can use the audio input to expand the oscillator section. Want to add a noise generator to help make snare drums etc? Stick the output of a tiny portable radio tuned between stations into the audio input and off you go! Tune it TO a station and remix Miley Cyrus! Well, maybe not that. One super cool trick is using your computer, running a sample of your voice, or a softsynth with the filter fully open, and making it so that both the MicroBrute and software are being triggered at the same time and the same pitch (perhaps by the MicroBrute’s own keyboard, that’s easy to do) – you can detune the external source and it becomes a two (or two hundred) oscillator synth. To be honest though with the complexity of the inbuilt oscillator (it can sound HUGE), you may not even need to. Notice a tiny sneak peek of an external analogue modular oscillator being added at 0:30

At some points in the video you can see some red cables with ‘pass-throughs’ built into them being used, these are TipTop Audio ‘Stackcables’ (not included sadly – but you do get the two small orange patch cables!).

If you’ve used the MicroBrute, let us know what you think of it!