Showing posts with label instrument. Show all posts
Showing posts with label instrument. Show all posts

Thursday, March 1, 2012

New Compact Synth from Arturia

Every now and again I have my synth-gear-slut moments, and this may be one of them. Gotta say: The Arturia MiniBrute looks intriguing. It's great to see manufacturers coming out with new instruments that push the boundaries of architecture in a compact space. Their website had this to offer on the subject of presets:

"MiniBrute comes with no electronic presets. You build yourself every sound you hear. Believe us, this is fun, this is creative and this helps make better music (and honestly, this is not harder than browsing sub-menus)."

I love this statement - as I have always been a firm believer that if one if forced to program new sounds from scratch whenever using a device, it pushes one's brain to (a) learn the machine that much better, and (b) always come up with novel ways of using it, and (c) adapt its sound/function to what you are making at that moment. My first synthesizer was a Roland Juno 6, and it had no presets - and I am so grateful for that fact! It taught me to program my new toy very quickly, and really get the most out of it - an experience I wouldn't trade for all the presets in the world.

The specs on this little gem are truly impressive - if your'e into that kinda stuff. Extensive mod section, great LFO options, and arpeggiator (thank goodness!!!)... and Aftertouch Modulation? Thank you!

Here's a cool video which highlights it's features.



More info here: Arturia MiniBrute


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Chaos for Christmas

I'm notoriously late for lots of things - and because of that I'm often inclined to miss certain sales/items that may only have limited runs. BugBrand is a company I discovered a few years back. A small British based "electronic boutique" company that makes uniquely hand-crafted synth and sound... objects. Part of why I love these machines is there are no presets. You gotta make new things from scratch every time you use it... essentially forcing creativity


The last few times they introduced their AudioWeevils I had missed the production run - not this time! I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of their latest creation: behold... the 2012 Edition AudioWeevil (and logic schematic).





Controlled chaos to thine ears. Maybe it'll be a fun Christmas after all!