ARTURIA ANNOUNCE MICROFREAK

Posted on Thu 24 January 2019 in namm-2019

ARTURIA ANNOUNCE MICROFREAK ,PARAPHONIC HYBRID ANALOGUE/DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER WITH COMPLEX OSCILLATOR, CLASSIC ANALOGUE FILTER, PRESET MEMORY, POLYPHONIC AFTERTOUCH, SEQUENCER WITH AUTOMATION AND MORE

A digital synth like no other, MicroFreak is a peculiar, exceptional instrument that rewards the curious musician. It blends wavetable and digital oscillators with analog filters. It features a unique poly-aftertouch flat keyboard. It adds controlled randomness to sequences. This isn’t a revolution, it’s a mutiny.

Un Grain De Folie / A touch of madness

This out-there little music machine features a versatile digital oscillator so you can create rare and interesting sounds with ease. Modes like Texturer, KarplusStrong, Harmonic OSC, and Superwave give adventurous musicians the chance to explore totally new, unheard possibilities. Like having dozens of synths in just one instrument, both wild-eyed newcomers and seasoned professionals will fall in love with MicroFreak’s flexible, powerful synth engine.

We’re in this together

While it can be fun to play with yourself, things can get more exciting when there’s two.

We love to collaborate, so we’re excited to bring you the first collaboration between Arturia and acclaimed modular synth pioneers Mutable Instruments. Among the multiple modes of MicroFreak’s synth engine, you’ll be able to select the much-loved Plaits oscillator and with added paraphony.

Now you can enjoy the same otherworldly sounds, the same modes, and with the same parameter controls as the iconic Eurorack module, but from a self-contained, performable hardware synth.

The best of both worlds

Inspired by the trailblazing 12-dB Oberheim SEM filter, you can make MicroFreak’s filter scream or whisper to taste. The filter is state-variable, and can even auto-oscillate! You can use this is any way you like, from taking the edge of the razor-sharp wavetable sounds or automating the cutoff by modulating it with keyboard pressure or the in-built sequencer.

Wait. Did we mention that MicroFreak has a sequencer? And a mod matrix? Things are about to get seriously interesting...

Taste the spice, throw the dice

Record up to four automations, edit notes per step or use the innovative Spice and Dice sequencer functions to find happy accidents. Add randomization to create evolving, original patterns, and virtually rewire and reconfigure its signal chain and controls with the 5x7 modulation matrix.

“That’s a funny looking keyboard”

That’s right, it is. It isn’t really even a keyboard. It’s a PCB. Super-flat, with no moving parts.

Will it track lightning-fast synth solos? You bet. Better than a traditional keyboard, actually.

Will it let you be expressive? Of course, it’s not only pressure sensitive, but also offers poly-aftertouch. This means each key can control parameters in a different way depending on how much you touch.

You can also use its USB, MIDI, and CV outputs to control instruments in your DAW and modular synths. This also means that you can also use MicroFreak as a controller to experience polyphonic aftertouch with cutting edge software instruments.

MicroFreak offers truly unprecedented sound-shaping potential for the price - pre-order now.