Arturia PolyBrute Noir

• 6-voice polyphonic
• 61 keys
• Velocity sensitive
• Duophonic aftertouch
• Ribbon controller
• X/Y/Z touch controller
• Panel morphing
• 2 analogue oscillators including Metalizer, PW & Sawtooth
• Oscillator FM
• FM filter
• Noise generator (tunable)
• Mixer with filter routing
• Steiner Parker state variable filter
• 24dB Lowpass filter
• Filter routing continuously variable from serial to parallel
• 3 ADSR envelopes
• 3 LFO (BPM synchronizable)
• Third LFO with variable waveform and OneShot mode
• Modulation matrix with 12x8 entries
• Random generator for random sounds
• Motion Recorder
• Chord Mode
• Arpeggiator
• Step sequencer
• Sequence length up to 64 steps
• 768 presets
• Panel Mode
• Stereo spread
• Delay
• Reverb
• EQ
• Modulation effects
• Black special edition

Sound generation

The rich basic sound of the Arturia PolyBrute is created with two analogue oscillators that generate the Metalizer, Pulse Width and Sawtooth waveforms in parallel. Metalizer is primarily a triangle waveform with a wavefolder that generates harmonics that tend to have a metallic character as the value increases. Pulse Width is the classic square wave including pulse width modulation; the sawtooth more than lives up to its task; rich in overtones and punchy. Oscillator 2 also has a sub-oscillator. Between both oscillators, oscillator FM and Hardsync can be set continuously. Both tone generators and the tunable noise generator can be found in the mixer section, where the routing into the two filters is also determined for each signal source.

Filter

The colour-coded filters are Steiner-Parker State-Variable-Filter and 24dB Lowpass filters. The former is continuously variable from Lowpass via Highpass to Bandpass and has as an additional parameter the Brute Factor known from Arturia synthesizers, which is in concept a feedback circuit within the filter. Sonically, the SVF stands out by a very grainy sound with increasing resonance. The second filter is a classic 24dB Lowpass filter in the style of the Moog Ladder filter, which may be familiar to many from the Minimoog. The full and rich sound of the LPF is a classic of its kind in its own right. In addition, the second filter has a distortion and can be mixed continuously with the Steiner-Parker filter from serial to parallel in the signal path between mixer and VCA. Superior for both filters there is a master cutoff control with controllable keyboard tracking. If you need the Tracking for the filters in detail you can add this with a short grab into the modulation matrix.

Modulation

You can see at first glance: no red pencil has been applied here. Next to the keyboard on the left side of the instrument, an X/Y/Z touch controller (aka Morphée) adorns the control panel. X and Y implement finger movements up, down, left and right, Z reacts to pressure. All three can be assigned to arbitrary destinations, which allows for the expressive and lively playing of the sounds. The ribbon controller is located centrally above the keyboard and measures just under half of the device's total length. Permanently assigned are the two intensity controls, which direct oscillator 2 to filter 1 and noise to filter 2. Two of the three loopable ADSR envelopes are permanently assigned to filters and VCA, but like almost all "generating functions" they can be linked to further destinations. Thanks to the fader design one can attest here: Form follows function. The modulation sources are joined by three BPM-synchronizable LFOs. The first two offer seven waveforms each and can act monophonic, polyphonic or triggered. LFO 1 can be shifted in the Phase and LFO 2 has an adjustable delay (Fade In). LFO3, on the other hand, can freely shape the waveform with Curve and Symmetry and can be switched to OneShot mode.

Effects

The effects section of the PolyBrute consists of delay, reverb, EQ and modulation effects and can be switched as insert or send. The Delay masters BBD and Pingpong modes, among others, and can be synchronized to the MIDI-Clock. The Reverb uses reverb, Plate and others and covers a wide range from gloomy atmospheres over industrial halls to the "middle Grand Canyon". The modulation effects include chorus, ensemble and Phaser and provide wafting and floating sounds. In addition, a knob can be used to distribute the played voices in the panorama; a psychoacoustic boon. :)

Attention Recording!

Each sound memory of the Arturia PolyBrute has a programmable polyphonic sequencer track, which can be up to 64 steps long and can be provided with Shuffle and other playback modes. In addition, there is an Arpeggiator with extensive playback capabilities and a motion recorder that can be used to record and automate parameters.