The Arturia MiniFreak Has a Synth Superpower Hiding in Plain Sight! 

Good to know it was helpful! I think I've got at least one more idea for this type of video for the MiniFreak...

@@Bloom_Music Yes that's always what I'm looking for. I'm sure tips for the "complete beginner" is going to get a lot of hits. But when viewers keep coming back for the advanced content, you get more subscriptions (and love!).

+1

make some more videos :)@@Bloom_Music

Yeah, I'd be interested to know just how much horsepower each voice has. Hopefully they can work some magic and eek out a few more effects types!

Modulating the pitch would result in vibrato. You would need a second osc without the modulation for chorus effect. On top of that you would want to introduce a delay, otherwise you might end up with a flanger instead of a chorus. Actually it would sufficient to use a delay, since modulating the delay time is effectively a pitch modulation. For processing 6 voices, you would need to buffer about 200ms of audio signal. You would not need much more than 30ms per voice. Memory for this should be available if you could steal it from the master effects. Processing power shouldn't be too high. TBH I think the result would not be that much different from unison mode. But maybe I'm wrong.

Envelope to the Waveparameter and that per voice ... mhmm maybe when I have my own minifreak I might understand... wavetable synthesis... wow!

So cool to think about someone out there actually using those! Thanks for sharing!

@@Bloom_Music If you want to hear, I think I used it on my "Day 2" Jamuary, camera is not clear enough but I think it was preset 8? They're all very wonderful and usable, I'm sure I'll keep reaching back for them!

I checked it out, very cool! Glad they are working out for you!

@@Bloom_Music Thanks 😊 Also I added a note about your presets in the description because I realized I forgot to! Cheers 🙌

It's one of my passions to teach, so this is a great compliment. Thanks!

Do you know of any synths in this price range that have voice panning? Just curious!

@@erikdijkhuizen Yes, I just mentioned the Hydrasynth Explorer. It's a beast of a synth at that price.

@@sinewaymusic OK great , I did not know the Hydra could do that!

@@erikdijkhuizen It's extremely competent. I'd say it's the synth for the hardcore sound designer with all of its envelopes, LFOs and modulation possibilities. But then again the Minilogue seems a bit more approachable and immediate with its sequencer and playful features to help you get going faster. Both are great synthesizers that bring some new things to the table.

@@erikdijkhuizen in theory you can pan spread any multitimbral synth with more than one output.

Ha ha, awesome. Thank you!

Can't tell you how excited I am for the MicroFreak's sample capability to come to the Mini! :drool:

I have enjoyed your channel for a long time! Thanks for all of the content!

Since the MiniFreak can modulate modulation depths, you could do something like you are suggesting with the KB Random or KB Voice modulation source. For example, let's say you wanted to modulate the wave parameter of the exploding frog with an LFO, but at a different depth for each voice. You would make your LFO > Wave 2 assignment, then modulate the depth of that with the KB Random parameter. The depth of that modulation would be the "spread"; the deeper the modulation, the greater the difference in LFO > Wave 2 modulation per voice.

Look for the VST

If they've not added the Wavetable osc. that would be top of my list. I love having that in the MicroFreak.

@@peterkadarmusic9728 Agree and I would be genuinely surprised if it did not make it into a future update.

@@symbiat0 the only thing I can think of that would be a stumbling block is that maybe some kind of licensing needs to happen in order to put it both in the keyboard and/or the forthcoming VST. IDK. In any case, I hope they incorporate it.

The Nymphes is a GREAT sounding synth, but I wouldn't recommend it to a novice. The dual layer interface can be confusing and is not great to learn on. And the MiniFreak definitely has more range with its variety of oscillators. But if you're only concerned about beautiful analog sounds, the Nymphes can't be beat in the price range. I have a detailed video on the Nymphes if you want more details. :)

Good call out! The Prophet 12 is such a weird beast, and those delays are insane!

also the dsi evolver

@@jamaharon Evolver is amazing!

@@benmorrow1701 it is! also each of the 4 voices is stereo

Agreed! I just hope they are not saving the best of their ideas for the inevitable SuperFreak!

Yes, the Hydra is very powerful in that regard, but it's definitely less user friendly than the Mini. But where the Mini could one up the Hydra, is if they do like I suggested and add more traditional type effects (reverb, delay, chorus, distortions, etc.) to that second oscillator slot, where you could modulate things like delay times, feedback, etc., per voice. That would be super powerful and unique!

Yes but the hydra just doesn’t have tailor-made FX on-board, let alone poly fx 🧐 And you can guarantee given Arturia’s history that they have big things planned for this machine. Anybody else spot the 3 threaded holes in the back of the grille? Future attachment perhaps? ;)

@@aaronellson9849 I'm not sure what you mean by tailor made FX but FWIW the Hydra has great onboard FX that are quite programmable. While it doesn't have poly FX as you mentioned, I think the Mutators, being polyphonic and also having their own wet/dry amount, might end up with similar results, even if the method to get there is different. In any case, I can't wait for the Minifreak to arrive in Canada... though my bank card would certainly like a bit of a break...

@@peterkadarmusic9728 for clarity..are we talking the Hydra or Explorer. I was under the impression the explorer does not have on-board FX when people compare it to the micro since they are in similar price brackets. If the explorer does also have on-board fx, they can’t be anything to write home about because they never get talked about. Which would make sense given the overall capability of the synth engines and architecture itself since it’s fx aren’t the selling point.

@@aaronellson9849 the explorer has the same effects as the other hydras...like exactly the same

Yes, the Mini has percussion presets, and you can use the preset filters to see percussion patches only. But those percussion sounds are created using the same synthesis engine as all of the other sounds. It's not like there's a unique percussion "mode" or anything. These are just percussion type sounds created using the normal, subtractive synthesis engine. However, some of the more transient adept oscillator types can create some really interesting percussion results, more so than what you would get from a "normal" subtractive synth. (FYI, the drums in the video are sampled, not coming from the Mini!)

@@Bloom_Music Thank you very much for the reply. This is pretty much as I expected and I'm glad you were able to clear this up for me. Thanks again for all the great videos!

​@@Bloom_MusicCan I ask where the drum sample is from? I actually bought this guy today after watching your classic synth sound video. Excellent work!

@@Zadecka It's just a random loop that I got from Splice, it's not something I actually sampled!

This is a great point that I missed in the video! Time based effects would be cut short with short release times. Good call!

Here are the MIDI clips from the video: drive.google.com/file/d/1JdjbtsAwekjexJ5hsNTh8ABxFKco6OjI/view?usp=sharing & drive.google.com/file/d/1S7KHyTtOxyLDNneSlFhjcFXsGG04xqPW/view?usp=sharing

I'd say the biggest thing to consider is that the Modwave is "just" a wavetable synth. So that's the only sounds you're going to be able to get out of it. Whether that's acceptable will depend on whether you prefer that sound. The benefit to the MiniFreak is that the complex oscillators offer much more variety (with wavetable implementation on the horizon). Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the wavetable sound, and I found the Modwave unconvincing as a VA synth, so it ended up on the chopping block.

@@Bloom_Music thanks for the advice! I love the sounds that are possible with the Modwave but also love the possibilities through the Arturia. I guess one solution is to get both? :P

That would be insanity. I love it! 😆

Can you not modulate the oscillator choice knob?

@@annother3350I wonder too I’ll try tomorrow

Yes, but be careful about the volume when playing multiple voices as it's the same input for each.

Yes, you can do some interesting things with external audio running through the filters. As I mentioned in this video, the 6 filters essentially behave monophonically until you introduce some type of modulation to get them to move independently. But you could do things like run a drum loop through the external input and then emphasize certain frequencies by modulating the filters with the keyboard parameter. The keys wouldn't affect the pitch of your input, but they would control the cutoff of each filter independently. That's just a random example, but there are lots of creative things you could do!

@@Bloom_Music wow yes! Imagining some really extreme stereo width effects are possible

It’s called the keystep pro

phase plant is the best digital synthesizer I know for flexibility and ease of use. It has polyphonic FX

@@samhayward4407 good to know, I don't have Phase plant. Maybe need to check it out when it is on sale.

I've never seen Phase Plant before. Looks interesting, thanks!

most digital multitimbral synth can have a seperet effect per part, you just need to have a way to play the parts polyphonically.

@@jamaharon ok. But that is a workaround. I can create a workaround for many things. In Bitwig Studio I can make any monophonic VST polyphonic with device selector for example. But that is not the same as a real poly VST

I don’t use the plugin, but my understanding is that they are identical, so it should!

Yes!

Cool! 😊

Let's hope!

You were right! Both the LFOs and looping envelope are polyphonic. You can apply per voice modulation to offset them or make them have different rates per voice.

@@Bloom_Music Hahaha I don't know how I DOUBLE-faked myself out, but somehow I'm glad to hear the exact thing I originally posted! Anyway I forgot to say, but great video! Very inspiring! That patch you did that ran a super-quick decay on the wavefolder for each voice sounds fuckin' sweet!

funny because you're the only one who couldn't seem to "hear" what was going on. Listen on better monitors if you feel like youre having a hard time hearing the synth sounds, or adjust your audio settings accordingly. Crystal clear on my iLouds.

@@aaronellson9849 "Funny" because maybe I am the only one who actually knew what to listen. Stop being such a snarky white knight.

@@aaronellson9849 Also, the sound "clarity" was not the issue I brought out mate. Do you even know what the decay is?

@@sanakassara Not sure what about a synthesizer’s decay is going to make you decide to buy it or not but your point still doesn’t make much sense. I’ll repeat that it sounds crystal clear to me on my studio monitors. The narration was not “running over” the “decay” of the sounds. Perhaps it’s you who doesn’t understand what the decay is. Considering the fact the decay is a part of the envelope generator, you are always hearing it whenever a note is being triggered. Whether a sequence is running and the notes are closer together (difficult to discern actual ‘decay’ times with faster arps/sequences) or a note/chord is held down (easier to discern ‘decay’ times on singular held notes or chord shapes. Also, the “decay” has nothing yo do with the “end” of a sound. That refers to the RELEASE stage of the envelope generator. So, since the DECAY stage happens right after the ATTACK stage, one has to wonder why you are so concerned with the 2nd initial stage of the envelope at all - it actually sounds like you are complaining about the sound being “cut off” by the narration. Which actually has nothing to do with decay, mate. In any case, I can hear the sound perfectly clear even with the narration. My point being if you are LEGITIMATELY having a hard time distinguishing between what he is doing while speaking (because the patches actually are quite audibly distinct and different, mate) perhaps you need a better monitoring system. Not all speakers or headphones are created equal.

@@aaronellson9849 Congratulations. You just succesfully demonstrated that you didn't have any clue what sound decay is. Here is a short quote from Sweetwater - I believe one of the tons of channels you have subbed. "In audio, Decay is the manner in which sound ceases." Note the word "ceases" as in ends. Here is another short quote by Encyclopedia Britannica, "decay is the rate at which it fades to silence." as in ends. The attack regulates only how long it does from the signal to rise from amplitude 0 % to sustained amplitude 100 %. Sound decays when the signal sustain stops. Sound decay is part of the Envelope ADSR process, which the Envelope Generator is meant to control. ATTACK, measures the time which it takes from the signal to rise to SUSTAIN which then starts to DECAY to an end with certain rate after the RELEASE of the signal source. This video ruins the nuances of the decay sound, which are important to hear if you wish to buy a device which one would use to do more than brainless pop music for the masses and actually create an atmosphere that you are using something else than a mere box of circuits with pretty sounds. I also decided not buy this one due iGeneration design and due to the short sequencer. I was looking something much longer than 64 steps - which I already also found. So thank you, come again. Like stated before, the snarky white knight armor does not suit you. 🤺

Man, I can’t win... When I say I like something, I’m a shill, when I make suggestions for improvement, I’m a whiner! 😂 The exploding frog is a wavefolder and sample/bit reducer, which is very different than distortion.

@@Bloom_Music you're doing a great job man. I just think it's funny how people nowadays expect for companies to keep providing updates to devices. Which I think in some ways takes away from the device.

​@@Kaje05 updates are fun, it's not about "expecting" more like hoping

@@jamaharon they’re fun until you hope yourself out of using a piece as it is, or even buying it in the first place.

@@Kaje05 if you expect hardware to be something in the future instead of taking advantage of what it is now you doing it wrong

Though your conclusion showing just how few fx are modulatable... I gotta agree. WTH Arturia... at least give a mono delay. I understand why stereo fx and reverb aren't included, but a mono delay would be useful... they probably just don't have enough memory to do this per-voice.

Thanks for your feedback. I feel like I have to defend myself a little... In my original review, I specifically called out that I didn't care about the exploding frog and thought it was a silly gimmick. So the thumbnail is just a callback to that. As far as only using it as one example, I mean, there are only two oscillator effects, the phaser and the frog, and I did one patch example for each. That was my thought process there. And then for the click bait-y title... I mean, it is what it is. It's the nature of RU-vid. I fought it for a long time, but I was tired of putting 40 hours into a super high quality video that nobody watched. I can tell you that this video has the highest view rate, retention, subs, and impressions of anything I've ever released. If I had just called it, "How to Use Polyphonic Effects", it would have probably 300 views. ☹️

That's fair! It's a very powerful synth as is!