@@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!).
Thanks for highlighting this aspect of the synth. The effects are limited by CPU power (and possibly memory) which is why you don’t have a reverb per voice, or possibly even a delay. Comb filters and phasers are cheap to compute. A mono chorus would be feasible (we’re pre-filter so can’t be stereo), but you can just modulate pitch with an LFO instead. Still a very interesting feature I will now experiment with! 😊
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.
This is so cool! I've been watching anything I can about the Minifreak in preparation for mine, and I haven't heard anything about this from the hundred or so videos I've watched. This is great content. Thanks!
This series of minifreak reviews is the best I've seen on youtube. From the method and design of the presentation of the material to its essence. Thank you!
I think the biggest shame is that they didn't add the ability to pan the individual oscillators of a voice, or at least the voices across the polyphony. It's a very mono sounding synth without effects applied. This is one of the clear edges of the Hydrasynth Explorer in the same price range. But the Minifreak definitely introduces some cool new features here, thanks for pointing them out (I wasn't aware of this polyphonic effect modification)!
@@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.
Love this, one of the more helpful things I've come across, I'm pretty new to all of this stuff, but you went slow enough that I could follow, most just go cranking through it so fast that if you're a little unfamiliar, it's tough to keep up without going, "wait, what?", and rewinding half dozen times. With _this_ one, I was actually able to make a nice little phaser-y patch, so thanks!
Great series about the MiniFreak here. Somebody probably said it already, but if the evolution of the MicroFreak is any indication, you can rely on incoming firmware updates expanding the MiniFreak's present capabilities in the future. This has been a constant process for the 5 years of existence of the MicroF. This gave the impression that the MicroF was used by Arturia as a testbed for their whole set of hardware synths, integrating and testing new ideas among their solid MicroF user base before porting them to other machines. One of the MicroF lead engineers confirmed all this during last SuperBooth in Berlin: in an interview, when inquired about future firmware expansions for the MiniF following the recent MicroF updates, he explained that they were analysing the early integration of new tools in the MicroF before refining them into more mature versions for the MiniF. So just be patient: I am confident that the MiniF will soon burst out with fancy updates in no time.
Have to commend you on your style of review. Not only the in depth possibilities of the synth, but just the overall aesthetic of the cinematography, voice over and explanation. Really looking forward to seeing your channel grow! Also, been on the fence with the synth, but your reviews have pushed me to purchase.
Ok, sold, thank you. I was waiting for something this cool to emerge about this thing. This is awesome! Now if @arturia take your suggestions, and if they make it take user samples, this becomes one sick little workstation that will be worth half a grand. As is, I'm not sure the price is justified yet, but this is a killer feature. Thanks for sharing!!
Really helpful video for us Minifreak owners-thanks! My wish is that there were 5-10 front access “buttons” (or equiv) ways to instantly store and retrieve a given patch.. especially after going through all the work to make a matrix enabled polyphonic effect such as you’ve shown here.
Fantastic! Thank you for the generous patch collection. I am quite proficient in Pigments and starting to branch not Minifreak, so this was very interesting.
I have to watch this a couple times more as I understood the concept but not what you did in the patch, that´s due to me hearing of polyphonic fx for the first time. Amazing patch, well done.
Great demonstration, I need to reach for those poly effects more! BTW thanks for putting out those classic synth patches in your review, I use them all the time :)
@@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 could hear that the first time I heard it, multiple oscillations. This really is a unique synth. If they midi it up to run Analog Lab V, it would be an insta-buy.
I really really hope Arturia keeps releasing updates for this for the first couple of years, the same way they did for the Microfreak. Can’t wait to see what they come up with for these effects…
@@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.
Prophet 12: I was so surprised to learn it’s four delays are per voice. Yes on a per voice basis, the user can modulate delay parameters and actually hear the changes on a per voice basis.
Also, perhaps a 'spread' control for the variation in per voice effect modulation, in a similar way to how the chainsaw eurorack module has a spread control over the detune of it's 21 (or 7 per voice) oscillators.
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.
What you are describing is not unlike the Mutators in the ASM Hydrasynth. The advantage of the Hydra is that there are two Mutators each for oscillators 1&2 and you can pick from around 8 different synthesis types. This is before hitting the two filters so you could create that big phases sweep sound with the notch mode in filter 2 and still have 2 more oscillators and four mutators before hitting the other filter.
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.
If you are on the fence of buying one and still not sure. Let me tell you both the micro and minifreak will go down in history as a breakthrough in conception at this price point. Its been two years now and there’s still nothing closeto it.
Great suggestions again. I think the cpu would struggle with processing several reverb tails. At least I read it was the reason you can only load one reverb in the fx slots.
good evening to you, I am the recent happy owner of a Minifreak and I came across your videos which I find very well made, very informative and different from the others in the good sense of the term, I fell in love with the patch that you demonstrate at 7:16, would you be kind enough to give me a link to download it?
Just something to note, since this slot comes before the amp, your ideas about delay and reverb might not work how you're thinking. They would be subject to the amp envelope, so there would be no way to hear those long reverb and delay tails without also continuing the note (whether by holding the note or having a long release).
Hi and thanks for the very informative videos. For a total novice to the synth world who's mainly interested in the quality of sounds, would you suggest the arturia over the nymphes?
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. :)
can you expaine how you made the second patch, its amazing, I will be getting one, and I am very new to this, kinda need a step by step. Just love that second one.....thanks
Just saw the software release, hopefully they will expand on the polyphonic effects etc! But highly doubt it as it'll probably have to match the hardware
Hello, thank you for all your videos. You may have addressed this issue and I missed it, but I'd like to know does this synth have percussion/drum presets? I can't find anything mentioned in the specs anywhere. I hear drums on some clips, but that may be coming from another device. There are many synths without built in percussion, so I'm just wondering. Thank you in advance.
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!
I'm looking at the Korg Modwave with 32 stereo voices (pure digital synth) unlike the 6 voices Arturia MiniFreak (hybrid analogue filter), both the same price. Both have the good interactive software to keep track of your work but I am leaning towards the Korg though. However, is there something a wave table synth does not do that would make me consider avoiding that choice? I would love to hear others thoughts on the comparison.
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
EDIT: I wrote a comment here expressing the belief that the LFOs were also polyphonic. That was wrong, sorry if you were misled. EDIT 2: I wrote an edit denying my previous belief that the LFOs were also polyphonic. That denial was wrong, and they indeed are as I originally thought. Sorry if you were misled. And enjoy!
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!
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!
Since obviously on a hardware level each voice must have an individual DSP processor, I would love if each voice could have a different effect... I love that sort of controlled chaos. It would be fantastic if that was possible in a firmware update.
In fact poly effects are rare even in the software world. The only synths that come to my mind are Massive and Massive X. There are surely others but in those it is relatively prominent. Even though it is mostly filters and distortion related if I remember correctly.
@@xfghffhfg 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
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
Liked, Sub'd - I _was_ happy with my Microfreak. It even has features the mini does not! But this single specific example makes me want a minifreak now instead. So thanks! Not! haha :)
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.
It's a good video, with useful tips... but the thumbnail focusing on the exploding frog was misleading clickbait... this video had nothing to do with you being wrong about the exploding frog. It seems like you only used that effect as a brief example, in order to provide a justification for the thumbnail. Also, the misleading title means people searching for info on per-vouce fx modulation won't likely find the video.
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 RUclips. 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. ☹️
Hey, a hint from a listener standpoint. Less talk with the synth sounds, or at least turn the volume up from the synth sounds before going live with the video. Didn't get anything new and convincing that should I buy this or not, because the sound decay from each patch got run over by narration and the effect per sound feature was drowned by the mic volume. This was unfortunate since this was the first video I saw/found going through this "superpower".
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.
@@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. 🤺
![Hunxho - Ball Forever [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nki9ZTF9Uls/mqdefault.jpg)
Would love to see more videos like this, advanced tips for people who are fairly familiar with their instrument already
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
Thanks for highlighting this aspect of the synth. The effects are limited by CPU power (and possibly memory) which is why you don’t have a reverb per voice, or possibly even a delay. Comb filters and phasers are cheap to compute. A mono chorus would be feasible (we’re pre-filter so can’t be stereo), but you can just modulate pitch with an LFO instead. Still a very interesting feature I will now experiment with! 😊
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.
This is so cool! I've been watching anything I can about the Minifreak in preparation for mine, and I haven't heard anything about this from the hundred or so videos I've watched. This is great content. Thanks!
This series of minifreak reviews is the best I've seen on youtube. From the method and design of the presentation of the material to its essence. Thank you!
What an amazing expressive synth this is! Let’s challenge Arturia to add the suggestions you mentioned!
I think the biggest shame is that they didn't add the ability to pan the individual oscillators of a voice, or at least the voices across the polyphony. It's a very mono sounding synth without effects applied. This is one of the clear edges of the Hydrasynth Explorer in the same price range. But the Minifreak definitely introduces some cool new features here, thanks for pointing them out (I wasn't aware of this polyphonic effect modification)!
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.
Love this, one of the more helpful things I've come across, I'm pretty new to all of this stuff, but you went slow enough that I could follow, most just go cranking through it so fast that if you're a little unfamiliar, it's tough to keep up without going, "wait, what?", and rewinding half dozen times. With _this_ one, I was actually able to make a nice little phaser-y patch, so thanks!
Great series about the MiniFreak here.
Somebody probably said it already, but if the evolution of the MicroFreak is any indication, you can rely on incoming firmware updates expanding the MiniFreak's present capabilities in the future. This has been a constant process for the 5 years of existence of the MicroF. This gave the impression that the MicroF was used by Arturia as a testbed for their whole set of hardware synths, integrating and testing new ideas among their solid MicroF user base before porting them to other machines. One of the MicroF lead engineers confirmed all this during last SuperBooth in Berlin: in an interview, when inquired about future firmware expansions for the MiniF following the recent MicroF updates, he explained that they were analysing the early integration of new tools in the MicroF before refining them into more mature versions for the MiniF. So just be patient: I am confident that the MiniF will soon burst out with fancy updates in no time.
Can't tell you how excited I am for the MicroFreak's sample capability to come to the Mini! :drool:
Have to commend you on your style of review. Not only the in depth possibilities of the synth, but just the overall aesthetic of the cinematography, voice over and explanation. Really looking forward to seeing your channel grow! Also, been on the fence with the synth, but your reviews have pushed me to purchase.
Man, I'm so glad to be this early to the party because this is a fantastic video and you are gonna be big, my friend
Ok, sold, thank you. I was waiting for something this cool to emerge about this thing. This is awesome! Now if @arturia take your suggestions, and if they make it take user samples, this becomes one sick little workstation that will be worth half a grand. As is, I'm not sure the price is justified yet, but this is a killer feature. Thanks for sharing!!
Really helpful video for us Minifreak owners-thanks! My wish is that there were 5-10 front access “buttons” (or equiv) ways to instantly store and retrieve a given patch.. especially after going through all the work to make a matrix enabled polyphonic effect such as you’ve shown here.
Hi from the future. Got one used and arrives shortly. This is very helpful. Thank you.
Already ordered one after watching your other video, now i'm watching this one while waiting for it to arrive lol!
Bought my frogger-synth last week and looking joyfully forward the years to come :)
Fantastic! Thank you for the generous patch collection. I am quite proficient in Pigments and starting to branch not Minifreak, so this was very interesting.
I have to watch this a couple times more as I understood the concept but not what you did in the patch, that´s due to me hearing of polyphonic fx for the first time. Amazing patch, well done.
Envelope to the Waveparameter and that per voice ... mhmm maybe when I have my own minifreak I might understand... wavetable synthesis... wow!
Great demonstration, I need to reach for those poly effects more! BTW thanks for putting out those classic synth patches in your review, I use them all the time :)
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 🙌
Great reviews on the minifreak. I think these reviews have sold it to me. I will probably get one for Christmas.
great ideas in the end, lets hope for some updates :)
Super video. This synth is a just sounding on a new level.
I could hear that the first time I heard it, multiple oscillations. This really is a unique synth. If they midi it up to run Analog Lab V, it would be an insta-buy.
I really really hope Arturia keeps releasing updates for this for the first couple of years, the same way they did for the Microfreak. Can’t wait to see what they come up with for these effects…
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.
MAN your presentations are just interesting; I feel like I’m at the museum of Natural History back in 1977!! 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Ha ha, awesome. Thank you!
What a terrific video - thanks for sharing this super tip!
Damn…very cool video about a very cool synth. Gonna have to go try this out!!!!
Very cool! This hadn't dawned on me. Going to have to play around with that second OSC as FX more. Thanks for sharing!
I really wish I hadn't blown my synth budget already in the last bunch of months. I really want this guy.
Look for the VST
SHould do a follow up now that Update 2.0 is out!
Prophet 12: I was so surprised to learn it’s four delays are per voice. Yes on a per voice basis, the user can modulate delay parameters and actually hear the changes on a per voice basis.
Good call out! The Prophet 12 is such a weird beast, and those delays are insane!
also the dsi evolver
@@xfghffhfg Evolver is amazing!
@@benmorrow1701 it is! also each of the 4 voices is stereo
You're an excellent teacher -- thanks for this much needed content on a great synth!
It's one of my passions to teach, so this is a great compliment. Thanks!
Nice! It's a great synth, I'm tempted to get one.
Excellent tips here, thanks!
Really really helpful! Thank you for that content.
I hope Arturia is listening to your conclusion.
Love the thumbnail
Also, perhaps a 'spread' control for the variation in per voice effect modulation, in a similar way to how the chainsaw eurorack module has a spread control over the detune of it's 21 (or 7 per voice) oscillators.
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.
i love the wishes at the end. Firmware update, I wonder?
Oh, of course, an exploding frog. If that's not French, I don't know what is.
Cool find! And it also gives me some new ideas for using envelope and kb modulation to the fullest on my microfreak,
This reminds me of how the comb and reverb filters in Hive give you polyphonic fx
What you are describing is not unlike the Mutators in the ASM Hydrasynth. The advantage of the Hydra is that there are two Mutators each for oscillators 1&2 and you can pick from around 8 different synthesis types. This is before hitting the two filters so you could create that big phases sweep sound with the notch mode in filter 2 and still have 2 more oscillators and four mutators before hitting the other filter.
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
Keep your shirt on, Arturia updates are unmatched by other manufacturers.
Agreed! I just hope they are not saving the best of their ideas for the inevitable SuperFreak!
If you are on the fence of buying one and still not sure.
Let me tell you both the micro and minifreak will go down in history as a breakthrough in conception at this price point. Its been two years now and there’s still nothing closeto it.
Fantastic!
Very cool, but there's an error in your voice diagram : the LFOs are also polyphonic (unless you set them to mono mode).
Great suggestions again. I think the cpu would struggle with processing several reverb tails. At least I read it was the reason you can only load one reverb in the fx slots.
good evening to you, I am the recent happy owner of a Minifreak and I came across your videos which I find very well made, very informative and different from the others in the good sense of the term, I fell in love with the patch that you demonstrate at 7:16, would you be kind enough to give me a link to download it?
Just something to note, since this slot comes before the amp, your ideas about delay and reverb might not work how you're thinking. They would be subject to the amp envelope, so there would be no way to hear those long reverb and delay tails without also continuing the note (whether by holding the note or having a long release).
This is a great point that I missed in the video! Time based effects would be cut short with short release times. Good call!
Hi and thanks for the very informative videos. For a total novice to the synth world who's mainly interested in the quality of sounds, would you suggest the arturia over the nymphes?
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. :)
Oh. Oh that is quite something. Nice.
It's funny, that polyphonic phaser effect gives it a bit of a Casio CZ synth tone. Guess it makes sense it would sound like phase distortion?
can you expaine how you made the second patch, its amazing, I will be getting one, and I am very new to this, kinda need a step by step. Just love that second one.....thanks
Neat
I have enjoyed your channel for a long time! Thanks for all of the content!
Awesome, had not even considered this... old habits right?
6:16 @Bloom Music: Is this patch available on your Google Drive?
Negative, sorry, I didn’t save the patch and it’s long gone!
good stuff
What’s the bass patch at 1:38? Been thinking about it for days but new to synths haha
Just saw the software release, hopefully they will expand on the polyphonic effects etc! But highly doubt it as it'll probably have to match the hardware
Hello, thank you for all your videos. You may have addressed this issue and I missed it, but I'd like to know does this synth have percussion/drum presets? I can't find anything mentioned in the specs anywhere. I hear drums on some clips, but that may be coming from another device. There are many synths without built in percussion, so I'm just wondering. Thank you in advance.
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!
Oh s*#t, now I need another synth
We need the Maxi Freak :)
I am sure Arturia is going to do some interesting things with the second oscillator.
I'm looking at the Korg Modwave with 32 stereo voices (pure digital synth) unlike the 6 voices Arturia MiniFreak (hybrid analogue filter), both the same price. Both have the good interactive software to keep track of your work but I am leaning towards the Korg though. However, is there something a wave table synth does not do that would make me consider avoiding that choice? I would love to hear others thoughts on the comparison.
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
EDIT: I wrote a comment here expressing the belief that the LFOs were also polyphonic. That was wrong, sorry if you were misled.
EDIT 2: I wrote an edit denying my previous belief that the LFOs were also polyphonic. That denial was wrong, and they indeed are as I originally thought. Sorry if you were misled. And enjoy!
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!
Q regarding the audio input: is it routed to all voices so u could hypothetically send it through 6 filters at once?
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
Since obviously on a hardware level each voice must have an individual DSP processor, I would love if each voice could have a different effect... I love that sort of controlled chaos. It would be fantastic if that was possible in a firmware update.
That would be insanity. I love it! 😆
Can you not modulate the oscillator choice knob?
@@annother3350I wonder too I’ll try tomorrow
They should make a midi controller version called the midi freak
It’s called the keystep pro
a good idea!
I think this sold me on the MF over the minilogue xd or hydra
does the minifreak v also have polyphonic effects?
I don’t use the plugin, but my understanding is that they are identical, so it should!
In fact poly effects are rare even in the software world. The only synths that come to my mind are Massive and Massive X. There are surely others but in those it is relatively prominent. Even though it is mostly filters and distortion related if I remember correctly.
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.
@@xfghffhfg 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
Do you think you could provide the Midi you use from 2:20 onward? I'm trying to create the same sound but it doesn't sound as good for me.
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
Reminds me of PolyGrid in Bitwig
Noob question: Is this also possible with the Minifreak V?
Yes!
Cool! 😊
"v.1.1.0" it's just the beginning, right? :)
Let's hope!
They have kept some space for updates…surely smth will come out again…
Damn
So beyond my understanding.
Liked, Sub'd - I _was_ happy with my Microfreak. It even has features the mini does not! But this single specific example makes me want a minifreak now instead. So thanks! Not! haha :)
Isn’t the exploding frog pretty much per voice distortion?
Classic synth buyers of today, never quite satisfied with what their given.
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.
@@GarthVader666 updates are fun, it's not about "expecting" more like hoping
@@xfghffhfg they’re fun until you hope yourself out of using a piece as it is, or even buying it in the first place.
@@GarthVader666 if you expect hardware to be something in the future instead of taking advantage of what it is now you doing it wrong
It's a good video, with useful tips... but the thumbnail focusing on the exploding frog was misleading clickbait... this video had nothing to do with you being wrong about the exploding frog. It seems like you only used that effect as a brief example, in order to provide a justification for the thumbnail. Also, the misleading title means people searching for info on per-vouce fx modulation won't likely find the video.
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 RUclips. 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. ☹️
Hey, a hint from a listener standpoint. Less talk with the synth sounds, or at least turn the volume up from the synth sounds before going live with the video. Didn't get anything new and convincing that should I buy this or not, because the sound decay from each patch got run over by narration and the effect per sound feature was drowned by the mic volume. This was unfortunate since this was the first video I saw/found going through this "superpower".
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. 🤺
kind of Waldorf Q+ -ish
Arturia for Dummmies
To me.....
Its plenty good enough.
That's fair! It's a very powerful synth as is!