"Is somebody gonna match my freak?" – Tinashe
The same-old, same-old never got anybody anywhere. Whether you're talking about "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the Apple Macintosh, or the Doritos Locos Taco, the winding road of history bends in the rearview to those who knew how to do the wrong thing the right way. It takes a pretty loving helping of "right place, right time," but regardless.
There's always going to be a shakeup. There's always going to be a turn around the corner we didn't even see was there. It's lovely to hang out in the status quo, but before you know it, that's all out the window and the kids are dancing on the tables. There's certainly value in taking the road more freakish, and that's exactly what we're talking about today.
This is the Arturia MicroFreak Hybrid Experimental Synthesizer.
SuperFreaky
Introducing the Arturia MicroFreak Experimental Hybrid Synthesizer
Arturia is a brand with a pretty solid reputation with shakeups. In 2000, their first big table-turning came in the form of their Storm Music Studio desktop end-to-end music production program. If you had a hankering for what would become, in retrospect, charmingly primitive home computer music production and a healthy portion of your 128 megabytes of RAM to share, Arturia's effectively been there since the beginning turning your usual home studio experience on its head.
Almost twenty years after the first Storm, Arturia had since evolved into a brand that works in the intangible digital and the hands-on physical. Introductions of their own series of analog and digital synthesizers over the years eventually brought on one of their flagship releases, the Arturia MicroFreak Experimental Hybrid Synthesizer. This light, compact, expressive, and effortlessly powerful hybrid synthesizer matches analog warmth and character with digital brains and brawn to inspire new worlds of sound all on its own.
The MicroFreak does not take its "experimental" moniker lightly. It is a multifaceted, exploratory synthesizer capable of getting you on the way to bold, new sonic landscapes all within the bounds of its own hardware. Arturia's MicroFreak follows in the tradition of its other series of synthesizers with, primarily, a very hands-on, spontaneous, and intuitive playing experience from the minute it's taken out of the box. What that loyalty to tradition translates to is a wonderfully weird synthesizer with no strings attached, if that's your jam. Let's talk about that.
Get Ur Freak On
Arturia MicroFreak Experimental Hybrid Synthesizer Workflow
Like so many other Arturia synths, the MicroFreak is incredibly player-friendly. In a field like synthesizers and such where things can fly out of the reach of the average or newcoming player so easily, the MicroFreak defies convention by keeping its central experience approachable and interesting on its own. It should also be explicitly stated that the MicroFreak's approachability does not compromise its power or musical expression. When it comes to navigating an easy interface and creating an inspiring sound, the MicroFreak does both with no problem. Let's talk about the workflow.
Arturia MicroFreak Experimental Hybrid Synthesizer Workflow
When talking about the way we can go about crafting a sound with the MicroFreak, we'll inevitably talk about the physical experience of operating its interface. Like we said, the MicroFreak is a very hands-on synthesizer that's ready to be finagled, even if you aren't a veteran synth player.
Probably the most outstanding thing visually about the MicroFreak from first glance is its PCB keybed. Its PCB (printed circuit board) keybed features twenty-five "keys" that can be programmed to do different things. The most immediate way these keys are used though is as you would any other synthesizer. Pressure sensitive with the capacity for touch response through playing, this circuit board keybed features polyphonic playback and programmable functionality, alike. Its pressure sensitivity and polyphony allows for the kind of real-time playing you're familiar with on other keyed instruments while its ability to map one key to do something outside of playing one note opens the field for more versatile performance use cases.
The Key to It AllThe MicroFreak's keybed plays right into its onboard program navigation. Through the MicroFreak's easy program navigation, players have quick access to over three hundred preset programs. These programs range from more classic synth sounds inspired by the likes of the Roland Juno, to vintage video game sound chip bleeps and bloops, to wild, unexpected sonic concoctions that break the usual mold. The MicroFreak's preset programs instantly swap the function of its keys as one program could be preset one key to play one note at a time while another could map a whole chord to one key. We'll talk about this more in a minute.
Presets can be played with their stock, preset parameters or made all your own. Immediately jumping into an interesting preset, players can start shaping the sound in their own way by using the MicroFreak's dedicated sections for its digital oscillator, its analog filter, and its envelopes. This, already, is part of what makes the MicroFreak such a great synth for novices. The MicroFreak features an onboard OLED screen that displays parameter changes in real time. Read changes on filter cutoff frequency values, visualize the attack and decay ramps of your envelopes, get more concrete sweet spots on your oscillators to return to later. This incredibly hands-on and visual playing experience matches quite well with the power the MicroFreak embodies as it puts its different synthesizing voices and note playability front and center.
MindFreak
Arturia MicroFreak Experimental Hybrid Synthesizer Tones
As we said, and just concerning the synth's preset bank alone, the MicroFreak is a massively versatile instrument with enormous musicality under the hood. We naturally do not have time to cover all three hundred* onboard presets on the MicroFreak, but to give you a good scope of the catalog of colors with which we're painting, here are a few of our favorite places to go and get our freak on.
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AstroBlastersThe MicroFreak is a classic game nerd, just in case you were wondering. With a pretty great backlog of presets onboard that throw it over to the simplified, low-bitrate sounds of early video game consoles and arcade cabinets, the MicroFreak can produce the kind of crunchy, almost percussive breaks in bits that you'd hear on an old video game – the kind of sound that makes you think, "Man, they thought this was fun back then?" in the very best way, of course.
Boom-Bap-eryOne of the cool things about having a more "experimental" synthesizer like the MicroFreak is you also have a build-your-own drum machine. Throughout the MicroFreak's preset library, you'll come across presets specifically built for percussive sounds. Recreating some great, retro-style drum machine staples like snares, kicks, and hi-hats, the MicroFreak can be your backbeat as easily as it can be your melodic lead.
Lo-Fi Beats to Chill/Freak ToPart of what the MicroFreak excels at is its ability to play to more modern sensibilities. It isn't all '80s stadium rock synths all the time, don't'cha know! Using the MicroFreak's unique filtering and LFO modulating capabilities, you can dial in a soft, warm, internet-era synth to kick back and study to (or not). The MicroFreak swings in big ways, but also has the capacity to get intimate and detail-oriented for humble, peculiar, introspective synth tones.
Le Freak, C'est Chic
Arturia MicroFreak Experimental Hybrid Synthesizer Further Functions
As we start wrapping this all up, let's talk about a few of the smaller functions that elevate the MicroFreak's experience – and might even do the same for other Arturia synthesizers, if you're interested in trying out their other models.
- MIDI Control and Clock Sync – Like so many other modern synthesizers, and many other Arturias, the MicroFreak features 1/8" MIDI and clock sync connections for sending MIDI signals or syncing your MicroFreak up with an existing, time-synced setup. These easy connections bring the MicroFreak seamlessly to a synth rig that's just starting, surely expanding, or a motherboard already in its own right.
- Headphone Connection – One of the biggest barriers of entry of any novice synthesist is, of course, the need for a connection to an output – an amp, a DAW, a mixer, you get the idea. Like other Arturias, the MicroFreak features its own dedicated 1/8" headphone output that brings all its tones and functions directly to you. Practice in silence, bring the MicroFreak on the road, whatever you're feeling, Arturia has your back.
- USB/Power Supply Connection – The MicroFreak tops everything off as a synthesizer to get you off to the races quickly with its included power supply and a dedicated USB power connection. Whether you're into the no-questions-asked experience of a dedicated power supply or the cleaner cable landscape for desktop musicmaking that a USB can offer, the MicroFreak meets you for either scenario.
Arturia MicroFreak Experimental Hybrid Synthesizer Final Thoughts
With the MicroFreak, Arturia makes it all so simple. Putting forward a player-friendly and intuitive synth experience is one thing, but backing those qualities with a lush, powerful, expressive, and versatile sonic palette is something else entirely. Luckily for all of us, Arturia has the technical know-how and artistic ear to make it all happen. The MicroFreak is an excellent first synth. If you're new to synthesizers but also already have an inclination toward the weirder, wider world of synthesizer sounds, the MicroFreak is a marvelous pick. If you're into more traditional synthesizer sounds, the MicroFreak is a pretty safe bet also. The MicroFreak's workflow balances a very tangible and visual musicmaking experience with some more intricate synth functions that makes its overall playability that is not only fun, but pretty educational to level up later to more complicated synths. Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran, the MicroFreak matches you just about anywhere you're at.
