General
The rumours teased us for what felt like an eternity but it's actually, finally here: the Arturia PolyBrute synthesizer. Now, those in the know will already have noticed a striking similarity with the ever popular MatrixBrute since both of these beefy slabs of synthesis seem to come loaded with every possible control button, knob, slider, and pad known to humankind. Look a little closer and you'll notice that the PolyBrute has an entire octave over the MatrixBrute, and boasts a 61-note strong keyboard - way more comfortable for pianists-come-sound-designers. Then, looking to the left of the keyboard we find... a chunk of wood where the standard pitch and modulation wheel should be. This is the 'Morphee': a very special and very exclusive controller that can be manipulated in not two, but three dimensions. Ok, so it is a traditional X/Y pad, but you can also push it in - forming the third control dimension. Above the keyboard, you also get access to a ribbon controller that's been finished in a matching wooden housing, and naturally, you still get a standard set of pitch and modulation wheels, but all things considered, you're likely to find yourself reaching for that Morphee more and more.
Further Fantastical Features of the Arturia PolyBrute
Of course, a synth could not be a synth without a solid core of sound synthesising power. And, here, everything is in order since you get two Brute wave-shapers, each with their own envelope as well as noise, sync, and FM. The extensive filter even gets its very own envelope, and you get a further three LFOs to pump life into your sound. To thicken everything up, an effect series has been provided, and for the rhythmic work you get a sequencer/arpeggiator. If you've ever played with a Brute in the past, then this synth is a nostalgic, adventure-packed wander. Morphing is an essential aspect of the PolyBrute - you can select or make sound A and sound B and then, using the many parameters at your disposal, morph and mash between the two. A mass of things can be linked up using the modulation matrix, and the sheer mouth-watering potential on offer is expanded further by the presence of channel-aftertouch and two expression pedal ports. If you were to try to sum up the PolyBrute, along with its sleek and tactile wooden Morphee and ribbon controllers, you would have to include the word 'expressive'. I mean, you can forget about static sound, you can completely forget about the inhuman-feel of most synths. In fact, synthesis doesn't actually get much more human than the PolyBrute.
And Other Charming Characteristics
The matrix grid offers multiple applications. You can use it as a preset-selector, you can use it as a sequencer/arpeggiator, and of course, as a modulation matrix. The grid also serves to reduce immense time-wasted 'menu-diving', and makes the PolyBrute an incredibly fast, especially hands-on synth. Even if you're more of an in-the-box style producer, you're covered, since this synthesizer will happily integrate with your computer. And then we come to the way it's built, which deserves an entire world of appreciation: masses of controls populating the face of a stunningly finished housing that you'd happily stare at for days if not years, which combined with the mass of potential it offers, makes it the kind of instrument you want to use - like, constantly and compulsively use.
