Arturia MicroFreak

It’s a touch keyboard. Expecting the keys to travel is silly. :slight_smile:

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Dude has a big modular in the background but doesn’t understand the idea behind a buchla style keyboard.

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Even more amusingly the modular has one of those Pittsburgh Lifeforms touchplate keyboards. Now, I’m not saying that the video is brutal clickbait but the video is definitely brutal clickbait.

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That’s what I was thinking. Normally I find that dude to be pretty sharp, so I just assumed I was missing something

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You missed nothing, he was being a douche.
It worked though, we’ve all watched his shitty video.

You can’t trust a keyboarderist. They make you believe they’re all rational and shit, then someone (other than a trendy boutique modular company) makes a synth with a keyboard unworthy of wakeman’s sainted finger and they lose their shit.

Either that or he needs a few more thousand views on his channel. I don’t know, I’m not much of a keyboard player.

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I watched this morning, so I’m not real sharp on the details, but he said he was stoked about the sound if memory serves. I was slightly stoked about a non traditional keyboard initially

People seem to expect a lot from a £250 synth these days.

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This is pretty harsh tbh. Touch plates are cool for modular where less interaction is potentially required, but I can see it being annoying on a synth if you approach it looking for playability.

I might still grab one but the keyboard is the biggest sticking point. Lots of potential for sliding about and hitting the wrong note, especially in darker environments.

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I was having a bit of a joke to be honest.
I’m all fairness though, if you’re a keyboard player looking for a synth with a good keyboard on it you’re going to have to spend a bit more than £250.
Seems a bit pointless moaning about the keyboard on a budget synth, what did he expect for that price?
It’s a bit like crying that there’s no alloy wheels on your Dacia Sandero.

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Just… a normal keyboard? Like on the Microbrute, BS2 and Monologue, all in the same price range. I can see why they did it (cheaper, thinner, fewer moving parts, looks cool, a nod to its modular heritage) but anything that compromises playability is always going to be divisive. Just look at the outcry anytime something comes out with mini keys.

I’m reserving judgement, it could still turn out really fun. I’m not really a keys player either, usually just slam on the arp and go to town.

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Of those, only the BS2 has a normal keyboard. It is also about £60 more than the micro freak, which at this level of the market is a lot of money.

Like the microbrute?
:sunglasses:

They all have keys. Even the shitty minikeys on a microkorg are going to be more playable than a touchplate keyboard in most scenarios.

I just grabbed a BS2 for £200. They’re in the same ballpark for prospective buyers, at least until the freak hits the secondhand market.

Better yet, he has a video wherein he actually praises that Pittsburgh touchplate keyboard as his favorite module. I’ve watched his channel before - he prides himself on producing clickbait, and often says so in the comments. The last time I called him out on something, he thanked me for my dislike, citing the merits of negative engagement. That’s the Internet for ya (smirk)…

Cheers!

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Lol, I retract my defense of his video. Youtubers are the worst.

(obviously half kidding, we have some great ones on this forum)

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Yep, here it is:

Quote: “Straight up, the KB-1 Module is for me, for the player! […] I use the KB-1 every single time I fire up my setup. It has brought me so much joy, to have an innovative keybed like this…”

Cheers!

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See.

'swhy I hate keyboard players.

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I’m looking forward for the alternative keybed and if I want to play it with regular keys I’m just going to connect my midi keyboard to it. I think that the keybed is looking damn good as well. Looks like something from ancient times :grinning:

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This page has a few more demo’s

I quite like the keybed- the cheapo keyboards on other synths puts me off them. But this kind of acknowledges your going to play the other parts of the synth more than the keyboard.

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It could be he doesn’t like the implementation in the microfreak not necessarily touchplates in general…