Arturia Minibrute 2 / 2S

The Lounge Other Gear
#195

Simple answer is yes I think? If I start a sequence in chromatic scale with a root note of c then switch to say major scale, the notes in the pattern change to reflect the scale change. If I then transpose up to an F the pattern follows with the same note changes. However the behaviour is different depending where I transpose to… C# works but plays a slightly different set of notes yet going to D yields the same sequence as when in chromatic scale but just shifted up to a D. D# is identical to D in that it plays the sequence in D. If I switch back to chromatic whilst transposed to D# it plays the original sequence in D#… E just plays the original sequence in E… F and F# yield slightly different results so I’m guessing keeping in scale in the same way C and C# do. G works as does G#. A plays the original pattern whilst A# seems to be back to the major scale? B deffo changes too.

That all sounds as clear as mud and tbh I’ve not played around with scales much. My musical theory lets me down so I couldn’t tell you if it’s playing the correct notes for a maj scale without working out every note. Maybe you can decipher what’s going on?

Hope this helps?

Ps, it’s a cracking sequencer/synth combination. Sounds better to my ears than the first gen brutes.

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#196

Found a 2S for $300 locally a few weeks ago and although I was keen on not buying anymore gear for awhile the lure of getting to know a semi-modular synth was just too great

This is my first analog synth so I don’t have much to compare it to but I am enjoying it so far. Some observations/experiences:

  • the patchbay is tons of fun; I also ordered a few stacker cables from TipTop and a Synx (mixer/ attuenuator or splitter) to expand my options
  • using AD envelope in loop mode, both mod channels, and 2nd VCO you can have six LFOs
  • since both mod channels are already pre-routed, you basically have a built-in mult. Send LFO to cutoff and parameter of your choice with only one patch cable… and this LFO can be ‘p-locked’ to have different depths and speeds.
  • The number of steps on each track is independent, meaning it’s really easy to get some evolving/polyrhythm sounds e.g. use an envelope mod track on the noise to make a snare sound but have this loop after every 9 steps.
  • the triangle waveform with the metalizer is really nice, opens up a lot of soft sounds
  • LFO1 automatically routes to both pulse wave modulation and resonance mod. I love setting this to random to get some cool rhythmic movements.
  • I’ve used the second VCO as a sub-oscillator 90% of the time so far. just patched up a polyphonic patch following OscillatorSink’s video
  • access to linear and exponential FM is a nice touch

I could go on and on but there’s lot of good videos out there that do a better job than I’m going to. Every time I watch a video I learn something new.

Pairing it with the Octatrack:

  • I’ve been using the built in sequencer as well as sequencing from the OT. As far as I can tell, I can’t sequence the mod tracks from the OT so even when I use the OT I am still running the internal MB2S sequencer to capitalize on the mod tracks.
  • You can send a separate output from the VCA to the OT to process differently - this could be a snare sound or your second voice if using the polyphonic mode
  • Enjoying using the dark reverb from the OT to add some space to the sounds. Still trying to find a good use for FX1

Overall, this is a great synth to learn on. I love having tons of options while also maintaining a near bijection from functions to knobs. I could definitely see myself selling this once I get some other gear but I’m happy I have it now.

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#197

Good score. I’ve had mine for about a year and I still like it. It has some shortcomings but what synth doesn’t? It’s sequencer is so well integrated with the synth, they really feel like one expandable instrument. I’ve built some simple accessories for it, all passive (no power), like mults and attenuators.
Have you tried running other signals through the metalizer? Wavefolders are awesome.

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#198

It seems like an investment into a soldering iron is worthwhile if one is to get into modular …

The sequencer is really awesome, very fun to play along with.

I’m currently decoupling VCO2 (as a sine wave) from the rest of the path and sending through the wavefolder to get a timbre approach (from the OscillatorSink video I mentioned). Do you send anything through it besides the VCO waves?

#199

Buying a soldering iron opens up a lot of possibilities. There are probably tons of soldering tutorials YouTube, it’s easy but you definitely want to do it properly. I haven’t gotten into modular really but I do have a few pieces of gear that have patch points which integrate nicely with the mb2s. I just built a couple of the (few) basic utilities that the mb2s doesn’t have.
As to the wavefolder, I mostly run other vco waves into it, sometimes vcos from other semi-modular gear.

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#200

Made a little jam running the MB2S in duophonic mode running through the Octatrack for lots of reverb + backing drums. It’s nothing special but figured I’d share :slight_smile: Loving the pulse width modulation on the square wave for VCO1. I “mastered” it in Octatrack so it’s truly DAW-less :rofl: First time really feeling in tune with both the OT and MB2S.

Happy to share more patch/sequencer info if anyone is interested :revolving_hearts:

It’s a little sloppy with mutes and pattern changes but I did get this back from the Arturia team :pleading_face:

Sorry for the inconvenience but the MiniBrute 2S doesn’t support MIDI Program Change messages yet, We have received request for this feature and We have passed this requests to the Dev Team so they can implement it on a future Firmware Update.

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#201

Sounding good man.

#202

Is the sequencer on 2s the same with the Beatstep pro or there are differences?

#203

I think the core sequencing features are the same, but the 2S has the option of using the auxiliary sequencer lanes to send out LFOs and envelopes, which I don’t think the BSP can do (I only have a 2S). You also have a pressure parameter on the 2S, whereas the BSP just has cv, gate and velocity - but the 2S doesn’t have the eight gate outputs for drums. So it’s not a 1:1 feature set, but in terms of how the sequencer itself operates I expect there’s a lot of crossover.

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#204

Anybody used the 2s live?

#205

Kinda. I jammed on it for about an hour for a few friends who were curious about it. Not exactly a gig, just three guys and me in their band’s practice space but it was going through a loud pa and I approached it like a spur of the moment improvised live set.
Why do you ask? Any specific live oriented questions/ concerns?

#206

Thanks. I mostly wanted to know how good the sequencer and interface is for live improv and playing.

#207

Great. I think the arturia sequencers excel at live improvising. They let you do a lot with a simple structure. Super fast to get a cool sequence going.
Layout is dead simple too. If you know subtractive synthesis you’ll intuitively understand the controls and layout plus it’s knob per function. If you understand the structure/ architecture behind subtractive synthesis you’ll understand the patchbay.
I hate to say it but as cool as this thing is mine has been on a shelf for a couple of months now. I’ve been considering selling it. I have too many mono synths and the mb2s is constantly tempting me to buy eurorack gear. I don’t think my bank account could handle that though it would be the perfect centerpiece for that.

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#208

I haven’t been able to find that info in the 2S’ manual: can you set the grid to triplets, or offset any triggers manually?

#209

I don’t think so, but I’d love to be proven wrong. Of course you could route the gate and pitch signals to other modular gear and then route the delayed signal back to the oscillator and envelope VCA, but that only seems interesting as a one-time exercise.

#210

Damn…I read something about using the gate track, I’ll try it when I pick my 2s later.

Otherwise maybe some maths on the tempo + pattern length could work.

#211

MiniBrute Noir

Everything is the same, just a special edition in black.

There’s an DrumBrute Impact Noir too.

They were all dark before, now they are just a little darker.

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#212

I think I prefer the natural wood and white fader caps personally, but it would be cool if they offer a wood & fader kit for those who want to switch to dark mode.

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#213

Hi there,

here’s a demo video of the MiniBrute 2 showing several patches for Ambient and Techno. Maybe you find it useful.

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#214

I was curious, why a syntakt thread gets 2200+ posts, with literally no product announced at all, meanwhile Arturia has released in 2018 a very fine and mighty Monosynth, but the thread here gets only 160+ postings…since 2018.

Sooo…

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Let’s find out.

6 Likes