Polybrute 12 Review // 3 reasons why FullTouch is a breakthrough for expressive control // Tutorial
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- Get access to Spectravox multisamples and my exclusive In-Complete Book of Electronic Music Ideas, Tips and Tricks, on my Patreon:
► / loopop
Check prices here (affiliate links don't cost you more but help the channel):
► Perfect Circuit: link.perfectcircuit.com/t/v1/...
► Thomann: www.thomann.de/intl/search_di...
► Sweetwater: sweetwater.sjv.io/Y9eMxJ
Other places I hang out:
► Instagram: / loopopmusic
► Tiktok: / loopopmusic
► Facebook: / loopopmusic
► Twitter: / loopopmusic
► Web: loopopmusic.com
My music:
► Bandcamp: loopop.bandcamp.com
► Spotify: bit.ly/LoopopOnSpotify
► Apple Music: bit.ly/LoopopOnAppleMusic
Cool Holographic scopes?
► The scopes I use aren't real - I use MOscilloscope and MAnalyzer by a company called Melda - they’re free with some limitations in the MFreeFXBundle.
TIMELINE:
0:00 Intro
1:55 vs PolyBrute
3:55 I/O & PBC
4:45 The keybed
5:55 Key history
7:40 The others
8:20 FullTouch
9:40 FullTouch AT mode
10:20 AT and Z mode
11:40 Env and AT mode
13:15 Env A & D
13:45 Env S & R
15:10 Env Velocity
16:50 Env AT
17:20 Mod env
17:45 Env tests
19:45 MIDI & MPE
22:25 MPE tips
23:45 Pros, cons
27:50 Presets
Submit review and video ideas here (sorry I don’t offer 1x1 sessions/setup/purchasing advice):
► Ziv (at) loopopmusic.com
NOTE: Occasionally I’ll try out affiliate marketing and include affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links to stores like Amazon, Sweetwater, Thomann and others. The content of this clip is entirely my opinion, and was not paid for or dictated in any way by the company creating the gear. Without addressing the particulars of products shown here as they might be under NDA, gear shown on this channel may be either sent by the manufacturer, on loan for review or bought at a discount.
Arturia marketing: how much to spend on advertising?
Arturia: just send it to loopop.
😂😂😂
💯
to loopop and a dozen other synth youtubers; yeah that's pretty much how they do a lot of their marketing.
I have seen it on at least 5 or 6 channels time 4 grand + shipping + they pay these creators. Cheaper than TV advertising but still considerable money ;)
Was thinking that I might be short of hands fingers . Waiting what Alex Ball and mylardmelidies will do and well there is Jay Hoskins who makes fantastic melodies and wll don't forget about Nick from sonicstate and Ben hmmm many mooore...
Ok let's enjoy.@valdir7426
transient control with fulltouch plus eg velocity is unreal and we need it on every synth. incredible work arturia
Warm-sounding synth and a barbecue grill in one. I want.
Arturia, if you want to make a good thing even better, send one to this man right now
😆🤣😅👍👍👍
Holy hell, it's Jexus..the man, the myth!
Jexus Maria, a ja myślałem, że bogowie nie komentują na innych kanałach. 😂
I believe I could make quality jerky with this thing
Big day in the synth world
Seriously!
Isn’t it?? :D
I think the last 10 years really. It’s a renaissance or golden age 😮
You can run your Polybrute 12's left output into Spectravox, and right output into NTS-3. Now I have to go look - what else was introduced today?
Oh shizz, Voltage Lab 2...
Jeez mate, 3 videos in a row - you spoil us too much ❤
My pleasure! No more for today but you never know perhaps one more is coming…
@@loopopnew oberheim for example 😀
His schedule is determined by embargos 😉
@@loopopooo hope it’s that TEO 5
@@Peetronius new leaked semimodular moog ;)
I hope they incorporate this keybed into their premium 88-key controller or perhaps a new controller altogether. Edit -- Ha! I just heard you say the same thing at the end of the video.
Seriously. It would be amazing if this were the beginning of a new KeyLab FT family and a FullTouch-enabled Pigments 6.
Yeah I'm amazed they just released another board that didn't have this tech built into that one. Wth?
Wonderful review! Very comprehensive and compelling. This is the synth actually delivers on the hoopla they built up around Astrolab.
Unbelievable - I was all in when I thought all they added were 6 voices and polyat. This is so much more - most exciting synth in ages. I already had my order in, now I know why. 😆
This is the only Time I’ve ever wanted to see the same video back to back; exciting times INDEED!! 😇
This might be now the most expressive synth ever. Morphe touch controller, touch strip, the amazing MPE keyboard and all the other amazing features.
For me the synth already has the best sequencer ever in a synth, great effects, is super intuitive to use, has knobs for everything, its morphing feature is very unique for an analog synth, it has modulation recording, an amazing interactive, innovative arpeggiator und a great modulation matrix.
The only feature I’m missing for the most perfect synth ever, is a digital oscillator from Minifreak (that includes all the engines from Mutable Instruments Plaits). That would also make it more comparable to the Osmose and its engine. - Except that it isn't that portable for travelling and clearly a studio synth.
Arturia keeps innovating. For me they are one of the leading synth company when it's about innovation and user interface. Their synths nail the UI, they are the Apple of synths. :) They not only build on the legacy of synthesiser, but innovative new UI elements like the display knob in the Astrolab.
Many don't know, but all their synths include interactive tutorials in their plugins that you can connect to the hardware. You learn all the features and how a synth works interactively. Not only that: They produce awesome video tutorials. - I know only Ableton that takes so much care about teaching electronic music production. - And they keep updating their synths with major updates all the time for years.
Nailed it!
Akia
Always love your videos, even when it's for something I'm never going to buy!
Stellar overview as always! This channel is my comfort space
🙌🏻🙏🏻 ❤
Wow. Dream synth. Love the vintage cream color. It’s giving everything I wish Tom Oberheim would have done over the entirety of the synth resurgence. Well done Arturia and great review as always. I may just sell a ton of gear just to get this.
Very cool breakdown of the polyphonic aftertouch and motion keys!👍👍👍
What a synth!
PB6 Is already great looking and sounding, but got to admit: love this new look! Great review as usual @loopop - informative but goes kinda deep as well - kudos!
The send effects are well adjusted in the presets at the end. Thanks for playing them!
This looks like a modern Matrix 12 to me! Thanks a lot for your review.
The unison sound puts big smiles on my face 😁😁😁😁
Busy day mate, fair play!! Of the three videos today, this is the one that interests me the most! The GAS is real!
I'll be buying this and I'm 30 seconds in... I own a Polybrute and love it
You ought to. PB12 is quatruple the fun than PB6, it feels limitless except for a real FM synthesis, but that‘s a different story. In analog, it‘s a great compromise with so many features and possibilities to recreate all your favourite 70‘s and 80‘s sounds and propel them into 2025.
You got 4 G's? 😅
I have lots of MPE controllers already but I had a nice nap while vibing to these great synth sounds
Looking good and fixes the main issue for me with the original, which was only six voices. Great work from Arturia there.
Sounds Great! love the expression in that keybed, this is one I may think of getting my hands on! :)
@scottmcauleysounds I would love to hear what you could do with this! such an amazing sound designer!
It seems that there is no point in clicking “Like” 50 times :-) Always the greatest and most meaningful reviews on your channel!
I'm looking at this as someone who primarily plays string instruments, and it really feels like the keybed makes it an entirely different instrument to any synth I've seen up to this point. The expressive movements I instinctively try to do on a keyboard, that obviously never work, are finally possible on this. I am so excited to try one of these in person.
A programmable Osmose. Solid.
Osmos as well as Haken audio has the deepest possible programmable synth engine
I do feel the lack of the vibrato/bend per key that the Osmose has. And of course a very different synth engine - but I do like this for your more standard synth sounds, and the Osmose physical modelling is really quite lovely. If you had an unlimited budget, I think there's plenty of reason to have both in a studio, honestly. That and this is twice the cost of the Osmose - but I don't think this is overpriced at all. It has some serious chops and its ease of patching is huge.
I think this is a fantastic instrument!
@@MrRostislove I have an Osmose. It is nice- but let’s be honest about its on-panel programmability.
@@MrRostislove Hawken Matrix is probably one of the worst interfaces on the planet. "Programmable" is exactly how I would describe it, definitely not "design".
@@LagoLhn if you are dedicated, you can create and edit patches through its computer editor, which is *extremely* powerful and complicated but so much so to its detriment for any but serious developers. The knobs are purely macros, but you are allowed under the hood but you need a lot of tutorial time to patch anything worth patching.
They really did a great job with the MPE controls using the sliders, excellent adaptability and not difficult to understand.
Well done Arturia!👏
Some really great presets on this board. Nice job Arturia.
This is an insane synth. The best part is you don't need to buy software to edit patches.
TBC, Robert's referring to Astrolab, where you have to buy software in order to edit patches (and potentially, many different individual software instruments, if you want to edit all of the presets). The Osmose keyboard, another competitor, requires software in order to edit or create presets, but it's free software, at least.
@@GizzyDillespee Thanks for clarifying, I would not want Osmose to catch a stray.
Good thing, since you won't have any money left after buying one.
But like most of all other hardware synths, all knobs and faders are never on the right position when you load a patch. But the Software shows everything correct.
@@Cynshetthere’s trade off for both put I prefer normal pots vs endless pots.
this is just plain cray-cree!! wow!! & no wonder we haven't seen the loopop polyend tracker+ vid yet. hotdang!! thanks, ziv.
I sure do wish I was rich. well... I should say "money rich," because I'm rich in spirit, & very much blessed. I mean... any of us watching this vid should be able to say so. wouldn't y'all agree?
I pre-ordered this. Can't wait to get her next to my matrix and poly
Excellent! Agree on your last point about the keybed being part of a controller - a full sized Keystep Pro Pro is long overdue and would be an instant buy (for me at least). Even just a full sized 61 key KSP with poly aftertouch would do it for me.
Thanks for the excellent review per usual. I own a six voice Polybrute and an Osmose. Given that the new 12 voice has almost identical voice architecture do you think Arturia will be able to update the original PB to respond to MPE over midi?
Finally a synth that is in the league of the Roland Jupiter 8 I regrettably sold many years ago and ironically is exactly the same price! I'm back in love!! 😎
Wow. They really did it. That is glorious.
New Age CS-80. Well done Arturia and Loopop.
This is the best sounding synth ever
was looking for a new poly analog and was thinking of waiting for the moog muse. Now this has me second guessing.
This synth produces sounds which I haven't heard from an analog subtractive synth before and I have more than 35 years of experience with analog synths. For me it's definitely worth to be considered to be a future owner. But it would be the most expensive synth in my collection. Thanks Loopop for this excellent review!
My savings goal for a Polybrute has just turned into a stretch goal. I just really love the sound of this synth and judging from the polyAT of my Hydrasynth I can only imsgine the evolvin and resposive pads onecan make with this lovely synth. Hope Santa has started to hit the weights.
Hi Martin. Try to link velocity to attack time in the mod matrix of your Hydrasynth and you get your desired evolvin' and responsive/plucky pads..........sort of 😉
Holy moly. I wish I could afford this monster. Amazing machine!
Sweetwater is a little over 100/month 36 months
Amazing Synth!
You on it for sure❤
I enjoyed your dune playing on this synth❤
If a person had this and Waldorf Irridium Keyboard version that would cover almost any synth sound you would want to make. Great video and very appealing synth. I would definitely like one of these.
Your synth collection must be pretty insane at this point from all the demo gear!
most the time they send em back or have to pay for em. Arturia doesn't just send free gifts everywhere.
You can do that velocity-sensitive transient thing on any synth which lets you modulate the envelope attack with the imverse of the velocity, like a Hydrasynth (which can also modulate the envelope release from the key release velocity, so you can control how quickly the notes shut off just from your playing). The new Polybrute sounds magnificent though, you demo it so well.
...Or an Arturia Microfreak :)
I WANT IT ;) - Great video!! Thanks! You're fast..... seems the news just broke an hour ago and you already have a review video going? NIce!
Thanks - I wish! there’s no way I can make a video like this in an hour - I had early access
Here is hoping for these features in the new keylab... Along with the knob encoders with the LED bars (customizable rgb please) from the astrolab.
👏🏼great video explanation. So much modulation key bed initiated innovation. Glad to see Arturia pushing analogue technology on. £3500 not unexpected. Cons: quite a competitive Polysynth market…for space, time and cash.
Absolutely Phenomenal. x
Wow, I really like the implementation of FullTouch - I hope they put this keybed on a full sized 12-voice digital w/ analog filters ‘SuperFreak’… as well as some of their controllers.
Great stuff! Let's just hope that they bring FullTouch(tm) to the next KeyLabs Pro controller!
Great review! Good to see more instruments exploring MPE. Also the way they set out the parameters makes me curious how a physical programmer for the Eagan Matrix could work. Are you going to do a video on Noisy 2?
Thanks! No, probably no video on Noisy 2 for now
My next synth purchase, have the Matrixbrute Noir and Polybrute Noir, I love them both,,this beast will be a welcome addition, now to find the space 😂😂😂
I need this. Now.
Beautiful machine
Nice video. It sounds really nice. The biggest con for me on the original Polybrute 12 was the keybed felt super cheap. How much better does the MPE FullTouch keybed feel compared to higher end Fatar keybeds ?
1:24 Man, I was getting serious Kraftwerk vibes! Reminded me of about 3/4 of the way through Autobahn. Sigh, too bad I'm broke, or this would have been a day 1 purchase! Great video as always!
They should include a dust cover for those vents!
Good idea putting the vents on the top, but, dust falls.
Can’t wait for the Midi Controller version of this keybed!
They should have put this in that other new board they just released
Fantastic review. 12 voices is what the first PB should have had. Great explanation of the expression features. I agree we need a Keylab with that keyboard. I think lifting this beast will give me a hernia. Are they trying to beat the CS-80 in a weight competition. 👍
A beautiful machine ❤
This is .. something else! i thought the original PB was cool, but this is on another level :) Hmm I need space though.. and financial means.
Are they still using the thinner Arutria keys or are these normal width keys?
Finally just bought the OG Polybrute too haha
Awesome!
Finally, the breakdown of the historicity of Keybedz in this Video is TOP-NOTCH, DOCUMENTARY WORTHY!! 👑👑 You’re a Wizard LOOPOP and I can only COMPARE to the greatest as in BOB ROSS, MR. RODGERS, AND YES LOOPOP!! TOP-NOTCH!! 😇
Cool stuff
This thing is a beauty box.
Great overview and review. The original PolyBrute is totally underrated with just a few minor issues, one of which was a rather underwhelming keybed. This new revision seems to address all my issues. But I must ask: Why is the pitch a semi-tone sharp? You're playing a C and it's a C#. Did you do this on purpose?
Thanks! No, I didn't do it on purpose to mess with the perfect pitch folks, and I don't recall changing the settings. I wish I was by it to test but I'm at superbooth
@@loopop have fun at superbooth. The preset demos at the end are in the right key. Not sure why the earlier demonstrations concerning aftertouch and such are a half step off. Thanks for the vids!
starting to see the broader impact of the osmose on the synth world
@loopop
Ziv, can you compare the keyboard feel to the Quantum Mark 2 or the Prophet 10 or the MOOG One?
Or does the PB12 have the.. same feel as the regular PB ?
Yeah, the feel of Arturia's synth actions have always felt a bit cheap compared to other flagship synths, which is a shame as the rest of the hardware looks and feels really premium. Well, the rubber coated knobs could be nicer too, but those are easily swapped out. You can also see in this video that the keys are also slightly crooked (vertically), which isn't a good look on a brand new flagship... you never see that on a Yamaha or Fatar action...
I don't have the Quantum or Prophet. I don't think the keys here or on the original feel cheap, but that's perhaps a matter of personal opinion I guess - they're not on the heavy side. The Moog One keys feel "more premium" with a kind of wood finish on the black keys, but if the only thing guiding my decision-making was the keybed functionality, personally, I'd take Arturia FullTouch - this is the one to beat IMHO.
@@loopop thanks for the details. Looking forward to trying one!
@@JimDanekerhey Jim, I have the OGPB and my only gripe are the keys. They are in the same range as the Roland System 8 but maybe a little bit thinner feeling. At first touch the Andromeda A6 suffered the same sort of keyboard feeling which to me was a letdown right away. (worse than the PB)
I might take a trip in the next couple of days over to Perfect Circuit audio and give the PB 12 a test run.
However the sound and features of the PB 12 look really intriguing. I was wanting to put my PB on the market anyway. 😮
@@loopop thank you for the response . The Moog one uses a premium Fatar keybed, after the Rev 2 all Sequential keys are Fatar but they are one level under the premium which is in the Virus KB / TI as well.(as the Moog one and the nonlinear labs.)
I have the OGPB and I use it even though the keys aren't my favorite.. I have a number of synthesizers that use the Fatar TP9S and the TP8S for key beds. So I have a workaround personally.
The difference between the TP 8 and the TP 9 are the woodgrain of the black keys and the length of the white keys. The more premium Fatar has the woodgrain and the longer keys.
I think it is safe to say that the Fatar is the industry standard benchmark for a premium keypad for a flagship synthesizer. Now there are some other synth companies that make proprietary keybeds, however after years and years of research and hands-on experience I say the Fatar is the industry standard which all synthesizers should be judged against.
Thank you very much for all of your videos.
Fantastic move by Arturia. I absolutely loved the expressive keyboard on the Osmose, but disliked the sound engine. This looks incredibly fun and expressive on top of a really great synth...just not sure about the colour, though it kind of reminds me of the old Oberheim SEM look. Great video as usual mate! What would we do without you?
Noir edition I'm thinking?
Do you still have it Pat or did you sell it?
I have been searching for an MPE/PAT keybed for ages, but there is nothing that doesn't cost an arm an leg so I opted for an Explorer for the time being.
It gets me by but if Arturia just released this as a MIDI stand alone, they would make a ton of people happy.
@@maydaygoingdown5602 I think that could be a while off yet...too bad they didn't start with a Noir version though!
@@dankeplace I sold mine. I loved the keybed/expressivity but the engine is a big let down, since it's almost impossible to program your own patches, and that's a no go for me. I don't really know another good option for you to be honest. Maybe Arturia will make a MPE standalone controller like this one day! Maybe ROLI? I don't really like their squishy controllers, but you might.
@@stateazure wow never knew you sold it. I will just wait, I am patient enough, I have enough sequencers to keep me going, but if Arturia does a stand alone, I will be all over that for sure.
I have to pop in to your live streams soonish, just the time differences are a killer.
Just shows you how far Ensoniq was ahead of the curve one it came to poly aftertouch... 36 years ago..... (besides the CS80....) It was in all their synths and samplers since the late 80's.
Must admit.. This is the new standard... Taking osmosis on... and being soooooo much better.... in a way thats balanced...
EDIT: Thank goodness ive been saving for a 6.... Now I need to keep going!
Love it!
Wow. Big step up here
I freaking love the color scheme... original polybrute was amazing but my eyes where on matrix from the begining so i got it instead, then polybrute was next but man im happy i didnt get the original, wait was so worth it
I like the look of the original much better. Would have liked to see the white with some brushed nickel or even colored stain of the wood. I have a Noir Matrixbrute, and I'm a little jealoud of the originals.
Favourite moment in the video - the part where the scratched surface around the USB-B connector is shown :D
I actually saw that as I was editing and became concerned - it wipes off thankfully - I should’ve taken another shot later .I guess, without the scratch.
@@loopop I mean, it's a cultural reference and historical record of one of the major struggles of our generation :)
If I could make one suggestion to the Arturia firmware team it would be to add a control for Poly AT slew amount and/or an attack/release control for it. No one has done this before, as far as I know. Aftertouch often feels jumpy--applying or removing pressure can sound abrupt. But adding a way to slew the pressure signal would open up a lot of nuanced sound design capability. Just my $0.02!
You should try the FullTouch Envelope mode; This is exactly that, with separate rise / fall slew, and a release control. Very, very fun to use !!
How do you add that? buy separately? or in the synth program is included…??
I knew it!! 😊
It sounds great, and oddly, sounds richer than the original polybrute i used last week, which may or may not be due to the newer voice cards & / or a combination of that and the new keyboard.
It wasn't mentioned in your review, but I'm assuming it's bi-timbral. It would have been nice to have two pairs of outputs in this version, but other than that, it looks good and sounds fantastic 🌅
Wow - 35:50 - Vangelis Beaubourg vibes! ❤
Bravo sir
I know the Osmose has an extremely advanced engine so it'd be difficult to program with a standard "knows and sliders" front panel, but I really like the combination of MPE and conventional controls. Looking at other instruments like the Seaboard/Continuum/Linnstrument I think I would miss the standard controls for programming. This looks like a nice compromise.
Keystep 37mkII with fulltouch... yes, that was literally my first thought when I understood what this feature was capable of.
Any software synths out there with this "full touch" style behavior? The synth seems really sweet, thanks for the video as usual :)
That SOUND at 20:31 🫠
Hmm, instantly like the sound of this one more than the previous one.
Finally someone has designed a key bed that provides expression when you automatically wobble your finger on keys expecting vibrato for some reason!
You should look at the Expressive E Osmose if you haven't yet !
Osmose Xpressive did it a year or two ago.
Except polybrute 12 does not have side to side expression on the keys. Osmose does.
You've been able to do this since the 90's. Poly AT ain't new
@@milosmilosmilos @lb2696 yup, fair point. I was thinking more in a conventional style synth and key bed but it does already exist. And I didn’t realise this didn’t even offer side to side expression. Man I got too excited.
What are you doing to me?! Why did this have to come out today?! [Drools on floor till dies of dehydration.]
Not really, but thank you for the good news! I'm always excited when Arturia has something new (even when it makes something as pretty as the original Polybrute start to become obsolete).
Great video, as always! :)
Nice little Dune 2 motif 😘
27:15 definitely want a MIDI controller version of this key-bed
I didn’t want to care about this synth, but this review is _really_ compelling!
I think that at the price of just about any Pro-wind instrument 🎷 particularly thinking of the Saxophone, Arturia has finally gave it a run for the money. In My mind the Saxophone is like the ultimate in expression for both the subtle and the futile; which as great as synthesis is, the ability to have an A to Z non-linear approach was just not happening. Now, with this I SEE iT HAPPENING, where you’re not trying to re-invent the wheel 🛞 for some bit-of the shadow of emulation, and again, I’m not referring to matching sounds but the abilities of expressiveness!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
😅I'm curious as to the actual quality of the keybed itself. Is it just an updated version of the original Polybrute keybed? Is it comparable to the TP8/SK found on the Quantum? Where does it sit quality wise amongst other offerings? Thanks!
(Apologies btw.)
It's really hard to convey the actual feel over video - I've never tried the Quantum's keyboard (I'll try and have a feel at Superbooth). PB12's keyboard feels excellent in my opinion, but I also liked the on on PB6 and MatrixBrute, and they feel very similar
@@loopopAwesome. I get it. Thanks! Have fun at Superbooth!
Great video!! can it be connected to my Arturia keylab 88 mk2 so that i can play the synthesizer sounds from my Arturia 88 key keyboard?
Thanks! I haven't tried that since the keybed is so strong here, but yes it should work
did Expressive E licensed Osmose´s keybed to Arturia?
and I'm just over here waiting for your review of the Moog Labyrinth...
Do you think this new keybed makes the old mod wheel more-or-less redundant or do you find you'd still use that alongside the new poly AT functionality?
Sure, I have a lot of vintage patches which make use of Poly AT and Mod wheel such as organs, E-Pianos, and all these 80‘s sound from Nena to Toto. But Envelope Touch is really useful for expressive flutes etc.
the modwheel can be an excellent global macro "fader" regardless of PolyAT, as long as you're ok with everything changing at once.
That Dune moment in the beginning, tasty!