Have Microbrute....now what?

[CyaNitrate]

Ok, technically I don't have it yet, but it will be here tomorrow or Tuesday. This is my first synth of any kind, and I'm super excited about it.

But what is the next logical step? I'm thinking some sort of drum machine for making actual music instead of just noise (Not to downplay how much fun that is). I've seen videos of the Volca series and know they can play well together, and I also am very intrigued by the Kaossilator Pro, both of which I can procure (used) locally, all three Volcas bundled..

However.. I have no audio interface, no mixer, no suitable recording computer or recording software, no iPad....Literally starting from the ground up aside from guitars, pedals, and amps. So...thoughts? Eventually, I want to start recording across the board, so computer/interface/software are already on the (long) list of wants. But those aside, would the KP or the volcas be a good companion to the 'Brute? should i look elsewhere? should i just live with the 'Brute for a bit?

[kbit]

Since its a mono synth and I assume you're not used to the keyboard interface, I'd encourage you to spend a lot if time understanding how to translate your sense of melody to the keyboard. The programable step sequencer would probably be helpful too.

And before jumping into other gear id encourage you to start to understand what each part of the microbrute does. How does the filter work, the envelopes, how about the CV patch bay, etc. There's a lot of really cool and simple features to that synth and digging in to understand them all will open your scope of what you can do with synthesizers and how you'd like to use them. Reading up lingo and functions of synthesis via wikipedia is a great idea.

And yeah, its a pretty simple to synth and you might want to try and do more more more. And of course you can and will and might spend a lot of money but learning how you can use the limitations of gear as creative tools is super fun and invigorating.

Tl;dr play with it a lot and learn and have fun

[kbit]

Also, run it through all your pedals! Some people think synths dont even open up into their own without a delay

[fishtankdork]

The instruction manual is pro. I am a synth noob and that thing was a god send. It has you start with a basic patch and play with the knobs. Pretty fun and easy to learn with the manual

[alexa.]

The Arcturia drumpack with the drummachine is on sale atm

[ApeLincoln]

Definitely listen to what kbit had to say about getting to know the synth before you start throwing a bunch of elements into the mix.

I think the same thing applies to using effects with your synth as well. Learn to make the sounds you want to make with your brute before you start altering it with effects. That way when you have a particular sound on mind you know how to use the tools you have in order to get there.

[greeny23]

fun fact: i nearly got fired from the music store i used to work at because i spent hours playing a microbrute rather loudly in the middle of the store.

[CyaNitrate]

fun fact: i nearly got fired from the music store i used to work at because i spent hours playing a microbrute rather loudly in the middle of the store.

That is amazing, and you are awesome.

Thanks everyone for the input, lots of really good advice. In all honesty I just paid for this, so I doubt the wife would fancy me running out to drop more cash on toys anytime soon anyhow. So, I'll live with it and learn it inside and out before moving forward.

EDM and all its flavors are cool, but what I'm really looking forward to is making 8bit ish sounding versions of stuff I already know, and video game music. I mean...the only straight dirt pedals I own are the Black Forrest and Pharaoh, and everything else does some sort of octave or glitch/splat.

[CyaNitrate]

It does faux poly. And I've seen clips of people using it with another micro/minibrute , or two of any mono synths, to do two lines. Simply having two tunable oscilators, like some moogs or the korg ms20 mini also kinda simulates simple chords.

[CyaNitrate]

Does true polyphonic even exist in the all-analogue realm?

[lordgalvar]

Does true polyphonic even exist in the all-analogue realm?

Yeah, there is a ton of em. Juno, Poly800, sequential prophets. Alot of them use DCOs but theyes are all analogue.

[kbit]

Theyre not very common anymore because they're pretty damn expensive compared to digital counterparts.

[the Life Aquatic]

dude the manual in the microbrute is #1. that thing has information beyond using the microbrute like basic theory on synthesis.
Maybe look into a decent pair of headphones? are you gonna be using the microbrute with an amp? or just headphones?
Also once you get the hang of the synth plug it into all your pedals. Once i did it was like a whole new synth. so many new sounds

[CyaNitrate]

dude the manual in the microbrute is #1. that thing has information beyond using the microbrute like basic theory on synthesis.
Maybe look into a decent pair of headphones? are you gonna be using the microbrute with an amp? or just headphones?
Also once you get the hang of the synth plug it into all your pedals. Once i did it was like a whole new synth. so many new sounds

The theory is exciting..I like learning how things work. My "Nice" headphones are Skullcandy Hesh, not pro level, but serviceable. I'll use them, but primarily will probably run it into an amp. And I plan on trying peals..but I really need something other than fuzz hahaha..I really need to get a delay and a chorus, and possibly flange/phase, verb, and trem. I currently have a Black Forrest, Pharaoh Supreme, Phantom Arcade, Screeching Owl Hydra, modded Blue Box, and recently built a Hyperion/Bit dual pedal...And a RP155, which might be fun to play with.

[Deltaphoenix]

EDM and all its flavors are cool, but what I'm really looking forward to is making 8bit ish sounding versions of stuff I already know, and video game music. I mean...the only straight dirt pedals I own are the Black Forrest and Pharaoh, and everything else does some sort of octave or glitch/splat.

Sounds like you might want a digital synth, there are SID chip based synths which will get you into 8 bit heaven.