After being leaked onto the web ahead of its release yesterday, Arturia have revealed all the details of their new polyphonic flagship today, and it truly is something to behold.
The 61 key PolyBrute offers six voices of polyphony drawn from two analogue VCOs, with two filter types, three ADSR envelopes and three LFOs being used to tweak its timbre.
Arturia have utilised the acclaimed oscillators from their monophonic MatrixBrute for use with the new unit, adding UltraSaw and Metalizer waveforms to accompany its typical triangle, pulse and sawtooth waves, as well as a noise generator. Voices can also be switched between Mono, Unison and full Polyphony.
Switchable Steiner-Parker and ladder-type filters can be used to shape the oscillators, with series/parallel blending also being included with the PolyBrute.
Meanwhile, there’s a dedicated envelope for both the oscillators and filter, as well as a third envelope which can be routed anywhere you like. There’s also options for splitting and layering sounds, letting you create complex patches that sound like they’ve been pulled straight out of Blade Runner.
As well as featuring a powerful polyphonic sequencer, arpeggiator, inbuilt effects and a modulation matrix, the PolyBrute makes use of several expression controllers, including pitch and modulation wheels as well as a ribbon controller – just like the CS-80!
There’s also a unique wooden Morphée touch-sensitive 3D controller situated on the right hand of the keyboard. This is an interesting addition to the PolyBrute that could boast the potential to be a wonderful tool in the right hands, and we’re really keen to see it used in action.
Hear how the PolyBrute sounds in the demonstration video below. It’s been amazing watching Arturia’s glow up in the analogue synth market in recent years, and this one just looks like it’s the cherry on top for the French company.
Arturia are distributed in Australia through CMI Music & Audio.