But for pads, etc, the M12 has a warm, rich sound that is not possible to duplicate using anything else. You only need two Zones—one set to retrigger tuned in fifths , the other to rotate. When you hit the Mod button, a huge Mod Matrix will appear to your eyes, I mean, huge! This was a level of sophistication previously only available in a fully modular system. So if you play C over and over, the same voice and preset will play that C; add an E and that note will get a new voice—and if you have multiple presets assigned, a new patch as well. I hope this feature will be possible in a future update. You can use these to enhance your overall experience.
The modulation matrix allows you to assign any of the 16 modulation sources to any of the 16 modulation destinations and 4 destinations can be programmed by the user. It was tough to read parts of the screen as the font would seem too small, and some controls would appear tiny on the modern monitors we enjoy these days. So, should we be excited by it? Arturia has made me a devoted fan. This is because of two less than ideal attributes. That is, each of these modulation resources was entirely virtual, running on what was an advanced microprocessor at the time. I queried this too, and the chaps confirmed that I had discovered a bug. In total there are six modes available, with three being polyphonic and the other three are monophonic.
You can recall any of the 256 presets using the Preset mode. Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents. The other four knobs on the performance panel are labelled Macro knobs, M1 to M4. And the multi setting allows you to quickly build up complex multi-layered sounds, splits and crossover points from existing single patches so much more quickly than the real keyboard. When you press the Sequencer and Arpeggiator buttons simultaneously, the upper group of four rows becomes a 16-step sequencer, and the three groups below determine which note will sound when you play a 4-note chord. If external sync is selected, the internal clock is ignored and the controls will affect how the arpeggiator responds to the incoming clock.
There are some exclusions so check out our Shipping Policy page in the Customer Service section at the bottom of the page. Our return policy is simple. This is a really useful option, even for the most mundane of duties such as controlling filter cutoff. The more conventional Ladder design offers a beautiful wispiness in the top end, which is missing from the Steiner. Oscillator 2 also included a noise generator in addition to its waveforms. Turning to the Steiner Parker filter, things were rather different. Speaking of the filter, it has standard cutoff and resonance controls, and there are fifteen different filter types to choose from.
This unique selection of filter options is largely responsible for the immense power and scope of the Matrix-12 sound. However, an 18 x 75 matrix would be impractical as well as expensive, so columns 13 to 16 are assignable; while in Mod mode, you just hold down the appropriate button and then twist the knob or slide the fader that you wish to assign to it. This is not a cheap synthesiser, and we are currently in a golden age of having the pick of so many great analogue and Virtual Analogue synths. Although the matrix has 16 rows it offers 18 inputs because rows 15 and 16 accept signals from two sources. Each waveform has one knob that modifies its spectrum.
You use the keyboard to record patterns one step at a time, giving each step equal duration, or you can record quantized patterns in real time and even punch in when needed. There are four Low Pass and three High Pass modes, plus two Band Pass modes, a Notch filter and a Phase Shift mode. The noise generator produces more colors than you would expect. This thing has 15 filter types to select from. For some synthesists, the effort will be well worth it, as these are sounds that no other synth can produce.
In the 1970s, Nyle Steiner, who developed the Steiner-Parker electronic valve and wind instruments, designed a filter Arturia later adopted for the Brute series. It doesnt get much easier that that! I had some M12 samples for my Kurzweil K2000, but those were in small supply beyond the typical brass and bass sounds. While I was tempted to do a bunch of recordings, comparing the two side-by-side and I may still do that , frankly it was too hot here in my So. The Matrix can also be used as a 64 step sequencer. One of the most common ways to use them is to set up portamento. This was an 80s real analog beast! When I asked Arturia about the problem, I was told the cause was packing so many components into such a compact space, making occasional bleeding between circuit boards inevitable. A thoughtful test tone button lets you make sure you have sound.
In this mode, the sequencer and arpeggiator are also routed to the lower part, so you can control a sequenced sound with your left hand while soloing with your right. And it was equally critical to capture every nuance of its 15 filter modes, so we kept at it until they had been modeled perfectly! This ensures that everything sounds smooth and analogue, which is just as well because there are at least two important reasons why the use of hybrid architecture is a very good decision for a synth with a matrix. Also, as far as I can tell, there is no way to modulate the effect parameters. However, you will require access to the web and an Arturia account to do so. It can be set to equal time, linear or legato modes and also, you can set the rate. That concern was echoed by many others, with two schools of thought eventually emerging; one including me that embraced the MiniBrute because it had a different character when compared with other synths, and the other that decried it for exactly the same reason. One of the main features of this synthesizer was that it could play up to twelve patches all at once or be used in a multitimbral mode, and it could produce a huge, warm sound.
The filter settings include choices of 1,2,3, or 4-pole Low pass, 1,2, or 3-pole High pass, 2 or 4-pole Band pass, and other combination filter types as well. Envelope 3 has no fixed assignment and has a Delay slider that postpones the attack for up to 10 seconds. M3 and M4 are summed with expression pedal 1 and expression pedal 2 respectively, which suggests some interesting possibilities, and I was fascinated to find that these knobs can also be allocated to be modulation destinations, which suggests yet more possibilities. Cons Spark 2 no longer included. The noise types are White, Pink, Red and Blue. I fear that many users will use this as a performance control, frantically twisting it from one side to the other as if their lives depended upon it.