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Arturia Announces DrumBrute analog drum machine

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Arturia has announced its first ever analog drum machine.

So what is the goal with this unit? What are my thoughts?

Here is what I can say, In my opinion this is what the roland TR8 should have been. an all analog drum machine with both step and real time recording that provides the booming sounds of the 808 and 909 (Plus many all new circuits) at an affordable price point and with individual outputs per voice. This isn’t Rhythm wolf low stripped down rushed out low quality, instead its a group of high quality drum circuits (take a look at the engineers credited in the manual) paired with an updated version of the beat step pro sequencer. This sequencer really has some cool tricks up its sleeve like ratcheting and timing shift per step. Think of that like swing on steroids. Random from the beat step pro also appears and to top it all off you have a global steiner parker filter to get your sweep on. Everything syncs via modular clock or midi clock so you can pair it nicely with your modular… yep you can clock it from your modular or have it clock your modular!. 

Another point of note is this drum machine has proper voicing… what I mean by that is the Snare and clap actually punch through a mix unlike many of recent analog drum machine releases in the lower price range… these snares actually crack hard! couple that with some 808 and 909 inspired (and also improved) designs for the kick and you have a pretty powerful unit. 

The reverse cymbal is a new sound not yet heard in an all analog drum machine, and the tambourine and shaker sounds are really impressive (not just ho hum pass over sounds like on many other drum machines). Over all at this price point I am very excited to see an all analog drum machine. Hope to have a review unit soon!

 

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Below is the official Press release:

Arturia are excited to announce the arrival of DrumBrute – a 100% analog drum machine & sequencer designed with performance and in-depth sound editing at its heart.

The newest member of Arturia’s Brute family, DrumBrute is a powerful beat-making instrument that carries the savage DNA of the MicroBrute, MiniBrute, and MatrixBrute. 

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Fluxwithit live Knobcon 2016 coverage and more

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What the hell is Knobcon?knobcon-overlay16

I heard its a cat owner convention

      Knobcon is an annual event now in its fifth year dedicated to synthesizers. A heavily modular skewed show, this inherently means there will be cat pictures shared and discussed. I will not be covering any pets during this show. I will however be covering all that is synthesizers and the people who make them. Live from the convention floor I will be checking out all the latest gear from the top synth manufacturers around.

     Each year Knobcon seems to grow exponentially. This year looks to be no different as it will be over 72 companies displaying through 2 and a half days. Boutique manufacturers tend to have the run of the lot but this year we are expecting to see some larger name brands in attendance as well. Every thing from Eurorack Modular synths to guitar effect pedals to full sized keyboard synthesizers will be on show.

      So what is Fluxwithit doing at knobcon aside from just gawking at synthesizers?  Well I will be in attendance live streaming much of the event as well as speaking to the convention goers in a number of capacities. In addition to the on the floor antics I will be apart of a live broadcast of the BeatPPL podcast direct from the convention on Saturday, as well as a very special SynthSummitShow on Sunday from 4-5pm (chicagoland timezone so get your mind right people that means 3-4pm eastern).

In addition to these shows and coverage of knobcon I will be giving out coupon codes to the New Fluxwithit.com shop! so make sure you are on point and click the link above for the shop!

Elysia Character Discrete Class A saturation and distortion

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The Elysia Karacter is a really interesting rack unit and not just because it’s a high quality distortion or saturation.  The Karacter gives you a ton of tone shape characteristics and control in one simple 1u rack space. Control Voltage seems to be a buzz these days and for good reason. Control voltages give you extremely fast precise control over parameters and allow for easy interaction not just with modular gear but with various studio pieces. Karacter Gives you CV control which isn’t very common in units of this style. Lets talk more about the sound. There are a few modes of color to grab from this unit, the first of which is saturation. Continue reading →

ZAOR Studio desk “Yesk” Review

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ZAOR Studio Furniture YESK Production desk

review by Fluxyesk1    The Yesk is the latest production desk from boutique studio desk manufacturer ZAOR. The Yesk is a three tier desk with a slide out keyboard tray perfect for 49-61 keys. the center console features two bays of 4U of rack space at a nice working angle. The construction is of solid wood and feels extremely sturdy. One of my personal concerns about this review was that I know I will be moving in semi near future, will this desk hold up after a tear down and rebuild. I can say that after putting the desk together and seeing the smart anchor system that it uses to assemble the individual pieces (it comes flat packed), I have no doubts it will fair well in the move. Build time was pretty short (under two hours with me basically half paying attention to the build and half paying attention to another project I was working on. I’d bet with some focus I could have pulled it off in about 45 minutes.  The instructions are very well layed out and it is really only about 11 parts or so you need to join together. The only gripes I had during the build was that the adapters for the rack screws could have come preinstalled and that the bottom row of them are a very tight fit to the desk. Nothing really upsetting just nitpicking for the sake of this article really.  Continue reading →