Every video I watch kinda assumes that I have some knowledge of synthesizers, and they are wrong for that.
Who really breaks it down big bird barney style?
This is the most excited I've been to own something I have no idea how to use. First piece of equipment like this for me, a bass player.
QuestionIt will continue to reveal itself as even neater as you use it.
I will recommend reading the Manual for two reasons;
First, it’s one of the best introductions to how synths work, without being incredibly dry and dull.
Second, there are things that little machine can do that you will never figure out on your own.
I believe that for sure. I took a light dose of mushrooms to heighten my fun factor playing around tonight but I'm reading the whole 150 pages as soon as the letters will stay in the same place while I'm reading them
I loved reading the moving letters bit haha. This sounds like such a fun night! You made a great choice with that synth!
I had other substances I was going to take, but the mushrooms said no, you need to enjoy this synths and this brain together, chill bro.
you’ve truly embraced the vibe of this unit
My friend, get yourself a Korg NTS-1 to go along with it, an audio interface, download Reaper and get some more shrooms.
You'll need all the appropriate connections; 3.5mm to 3.5mm, then 3.5mm to split 1/4", USB connections, etc. You can make some really amazing sounds with some great reverb, delay and modifiers, and there are a lot of additional great patches available.
I'd definitely recommend setting it all up, and maybe downloading some VST's for midi, before taking the shrooms.
Word. I always get a plan, then get stupid. Getting stupid and then making a plan is how I got 3 duis before I met Bill W. I've got reaper and an interface, and I got the recommended MF softwares. So much to learn. I've already changed something without meaning to and lost volume on the voices(?) that should play sequences so I should read, then play lol
Can't wait! I guess I'm learning how to play keyboard now.... I play bass and have a little theory, mostly tabs and drop dumb tuning.... what's been most useful skill or knowledge that you can share, please?
seconding the manual as intuitive and useful
Yep it’s brilliant and DEEP. take ya time.
Grab a power bank, power it by USB and play in the park!
What speaker config do people use? I'm aux outing to a boom box or portable speaker cuz I don't know how to or have tried to run it thru my pcs interface yet
As a bass player myself, enjoy the ride 🫡
What do you use your MF for, as a bassman? I got mine to help me learn about how vibration can be made into a signal and then manipulated with electronics, and cuz I was high in a pawnshop at noon. I have a audio interface for the pc and have aspirations of recording when I get my knowledge up.
Nah, too deep in the rabbit hole, I hung my bass a while ago, I started with an ms20 about 8 years ago. That was the gateway into modular. The MF serves many purposes. I doodle on it, it’s the main controller of my modular rig, and I use it to explore micro samples. The sequencer is phenomenal for phrasing and using the spice and dice you can explore pseudo generative, then that can be recorded into a midi sequencer and be used as part of a larger composition or as a starting point for a more traditional song. Combined with pedals and a sampler is so much fun. Aside from all that, you could sample your bass in a daw, and with the included software upload that short recording to the MF and manipulate it with the few sampling engines. Man, you are in for a treat!
Edit: as said before, the manual is the key to all of it. This cheap synth is mighty and vast. You can make hella mean bass sounds with it, or make your bass a hero instrument by performing on looping phrases that you can extend with the fun spice and dice, this feature is so cool. Holler if you have questions 🤘🏽🤘🏽
I often use the MF as accompaniment or backing track. Enable note holding, start a single note or chord arpeggio and then adjust the time division, spice and dice until it is inspiring to play along with.
have you tried slapping it?
S L A P P
Lol, I do finger it pretty lasciviously on occasion. The dynamic touch pressure is wild.
If you add effects (the zoom multi effects stomp pedal is the perfect pairing) it really opens up! Made it waaaay more fun imo
That's about how I felt when I lost my virginity. /s
The best video on synthesizers is old as hell, but it all applies to the microfreak and any other synth on the market really. Try to look past the cheesy 80s graphics and the older tech and listen to the actual information, keep a notepad open and jot down any term you're unclear on, and then research those terms in general, and try to give yourself good breaks every 30 minutes from watching to really absorb the info, and it never hurts to have the synth on to plod along while you're watching.
Thank you. I'm so unfamiliar with synths that I'm not sure when to call something a keyboard or something else so I really am starting from nothing.
that's completely fair, everybody starts somewhere. As a bass player the biggest thing that will trip you up is the ability to play multiple notes simultaneously.
I need to figure out sequences. Looks like so much fun.
Excellent choice! Of all the synths I’ve owned, it’s a lot, this is still one of my favorites. Its just so playable and sounds great
If I just sat at it and plinked and spun knobs aimlessly, I still had a lot of fun. Very accessible to a newbie
And pretty small.
Why u said that it sounds great?It sounds like a toy,isnt it?
lol no it’s not. Just because it’s inexpensive doesn’t mean it’s a toy. Do some research on Arturia and you will educate itself on what they are capable of.
What u mean?I heard it in music store. Sound is very poor. Compare it to Typhon ,it sounds so much more bigger,but the price is same
If you aren’t interested in sharing useful information about the subject of this subreddit why are you here?
I have both and do agree that a Typhon sounds way better. But the microfreak is Interesting in having so many sound engines, and its sound improves a lot when you add an external reverb
Yeah it def needs boosting to get it into a mix. Once you have signal boosted it has plenty of character. A synths essential sound is very important to me personally. I got rid of Digitone, A4 mki, Dark Energy mkii, Dreadbox Medusa and Dreadbox Nyx V2 all because of the core sound wasn’t great to me. However Microfreak holds up to all of them and that are all much more expensive machines.
I plan to keep it as well, because it is truly endless and pretty ok sounding after boosting with fx. I have been interested in Dark Energy and Nyx! In any case Typhon is worth trying if you have the opportunity.
Yeah I’m not ready to write of Dreadbox yet and have been curious about the Typhon. Dark Energy actually sounds great it you want something dark analog and abrasive.
Right now my main synths are grandmother, slim phatty, ms-20 mini and microfreak so I think Typhon would fit due to its uniqueness. How do you think it would fit?
Calling something a "toy" because there is equipment with "phatter" sound out there is a pretty wierd comparison. I could get someone saying this about the korg Volca FM or something, but I make insanely sweet sounds on my microfreak so I see it as the optimal introduction step for professional sound. That doesnt mean its the nr 1 pro synth or anything, but much more competent in its own right to be called a toy.
Enjoy, I am a drummer/guitar player, bought the microfreak and a KO 2 a few months back and I’m obsessed and having a blast
Curious about how do you use those two. I have them but not sure how to make they work together in a nice, playful and fun way.
Mostly I use the midi clock out from the KO 2 to the clock in on the Microfreak. If you have a beat going and you are using sequence or arpeggio in the microfreak, it’ll synch the timing together on them. Use tap tempo on the KO 2 to find what you want, it’s fun as hell
The Microfreak was my first synthesizer-type instrument after moving over from traditional guitar earlier this year. I feel you, dude. Enjoy the ride!
I had my Microfreak for about a year now and I came from a similar background as you from what I read in your comments.
Before synths I was only playing bass and some guitar with ukulele here and there. Zero sheet music reading and little music theory.
I may not be incredible in synth playing now but I figured out a lot and like others said, read the manual. It's really good. And most importantly have fun!
You might end up wanting more synths, you have been warned lol 😁
If you bought it used, plug it in with a USB cable and make sure the firmware is up to date. They keep adding crazy cool features for free! I absolutely love how Arturia has continued to develop this amazing little synth.
They recently added a bunch of the granular oscillator modes! Also check out the website and download all the free preset packs. They provide a piece of software that will allow you to manage the presets as all them won’t fit on the device at the same time. You can also make your own custom presets and save them to the computer as a backup.
- Unless your post already satisfies rule #2, please quickly follow up with a good top-level comment to clarify and foster conversation or our stickler mods will remove your post. Rule #2.
- If that happens, please edit your comment and ask mods to un-delete your post.
- Please read more info about rule #2 here .
- Thanks for contributing to r/MicroFreak !
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
It's a great synth. Mine is on my desk at all times.
This is the best and only synth I own. I love it.
Hello fellow bass player. Good choice! You’re gonna enjoy it, I bet!
Fellow bassman here! I loved my MF and eventually upgraded to the Minifreak. I suck at keys generally but I found physical keys a bit better than the capacitor keys for me. My big dumb bass fingers accidentally triggered the wrong keys on the MF but not so much with the Mini’s.
Down the line, I’m looking to buy a MIDI fretboard since I’m just that much better with strings than I am keys, but I’ve found that the Polyend Tracker is a great way to “cheat,” too, since you can set the 48 white buttons on it to match a fretboard.
Hope you really enjoy the MF!
Hello. Guitarplayer of 20 years and recently bought a Polyend tracker a couple of months ago.
What setting do you use for it to match the fretboard?
If you wanna learn synths, look up syntorial. It's worth it. It'll teach you pretty much everything you need to know about making sounds and then you can go from there. The free version goes over quite a bit but the paid version is worth.
This is a great first synth, hours of fun and innovation. Wait until you upgrade the firmware and see all the cool sampling and granular stuff you can do with it.
As a guitarist I feel you
I dont have an answer to your question as I’m not musically trained, I begged for one of these from my partner for my bday a few years ago after playing with one in a store and getting obsessed with it. I don’t even want to call it a “beginner synth”, its just an amazing synth in general, so I’m happy for you!! Me and this fella have made so many cool sounds
All I can say is that go into settings and mess with root note and scale, theyve got a few of the base stuff available there. I usually play on pentatonic.
Also look into the sampling modes and how to get your samples on the machine asap— It was honestly a little bit taxing for me to mess with the sampling modes so it might be a good call to just get tutorials out the way for those early. Once you get it working tho its amazing … Same with figuring out your midi settings if you mess with midi at all, it can be a little bit “per case” basis instead of plug n play.
The bass BUNDLED presets are fucking amazing .. stoked for you, it REALLY is a great synth for anyone who knows bass
I'm excited.
Update the firmware if you haven’t, there’s even more in store for you!
I'm having issues with cakewalk trying to open the update and now I'm not sure if it installed up or not. I'm overwhelmed. Even the begginer tutorials assume knowledge I don't have.
Sounds like you need to learn some basic synthesis. Try the Syntorial app. It’s free, and teaches you tons about synthesis like a 90s game.
I'll check it out, thanks!
It's a fun little synth. Sounds great too. The matrix is complicated af tho.
Also a bass player.
Get stoned, make funky synth music with the presets.
After that, the manual is awesome. But most of all just have fun. For me, synth music is less trying to make something specific that mimics instruments, and more just happy accidents.
Learning to set like clocks, MIDI, master/slave etc will be helpful too.
Oh whoa what are those things? Lol. Kinda jk.
just fuck around and make noises, it’s pretty much designed exactly for that. Entry level for noobs, burning the manual for diehards. It’s a freak for a reason. Go nuts.
And what a great piece of kit you picked up. The freaks are incrediblly fun to play with and now it has a sampler its boss. I had some mutable modules in my euro setup and this is even better than those tbh. Enjoy!!
Since 2 weeks i have the Microfreak and a Microbrute connected to my sequencer with a drum machine.
I play around and boom, 8h gone 😆
2 missing replies
This thing is so neat!