In developing the MiniBrute, therefore, they have entered into a partnership with Yves Usson of YuSynth, whom they call their analogue synthesizer guru. Are you excited yet? ArchitectureĪrturia have never released an analogue product before this, and are very aware that, in their own words, 'reproducing analogue circuitry is not the same as designing great-sounding analogue circuits”. The fact that it hails from a plug-in manufacturer moving into analogue hardware (rather than the other way around) just adds to the intrigue. Consequently, the MiniBrute lies bang in the middle of the price band that includes second-hand Roland SH09s and SH101s, as well as ARP Axxes and Explorers, and it's cheaper than a second-hand Roland SH1, ARP ProSoloist, or even something as modest as a Korg MS10. It's the company's statement that they have gambled that the MiniBrute will be a commercial success and have geared up production accordingly, producing it in volume and passing the economies of scale on to the end user.

Obviously, it's not the name, which sounds like an aftershave for 14-year-olds. However, there seems to be something a bit special about the Arturia MiniBrute. Sometimes that excitement is justified, and sometimes it isn't. If you're a keyboard player of a certain age, the release of a new analogue monosynth - especially if it has a keyboard sticking out of the front of it - is something to get excited about.

We put it to the test in our world-exclusive review. Arturia have broken away from their soft-synth roots with the MiniBrute, a 100 percent analogue monosynth.

Arturia mini synth