Arturia DrumBrute Impact - Drum Computer

Product Information

However, this could be ideal for producers working in the techno genre. While some aspects of the DrumBrute are a nod towards vintage Roland units, it is certainly not an emulation of any particular machine and really does have a unique flavour once you tweak everything to your personal taste and get a pattern I think Drumbrute Impact sounds great with the build in distortion, so I would probably like to add analog distortion for bigger Drumbrute too. Each machine with special features will benefit you in different ways, thus broaden the whole creative music horizon! The Hat channels appear to share the same synth as they are always choked and use the same Tone control, which sounds like it adjusts both filter frequency and resonance. They are bright and ringy, and range from sharp to mellow depending on the Tone and Color settings. The Open Hat gets its own Decay control. I can’t fault them, they’re what I’d be going for if I wanted to patch my own analogue hat sound.

French developer Arturia create not only emulations of vintage synths but original hardware products too. In recent years Arturia have released not one but two analog drum machines in the shape of the Drumbrute and the newer Drumbrute Impact.The faux-wood panelling on the sides of the unit isn’t fooling anybody, but considering the low price, it’s perfectly acceptable and ties in nicely with the design of other Arturia products. Compared to its obvious competitor, the Roland TR-8, the design of the DrumBrute is more mature and classic, which was definitely a plus from our perspective. Regardless of which Drumbrute drum machines you opt for, you’re unlikely to be disappointed especially if you favor gritty, electronic sounds. Both machines deliver in terms of meaty, juicy analog sounds and both machines represent excellent value for money.

The Toms are fixed as short and punchy, with Hi and Low simply two different variations of the pitch, which is the only user-controllable parameter. Color lengthens the decay a touch and gives a little drive push. Cymbal is characterful, ringy and grungy with a rattly decay with an almost low-res digital character. It’s rather wonderful. You can control the decay manually, and lower the pitch with the Color effect. The Cymbal channel shares its trigger pad and level control with the Cowbell, which has no user-adjustable parameters. It’s a straightforward 808 cowbell, although it doesn’t quite capture the original’s exciting zing. The world of drum machines, just like the world of analog synths, is considerably more fun now than it was a few short years ago. Then, your choices were slim—hard-to-find vintage gear, high-end offerings from Elektron or Dave Smith, or a slew of 90s drum machines that always left you wanting a bit more, sonically and otherwise.The coolest feature here would be the FM drum (which you can sculpt) and polyrythmic options for each voice. Each drum sound also offers Tone, Decay, Pitch or Level controls (depending on the sound type) so you can craft the perfect sonic palette on the fly. When comparing the Arturia drumbrute Impact vs drumbrute, the original device seems to get ahead regarding the organized settings. Arturia’s Drumbrute has found a home in many a professinal setup. Composer Tom Salta is a fan and DJ/Producer Carl Craig is a fan, to name just two. Who Uses the Drumbrute Impact? The Drumbrute works as a sole analog drum machine, so it is not necessary to hook it up with the computer.

When it comes to built in effects you’ll need to decide if you’re a filter or a distortion kind of person! With the Drumbrute you can toggle a high-pass/low-pass Steiner-Parker filter on and off and adjust the filter’s resonance control. Arturia’s BeatStep and KeyStep sequencers have become pretty much standard issue in hardware synth rigs, and the DrumBrutes get the technology built in. As far as I can tell, the sequencer is identical across both Brutes. Bank and Pattern are selected from the step trig buttons via specific modes. Pattern launching defaults to instant take-over, ie. the pattern changes instantly but maintains the same beat position. This is how I like it and is ideal for preparing and performing variations and fills. You can choose ‘At End’ behaviour if you prefer pattern changes to queue until the current pattern finishes playing.Note that on both drum machines, when drum parts share the same pads (such as the Hi/Low Toms on the Drumbrute Impact), you can record independent patterns for each sound. The mono main mix out is the tool you need to find this time. It is a common instrument cable that enables you to connect any music device such as a mixer, a guitar amp, etc. Do I Need To Connect Drumbrute With My Computer? Upon taking the DrumBrute out of the box, we were impressed by the weight and overall build quality of the unit. Our eyes were drawn to the large pads at the bottom of the machine, which are satisfying to bash and pleasingly firm and springy. The DrumBrute Impact’s front panel measures 320 x 290mm, which seems positively bijou next to the original DrumBrute’s 418 x 276mm.