Arturia - MiniFreak

Two engines,
many voices

A dynamic selection of sounds that contrast, collide, and conspire to create.

Classic sinewave to fearsome supersaw bass, pizzicato-plucked strings to dense stacked chords. MiniFreak’s engines pack a punch - or 22, to be precise. From our own algorithms to unique modes designed by modular synth wizards, here’s what you’ve got to play with:

Noise

Morph between particle noise, white noise, and a metallic noise that’s reminiscent of a synth cymbal. Great for gritty industrial-sounding percussion.

Superwave

Saw, square, sine, or triangle waves, detuned with precision, oozing with fatness and texture that’s perfect for trance leads and dreamy pads.

Harmo

Control the levels of 32 sinewaves for additive synthesis made easy, creating harmonically rich timbres that can be quickly shaped.

KarplusStrong

A mode using physical modeling to recreate the vibrations and resonance of a string, from soft plucks to steel-string buzz.

BasicWaves

A mode emulating two basic waveforms: square, containing only odd harmonics, and sawtooth, containing both odd and even. Two distinct, essential timbres.

Audio In

Inject any audio signal into MiniFreak to process with Engine 2, the analog filters, and the FX engines.

Multi Filter

No less than 14 modeled filters packed into an easy-to-use Engine mode, from a 36dB LP filter to 3 notch filter modes.

Surgeon Filter

Slice and scoop out entire frequencies with decisive precision, with LP, BP, HP, and notch modes and a flexible Spread control.

Comb Filter

Mimic real acoustic behavior using tuned feedback delay for quirky, metallic, sci-fi-esque resonance. Great for creating SFX or unique almost-acoustic sounds.

Phase Filter

From 2 to 12 poles, dial in static phase effects on certain frequencies for creating great formant textures and unexpected harmonics.

Destroy

Fold, decimate, and crush the bit content of your sound. From razor-sharp to pixelated, static fuzz to plucky video game chirp, choose your degree of destruction.

FM/RM

Combining frequency and ring modulation, create unique sonic interplay between both engines, altering waveforms, phase, and a blend of dry and ring-modulated signal.

Mutable Instruments

Like its smaller sibling, MiniFreak contains a number of open-source oscillator modes from Eurorack legends Mutable Instruments, enhanced with polyphony and ’Freak flexibility.

V.Analog

Two detuned virtual analog oscillators with continuously variable waveforms.

Waveshaper

A triangular wave, processed by waveshaping and wavefolding creating squelchy, aggressive, and often metallic tones.

Two Op. FM

A simple but powerful twin-operator FM oscillator, with two sine waves modulated each other’s phase to create sharp, acidic tones.

Formant

Shape your sound into vowel-like movements and plastic-tube resonance with 3 simple controls.

Chords

A paraphonic synth engine that triggers duplicates at set intervals, creating defined, static chords with one key that can evolve over time.

Speech

An engine that creates vowel, formant, and simple word sounds that are a little too close to human.

Modal

Recreate the inharmonic vibrations and resonance of a hollow structure, great for adding texture, overtones, or acoustic-esque timbres to your mix.

Noise Engineering

For the braver, bolder sound explorer, MiniFreak contains 3 algorithms designed by LA modular titans Noise Engineering, combining wavefolding, phase modulation, and harmonic manipulation.

SawX

A simple sawtooth becomes lethal sonic sharpness. SawX sprinkles chorus and phase modulation into the mix for supersaw mayhem aplenty.

Harm

Additive synthesis meets wavefolding with spectacular hard sync results. Choose dense octave overtones or blow the harmonic series wide open.

Bass

A non-linear waveshaping algorithm that deals in lows: expect heavy digital density and molten metal momentum with this bass.

Analog
Filters

Magic happens where digital and analog meet.

MiniFreak embraces the crisp, glassy, sometimes aggressive sound of digital oscillators. But this machine isn’t taking sides; enjoy the best of both worlds with the warm, responsive, authentic sound of polyphonic analog filters. Tame harshness, create movement, and make subtractive synthesis work for you.

Filter Modes

Hear the 3 main filter types, sweeping over a classic trance synth line.

Polyphonic

Every note you play will be shaped and colored individually thanks to analog filters for every voice, ensuring that each melody, chord, or percussive hit is as warm and vivid as the last.

3 modes

Balance MiniFreak’s sound to sit perfectly in your mix, or target specific frequency ranges to unlock unique harmonics with low-pass, band-pass, and high-pass states.

Modulation

Sweep a filter yourself, crush or widen its envelope - but MiniFreak has other ideas. Send your analog filters into an modulation frenzy or keep it moving in-line with your sequencer for filtering that goes further.

The finishing
touch

Beautiful, crunchy, unstoppable stereo sound awaits.

Augment, transform, and polish whatever combination of engines you’ve chosen with 3 stereo FX engines. From space-enhancers, to textural algorithms, to outright sonic destruction, these FX are ready to be tweaked & modulated to your heart’s content.

Chorus

Chords with increasing Chorus on MiniFreak.

Phaser

Showing the Phaser effect of the Minifreak.

Flanger

Showing the Flanger effect on a MiniFreak sequence.

Reverb

Showing the Reverb effect of the Minifreak.

Delay

Tweaking Delay effect on MiniFreak.

Distortion

Progressively increasing the Distortion's parameter on MiniFreak.

Bit Crusher

Resonant filter movement throught the BitCrusher engine of MiniFreak.

3-Band EQ

Tweaking each parameter of the 3 bands-EQ in MiniFreak.

Peak Eq

Showing the Peak EQ of the Minifreak.

Multi Comp

Showing the sound of the MiniFreak's MultiComp FX on a digital drum beat.

Spontaneous
sequencing

Blur the lines between sequencing and arpeggiation with wild results.

When you need quick step-sequencing, instant note repetition, or rhythmic consistency, MiniFreak will answer the call. But if you want to go a step further - to interact with your melodies or impulsively change direction - this flexible sequencer & arpeggiator is armed to the teeth with creative tricks.

Arp controls

Change single-note repetitions into chord stabs, switch octaves in seconds, and introduce totally random notes with the Mutate button for arpeggios that leave an impression.

Spice & Dice

A familiar feature for Freak fans, Spice & Dice alters various parameters, including pitch, gate, and more, so you can take your hands off the wheel and savor some inspiration in the unexpected.

Modulation lanes

Lock in custom changes to your filters, envelopes, FX, and beyond using 4 modulation lanes, ensuring that it’s not just your notes that repeat in perfect sync - it’s your whole sound too.

Hear overlapping cycles of notes and modulation, creating a rich polymetric sound that keeps you guessing.

Modulation
galore

Borderline-softsynth flexibility with single-knob control.

There’s nothing wrong with static sounds, but MiniFreak embodies the belief that there’s joy to be found in movement and change. Make instant connections between MiniFreak’s plethora of modulation sources, common destinations like filter and oscillator pitch, and assignable destinations, and craft your own ever-changing, ever-surprising, and ever-inspiring sounds.

Dual LFOs

MiniFreak’s 2 low-frequency oscillators strike the perfect balance between sound design flexibility and simplicity. Send them in different directions, connect them to each other for unique compound modulation, or go off-grid for totally unpredictable movement that’ll keep your sounds guessing.

Cycling envelope

Available as a secondary envelope or as an LFO-like repeating envelope generator, the Cycling Envelope brings unique modulation shapes and qualities to the table. Create rapid-fire peaks, audio-rate fluctuations, and varying slopes with no more than a couple of tweaks.

Custom LFO shaper

Using the buttons to the right of MiniFreak’s Arpeggiator controls, create your own custom LFO shape, one segment at a time, letting you introduce complex shapes that routinely repeat for chaos that’s mechanical in its precision.

In perfect
harmony

MiniFreak plays by the musical rules when you need it to.

Focus on getting creative and experimental with your sound without worrying about hitting the wrong notes or chord voicing mishaps. MiniFreak’s Scale & Chord modes keep tabs on your musical input so you don’t have to.

Chord mode

Play full chord voicings with a single key thanks to this familiar musical feature. By default, Chord mode is set to a major triad, but you can input your own custom voicings one note at a time, which will be saved to MiniFreak’s memory.

Scale mode

Wave goodbye to wrong notes by locking MiniFreak’s keyboard and musical input to a scale of your choice. Choose from 5 pre-loaded scales, or punch in your own for melodies that never go outside the lines.

Polyphonic, diatonic

Combine both Chord mode and Scale mode for creating full chord sequences, polyphonic ideas, and harmonized melodies that stay in key at all times, making musical creativity effortless, enjoyable, and rewarding without fail.

Main Features

6-voice polyphonic hybrid synthesizer

37-note velocity-sensitive Slim-key keybed with aftertouch

2 sound Engines with 22 oscillator modes in total

Engine 2 can be used to process Engine 1

1 envelope per voice

1 cycling envelope per voice

2 LFOs per voice

Polyphonic analog filters and VCAs

6-voice polyphonic, 12-voice paraphonic, unison, or mono configuration

3 digital FX slots in insert or send mode, with 10 FX to choose from

User-customizable LFO curves

Mod Matrix with 7 sources and 13 potential destinations

OLED display for real-time visual feedback

Intuitive 64-step sequencer (4 pages of 16 steps)

4 lanes of automated modulation

Performance Arpeggiator controls including Ratchet, Octave Randomize, and more

MIDI in/out/thru

USB connectivity

Sustain, audio in, and clock in/out connectivity

Balanced stereo outputs

256 factory presets

256 user preset slots for MiniFreak hardware

Platform Specifications

Windows

Win 10+ (64bit)
2.5 GHz CPU
4 GB RAM
2GB free hard disk space
OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU
ARM processors not supported on Windows

Required configuration

VST, AAX, Audio Unit

Apple

Mac OS 10.13+
2.5 GHz or Apple Silicon CPU
4 GB RAM
2GB free hard disk space
OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU

Work with ASC

An elegant and simple solution to help you install, activate, and update your Arturia software instruments.

MiniFreak

Two engines, many voices