The art
of sound design
PolyBrute comes fully loaded with a wealth of curated presets, expertly crafted for your enjoyment and inspiration.
We reached out to trailblazing sound designers, producers, and musicians to push PolyBrute to its limits. To dive deep into its complex architecture and produce sounds unlike any other synthesizer before it. To harness the awesome power of analog for a massive tonal palette. To weave intricate webs of modulation and expression for an unrelenting animated sonic experience.
Read about our sound designers’ personal experiences with PolyBrute: what inspired them, their approach, and what they wanted to achieve with each patch.
Draculas C64
( Clément Bastiat)
This sound exploits the arpeggiator with a classic dracula diminished fifth chord with the two part layer possibility of the synth. With some LFO work, one layer seems to be faster in rhythm, but it actually plays the same part. It has a kind of old school gaming vampire vibe which I like and had a lot of fun programming!
Clément Bastiat - on PolyBrute
First and foremost, the sound is excellent, but it doesn't stop there! The FM possibilities are crazy but the heart of the instrument is its freely assignable modulation matrix, allowing recursive modulations. Combine that with 6 voices, and you can do the most complex analog sounds!
Helix Bass
( Euan Dickinson)
A very versatile patch, not just a bass sound. It epitomises what I like in a synth sound. Warm, melodic, expressive and tasteful. It has echoes of classic synth tones from the past, it has a certain vintage quality to it. It came together quite quickly - offsetting one of the oscillators for ex-tra harmonics, and then blending the waveshapes, before shaping the filter to soften the overall tone.
Euan Dickinson - on Polybrute
I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working on the PolyBrute to create some presets. I’ve very much enjoyed my time so far with this machine, and the sounds I’ve been able to create. Every time I sat down with it, I would go on a journey from the original sound that I started with, ending up somewhere completely new and inspiring. The polybrute is instant and accessible enough to be able to get a vibe going quite quickly, but also deep enough to hold infinite possibilities for where a sound could go.
Olivier Briand - on Polybrute
What I like about the PolyBrute is its versatility. It can indeed sound like a Minimoog, a PPG, a Prophet 5, a CS80, or an AKS - it’s a real chameleon. Of course there is first the quality of the analog sound, then the power of the modulation matrix, but its main quality is the expression, with the Morphée, ribbon, aftertouch...it’s a very good synth that I think will remain in the history of synthesis.
Kristopher
What I like about this Kristopher preset is the possibility to transpose the sequence while modifying the sound, much like the sounds of old with the modular Moog, like Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream.
Brute Embrace
( Matt Pike)
This preset is my favourite example of taking the raw and dramatic character of the synth voice in the PolyBrute and then controlling and twisting it with the matrix, morphing and performance controls. It is rough-hewn without straying into being harsh and unstable without becoming wild and unmusical. The combination of oscillator cross mod, VCO 2 to Steiner modulation and brute factor combine to create a gritty texture which is then tamed by the Ladder filter.
Matt Pike - on PolyBrute
I took a range of approaches when creating patches with the machine. As with any synth, I love exploring unique features or combinations of features in search of inspiration. The PolyBrute has so many avenues to explore that this led to many of my sounds, particularly using the matrix to create complex chains of modulation and finding interesting contrasts between Part A & B of a sound.However, what stood out to me is that the synth engine sounded so good it was immediately inspiring and the essence of many of my sounds seemed to just arrive so quickly and my time could be spent finding the most satisfying ways to twist and warp that sound with the Morphée and modulations.
Pythagoras
( Michael Geyre)
I choose my 'Pythagoras' patch, which is not the most spectacular, nor the most complex, but simply the one that seems to me the most inspiring. When I went through the different sounds that I had programmed, when I came across this one, I had to reason with myself to continue my work, otherwise I would spend all my time improvising with it...
Michael Geyre - on PolyBrute
I was really impressed by this instrument, both sound and technical. This fully programmable matrix allows such nuances and refinement in the creation of sounds, that we are just limited by our imagination. The sound that comes out of this instrument is always beautiful, and very varied, it can very often approach the sounds of its illustrious ancestors!
"The PolyBrute is one of a kind: yes, of course there are many polyphonic analog synthesizers. However with the Polybrute, Arturia have created a synthesizer with a truly unique sound. And on top of that, it is both a sound designer’s and performer’s dream synth."
Boele Gerkes
Poly_Tron
( Boele Gerkes)
Poly_Tron - what I like about the PolyBrute is that it has this beautiful vintage overall sound character. It’s showcased pretty well in this preset I think. It wobbles, it’s noisy (play with the mod wheel to taste), in the low regions the ‘brass’ comes out, and in the high regions it’s more the ‘flute’ territory. It inspires me to make melodies with it.
Boele Gerkes - on PolyBrute
The PolyBrute is one of a kind: yes, of course there are many polyphonic analog synthesizers. However with the Polybrute, Arturia have created a synthesizer with a truly unique sound. And on top of that, it is both a sound designer’s and performer’s dream synth. It resembles the MatrixBrute in looks and partly in sound, but it goes in so many different new directions. One of the (several) highlights: that little Morph knob in the lower left corner. Small, yes, but so BIG!
Juvenile
( Simon Gallifet)
Throughout this demo I slowly turn the “Morph” knob which allows you to drastically change the texture of the sound in a fluid way. Each preset in the factory bank actually contains two presets in one, it is possible to switch from one to the other using the “Morph” knob. I find this feature very useful in a composition context because it is always interesting to be able to evolve your sounds in an organic way.
Simon Gallifet - on PolyBrute
The PolyBrute has a simple, intuitive and very pleasant workflow. When creating the presets I had the impression of working on a modular without the inconvenience caused by cables,sounds that cannot be saved...all with polyphony!
“The fact that the matrix also modulates between A and B means that sound design on the PolyBrute is meticulous work, but so rewarding in that it offers a whole new dimension of possibilities in sound sculpting. The icing on the cake is that crazy unpredictable "gray area" between A and B!”
Lily Jordy
Harpsii
( Lily Jordy)
Definitely “Harpsii”! I could play it all day and here’s why: the arp-style sequence is soothing and timeless and the timbre is beyond organic; because of its modulated “malleable” quality, it sounds different every time the sequence is repeated, and intrigue stays peaked. It also has that tremendous depth and sought-after “imperfection” of vintage analog synths and
Lily Jordy - on PolyBrute
Having an A and B side to each preset was so much fun to experiment with; I would create the A and then copy it to B, where I’d then start tweaking key aspects of it to create a contrasting “mirror” for A (for instance: a slow attack, long release and closed filter if the A is a short bright sound with a sharp attack.)
A_B Trip
( Jean-Michel Blanchet)
A_B Trip - when you hold a chord you’ll get an evolving pad sound using a dynamic morphing sweep from A, and a classical analog pad to B - an evolving deep sequenced sound. For me, this preset represents, on its own, all the expressiveness and the possibilities of transforming the sound thanks to morphing!
Jean-Michel Blanchet - on PolyBrute
The PolyBrute represents the very essence of what a synthesizer must be.