Arturia Microfreak | An excellent modular companion

video upload by Cinematic Laboraty

"It's not easy to find a touch capacitive keyboard for Eurorack. I tried the Verbos and ultimately ended up with the Buchla Corvette 218e which also has a strong nostalgic value. I completely overlooked the Microfreak even though @mylarmelodies made an excellent video about it while recreating an Easel. I've been familiar with the Microfreak since its release, but didn't pay much attention to it when I found out it's a bit like a paraphonic Plaits. Then Noise Engineering contributed to it with three eclectic voices, also paraphonic. And recently they added samples and granular synthesis to the endless list of features. So the Freak isn't really 'micro' anymore. It's stellar.

I got myself a Freak because I wanted to find out if these keys were on par with the Buchla. The good news (for me), is that the Buchla is still a few decades ahead, because Arturia was clearly inspired by the older model with elevated 'black' keys. So objectively, the Freak doesn't 'ultraglide'. The good news (for all of us) is that the difference is marginal, considering that the Freak comes with a really, really nice synth. Bottomline: the Freak is a great addition to any modular setup. But it doesn't end there. If you happen to like granular synthesis and looping, it's an excellent source for grains, loops, stacks and sample mangling and when you recorded something cool, you can play it with pressure, gates and pitch CV.

I'll keep the Freak close to my Instruo case because it lacks a proper sequencer. Here, the Freak ticks all the boxes that were left open."