Arturia Analog Laboratory
Jamar Lizarraga
TAE : True Analog Emulation allows our software instruments to reproduce classic instrument sounds with unparalleled accuracy, from the raw power of analog oscillators to the detailed soft-clipping behavior of classic circuitry.
To be fair, there is still room for improvement in the Laboratory and, in particular, I would like to see the MIDI channel assignment made more flexible in Scene mode. Furthermore, the review was not entirely without glitches, but these were either harmless (such as the 'amazing but easily resolved disappearing GUI trick' that I could perform at will when I had multiple instances running in DP7) or could be prevented by avoiding arcane ways of doing things. (When all else failed, as it did on only one occasion, a suggestion from Arturia's support people quickly identified and resolved the problem.) But these are minor niggles. The laboratory does what it promises, and in general does it very well indeed.
Arturia is a French electronics company founded in 1999 and based in Grenoble, France. The company designs and manufactures audio interfaces and electronic musical instruments, including software synthesizers, drum machines, analog synthesizers, digital synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sequencers, and mobile apps.[1]
Arturia was founded in 1999 in Grenoble by INPG engineers Frédéric Brun and Gilles Pommereuil to create affordable software synthesizers. Their first product was Storm, a virtual instrument workstation.[2] The close emulation of classic analog synthesizers helped the company gain popularity in its market.[3] Brun and Pommereuil developed new software algorithms that create sounds with minimal digital artifacts.[4]
In 2009, Arturia released their first hardware synth, the Origin, a standalone, DSP-based system utilizing the same software engine as their virtual synth products.[8][9] This was followed up in 2012 with the MiniBrute, a vintage-style 25-key monophonic analog synthesizer with one voltage controlled oscillator, two low-frequency oscillators, and a multi-mode Steiner-Parker filter.[10] Despite pre-production uncertainty about sales, the MiniBrute sold well due to its low price point and expressive sound.[11] The following year, Arturia announced the MicroBrute, a smaller and less expensive version of the MiniBrute with minikeys, a patch bank, and a sequencer.[12] Both synthesizers received critical acclaim.[11]
Released in 2016 as a part of the Brute family, the Drum Brute is an analog drum machine with a dedicated sequencer and 17 drum engines. Two years later Arturia released the DrumBrute Impact, a smaller and reworked version of the DrumBrute with the ability to add accent to sounds which changes the timbre of each drum engine.[16]
In 2018, they introduced MiniBrute 2, a semi-modular analog synth that includes a patch bay that connects to Eurorack modular gear.[17] They also introduced the MiniBrute 2S which swaps a traditional keyboard for performance pads and a sequencer that can be recorded in real time.[18]
In 2019, Arturia released the MicroFreak, a 4-voice digital synthesizer with an analog filter and a distinctive touch capacitive keyboard.[19] The digital oscillator allows for different algorithms to be loaded onto the unit, including algorithms by Mutable Instruments and Noise Engineering. Arturia followed up with the MiniFreak in 2022, which featured 6-voices, more functionality and a larger traditional keyboard.[20]