Microfreak 4.0 Released!

dendy

@Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr said:

@celtic_elk said:
Dammit, this is not helping my Microfreak GAS.

You can get the digital audio engine for free on iOS in the Burns Audio Spectrum bundle.

Just partially, Microfreak added substantial amount of new oscillator modes not available on original MI modules .. plus it has real analog filter and another stuff .. at tthe end that keyboard is surprisingly expressive and fun to use .. For the price Microfreak is one of best synths you can buy in this segment .. really amazing inspirative tool .

dendy

@waka_x said:
is there a good editor/converter of wavetables for v.4 ?!
( mac or pc) !? thnx

yes, just watch gabe miller's review (video in first post), he explains everything ..

Carnbot

Great to see more features, whenever I play with this synth I always come away with something I like, it's a giver

celtic_elk

@krassmann said:
AFAIK there is nothing really good for wavetables on the iPad. Fir single cycle waveforms you can use this online editor http://scw.sheetsofsound.com/

Does that seem like a weird omission to anyone else? I've been looking around for a decent wavetable synth after watching some desktop-music YTers mess around with Serum, and I really don't get why this isn't a thing on iPad.

krassmann

@celtic_elk said:

@krassmann said:
AFAIK there is nothing really good for wavetables on the iPad. Fir single cycle waveforms you can use this online editor http://scw.sheetsofsound.com/

Does that seem like a weird omission to anyone else? I've been looking around for a decent wavetable synth after watching some desktop-music YTers mess around with Serum, and I really don't get why this isn't a thing on iPad.

I meant wavetable editors are missing. There are already some WT synths for iOS. Drambo, Synthmaster 2, Nave for example. I don‘t own Serum but I think Synthmaster 2 is as close as you can get to Serum on the iPad. They also announced that an upcoming Synthmaster 3 will include a wavetable editor.

krassmann

I updated and had been trying to use my own wavetables but not very successful. My WT resulted in very high pitched presets. I think the conversion from .wav to WT by the Arturia software is basically doing its best guess but I think this needs some manual tweaking. But I have no idea which software could do that. Any ideas?

Liquidmantis

@krassmann said:
I updated and had been trying to use my own wavetables but not very successful. My WT resulted in very high pitched presets. I think the conversion from .wav to WT by the Arturia software is basically doing its best guess but I think this needs some manual tweaking. But I have no idea which software could do that. Any ideas?

I haven't had time to dig into it all, but I know Oscillator Sink touched on this. Did you already watch his video?

Try here if not:

[Edit] Linking to the specific timestamp didn't work, but check out the chapter that starts at ~13:50

orand

I keep trying to talk myself into liking the Microfreak because I think the sound design experience is awesome, particularly with the mod matrix, but it seems that 95% of the sounds that come out of it are harsh, tinny digital toy noises, at least to my ears. Even the latest 4.0 custom wavetable demos sound that way to me. What I really want is to be able to create more organic, semi-analog sounds similar to the Polybrute, but with a mini mod matrix. Is anyone aware of examples of these kinds of sounds being produced by a Microfreak?

krassmann

@Liquidmantis, this video is a great resource. I looked at the oscillator section of the manual but for importing WT you need to look at the section covering the desktop software. Here an excerpt from this section:

MicroFreak works some magic when you import Wavetables. Its Wavetables each have 32 cycles (individual waveforms), and each cycle is 2,048 samples long. When you import a WAV or AIFF file, MicroFreak resamples it and converts it to an MFW file the MicroFreak can use. Here is what happens during that process:

• MicroFreak counts every set of 2,048 samples as a cycle.
• The first and last cycles of the source file remain unchanged, and become cycles 1 and 32.
• If the source has more than 8 cycles, MicroFreak builds a continuous Wavetable with all the cycles evenly spread out, with linear crossfading between them. This means the resulting Wavetable will represent the original content from beginning to end — MicroFreak does not simply stop resampling when it hits the end of 8 cycles.
• If the source has fewer than 8 cycles, MicroFreak uses a custom algorithm to spread them across all the slots. This ensures that the Wave knob will reach all the cycles as you turn it to scroll through the Wavetable.

Musically, all this means that you don’t have to perform editing surgery to make audio files work as MicroFreak Wavetables. You certainly can if you want, but you can also just grab files you think offer creative possibilities and let MicroFreak take care of the rest.

AFAIK 2048 samples per cycle is used by Serum. But according to the manual the WT oscillator cycle is just 256 samples. I think it uses the popular Serum format for import but then resamples it to its native format.

tahiche

@knewspeak said:

@tahiche said:

@TimRussell said:

Nice! I eventually want to get some pedals for my hw, but haven't decided which way to go. Was looking at Microcosm, Line 6, or a combination of Strymon Big Sky/TC Electronics Hall of Fame 2 and Flashback 2. But now that the SP 404 Mk2 is out, thinking I could just use that instead. about the same price as just the Big Sky.

If you’re just looking for FX I’d have a look at the Line6 HX Effects. You will not get better quality without spending many £££ more on multiple pedals.
If you want the ability to mimic amps, cabs/IRs as well then the HX Stomp had all the same FX as well as those additional functions although has fewer footswitches.
A cheaper, but equally awesome-sounding alternative, is the POD Go. It excludes a handful of the more DSP intensive FX from the other 2 units but has all the amps/cabs etc and includes an expression pedal.

For a tight budget these cheapo Zoom pedals are not bad at all… I have the bass version (B1on) and it’s very usable. You can chain effects, of which it has plenty.

You can also flash the OS on the these and the CDR stomp pedals, gives you access to all the effects from that range.

I had no idea!. Been reading about it and it’s way cool. Thank u so much!!!.

krassmann

I did some further tests with user wavetables. The Serum wavetables are leading to usable results. It looks like the Arturia software can process them well. With voice WT you can actually create presets that have a voice like sound. Also the pitch seems to be as it was intended by the WT creator. That’s really great. This gives us a vast choice of WT to built presets with.

dvi

Ok the wavetable osc is a lot of fun. Here is something I’ve been playing with for a while that you can’t do easily in Drambo, which is to change the wavetables through modulation. It can be a bit wild but with a nicely curated collection of waves it leads to wonderful results. This is an example offered as proof of concept, not a finished song (I’ll finish a song one of these days, I keep telling myself).

A random LFO is triggered with each note and picks one of the 16 wavetables, which is scanned with the looping envelope and the pressure from the keyboard. Not much filter action. The freak goes through Audio Damage Channelstrip for EQ adding 10db to low and 300hz, and the ODC standard delay, nothing else for this demo.

First some chords, then monophonic arps, then a sequence in the unison mode. I like the randomization, but someone more patient could spend time automating this into a complete orchestration. Lots of fun to be had in any case.

krassmann

@dvi said:
A random LFO is triggered with each note and picks one of the 16 wavetables, which is scanned with the looping envelope and the pressure from the keyboard. Not much filter action. The freak goes through Audio Damage Channelstrip for EQ adding 10db to low and 300hz, and the ODC standard delay, nothing else for this demo.

Very cool preset you created. I have to try the same. The random LFO to select a wave is a cool idea. That truly justifies calling this sound design programming.

First some chords, then monophonic arps, then a sequence in the unison mode. I like the randomization, but someone more patient could spend time automating this into a complete orchestration. Lots of fun to be had in any case.

Really nice track.

Lil_Stu07

@krassmann said:

@dvi said:
A random LFO is triggered with each note and picks one of the 16 wavetables, which is scanned with the looping envelope and the pressure from the keyboard. Not much filter action. The freak goes through Audio Damage Channelstrip for EQ adding 10db to low and 300hz, and the ODC standard delay, nothing else for this demo.

Very cool preset you created. I have to try the same. The random LFO to select a wave is a cool idea. That truly justifies calling this sound design programming.

First some chords, then monophonic arps, then a sequence in the unison mode. I like the randomization, but someone more patient could spend time automating this into a complete orchestration. Lots of fun to be had in any case.

Really nice track.

Agreed. This is a stellar composition and an excellent use of this new update. Thank you for sharing!

dvi

Thanks @krassmann and @Lil_Stu07 —I wouldn't call it a composition but we're getting there! I can share the patch if anyone wants it but it's easy enough to dial in, and you'd also need to replace the Wavetables. I expect we'll see a market of presets using custom wavetables open up… for the patch, I always add two or three sources to do 0.2 modulations on pitch to give it that analogue thang.

krassmann

@dvi said:
Thanks @krassmann and @Lil_Stu07 —I wouldn't call it a composition but we're getting there! I can share the patch if anyone wants it but it's easy enough to dial in, and you'd also need to replace the Wavetables. I expect we'll see a market of presets using custom wavetables open up… for the patch, I always add two or three sources to do 0.2 modulations on pitch to give it that analogue thang.

I think a problem with presets that use user WT might be that you need to upload the corresponding WT and there might be conflicts between different presets then if they use the same WT slot. The slight pitch modulation is also a great tip. You are very resourceful for MicroFreak preset creation. Hmmm… do I go out tonight or do I spend time with the freak. 😅

dvi

@krassmann said:

Hmmm… do I go out tonight or do I spend time with the freak. 😅

The answer is in front of you. By the way, I’ve learned a lot by studying presets I’ve found online. I think this pack by BlankFor.ms is about as good as it gets: https://blankforms.gumroad.com/l/formsfreak

krassmann

@dvi said:

@krassmann said:

Hmmm… do I go out tonight or do I spend time with the freak. 😅

The answer is in front of you. By the way, I’ve learned a lot by studying presets I’ve found online. I think this pack by BlankFor.ms is about as good as it gets: https://blankforms.gumroad.com/l/formsfreak

OMG these presets are pure dope. So, I did spend time with the freak 😅 Thank you so much. The best MF presets I have. So much motion. I think I’ve rarely seen so many lights on in the mod matrix. All presets have this slight pitch modulation by pressure that adds some instability when playing and is nice for expression. So much to learn from these presets. I think this is a gold mine especially for ambient enthusiasts. @Samu you have to check this out.

dvi

@dvi said: I like the randomization, but someone more patient could spend time automating this into a complete orchestration.

Red Means Recording: Hold my beer.

dendy

@krassmann said:
I updated and had been trying to use my own wavetables but not very successful. My WT resulted in very high pitched presets. I think the conversion from .wav to WT by the Arturia software is basically doing its best guess but I think this needs some manual tweaking. But I have no idea which software could do that. Any ideas?

it's not that complicated, you just need waves sampled as low as possible.. ideally c0 or c-1 .. that's all, then it will ot lead to this "high pitched" presets ;-)

dvi

@krassmann said:

@dvi said:

@krassmann said:

Hmmm… do I go out tonight or do I spend time with the freak. 😅

The answer is in front of you. By the way, I’ve learned a lot by studying presets I’ve found online. I think this pack by BlankFor.ms is about as good as it gets: https://blankforms.gumroad.com/l/formsfreak

OMG these presets are pure dope. So, I did spend time with the freak 😅 Thank you so much. The best MF presets I have. So much motion. I think I’ve rarely seen so many lights on in the mod matrix. All presets have this slight pitch modulation by pressure that adds some instability when playing and is nice for expression. So much to learn from these presets. I think this is a gold mine especially for ambient enthusiasts. @Samu you have to check this out.

Glad you like them! They’re really wonderful. He knows what he’s doing. There’s nice demos in his insta once in a while. I also love the pressure modulation that slightly lowers the pitch. I use it all the time now. Another one to try is using pressure to modulate the amount of vibrato, a “modulate the modulation” type of thing (this one is in the manual I think).

Stuntman_mike

I just got a Strymon NightSky to run my MicroFreak thru 🤩
Fantasizing about the Microcosm next…

joegrant413

To those who've owned it and kept the MIcrofreak for awhile.... did you have to get used to the keyboard?

I messed around with MF a bit at a store and didn't bond with the touch capacitor.

Otherwise, I am interested in it.

echoopera

@joegrant413 said:
To those who've owned it and kept the MIcrofreak for awhile.... did you have to get used to the keyboard?

I messed around with MF a bit at a store and didn't bond with the touch capacitor.

Otherwise, I am interested in it.

it's a lovely machine that makes wonderful sounds...the keyboard is different, but I mostly sequence it with Drambo, or my MPC set up...

Montreal_Music

@knewspeak said:

@tahiche said:

@TimRussell said:

Nice! I eventually want to get some pedals for my hw, but haven't decided which way to go. Was looking at Microcosm, Line 6, or a combination of Strymon Big Sky/TC Electronics Hall of Fame 2 and Flashback 2. But now that the SP 404 Mk2 is out, thinking I could just use that instead. about the same price as just the Big Sky.

If you’re just looking for FX I’d have a look at the Line6 HX Effects. You will not get better quality without spending many £££ more on multiple pedals.
If you want the ability to mimic amps, cabs/IRs as well then the HX Stomp had all the same FX as well as those additional functions although has fewer footswitches.
A cheaper, but equally awesome-sounding alternative, is the POD Go. It excludes a handful of the more DSP intensive FX from the other 2 units but has all the amps/cabs etc and includes an expression pedal.

For a tight budget these cheapo Zoom pedals are not bad at all… I have the bass version (B1on) and it’s very usable. You can chain effects, of which it has plenty.

You can also flash the OS on the these and the CDR stomp pedals, gives you access to all the effects from that range.

Some people say it’s risky because you cannot overwrite the memory very often. If you do it, you can ruin the memory. I don’t know if it’s true but it is worth a short investigation.

joegrant413

Any reason to get vocoder version? Sweetwater has it for $399. But the regular version is $349 and the vocoder mic is $29. I'm not an accountant, but...

branis

@joegrant413 said:
Any reason to get vocoder version? Sweetwater has it for $399. But the regular version is $349 and the vocoder mic is $29. I'm not an accountant, but...

if you don't care about the color and the artwork above the keys then no - everything else is the same

echoopera

I love the black and orange color It hides dirty finger stains better than the white version imho....assuming they use similar plastic to the key step pro, which is a dirty finger magnet...

And yes, I do wash my hands...but finger oils gradually appear during deep moments of grooving

joegrant413

Thx. BTW, it seems like one of attractions of this little synth is I can take it anywhere.

So my hands might have some drive-in hamburger grease or whatnot.

joegrant413

BTW, I also have an OP1. Put it aside for the crazy indulgence of focusing on iOS music. But it might be time for another synth. My first one was the first version Minibrute. A great way to learn synth.