MicroFreak

Arturia's MicroFreak, the synth on my desk, taken apart: what every knob does, how its signal flows, and how I use it.

A digital oscillator with 21 engines, a real analog filter, two envelopes, an LFO and a 35-point modulation matrix, played from a flat 25-key keyboard that feels how hard you press.

Arturia MicroFreak · Every control
The panel, mapped
Every knob, and where it sits in the signal path.
Interactive
Envelopes and LFO
Turn the knobs and watch the shapes change.
1 tutorial · more coming
How I use it
Step-by-step patches, lit up on the panel.

Tutorials

Walk-throughs of the patches I play, each step lit up on the panel. More to come.

01From oscillator to outputA first tour: how a note travels through the MicroFreak, and how the Matrix bends it on the way.5 steps →

Sources

MicroFreak manual 5.0.1 · Arturia, MicroFreak User Manual, firmware 5.0.1 (2023): the panel, the Matrix, the envelopes, the LFO and the filter
Arturia: MicroFreak details · The oscillator engines and who designed them, the SEM-inspired filter, the keyboard and touch strip
Mutable Instruments Plaits · Émilie Gillet, Plaits: the open-source macro oscillator seven of the MicroFreak engines come from