Review: Arturia DrumBrute
We have had one of these for a while now, and have explored this in just about every way possible. I have been tasked to go beyond the box so I did just that.
Here are the high level features of the box:
- Full analog drum machine with 17 sounds each with a set of controls
- Sequencer with 64 patterns with 64 steps
- Pattern effects like global swing or per instrument swing, randomness per instrument, and pattern looper
- Song mode (16 songs) to chain patterns
- Steiner Parker filter with bypass
- MIDI In/Out (sync capable)
- Clock In/Out (supports 1PPS, 2PPQ, DIN24 and DIN48)
- USB for MIDI (sync capable) or system update and config settings
- Mix Audio (1/4″ unbalanced mono)
- Individual Outs (12 – 3.5mm unbalanced mono outputs)
- Headphone Out (1/4″ and 3.5mm stereo output, mono signal out of both L/R)
- Power (12V wall wart)
In a nutshell, we really love this unit. This is a very feature packed product for the price. We have many Eurorack modules that create drum sounds, and some are very elaborate or have multifunction features. We definitely appreciate those types of modules. However, if you are looking at creating an analog drum set for your Eurorack setup, I would seriously consider this one. The unit is well built with metal enclosure, wood side panels, and the knobs and pads feel solid.
The unit has 12 individual velocity sensitive pads, which corresponds to the 11 outputs (Hi Hats combined into one output) and the last of the 12 outputs is dedicated for metronome. Why have a dedicated metronome output? I see its use really for live playing where you bus the metronome output only to the cue in a mixer. Some pads are dedicated, but there are 5 pads that can play one of 2 sounds, somewhat similar to the TipTop RS808 (Rim shot and Claves) module though that has 4 sound settings.
As far as creating patterns, you can create using typical methods like live record and step sequence. It has a host of the usual tools like copy, paste, erase, etc. This process is very straight forward if you have created patterns in other drum machines after spending a few minutes with the unit. The patterns are mapped in 4 banks of 16 patterns (64 patterns) and each pattern can be up to 64 steps. The cool feature (if you are inclined to experimentation) is the Polyrhythm feature. In short, what that does is the ability to have different time signatures per instrument track. We really love this feature as it helps create interesting rhythm tracks as opposed to the typical 16th notes (4/4).
Of course, many are thinking, “How can you get 17 sounds from 12 pads in the sequencer?”
It’s pretty straight forward, you can select the Type (one of 2 drums for that pad) and you will be able to play it live, or in step mode, you will see a fresh track, where you can enter the steps. As far as programming patterns and songs, it is very straight forward, and very similar to most units out there (like Korg Volca, Roland TR-8, etc.) One cool thing I really love is the ability to backup patterns in their MIDI Control Center software, which saves/loads configurations and songs/patterns, as well as update firmware.
Clocking with the system, whether the DrumBrute is a master or a slave, worked with minimal effort with new and old gear. We managed to clock it with new gear like the Korg Volca, and old gear like Roland TR-808.
Last but not least, the most fun I had with the unit was the individual outs, sans the Metro output. Some of the outputs I decided to use a set of Eurorack VCFs to connect to. There have been discussions (arguments) about the 3.5mm outputs and mono 1/4″ unbalanced outputs. Some like it, and some just won’t even buy one of these units because of it. Personally, I really love the 3.5mm outputs per drum (11 outputs, Hi Hats combined) and each multi-type drum has only one output for the 2 sounds. Here is what I did that made it very interesting. I connected Kick1 into a Blue Lantern Subharmonic Generator, Kick2 into a Analogue Solutions SY-02 (MS-20 Multimode filter), Snare and Hi Hats, into a Synthesis Technology E440 Discrete OTA VCF, Toms into the Intellijel Polaris, and just decided to create some patterns with the rig. All I can say is “Whoa!” Lots of control, and the fact that I can mix them in Eurorack and even pan them, send them through an external effects (since the DrumBrute comes with no delay, reverb, etc.) and then send the stereo out into an external mixer or go directly into ProTools HD was a treat.
Sure, I can do something similar by doing track for track recording and taking the output of a drum machine one instrument at a time and connecting it to a different VCF, but that is time consuming. I can just patch what I want, experiment until I get the sound I need for a particular song and “Voilà!” I have the drum track that I want for the next hit. Also the other nice part is if I do want to record each track separately, I can do so with up to 11 separate tracks.
What we don’t like (a very short list after the discussions/arguments were settled):
- Wall wart power supply
- A Stereo Out aside from the headphones
- Pan setting per instrument feature (would need stereo outs)
For the price, those features are not really necessary because we can send individual outputs to mixers or go into the DAW and set pans internally in the box. If you are looking to build a Eurorack based drum kit, I would look at this before doing so. You can save a ton of money by just using this, not only for the sounds, but also as a sequencer for the drums, and be able to be a master clock (clock out into a Make Noise Tempi as an example.) We love this drum machine!
