I first went on @nickcdavis's page because I liked the art he posted on @nftshowroom but then I got distracted when I came across his post titled New Arturia MicroFreak Vocoder!
"Wait a minute I have a Arturia MicroFreak in my studio".... Time to unlock this new vocoder option!
I hooked my synth to the computer, updated the firmware, unlocked the brand new vocoder for this synth and then I downloaded a bunch of new sounds to fill it up with new goodies. The bank has a limit of 256 different sounds. For each sound you have multiple options of waves and filters with so many adjustments that the possibilities are endless.
The mic input of the vocoder is hidden in the headphone's jack so I needed a special adapter to get it going with the mics in my studio. No time to wait for it so I figured out that we have a gaming headset I bought for the delightful @juliakponsford, that has a mic and a 3 pin jack, like this.
The 1/8 jack on the left has a third bar on it for a microphone, ready to use the vocoder!!
The vocoder works with every of the 256 sounds I have in this synth but the truth is the vocoder option doesn't sound nice with every sound.
After a lot of time trying all the patches I narrowed it down to 5 sounds I would like to use with the vocoder.
I am not new to vocoder as I often use the one in my Micro-Korg, but the touch of the keys on the Arturia MicroFreak offer a totally different experience! I am interested to try this vocoder with other microphones in the future, as I used a basic headset mic for this test run.
The Arturia Micro-Freak was already a killer value before they gave me a vocoder for free extra on it. I would recommend this piece of gear if you are looking to get a small size synth, for not too much cash, that can do a lot. The 2 best features for me are the keys that are contact-surface sensitive (they modify the sound accordingly to the surface of the key you cover with your fingers) and the arpeggiator system is amazingly well designed on this machine.
Because I did such a good job updating my MicroFreak I decided to push it further that day and programmed some new sounds for my Korg Poly-800 also.
I consider this one a vintage synth (1985) and the way to go about programming a sound is quite different. I managed to create some crunchy yet retro sounds and I was then ready to record a new track.
This is the line up for this track: Arturia Micro-Freak (including the voice processed through it) and the Korg Poly-800.
WANNA RIDE
I cleaned my truck
It's beautiful
My truck is green
It's irrefutable, it's irrefutable
Do you want to ride in my truck
Do you want to ride
Do you want to ride in my truck
Do you want to ride
MUSIC
► Spotify ► Itunes part 1 ► Itunes part 2 ► Bandcamp ► Audius ► Youtube
LOVE IT! Makes me really happy you were able to try out the new Vocoder updates! Super cool. The track itself is super chill. Loving the Poly-800. Nice work. :-)
Thanks bro. We went full circle on this one. The Poly-800 is really underrated I am still figuring it out. Much blessings for you!!
Love this one... It's super bad, totally rad, makes me want to fly through the air skyclad!!! #chewtheju
Yes of course fly away like a bird nothing stopping you. Thank you bro and keep chewing (never mind the side effects).
beautiful track vache! Cool to be finding new tricks with your gear.... that thing looks like a pretty awesome bit of kit!
Thank you my brother! I hope you and your miss are doing great! Much blessings your ways from this side of the pond.😘