Arturia DrumBrute & DrumBrute Impact
DrumBrute
Launched: 2016
Original MSRP: $499
Current Price: $349
DrumBrute Impact
Launched: 2018
Original MSRP: $349
Current Price: $299
With the DrumBrute, Arturia continued its pivot from software into hardware analogue electronic instruments. And unlike many other current analogue drum machines, like the MFB Tanzbär (more on this one later), Arturia priced the DrumBrute under $500, a minor miracle considering its sound and capabilities. And, like any good drum machine, it is versatile; good for both electronic music, hip hop, and other musical genres.
The most immediately attractive feature of the DrumBrute is its 17 analogue voices. This drum machine offers users the following sounds: two kick drums, snare, clap, rim/clave, open/closed hi-hat, toms/congas, maracas, tambourine, cymbal/rev/cymbal, zap, and metronome. And each of these voices is tweakable with parameters like decay, pitch, and filter, but each voice can be routed to external effects, giving musicians even more sonic possibilities.
The sequencer is 64-steps, but a pattern effect called “Randomness” allows users to create some beat variation that would be familiar to Aphex Twin or Plaid fans. And a song mode allows the chaining of up to 16 patterns.
The DrumBrute also has a younger sibling—the DrumBrute Impact. Though it is more affordable than its predecessor, the Impact is stripped down, but no less musical and capable.
The Impact features 10 voices to the original’s 17: one kick drum, two snares, tom hi/low, cymbal/cowbell, hi-hat open/closed, and an FM drum module. Like the DrumBrute, the Impact has Randomness and Song Mode features, thus allowing users to introduce variability and pattern chaining into their tracks. And each sound can be individually tweaked with the machine via the Color Sound parameter, which allows users to modulate the sound in unique ways.