Arturia has released the DrumBrute Impact, a smaller drum machine than the standard DrumBrute that, as its name suggests, is designed to pack a punch.
DrumBrute Impact comes with 10 analogue drum sounds: a kick, two snares, high and low toms, a crash cymbal, a cowbell, closed and open hats and an FM sound. This final tone is described as a percussive synth voice with adjustable carrier pitch, decay, FM amount and mod pitch.
These sounds can be played using eight pads, and have been designed to complement each other and form a cohesive kit. You can also throw in the Color layer (this can be activated on a per-channel basis), which generates tonal changes to the drum sounds and can be programmed using the sequencer. For extra grit, there’s a drum-friendly distortion on the output bus; just turn it on and tweak the gain.
The built-in 64-step sequencer is polyrhythmic and offers Swing, Randomness and Step Repeater options. Further flourishes can be added by using the Roller and adding accents, and you can also go off the grid and record without quantise, should you wish.
Of course, you’ll likely use DrumBrute Impact with other gear, and it’s well-equipped in this regard. There are four extra output busses for post-processing or multitracking, Clock in and out for syncing with vintage or modular gear, MIDI I/O and USB for DAW integration. The USB connection also enables you to use the Arturia MCC, which lets you access additional customisation options.
DrumBrute Impact is scheduled to ship in August priced at $349/€299. It’s available for pre-order now on the Arturia website.
