MICROBRUTE CONNECTION

USER'S MANUAL

PRODUCT AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Glen T. DARCEY
Bruno PILLET
ELECTRONICS
Yves USSON
Bruno PILLET
Laurent BARET
Robert BOCQUIER

DESIGN
Axel HARTMANN (Design Box)
Morgan PERRIER

INDUSTRIALIZATION
Nicolas DUBOIS

MANUAL
Glen DARCEY
Morgan PERRIER
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Frank Orlich, Jean-Michel Blanchet, Michael Hosker, Sbastian Rochard,
Boele Gerkes, Antonio Rodriquez, Katsunori Ujiie, Howard Jones, Alex
Theakston, Jim Cowgill, Drew Anderson, Ray Barbee, Keith Shocklee, Kevin
Lamb, Jim Norman, Ryan Wood.

st

1 edition: November 2013

Information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment on behalf of ARTURIA. The hardware unit and the software product described in this manual are
provided under the terms of a license agreement or non-disclosure agreement. The license agreement
specifies the terms and conditions for its lawful use. No part of this manual may be produced or transmitted in
any form or by any purpose other than purchasers personal use, without the explicit written permission of
ARTURIA S.A. All other products, logos or company names quoted in this manual are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.

ARTURIA S.A. 1999-2013, all rights reserved.

ARTURIA S.A.
30, chemin du vieux
chne 38240 Meylan
FRANCE
http://www.arturia.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................................3
MicroBrute Connection software..............................................................................................................4
Configuration Page.........................................................................................................................................5
MIDI Settings ................................................................................................................................................................5
Sequencer settings .....................................................................................................................................................5
Play ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Seq Retrig.................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Next Sequence........................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Sequence Step size .................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Step/Gate .................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Module Settings ...........................................................................................................................................................7
LFO Retrig................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Envelope Modes ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Pitch Bend Range..................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Gate Length ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Sync ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Keyboard Parameters...............................................................................................................................................8
Note Priority .............................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Velocity Response.................................................................................................................................................................... 8

FIRMWARE UPDATE page............................................................................................................................8

Check Update............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Update Firmware..................................................................................................................................................................... 9

SEQUENCES page.......................................................................................................................................... 10
Save sequences .......................................................................................................................................................................10
Load sequences ......................................................................................................................................................................10

.mbseq file ...................................................................................................................................................... 12

Changing parameters via MIDI CCs ...................................................................................................... 13

MicroBrute Connection software

Even though the MicroBrute synthesizer is analog, it comes with a software editor
allowing various configuration tasks, such as:
MIDI channel selection, Pitch Bend range, LFO and Envelope-triggering, Sequencer
settings, and Firmware updates.

Configuration Page
MIDI Settings

Receive Channel this sets the channel that the MicroBrute will receive MIDI data
on. You can choose individual channels or ALL channels.
Transmit Channel - this sets the MIDI channel that the MicroBrute will send MIDI data
on via USB. You can choose any of the 16 MIDI channels.

Sequencer settings

Play
The sequencer can play using two different playing methods;
Note On mode and HOLD mode.
Note On mode will start the sequencer any time you play a note on the
keyboard.
Hold mode will start playing the sequencer immediately when the PLAY mode
is set to PLAY with the switch on the front panel.
Seq Retrig
This parameter allows you to choose how the Sequencer will respond to keys being
played.
Reset - Each new note that is played will restart the pattern from the
beginning.
Legato Notes that are played legato, will just transpose the pitch of the
currently playing pattern and not interrupt the playing position of the
sequence. If you play a note in a non-legato fashion, it will start the pattern
from the beginning again.
None this mode will not reset the sequence at all. The sequence will
continue playing from the place where it stopped.

Next Sequence
The Next Sequence function will determine how sequences change from one to
another. The options are Instant and End of Seq.
End The sequencer will wait until the last note of the current sequence before
changing to the next sequence.
Instant Reset Instant Reset mode will force the sequence to change
immediately and also reset the sequence to the first note.
Instant Continuous Instant Continuous will continue to the following step of
next sequence. If you have seq 1 playing and you switch the Pattern knob to
seq 2, the next note clock will start playing pattern 2 as seen below.

Sequence Step size

This determines the note value of the steps in the patterns. The options are:
, 1/8,1/16, 1/32
1/16th is the default note value.
Step/Gate
You can choose to advance the sequencer via the normal clock or via input to an
external source via the Gate jack on the rear panel or the TAP button on the top
panel.
Clk this is the default setting where the sequencer is played in time via the
internal or MIDI clock.
Gate this mode will not advance the sequencer except when a gate signal
is received on the Gate In or if you press the Tap button to manually advance
the sequence.

Module Settings

LFO Retrig
The LFO can be set to Freerun or Retrig modes. Freerun is the default mode.
Retrig off In this mode the LFO will start on power up and the waveform will
run continuously. This means that when you key a note, the state of the LFO
can be at any point in its duty cycle.
LFO Retrig In Retrig mode, the LFOs waveform will start from the same point
each time a key is pressed (or a sequence note is played).
Envelope Modes

Legato On - Legato mode will trigger the envelope one time when you play a
legato passage. If you release all keys and play a new note, then the
envelope will reset to the beginning.
Single - allows you to trigger new notes in the envelope but as you can see in
Figure 32, the envelope picks up from the point where the envelope currently
is in its attack, decay sustain or release stage.

Pitch Bend Range

The default pitch-bend range is set to +/- two semi-tones but it can be set to range
from 1 semi-tone to 1octave +/-.
Gate Length
This allows you to set the note length of all steps in the sequencer patterns. The
default gate time is set to 50%. Typically a Note On and Note Off will be 50% of the
time of the sequence step size. An example would be if you have the step size set to
notes, the actually note length would be 1/8th notes at 50%. The options here are
Short(25%), Med(50%) and Long(75%). Try playing a sequence with the VCA switch
set to GATE by changing this parameter you will hear the difference in note lengths.
Sync
You can sync the sequencer clock to either its own internal source, an external MIDI
clock source.
Auto DEFAULT - auto will select between Internal clock or incoming MIDI
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clocking. If there is no MIDI clock present, the sequencer will play on the
internal clock. If MIDI clock starts, it will change sync to MIDI clock.
Internal Internal will select the internal Sequencer clock. In this mode,
external sync is ignored.
MIDI MIDI will select an external MIDI clock source. If there is no clock, the
sequencer will not play. When Clock is present, the sequencer will play in sync
with the clock.

Keyboard Parameters

Note Priority
Last Note - DEFAULT - Last note priority means that the envelope will trigger
based on the last note played.
Low Note - Low Note priority means if two notes are played at the same time,
the lower note on the keyboard is prioritized and played.
High Note - High Note priority means if two notes are played at the same time,
the high note on the keyboard is prioritized and played.
Velocity Response
The MicroBrute does not receive or respond to velocity but it does send it.
The velocity curve that is sent from the MicroBrute can be set to 3 different settings.
Linear
Exponential
Logrythmic

FIRMWARE UPDATE page

When you first power up the MicroBrute connection software, it will check the version of
firmware that you have in your machine. The software will display the current version that you
have.
Check Update
You can check the latest version that is available by clicking on the CHECK UPDATE button.
Update Firmware
The UPDATE FIRMWARE button will allow you to actually update the firmware. Just press the
button and follow the on-screen directions.

SEQUENCES page

Reset sequences
This will reset all the sequences to the factory default sequences.
WARNING: THIS WILL ERASE ALL YOUR INTERNAL SEQUENCES! There is no way to get them back!

Save sequences
Once you have made some sequences, you might want to save them for later use
or to be able to send them to your computer as MIDI files that can be used in other
software apps.
Clicking on Save Sequences will open a dialog that allows you to choose the
location of the files you will save. Once you have named the file and chosen the
location you will see the following menu option:

Here you can choose to just create the .mbseq file, that can be loaded back into
the MicroBrute, or also create a separate .MID file for each sequence. These .MID
files are standard MIDI files that can be loaded into your favorite DAW application
for use with other devices or plug-ins.
Load sequences
Load sequences allows you to send sequence files from your computer back into
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the MicroBrute. When you SAVE SEQUENCES it will create a file with the extension
.mbseq
You can then load this file and send it to your MicroBrute. This will write over your
internal sequences so make sure you save anything you dont want to lose before
loading a different bank in.

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.mbseq file
The .mbseq file is a simple text file that you can edit using a text editor.
It is very easy to create your own sequences or edit them.
Data Format:
1:60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60
2:60 60 60 48 60 60 60 72 60 60 60 48 60 60 72 48
3:48 60 48 60 48 60 63 51 48 60 48 60 63 51 67 55 48 60 48 60 48 60 63 51 48 60 48 60 63 51 67 61
4:60 60 60 60 60 60 57 59 60 60 60 59 60 60 60 60 60 60 62 59 60 62 64 67 69
5:48 60 72 70 48 67 60 55 48 x 65 72 48 62 72 62 51 58 63 72 51 70 63 58 51 x 62 72 51 72 62 64
6:48 x x 60 48 x 60 x 60 x x 72 60 x 60 x 48 x x 60 48 x 60 x 65 x x
7:60 72 48 60 60 x x 48 60 72 x 60 60 x x 73 48 72 60 61 60 x 72 84 72 48 79 82 48 77 81 70
8:48 48 x x 72 60 48 48 x x 48 x 72 x 82 x 48 48 x x 72 60 48 48 x x 48 x 72 x 75 x 48 48 x x 72 49 48

The data in the text file is simple. The first character in a line is the sequence number
followed by a :
Then there are a series of MIDI Note numbers that are separated by a SPACE.
At the end of the line is a RETURN
To enter a rest, just type an x.
Middle C with the octave set to 0 = MIDI note 60 on the MicroBrute.

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Changing parameters via MIDI CCs

The MicroBrute allows you simple access to all the parameters found in the editor via easy to
use MIDI CCs. When parameters are changed using CCs, changes will be lost after a restart.
To write changes to internal memory you have to use the editor.
Parameter
Receive Channel
Send Channel
Seq Retrig

MIDI CC
102
103
104

Seq Play Mode

105

Next Seq Mode

106

Seq Step Size

107

Sync Source

108

Env Legato Mode

109

LFO Retrig Mode

110

Note Priority

111

Velocity Curve

112

Gate Length

113

Seq Step/Gate Mode

114

Pitch Bend Range

Local ON/OFF

RPN 06
122

Value
1 to 16, 17=All
1 to 16
0 to 41 = Reset
42 to 83 = Legato
84 to 127 = None
0 to 63 = Hold
64 to 127 = Note On
0 to 41 = End
42 to 83 = Instant Reset
84 to 127 = Instant Continuous
0 to 29 =
30 to 59 = 1/8
60 to 89 = 1/16
90 to 127 = 1/32
0 to 41 = Auto
42 to 83 = Int
84 to 127 = Ext
0 to 63 = Off
64 to 127 = On
0 to 63 = Off
64 to 127 = On
0 to 41 = Last
42 to 83 = Low
84 to 127 = High
0 to 41 = Lin
42 to 83 = Log
84 to 127 = Anti Log
0 to 41 = Short
42 to 83 = Med
84 to 127 = Long
0 to 63 = Clk
64 to 127 = Gate/Tap
1 to 12
0 = or 127

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6.1 No liability for consequential damages

Neither ARTURIA nor anyone else involved in the creation, production, or delivery of this
product shall be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages
arising out of the use of, or inability to use this product (including without limitation,
damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information and
the like) even if ARTURIA was previously advised of the possibility of such damages.
Some states do not allow limitations on the length of an implied warranty or the
exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation
or exclusions may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you
may also have other rights which vary from state to state.

6.2 FCC Information (USA)

DO NOT MODIFY THE UNIT! This product, when installed as indicate in the instructions
contained in this manual, meets FCC requirement. Modifications not expressly approved
by ARTURIA may avoid your authority, granted by the FCC, to use the product.
IMPORTANT: When connecting this product to accessories and/or another product, use
only high quality shielded cables. Cable (s) supplied with this product MUST be used.
Follow all installation instructions. Failure to follow instructions could void your FFC
authorization to use this product in the USA.
NOTE: This product has been tested and found to comply with the limit for a Class B
Digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide
a reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential environment. This
equipment generate, use and radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used according to the instructions found in the users manual, may cause interferences
harmful to the operation to other electronic devices. Compliance with FCC regulations
does not guarantee that interferences will not occur in all the installations. If this product
is found to be the source of interferences, which can be determined by turning the unit
OFF and ON, please try to eliminate the problem by using one of the following
measures:

Relocate either this product or the device that is affected by the interference
Use power outlets that are on different branch (circuit breaker or fuse) circuits or
install AC line filter(s).
In the case of radio or TV interferences, relocate/ reorient the antenna. If the
antenna lead-in is 300 ohm ribbon lead, change the lead-in to coaxial cable.
If these corrective measures do not bring any satisfied results, please the local
retailer authorized to distribute this type of product. If you cannot locate the
appropriate retailer, please contact ARTURIA.
The above statements apply ONLY to those products distributed in the USA.

6.3 Canada
NOTICE: This class B digital apparatus meets all the requirements of the Canadian
Interference-Causing Equipment Regulation.
AVIS: Cet appareil numrique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du
Rglement sur le matriel brouilleur du Canada.

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6.4 Europe
89/336/EEC.

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