As part of our expanded coverage of the analog synth market (see May's "Inside the Analog Synth Resurgence"), we present a series of full interviews with key players in the synth market. Glen Darcey is Arturia's vice president of product management.
What was the original spark behind Arturia's decision to build the Minibrute? Was there significant feedback from your customer base as of a few years ago that a synth like this was really in demand?
MiniBrute was an idea that formed based on seeing the movement in the underground market place of used gear sales and the modular community. Many of us at Arturia are users of analog gear and we saw a market space that others were not reaching. Many dealers actually told us that "no one will buy a synth without presets" which we are happy to say was not the case at all.
To what do you attribute the success of the model (and that of the Microbrute)?
The MiniBrute and MicroBrute was about great sound, and a nice hands on user experience. Price point was the third side of the triangle that allowed them to succeed.
With MicroBrute we wanted a product that would allow singers, guitar players and people new to synths to have a platform to learn on, play live easily and to have a price that would break down the barrier to entry. It also needed to be a product that could hold its own against any other product with sound quality and the ability to use it with pro gear. To be honest, it rivals and actually surpasses the sound of some gear that costs many times the price. Its success is the result of hitting these two targets.
How successful have these products been, exactly?
I cannot give exact numbers. I'm sure our competition would love to see those numbers too. As for the effect on Arturia? It has been a nice addition to the companies financials but maybe more on how we are viewed by the customers. Having both software and hardware products gives us a nice balance and has set us up for more future growth. It has proven to us that we can be successful in any market space if we maintain quality, good prices and hit with the features needed.
The sales were much higher than expected and we actually had to shift factories to meet the demand.
The community of music makers is obviously more receptive to this type of instrument than ever, but why?
I have always believed that musicians respond to products that help them to create. There are plenty of products that have had every feature from the past 40 years put into them and it takes no skill to come up with endless lists of features but weeding them down into the essentials and getting the product focused and fun to use is the trick. EDM the push towards electronics in pop music are all factors but it goes beyond that. Most of the photos and videos that you see online and in forums are people who are home hobbyists. There are only so many people who can make a profession out of music but there are plenty of people who come home from work and want to unwind by making some music. These people do not want to navigate endless menus and read huge manuals, actually most musicians don't, they want to be inspired and to create. Analog gear allows for that in a way that workstations and limited user interface virtual analog synths don't do well.
How do you compare the quality of build and the technology involved in these synths (and modern analog synths in general) versus the vintage machines like the Rogue or the MG-1? Were efforts made to get as close as possible to vintage instruments, or was the idea to more aggressively improve upon older designs?
We build using modern components and better quality parts whenever we can. We want to push the designs and bring in new features that were never on the old products. We try to create modern classics. The oscillator that the MicroBrute and MiniBrute has is really unmatched. It does more and has more sonic capability than any vintage analog oscillator I can remember. There are many people rehashing the old and that only goes so far.
There were really high quality products back in the heyday and there was some real junk. One product I recall sounded good but had a front panel made of cardboard. I have one vintage synth that has thin, cheap plastic for the outer shell and pots that got noisy after the first two months I owned it. We are not looking to recreate something that someone else has done but we want to be pushing forward and creating our own sound. Build quality is key to us as well as these need to be musical instruments, not just pieces of technology.
How has Arturia approached retailers during the rollout of these products? Where they tough sells, or did buyers tend to jump onboard from the get-go? Did certain types of retailers tend to see more customer demand than others?
We take drawings and prototypes around to many dealers around the world and get their input. Some of them told us flat out that these products would not sell. Others were extremely excited to see the products and jumped on getting big orders placed. It all depended on the buyers personal experiences.
Many dealers know what they sold last week but do not have a finger on the pulse of what is going on in the trenches and in the homes of the end users.
Others know this well. The dealers that saw the need for this tended to be ones that have more direct one on one with their customer base.
Once the products were shown and the talk went out around the trade shows and in online forums and blogs, all the dealers jumped in. It became obvious to them that these products were going to sell well.
Do you see the whole synth consumer base shifting toward a market that's more enamored of the past, or does the rise of analog simply present an entirely different segment of the market? In other words, does this trend come at the expense of soft-synths and digital hardware, or do you see the two thriving together?
The keyboard market is a broad market. There are purists who only want analog and hardware and others who only use a controller and a laptop but these are the extremes. The modern analog gear will not go away nor will the use of computers and plug-ins. Digital, analog, virtual, are all good. Each has its strengths and weaknesses depending on what the end user is doing. I find that they all accentuate each other greatly. Arturia now makes digital hardware products like the Origin, we make analog synths like MicroBrute and MiniBrute, and we make computer plug-ins and iOS virtual synths. Each of these fulfills different aspects of the market space and gives end users unlimited options for how they want to work and create. All of these options mean that it is a great time to be a musician.
