Full Bucket Music has unveiled an intriguing new plugin called Broken Mini, a free emulation of the iconic Minimoog synthesizer – if that Minimoog in question is broken and has missing knobs and quirks that make it feel like a repair is in order.
Confused? You might be. Just imagine a Minimoog that doesn’t quite work like one and you’ll grasp the essence of the Broken Mini.
As mentioned, the Broken Mini is not just another Minimoog clone; it is designed to simulate a “malfunctioning” synthesizer experience. In fact, Björn Arlt, the developer behind Full Bucket Music, describes it as a nod to an “unknown and obscure synthesizer from the past,” with no mention of the original Minimoog at all.
Despite its playful premise, Broken Mini retains some core functionalities of the original. It features three multi-wave oscillators, a noise generator, the classic ladder filter, and two envelope generators, all arranged in a familiar layout. But this is where the similarities end.
The plugin’s interface includes intentional omissions that enhance its “broken” aesthetic — certain graphical elements are missing, such as the C3 key on the keyboard and the sustain button on the ADSR envelope generator.
The peculiarities extend beyond visuals. For instance, the noise generator sometimes emits radio signals instead of standard noise, as if a radio wave receiver were interfering. The oversampling feature, meanwhile, allows users to turn down the sample rate to 0.25 times only, resulting in a deliberately “dirty” sound quality.
Broken Mini is now available as a free download in VST, VST3, CLAP, AAX, and AU formats for both Windows and macOS.
More information is available at Full Bucket.
