Table of contents for 12/2024 in Beat English

Modular DAW with SSL Console Reason 13 + Rack A full-blown DAW for three months for free! Earler, Reason was known specifically for its rack look with cable clips, but the app has long since advanced to a full-blown DAW that even has a SSL console ahead of Cubase and Pro Tools. And if you don‘t want to switch your sequencer, you can use Reason as a VST3 plug-in with over 15 synths, 29 rack effects, arpeggiator, sequencer, LFOs and many other tools, all of which can be combined in any way you like. Awesome! Download: see page 9 | Info: reasonstudios.com win | mac All serial numbers safely accessible: The Beat Serial Center To ensure that none of your serial numbers are lost in the future (for instance, in…

With our online service, plugins-samples.com, we have set up a digital subscription service through which you can obtain BEAT in digital form. This includes all monthly software content as downloads and the digital magazine in German and English. The two annual subscriptions also include access to the complete BEAT archive with over 130 issues currently available. The software content includes several gigabytes of VST/AU plug-ins, instruments, effects, audio software, samples, loops, sound banks, and so on… Just „everything a producer needs!“. The monthly editions usually come with two plug-in highlights, which are either BEAT versions with slightly stripped-down features, but also sometimes include full versions of commercial software. The three available subscription models differ in duration and price, starting at 4.99 Euro per month. The models give you access to…

I have to admit that throughout my life as a producer I have been so fixated on the new, on innovation and change that I quickly got bored with all the old synth legends from Moog, Korg, Oberheim and Roland. Of course, I can‘t escape the power of a Minimoog, the bite of an MS-20 or a speedy 303. But neither hardware clones nor museum pieces, let alone the umpteenth emulation, have inspired me. It‘s similar with Oberheim. Of course, SEM and OB-X push, slide and BASS as much as they can. But it all sounds somehow old. OB-1 Kenobi But I still try out every new plugin, even every emulation. And what GForce Software has achieved here with the OB-1 is something that no other plugin I‘ve tested has…

Record everyday sounds with an app, send them quickly and easily to a plug-in in your DAW and use them to create extraordinary beats and loops. That is the concept of XLN Audio Life. With the Life Field Recorder app, you can record sounds anytime and anywhere with your smartphone or tablet. These recordings are saved in the cloud and are available directly in the plug-in. Alternatively, you can record audio files from your hard drive in Life or signals in your DAW - be it from a microphone, hardware synths or plug-ins. Experimenting with different sound sources is worthwhile: everyday objects such as ping-pong balls, toys and raw pasta, but also fire and vinyl crackling, rain, the sound of wind or short synth sounds offer exciting sound possibilities. Life‘s…

Let‘s get straight to the point: The free TRIAZ Player already provides an impressive amount of sounds for free, which can be edited with filters and pitch modulations, provided with effects and layered three times. You cannot load your own samples, but that is not a problem, because the quality of the 4,000 drums in 200 kits is remarkably high and the sound is extremely diverse - as you would expect from the Wave Alchemy sample packs. The focus is mainly on Techno, Trance, Trap, Synthwave and other modern genres with electronic elements, but the collection also includes classic drum machines and many abstract kits with percussion from field recordings. The Randomize function in particular, which randomly generates new kits, provides entertainment with crazy kit combinations that you would probably…

The earth is a nervous place, at least according to British band Tears for Fears. So, for their new album of live recordings, Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal commissioned a cover that was to depict a world between pastoral innocence and technological alienation. The design they eventually approved shows an anonymous astronaut in a spacesuit, visor down, in an endless sea of sunflowers. Fan feedback was devastating. Almost immediately, the group‘s social media followers dismissed the graphic as an AI creation and declared it soulless and uninspired. Smith and Orabal had planned „Songs for a Nervous Planet“ as a triumphant document of a successful comeback tour - this was certainly not the way they thought things would pan out. AI everywhere Tears for Fears are not the only act currently…

It‘s not just the UJAM portfolio that is happy about a piano with rough edges. The majority of the market is also busy reproducing classics with names like Steinway, Bösendorfer, Yamaha and the like in order to reproduce the perfect classical piano sound. Relic‘s approach, on the other hand, focuses more on coloration and character. Nevertheless, it is very playable - even for non-pianists. Play it again, UJAM It is immediately apparent that the Virtual Pianist series is primarily intended for users who need a little support when playing the piano. This is because the Player Mode is activated by default and fires off a phrase stored in the respective preset in the appropriate key for the selected key when any key of the right hand is pressed. You can…

Chompi Club Sampler can take over the classic functions of a sampler by quickly turning a simple recording via microphone, live-in or resampling into a chromatically playable instrument. Samples can be distorted in the style of a tape machine and the varispeed control can be used to speed them up and slow them down or play them backwards. There is also a Looper that plays loops after recording and is capable of “sound on sound” recording in Overdub Mode. With Varispeed via scrub wheel, it can also record at a different playback speed, which then becomes the reference for playing back the overdubs. In this way, complex material can quickly emerge from a simple source. The overall concept is inspired by the “Tape Music“ genre, for which artists such as…

We have the brand new top DAW Reason 13 for you for 3 months as a full version. 15 sound generators, 29 rack effects, a complete SSL mix console and tons of samples are your new studio headquarters. With our current highlight, the Combustor, you can really make the sound glow thanks to fivefold saturation. Experience magical moments with the “Fractured Symphony” expansion pack for our Zampler and Akai MPCs. The 74 ensembles are peppered with dramaturgical backing tracks, harp chords and powerful horns that can be used not only for film scoring or classical music, but also for Techno, Trap and Pop. Hard-hitting beats and basses for Drum and Bass and Techno (including from star DJ UMEK), as well as dreamlike, cinematic sounds for soundtracks are the focus of…

Lots of presets, endless additional packs, fast workflow and, above all, „production-ready“ EDM sounds - Reveal Sound Spire has practically everything a flagship synth for electronic music production needs. And it has done so since 2013. In the recently released update to 1.5.17, they are jumping on the AI wave. But they are taking a different path than Synplant 2, for example. In Spire, no sounds are recreated; instead, the new AI preset generator creates masses of new presets at the touch of a button - up to 2048 per day. A small, inconspicuous button („RS AI“) in Spire‘s preset browser indicates the new feature. Whether Acid sounds, leads or plucks - nine categories are available for automated sound design. Up to 128 presets can be created at once. Since…

The new spectral module is based on an FFT analysis and is the counterpart to the granular module. For example, a section of a vocal can be combined with the step sequencer to create a groovy sequence. The spectral expander allows you to manipulate the sound even further and shape it by adjusting its attack and release. If you want to take it to the extreme, you can modulate the sweep control of the FFT filter, for example. You can experiment for hours with this! The multi-loop module has been supplemented with a single-loop module. This supports the import of WAV files and automatically adjusts them to the tempo. This means that entire parts can be easily exchanged using drag & drop. The same applies to drums, as the module…

Battalion comes with eight drum voices, each of which allows you to mix the sound of a synth oscillator and a sampler. There are 24 engines to choose from for the synthesizer, which can also produce stereo sounds: Kick, snare, hat and clap cover traditional drum sounds, while FM and additive enable complex tones. Modal synthesis and comb filters provide resonant, metallic timbres and VOSIM vocal-like sounds. Engines such as Low Pass Gate, Pitched Noise, Wavefold and Bitcrush further expand the sound spectrum. This variety of tones is reminiscent of the flexible oscillators of the Arturia MiniFreak, but with a focus on drums and percussive sounds. With the four sample manipulation engines Classic, Phase, Warp and Granular, you can create complex sound worlds from just one sound. As with the…

The sound generation module supports a variety of synthesis forms, including wavetable, vector and additive synthesis. A new addition is the granular oscillator, which can synthesize up to 32 grains of 16 voices each. The new VAnalog Oscillator also brings an analog feel to the sound. There are also effect modules such as filters and waveshapers. The latter is also a new addition that can add plenty of spice to the sound, from gentle saturation to hard distortion. The new formant filter is also useful for emulating vocal sounds. Up to 16 of the sound and effect modules can be combined to form a layer. Each preset can contain up to 16 layers, each with its own output (including sequencer). The rhythm and melodies can then be programmed under the…

»I have always been proud to be a dreamer.« Beat / I read an interview with producer Ken Scott, who recorded David Bowie‘s „Ziggy Stardust“. He said almost every take on that album was a first take. And yet, they weren‘t perfect at all in technical terms: “They’re sometimes not quite in pitch, sometimes they’re not quite in time. But they’re coming from deep within him, and it’s a performance, and that’s what makes it work.“ Kelly Lee Owens / I can completely relate to that. There‘s a great example, actually, on „Dreamstate“ with the song “Ballad (in the end)”. I was going back and forth with Tom Rowlands from the Chemical Brothers on different tracks and I was writing the vocals in my bedroom. I have a microphone there,…

Synth and Effect Highlights Reason comes with a veritable phalanx of rack synths and effects. The racks in bold are our must-try highlights: // Mimic Creative Sampler // Grain Sample Manipulator // Europa Shapeshifting Synthesizer // Thor Polysonic Synthesizer // Kong Drum Designer // Malström Graintable Synthesizer // Subtractor Analog Synthesizer Fully modular DAW Reason can be used standalone or as a VST3 plug-in in any DAW. Either way, the included synths, effects and tools can be wired up in any way to build great signature racks. SSL Console The Reason Mixer is a true SSL console with a variable signal path, compressor, inserts, sends and a legendary equalizer per channel strip. The input stage alone, with its overdrive, brings tears to our eyes. Rack backside TAB takes you to…

The first thing you notice is the new navigation area. This has also opened the new Device Palette for us, which only shows us the devices. As an older Reasonist, you have to get used to this first. Presets can no longer be found here, but more on that elsewhere. New Rack Devices Polytone is “the new kid on the block” in the synthesizer category. It feels tidy and functional. It directly inspired me to create cool sounds in just a few minutes. This instantly made us remember their “Your sound faster” advertising. Two separate sections can be cross-faded or morphed in no time at all. The age control is particularly cool. Take a trip back in time with it and give your sound an analog touch from 1970 to…

1 At the start of the beat While playing through the presets in Fractured Symphony, we immediately came up with ideas for a Trip Hop track. The first step is to create a rhythmic foundation on which we can then build the song. We used a few Trip Hop beats and drums from the Loopcloud [1]. We start with a laid-back groove. 2 Trippy harp melody Later in the track, we switch to a more powerful beat. Load Zampler//RX, click on Load Bank and select “Zampler Fractured Symphony”. The preset 019: IN Cloned Harp is great for melodies and arpeggios like our sequence shown. To give the harp an atmospheric sound, we bring effects into play. 3 Reverse delay and hall With Unfiltered Audio BYOME [2], we create a Reverse…

PolyBrute 12 is not based on tried and tested vintage synthesizers, but impresses with its own concept, design and sound character. The sound generation is identical to the PolyBrute, which has been one of the most flexible synthesizers in the analog or hybrid field since firmware 3.0 at the latest. Complex oscillators, dual filters, a large modulation matrix and, above all, the morph function make the analog synthesizer with digital functions unique. Common playing aids such as the arpeggiator and ribbon form a perfect combination with modern features such as the polyphonic matrix sequencer, the recording of parameter movements, morphee controller, storability and operation via VST plug-in. Exemplary product maintenance It is worth mentioning that Arturia has continuously developed the first PolyBrute. New effects, stereo layers, duophonic aftertouch and duophonic…

After the time intervals between Kontakt versions were often very long in previous years, Native Instruments is now releasing the next version for Komplete 15 - Kontakt 8 follows Kontakt 7. Where Kontakt 7 introduced a new browser, Kontakt 8 goes a little deeper. There is a new mini browser in the instrument view, but above all two new instruments and two MIDI tools. Now plugins like Scaler 2 are no longer absolutely necessary for creating chord progressions in Kontakt 8. There are also a large number of orchestral and film music libraries and a whole range of new play instruments. Chord and phrase generator In the new mini browser you can load either the Chord Generator or the Phrase Generator. With the former, all white keys of the piano…

Visco is a virtual drum machine with eight tracks that can be edited independently of one another. The „blob“ visualizes the sound in a two-dimensional space in which the X-axis represents the frequency spectrum and the Y-axis the temporal progression. Using various tools, this can be manipulated and inverted in space both temporally and in terms of frequency. The drum machine comes with a small collection of samples. These include kicks, snares and percussions. The catalog can be expanded with your own samples, which makes Visco a playground for sound design, because who says that only drum sounds can be loaded? When imported, the samples are resynthesized and sound accordingly electronic, which was not a negative thing. Morphing between two sounds is surprisingly smooth. There are no artifacts in real…

The Yamaha CS-80 is not only one of the most striking synthesizers in terms of sound. It also makes a big impression on the outside due to its size, heavy weight and many controls. Even experienced keyboard players are easily overwhelmed by the sheer number of faders and buttons. The interface of both the Arturia CS-80V and the Cherry Audio GX-80 was adopted almost 1:1, but Softube uses the advantages of a software interface and makes its CS-80 clone more clearly laid out: the aforementioned controls are only available once and you use a switch to determine whether you use them to operate Layer A or B. The disadvantage of this space-saving and less confusing arrangement is, of course, that you cannot work on both layers at the same time.…

12 MAG ISSUES STARTING AT 71.90 EURO / YEAR ACCESS TO OVER 130 ISSUES IN THE ARCHIVE 1.2 TERABYTE OF INSTRUMENTS & SOUNDS PLUS GIFT OF YOUR CHOICE! Want it? Get your subscription here: www.plugins-samples.com CHOOSE YOUR GIFT Find your favorite subscription gift at www.plugins-samples.com MUSICLAB REALLPC 6* RealLPC 6 captures the legendary sound of a Gibson Les Paul Custom with outstanding quality and a wide range of articulations. A real weapon for rhythm playing and expressive solos. Thanks to the Song Mode, lively guitar grooves can be created from 1250 rhythm patterns and chords and exported to your DAW via drag & drop. www.musiclab.com Gift ID: F1585 no additional costs HEAVYOCITY MOSAIC NEON* Mosaic Neon offers an innovative sound palette that combines vintage synth sounds, glowing textures, and dynamic…

This month, Jeyênne is building an Acid track that you can download, along with the Ableton Live Project - from the pike to the beat. Whether it‘s individual sounds, entire tracks, melodies or instruments for Zampler, Akai MPCs or your favorite sampler - there‘s something for everyone in the Downloads. By the way: Acid was created in the late 1980s and through the weird sound of the TB-303. Originally intended as a bass synthesizer for guitarists, pioneers of House music discovered the 303 for hypnotic, repetitive basslines. www.em-school.com THE AUTHOR At the EMS - Electronic Music School, you will learn everything from composing and producing Electronic Music to DJing and marketing your own tracks - exclusively from professionals working in the scene. The aim is to help you produce and…

First of all, we would like to compliment the developers on their well thoughtout implementation of the operating concept. We had certain fears beforehand that the restriction to just a small OLED display would make operation more difficult. But after just a few minutes of testing, before we had even taken a look at the manual, it quickly became clear that someone had put a lot of thought into its development! All the important functions can be found where we would have expected them to be, and operation is very intuitive. Anyone who already has experience with Push will be able to get started straight away, but beginners to the Ableton concept will also quickly find their way around. Thanks to the built-in rechargeable battery, you can easily make music…

The Behringer K-2 MKII is the further development of the semi-modular analog synthesizer K-2, a clone of the infamous Korg MS-20. Like the first version, the K-2 MKII is housed in the tried and tested desktop case, which means that it can be mounted in a 19” rack with optionally available rack ears and can even be installed as an 80HP module in the Eurorack modular system. Inspired by the Korg MS-20m module When we tested the previous model, we criticized Behringer for not incorporating a few modifications such as PWM, FM or sync. And the control via Hz/V seemed inconsistent given the Eurorack format. Behringer has improved this in the new model and based it on the Korg MS-20m module. With two new switches between the two oscillators, you…

Just five years later, Fritz Kalkbrenner achieved growing cult status worldwide, not least of all thanks to the Berlin underground film Berlin Calling and the track “Sky & Sand” with his brother Paul. It was at this time that the desire to produce music himself matured. After a number of vinyl singles, his debut album “Here Today Gone Tomorrow” was released in 2010, followed by many more albums. Gold and Platinum awards, as well as Top 10 chart positions followed. Worldwide tours on all continents also followed - including his unforgettable gig on the Great Wall of China. Impressive concert recordings for ARTE and the French CERCLE format in front of the impressive backdrop of the „Domaine de Chantilly“ castle underline the artist‘s now enormous status. Fritz Kalkbrenner founded his…

Feature: Studio monitors 2025 Honest sound or whitewash, reference monitor or dazzler? In this special feature, you can find out everything about the characteristics, from neutrality to nearfield and midfield monitors through to active and passive options. We shed light on areas of application in music production and film and give tips on optimal selection and placement. Perfect for anyone aiming for professional mixes! Plus a market check of all current active speakers. Test: PWM Mantis PWM Mantis is the last work of the now deceased pioneer Chris Huggett (Wasp, OsCAR, Summit) in collaboration with Paul Whittington, who completed the project. The result is a synthesiser with very direct operation and a flexible sound. It features digital sound generation with wavetable synthesis and a very special analogue multimode filter with…