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"A very powerful drum sampler and sequencer that's also inspiring to use"

In their April 2009 issue, the Editors of MusicTech magazine have just awarded BPM a solid 10 out of 10 "Excellence" rating. Their conclusion? "BPM is a remarkable instrument, providing almost everything you could ever want in a beat-production machine." Read on to find out why...

On BPM's user interface

"At its heart, BPM is a groovebox, featuring 16 pads and a step sequencer. That's a huge simplification, of course, since its features run very deep, but it has been designed to work in a way that those more familiar with groovebox hardware will understand. The interface is slick, well-designed and easy to navigate."

"in addition to Edit mode, you'll find various other sections for helping you to make beats. there's a step sequencer — which is possibly the easiest to use that we have ever seen — and a Graphs View for editing roll, velocity, length, pan and many other pad parameters."

On BPM's included hits, beats and loops

"The focus is on 'urban' styles and the hits and loops range from classic 808 beatboxes through hip hop, electronica and many more. All of the samples are beautifully recorded and producers of all kinds of genres will find beats and hits here that will fit into their tracks with ease."

"Four banks and two racks per scene are available for building beats (a 'scene' is much the same as a patch or a slot on a groovebox). In the four banks you can store four different beats, each set up exactly as you want them using the step sequencer, effects and Sample Editors. The preset rhythms, incidentally, are excellent, covering a wide range of authentic-sounding urban genres."

"The interface is slick, well-designed and easy to navigate."


On BPM's built-in effects architecture

"There's also an FX menu that enables you to apply the included effects at practically every stage of production. These include delays, reverbs, filters, distortions, limiters and more, all of which sound great and are easy to use. Three aux effects busses plus master FX are present, so you won't feel short-changed in the effects department."

The verdict?

"10 out of 10. BPM is a remarkable instrument, providing almost everything you could ever want in a beat-production machine. The level and depth of control for building and tweaking pads, patterns and sequences is enormous, yet for the most part is very easy to use, intuitive, and well thought-out."

"BPM is a remarkable instrument, providing almost everything you could ever want in a beat-production machine."


"BPM's bundled content sounds great and both the sounds and patterns are perfect for all kinds of urban music. Modifying them or building your own sounds is a breeze, and integration with your host DAW (for the purposes of routing pads or kits out separately using BPM's excellent onboard mixer) is very solid. In fact, with the comprehensive onboard mixing and effects, some users might find BPM a complete production centre in its own right..."