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127th AES Convention Coverage (New York, NY Oct. 9-12)
Winter NAMM 2009 Complete CoverageAnaheim Convention Center--Anaheim, CA: January 15-18
PRESS RELEASE
MOTU Shows and Ships BPM Rhythm Production Instrument at NAMM 2009
January 22, 2009
Advertisement MOTU, Inc. debuted and is now shipping BPM, an advanced urban rhythm instrument that unites state-of-the-art virtual instrument technology with beat programming inspired by the classic drum machines of the 80's and 90's. BPM provides complete creative control, from recording and programming individual samples to building and arranging entire songs. Included is a comprehensive, expertly produced urban sound and loop library for urban, R&B, pop, rock and other music styles. "BPM inspires you to lay down your own unique beats," said Jim Cooper, Director of Marketing at MOTU. "Fair warning though: once you start, you may never stop. The beats just keep coming and coming." Included sounds, loops and instruments BPM makes it easy to choose patterns and drum kits independently, and then mix and match them to quickly create unique beats simply by browsing the virtually infinite possible combinations. To get going right away, BPM provides thousands of presets to choose from, built from an all-new 15 GB core sample library of never before released kits, patterns, samples, loops and multi-sample instruments. Included are over 10,000 individual samples and over 1,000 loops - all recorded at 24-bit 96kHz resolution and mastered at Sterling Sound, New York by renowned urban mastering engineer Chris Gehringer. From classic beat box to cutting-edge urban rhythms, BPM's comprehensive selection of sounds inspire many musical styles, including R&B, hip hop, techno, electro, house, and even pop, rock and others. Special attention is paid to vinyl and "old school" beats. BPM also includes a programmable Drum Synthesizer with over 250 factory presets, and users can also create their own. Synth drum sounds can add infinite variety and serious punch to any beat. Construction kits A core portion of BPM's library is organized into "construction kits", a unique set of beat presets that provide access to the individual components of the preset. This allows users to "deconstruct" or "reconstruct" a beat in any way they wish using whatever elements suit their needs. Individual elements include the beat's kit, pattern, kit+pattern, individual drum sounds, and even slice loops such as kick+snare, or just the hi-hat part. BPM even provides additional slice loops that match the original construction kit beat, such as bass parts, rhythm guitar parts, additional percussion or even vocal phrases. Construction kits make it quick and easy to get a complete rhythm bed going, but one that is truly unique. Interactive browsing Built on the next-generation UVI Engine XT, which delivers state-of-the-art sound quality and operation, BPM is a powerful all-in-one rhythm instrument designed with smooth and seamless workflow in mind. Users browse and audition patterns and sounds with BPM's integrated browser and file management tools. BPM plays or even loads items as a user clicks them, so they can quickly find the right drum hit, loop or pattern. BPM provides extensive drag and drop functionality for both importing and exporting audio and MIDI. For example, users can simply drag and drop from the browser or desktop including audio files, MIDI files, REX files and loops in all standard formats. BPM is designed to be live and interactive. Building beats and kits Each kit consists of a bank of 16 pads, but BPM provides four separate banks per scene, each with its own step sequencer for a total of 64 pads playing simultaneously. Each pad has dedicated solo, mute, gain and pan controls. Click the pad for more detailed controls, including velocity, fine/coarse tuning, fill, timeshift, filter cutoff, resonance, decay, and others. Each pad can hold an unlimited number of sample layers and/or drum synth layers, either played as velocity layers or cycled randomly for expressive human feel. Each layer can be fine-tuned with its own ADSR, filter, drive, aux sends, pitch envelope, effects and more. To edit samples, users right-click the waveform editor to fade in/out, normalize, silence, gain and other destructive tasks. BPM provides unprecedented pin-point control within a beat production instrument. Pattern programming with advanced features BPM's familiar Step Sequencer allows users to program, record, overdub and quantize patterns interactively in real time from the on-screen pads. The Graph Sequencer produces added expression for individual notes by automating changes in velocity, timing, rolls, pitch and other note parameters. Alternately, users can record live from a MIDI keyboard or drum pad controller such as the Akai MPD32, with plug-and-play support, for a hands-on MPC-style experience. Grooves can be applied per pattern or globally to BPM's entire output, with independent control over timing and velocity. Dozens of included groove presets include MPC, Linn Drum and other classic grooves. Users can also create and apply their own. Unlimited loops and instruments Two independent "racks" hold loops, audio phrases and instrument sounds with unlimited parts in each rack. These rack parts play simultaneously with BPM's four drum kit banks to make up a scene. Here is where users can add bass parts, rhythm guitar, audio phrases such as background vocals, breakbeat loops, and much more. Loops and phrases Users simply drag and drop to import any audio into a part, including REX files, Apple Loops, AIFF, WAV and all standard audio file formats. BPM automaps REX loop slices so users can work with them either as audio clips or individual MIDI-triggered slices. BPM time-stretches and grooves any audio file in real time with exceptional audio quality, even at extreme tempos. BPM provides a powerful set of tools for manipulating looped audio. Essential controls such as tempo, sync, audio drag and drop, MIDI mapping and MIDI drag and drop can be accessed in the Loop Editor. Multi-sample instruments When it's time to add guitar, bass, keys, or other instrument sounds, BPM includes a large selection of multisampled instrument presets. BPM's familiar piano roll editor and pencil tool let users sequence instrument parts, or they can record parts live from up to 64 separate MIDI channels. BPM conveniently routes all incoming MIDI to the currently selected drum kit or instrument part. BPM can also load presets from other MOTU instruments, including MachFive 2, Ethno, MSI or Electric Keys libraries. BPM is also compatible with BPM Expander packs and other UVI SoundCards from UVISoundSource.com. SP1200 mode Users click a button next to each bank or rack to enable SP Mode, which faithfully reproduces the unique, edgy sound and beat box grit of the classic E-mu SP1200, a legendary rhythm machine especially sought after by old school beat producers. Sampling Users can record individual samples or loops from any external source by clicking the Quick Sampling button to record directly into the currently selected drum pad. For more extended takes, users can record into the clip window and then drag and drop selections anywhere in the BPM window that accepts audio. Users can even resample BPM's output back into itself. Comprehensive mixing and Effects BPM's graphic mixer lets users refine their mix with side-by-side channel strips for all 64 pads, loops and instrument parts. BPM provides sub-mix faders for each of four banks and two racks, three aux channel effects busses, and a master fader for main stereo output. Individual pads, instruments, banks or racks can be routed to 17 separate stereo outputs in stand-alone mode or 32 stereo outs with supporting plug-in hosts. Users can apply professional quality FX processing with BPM's industry-leading unlimited effect slot architecture, from individual sample layers to the master stereo output. Users can apply effects to individual sample layers, pads, loops, and instruments, but they can also apply them more globally to drum kit banks, racks, aux outs and even BPM's master output. Dozens of professional quality effects are included, such as multiband EQ, compressor/gate, filter, delay, reverb, phaser, chorus, drive, distortion and many more, including a CPU-efficient convolution reverb for stunningly realistic acoustic spaces. Live performance and song programming BPM provides a complete set of features for live performance and song creation. Users can quickly combine kits, patterns and sequences into a scene, which is a snapshot of all current patterns and sequences. Users then create multiple scenes and trigger them during live performance by clicking the on-screen pads or playing notes on a MIDI keyboard or controller. To build an entire song in seconds, users simply drag and drop multiple scenes into the Song Editor timeline and adjust their length. Songs can be synced to host audio software, or exported as a stereo audio file. Compatibility and availability BPM runs on Mac OS X or Windows XT/Vista, either stand-alone or as an instrument plug-in for any compatible host software, including Digital Performer, Cubase, Live, Logic, Pro Tools, Sonar and others. Supported plug-in formats include MAS, Audio Units, RTAS and VST. BPM is now shipping for a suggested retail price of $295.   (Click for close-up)
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