Recording - April 2011 - 18

MOTU BPM

But if you prefer a more holistic approach, you can treat BPM like synchronized hardware and do all of your sequencing within its environment. This will be a godsend to producers weaned on hardware beat boxes, and it turns out to be a surprisingly efficient way of working if you are used to the hardware workflow. Within the plug-in environment, you have all of the functions of a standard beatbox, but with a level of integration that hardware could never provide. If you do start using BPM in a “hardware simulation mode”, you will be happy to hear that you can sample directly into the device. This is accomplished using a second plug-in/application, BPMSampler, that acts as a conduit between any part of your system and the BPM sample engine. Once a sample is captured, you can edit and assign it using BPM itself, and quickly integrate it into your workflow. This is a surprising addition to the plug-in world where “sampler” normally only means “sample player”. By embracing the sampling process, BPM opens the door to interactive sample and loop collecting. Another great feature of BPM is its ability to import and export content directly to and from the host. An excellent example is pattern export: if you click on the word “Pattern” in the Pattern selection area, you are given a drop-able phrase that you can drag directly into your host. This doesn’t just transfer the MIDI notes; rather, it creates an audio loop of the sounds, effects and groove-timed pattern, and lets you drop it directly into an audio track of your sequencer. It’s this type of functionality that will bring a smile to any producer’s face. In use as a standalone application For me, using BPM as a standalone application brought the whole system much closer to a traditional beat box experience. It is here that you depend (in a good way) on the built-in sequencer, the song creation system and especially the Live Mode’s ability to change scenes on the fly. If you’ve ever performed with an MPC (either live or in the studio), you know that one of the best ways to create an arrangement is to build up sections of a track, relax, and “perform” it. Unfortunately, BPM’s Live playback and Song assembly modes don’t allow you to record scenes into the Song timeline. The only way that you can build a song is to drag-anddrop scenes (from the pads) into the display, assembling a song in a very “computeristic”
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way. Of course, if you were running BPM as a plug-in, you could record the output to a DAW track, but I couldn’t see how to do this within the standalone program itself. In general, the standalone version functions no differently than the plug-in; the application is a simple shell around the plug-in code, and doesn’t do much to get in the way. You use the application shell to designate MIDI and Audio I/O and routing, but everything else is handled through the same device interface as the plug-in. This means that all of the

A quick tour of many of the categories points to the authenticity of the loops; some of them could have dropped right out of your favorite DJ’s vinyl bin, while others pay homage to retro styles that are still appropriate for productions. Pad banks can load kits, patterns, kit+pattern, and triggered loops, and presets are presented in multiple forms so you can tweak the content from a number of different approaches. Rack parts can load slice loops and multisample instruments, with tons of content in each category (including neatly organized accompaniment parts) to flesh out and complete a produced track. If you need additional content, and have some of the other MOTU/UVI plug-ins available, you’ll be glad to know that those sample sets can be pressed into service as well. You can also grab any audio file on your computer and drag it onto a pad, allowing you access to your current sample collection as well as MOTU’s provided work. One thing I would strongly suggest, though, is to break out of the mold of just using the provided kits: the selection and loading of individual samples onto pads is so easy that you owe it to yourself to explore exotic combinations. For example, I found that mixing some dub style cymbals and snares with tight Euro techno drums and hats provided an interesting flair to a track I was struggling with, resulting in a mid-tempo track that wasn’t a slave to any one genre. Since it only took a few seconds to mine the library and try out weird combinations, I found myself drawn to experiment with radical sample combinations. Conclusion BPM is a significant move forward for computer-based beat box performance tools. It works and acts like hardware, with its own workflow and personality. But with its ability to fulfill a significant portion of modern production needs, and with a sound and flexibility that is hard to match, it really is a powerhouse. Add to that the outlandishly large library of sounds (and the intelligent browser mechanism that makes it all approachable), and you’ve got a winner on your hands. BPM may not be for everyone, but if the sounds and working style sound familiar, I think you’ll revel in the opportunities it presents. Price: $295; upgrade from v. 1, $79 More from: MOTU, www.motu.com. Darwin Grosse (grosse@recordingmag.com) is a composer, engineer, producer, and audio man-of-all-work, still happily living several thousand feet above the rest of Colorado.

advanced features of the plug-in are still available, with sampling, drag-and-drop and effects routing fully operational. The sounds As I intimated earlier, the sound library is a significant part of what makes up the BPM package. The sounds, kits, patterns and loops are directly focused on urban dance sounds; you won’t find much help for your next polka party album! But within these genres, BPM provides high-grade sample sets—and tons of them. The library weighs in at over 19 GB, and is wisely split up into a number of categories that any producer will recognize. Whether it is minimal techno, big beat or southern hiphop sounds that you need, you will find content to suit. Finding the right content might have been painful if MOTU hadn’t provided a robust browser, split into stylistic categories and content type (kit, pattern, sound or loop) and ready to load onto a pad.

http://www.motu.com

Recording - April 2011

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