Arturia BeatStep Pro - First Look

We get a look at the Arturia Beatstep Pro. The new CV/GATE/Trigger sequencer and MIDI controller. From this presentation, it looks like this could be the ideal solution for integrating your analog electronics, drum modules and MIDI gear into one unit.

[@sonarfreq]

Can I just say, Alex is a superb guest presenter. Good chemistry and a nice guy... of your best so far Nick! Cheers.

[@luctmelod]

Really neat to get an early look at this. Thanks!

[@ScottWozniak]

Looks like a winner. Has everything I require at a very nice price. Should have mine by Tuesday.

[@The_CGA]

For anyone wondering about Nick's remark about '5 volts' Volts isn't quantity of power--it's potential or gradient. You can pull a large practical number of amps through 5V, though at some point your cable is going to heat up some, and the lower potential means there's an upper limit before juice won't flow through the plug. There's nothing preventing you from putting a step-up transformer in the peice either to go back up to 10V...and keep in mind that control voltages are just that...just control A powerless expression pedal can create CVs--powerless--as in, not supplying any amps at all. Nick taught me just about everything I know about synthesis, but...well he's no electrical engineer. In this case, not important to the synth world. Love him, great teacher.

[@blueworm99]

The more demos I see of this the more I want one!

[@PopsGribs]

I have been eyeing this waiting for it to be released. Halfway through this video, I went to Sweetwater and pre-ordered it. This was a great first look. The demonstrator definitely knows synths and appears to love them :)

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Ha thanks - yeah I certainly do love them :)

[@vileguile4]

Lovely music!!

[@Psychlist1972]

That Simmons sounds really good.

[@adambonini3129]

I just order one. Thanks Nick!

[@JoshuaBuckMusic]

This is a really powerful piece of gear. Want.

[@SwissMilk0]

that synth n rev sounds lush

[@michaelparker5132]

Man I got to buy this asap!!!!

[@deejaydubla]

Yeah, I'm sold. I've been skeptical since it was announced, but the addition of DIN sync out clenches it. This will play very well with my Analog Four and my CV gear

[@outdatedgear5036]

Ok, this is the video I needed to see. It can trigger my pearl DRX-1! YESSSSS!

[@modusobscura]

I can't wait to get my hands on one. This year I went back to an all hardware setup after living in DAW land for 7 years and have been waiting for this to drop to complete it. Very modest setup I have now, TB3, Bass Station 2, Drumstation v2 and A-Station (which I had in the last 100% hardware setup too!) This should tide me over nicely until I add more gear to the set up and can justify throwing the cash at a Cirklon.

[@runningin533]

So want this!

[@sunilsolanki]

Must buy!

[@alexmagnifica]

Good music

[@osands]

I cannot wait to get this. So good!!!!!!!! Will control my drum kits from akai s900 with it and midi synths. Also maybe do stuff for the modular too. So many options...

[@kvfive]

Looks good :) I'd like to see the 'velocity' control piped into a microbrute's filter and have the sequencer jump its filter values on the odd note :--)

[@bogfilms]

well having the sequencer jump the microbrutes filter is easy, no software needed. got it today and playing a nice sequence at the moment :>

[@swamplifecontrol]

Dylan Burtch Good news -You don't need a Beatstep to install the midi control center. www.arturia.com/support/downloads&manuals

[@Psychlist1972]

Nice! I pre-ordered mine right after NAMM. Hoping it shows up sometime soon. I've been waiting for this one. Also really looking forward to the Social Entropy Engine.

[@cjmor1804]

finally, a good preview of the beatstep pro. can you say, most anticipated midi/cv controller of 2015? oh, and they finally have the manual on their website too! can't wait for the in depth review. i'd mostly like to see how it works with software synths.

[@tallgeese1]

Groovy beat

[@brainbox9219]

Think I will try this, having a hard time adjusting to daw workflows, I just wanna use my hardware synths and be able to sync midi and create drum patterns on the fly and create songs from sequencing is what I really want to do, clicking on stuff to make music is just really weird for me atm and this might help cuz I have a couple synths I can use with it

[@HaziiiiiiM]

Fucking nice ... This will be on the list for sure !!!!!!!!

[@fuzzupuzzu]

oh thank god i watched this... can record the notes directly via pads... duuuh!! that saves my life, have been dying with those fiddly horrid knobs, thanks!!!

[@PopsGribs]

For those on our side of the pond, Sweetwater has it for pre-order at $249.

[@synesthetica]

Sold.

[@mCKENIC]

Oh my word! Microbrute, 606, BassStation2 and Ableton live suite, not to mention the Eurorack - drools a little over the keyboard!

[@mCKENIC]

Dylan Burtch :-) Been thinking of ways to integrate my TR606 with Eurorack/DAW. This looks like the PERFECT solution! :-)

[@ej1mshan]

So looking forward to getting this.

[@Erdnase23]

Add Amos and you'd have the three best demonstrators on KZbin.

[@inftytb]

Where is the H9 video that you mention in the beginning, Nick? I cannot seem to find it.

[@KoshDukai]

***** there's the Swing, Randomness and Probability parameters (oh, I see he went there eventually). All pads are Velocity and Channel/Note Pressure/(poly)Aftertouch capable.

[@fabomp988]

i need a polyphonic one

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

$250.00 is great price considering the features. I might wait for the Koma Komplex and Social Entropy Engine though.

[@TheNoCoincidence]

friendofCHAKA because thats totally the same price range

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

+TheNoCoincidence I can afford more than one sequencer.

[@andrewverran6998]

Say I hook up my Roland MC505( no pc connection, standalone ) to Sequencer 1 of the BeatStepPro , the 16 different "scenes" for sequencer 1 , can that correspond to the midi channels of the MC505 within the 'scenes" ie can that Sequencer 1 be multi timbral ? Much appreciated. ✌️ 16:11

[@TOMMEEH2]

People when's this movie out about the 808 drum machine?

[@bitspacemusic]

It's so beautiful too. It will be perma-patched to my euro.

[@XTINCTIONation]

What type of hardware what I need if all I’m trying to do is manipulate the sound and affects of certain instruments

[@WideOpenChange]

Will this connect the ipad to your PC DAW (via audio interface/USB) and send the MIDI tracks as MIDI?

[@DodecaMusic]

Guessing that is mylarmelodies, sounds like him? Seems to be popping up in more videos which is great :)

[@signalchef]

***** His disting video is great

[@dennysmith1776]

is that mylar melodies?

[@smashinglollipops]

can use this with one synth and layer multiple recordings

[@ItsSoulFlys]

is it possible to save/record sounds on this device so midi (ableton) is not needed to play live?

[@imrickjames7012]

nope. look at a sampler for that, better yet look at akai. you can get a cheapo sampler for like $100 that won't require a computer.

[@martadeassis5810]

Does it bring some drum sounds or its just a controller??

[@akissparaskevopoulos]

I have a question, can I sequence the brute on the beat step by playing a few notes on the brute?

[@SourceDistributionTV]

+Akiss Paraskevopoulos You can use an external MIDI keyboard to play notes in, yes!

[@akissparaskevopoulos]

+SourceDistributionTV thank you

[@andredelange4737]

How many latency has this thing on midi vs dync vs CV ...

[@zakkblews8941]

can you turn off the quantization of the real time recorded sequences in the arturia beat step pro. Does it only record sequences that match to the 16 step grid? or does it have a "flux" or "quantized off "mode? Because for me sequences recorded only within the quantized steps is very very limiting. thinking about ordering one soon but I'm very concerned about this limitation.

[@fluteabl]

Zakk Blews No, it will all be quantized. You can shift notes on the drum sequencer though

[@455TEAK]

Check out my first synth jam video with the BEATSTEP PRO (Moog SubPhatty + Korg Ms-20 mini + NordDrum 2) kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKqzkJemacmZnZI

[@kvfive]

What's the iPad doing ?

[@foxglove9]

***** Controlling the Eventide

[@IanPageEchols]

Around 7:55 I'm hearing steps when turning the knobs to choose pitches. Is it only possible to have the notes snapped to scale values?, or can the pitches that you dial in be continuous? i.e., off pitch?

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Ian Page-Echols At the moment it's only possible to have 'quantised' pitch output, yes.

[@IanPageEchols]

SourceDistributionTV Hmm. Too bad. I have some old synths that are not accurate. Guess I'll have to attempt to get them closer to in tune. Aside from that, it would be great to be able to play notes a bit out of key sometimes.

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Ian Page-Echols You could mix the modulation (aka 'Velocity') lane with the Pitch output, then feed the combination into your oscillator, in order to use the velocity lane to offset the pitch? In that sense you're using the velocity lane as 'fine tune'

[@aikighost]

So is anyone using the beatstep pro to control an MPC 1000 via the drums section? How are they finding it? Id like to control 2 of my old analog synths and my MPC from the beatstep pros sequencer.

[@Peroo85]

Can I live change the origin key of a sequence like on the microbrute sequencer ? For example, my seqence from the C key is C D F G, and while the seq. is running, I press the G key and the sequence transposes to G A C D ?

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Yes, you hold the Sequencer channel button and can do real-time transpose!

[@Peroo85]

Thanks for the reply ! Also is it possible to do that without holding the sequencer button, with an external midi keyboard ?

[@SourceDistributionTV]

I don't think so I'm afraid!

[@MadelnMachines]

Can you make it conform to scales? Looking forward to the review!

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Pete Horam Yes! There are 6 in-built scales, plus chromatic, plus one 'user' scale which you can determine.

[@MadelnMachines]

Cool - does it do this in real time for live play? Thanks

[@AliJauhiainen]

Is it possible to sync two beatstep pro's with clock sync?

[@SourceDistributionTV]

+Ali Jauhiainen Yep!

[@thierrystump7263]

Could this sequence Multi-timbral synth?? I have the Access Virus TI. Would be amazing to trigger the 16 channels from it.

[@thierrystump7263]

thierry uk or at least some of them.

[@SourceDistributionTV]

thierry uk Assuming you can set the individual timbres to respond on separate MIDI channels (which surely you must be able to), then yes totally.

[@kassie2k4]

Really a shame that it can't do chords!!!!! I guess you could workaround via DAW or also by just using up all 3 sequencers to send 3 notes on the same midi channel, but then it's kindof only controlling 1 thing. I love that it has the sync in/out so you can use it with Electribes and Volcas etc. It looks like this thing solves all of Nick's issues with the original Beatstep with the transposing though, good on Arturia for listening to smart feedback. This really seems like a great device. Also can you record into the sequencer externally? Like over a midi keyboard or bouncing a couple of bars in from the DAW? Also, according to Sweetwater, the pads are pressure sensitive.

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Yes you can send MIDI into it and record - or use it as MIDI to CV converter!

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

kassie2k4 I have been using this with Battery 4 in standalone mode and you can trigger the chord samples within it. Its been really fun, one of the best purchases this year.

[@TheNoCoincidence]

friendofCHAKA chord samples are not chords..you know that

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

+TheNoCoincidence of course don't buy it then.

[@RetropUk]

Looks awesome. Just wish it had more than two tracks and could do some form of polyphony. I'd pay more. Just take my money dammit!

9:09 dat snare

[@yoianrhodes]

Arturia taking your PC's usb power to the next level... because we go one step farther

[@MauricioMaisterrena]

Add another sequencer and make it polyphonic and you got the perfect sequencer

[@H3aDZon3]

Can this be used for FL Studio

[@numanuma20]

Yes, it can send MIDI. All DAW have MIDI so your good to go.

[@telogic1]

Ive made a video on how to set the bsp to cubase check it out

[@MD-gx4bw]

I'm still utterly confused as to if this will trigger my Yamaha CS15.

[@edjones3390]

I had mine BSP rigged to a CS-30L it played in tune, but was triggering on note off, so had to shuffle recorded tracks in my DAW

[@cray56]

Shuffle?

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Cray There is a swing control, which can be per channel or globally.

[@nicklandovich]

Don't have enough hardware to warrant this and get most the functionality out of existing gear, but for someone looking for a new one-stop-option for a controller, this looks like the tits!

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Remember you don't need hardware for this, it's still amazing using it to sequence plugins/software.

[@AlbanoAlvarado]

SourceDistributionTV So is it possible to control at the same time 3 pluginns/software, for example: Spark2 at drums, Jupiter8 V at sequencer 1 and Prophet V at sequencer 2, just plugged in my laptop by USB?

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Albano Alvarado Yes absolutely - that's what's so good about this, it really will work with pretty much anything. Software, MIDI hardware, analogue hardware, a bit of all three at once!

[@sammywarren3070]

So does this hold sounds on it so you don’t have to bring all of your gear to every show ??? Like does it have an internal hard drive ?

[@MichaelCoombes776]

Nope, it's just a trigger for whatever is plugged into it. You'd need a sampler to have audio trigger

[@UnunSeptium]

T-shirt synth tease?

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Unun Septium That's the SEM-V! :)

[@stevencrosbie6026]

Can I trade in my Beatstep for the new model? I want.

[@Auxar]

Nice machine but there is some wrong info about it in this video, like the voltages for cv are 7V and triggers 8V according to the manual. so RTFM before making this kind of video's ;)

[@olivierdelhomme3922]

Auxar Netlabel Good remark, actually the hardware does have 0-10 and 0-12 V range for pitch and gates. TFM's wrong :)

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Olivier Delhomme Yeah I checked with Arturia personally before the vid, they confirmed 0-10V output of CV and 0-12V for gates!

[@Auxar]

SourceDistributionTV Thanks for this information. Arturia should correct the manual, for many people this could be a deal breaker. Thumbs up for Sonicstate for getting it right :-)

[@Diayse]

Auxar Netlabel The manual is now corrected. Thanks for pointing that out.

[@norafranz1419]

NeXT Time Try to make music !!!!

[@kierenmoore3236]

Like their controllers, dislike their synths.

[@Saucebosss100]

What does null mean as a comment is that a hipster way of saying no or are people just trying to be rude

[@Saucebosss100]

itsinmynamechap yes i know what the word null means smartass,, im asking how it realtes to the video is leaving null as a comment some form of sarcasm or something it doesn't make any sense its like if i leave 1000 as a comment

[@Saucebosss100]

sorry dude i thought you were being a troll with a dictonary definition as an answer all apologies sorry for misunderstanding :)

[@blackout2able]

Ppl in my shop dont want buy arturia products coz of mini usb connection

[@varoennauraa]

This is cool, but having only 2 mono tracks is frustratIIINGHHH! I don't complain about price, but if I want 4 tracks, it's $500 thank you very much. And when using even more, it starts to clutter work space a bit too much. Hmmm...wait a minute...unless...Analog Keys + this...

[@paphundekel1926]

varoennauraa Exactly what I thought - only 2 tracks. My electribe EMX-1 can sequence 5 tracks, but no CV just MIDI.

[@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5]

"Shut up and take my money!"

[@monkeybanana895]

a novation circuit is a better solution -it can sequence 2 synth per midi and has 2 tracks with drums with 64 samle of your choice ,it also has rever and delay (beatstep does not) it has a ´mixer and run on batterie and most of all it works well -with Arturia it will have bugs and sync problemes(as already many reports) Forget Arturia

[@sonicstate]

Thats an interesting idea, though no CV/Gate Triggers, if thats what you need.

[@fuzzupuzzu]

sounds good!

[@ConwayBob]

Novation Circuit is more expensive, though still within the range of most of us. That said, the Circuit looks awesome -- and yes, Novation makes very solid gear. I've got two of their synths, and they're both rock solid.

[@iamyourfuture808]

Good demo of the beatstep but the track sucks big time. It Jars badly when the guys are talking

[@adastra123]

I'M gonna divorce myself. I have a problem.

[@norafranz1419]

Not a Guy able to do a good seqence...it Will help !!!! Pas un mec pour faire de bonnes séquences ...pitoyable !!!!

[@SteveAstronaut]

Knobs... fnar...

[@elamramirez6373]

Me molesta en sobremanera que los de Arturia expongan puuuura teoria ... no son musicos y eso molesta muchisimo. puro bla bla bla.

[@SourceDistributionTV]

Yo soy un músico, amigo!

[@elamramirez6373]

Define músico...

[@Pestgris]

I can't watch this. The sequences are just too terrible. By the way I own a Beatstep Pro and it is awesome.