Audiomodern

It takes your breath away to think just how
far music technology has come in the last
40-or-so years. While its many evolutions – from
8-track mixers to DAWs say, or hardware synths
to soft synths – have proven beneicial for most
musicians (particularly those wanting to reduce
clutter!). But, there are still those who look back
misty-eyed at the era when manual input
machines were all the home music-maker had to
work with. It’s likely that this type of nostalgist
would ind the algorithm-driven likes of Playbeat
3 an afront to their sensibilities. Audiomodern’s
updated virtual groovebox relies on multiple
intelligent algorithms which can instantly take
the lead, and if you so choose it to, they
generate fresh beats instantaneously.
While this pattern-shuling randomiser has
been the USP of Playbeat since version 1 in 2019,
version 3 takes the inherent ‘cleverness’ to a
whole new level. With the introduction of the
‘SMART’ algorithm, Playbeat 3 now studies how
you use it to make beats, pens some studious
notes and applies these observations into its
choices of randomised groove that it your own
style. Yes, Playbeat 3 is the latest example in a
growing trend in essentially living, learning
music technology. It’s a trend that, for better or
worse, is redeining the creative process.
Keeping time
But, let’s not get bogged down in the broader
issues of man vs machine. This perceptive third
instalment of Playbeat has clearly been
designed with the aim of ixing compositional
hitches, and delivering routes forward, while still
allowing a signiicant degree of manipulation
and ine-tuning from the user. All this talk of a
super-brainy, HAL-like observer might lead you
to imagine a sizeable download, but Playbeat 3
conveniently comes in at a teeny 80MB. Loading
Audiomodern
Playbeat 3 £50
A virtual drummer like no other, Playbeat 3 not only suggests rhythmic
strategies, but opens an online ecosystem of creative sample sharing
STEPS
View, edit or
randomise the
steps grid
DENSITY
Up or reduce the
amount of density
applied to
each channel
PRESETS
Access a range of presets,
load your own and set which
channel uses which sample
PITCH
Shift the pitch-
per-sample up or
down, or apply
randomisation to it
STEPS GRID
One of many views, manually adjust or
observe the patterns as they shift
RANDOMISER BUTTON
Hitting this red button globally
randomises everything
FLAM
Apply second
strokes to add a
more bolstered feel
to your patterns
MIXER
Set the volume balance of
each channel and the global
output channel
VOLUME
Reduce or increase
the volume on a
per channel basis
EXPORT
Prepare your pattern for stem export
to load it into your DAW of choice
PAN
Reposition the
drum loops to
different areas of
the stereo field
it into our drum track in Logic, we’re thrust
headlong into a circle-dominated world of
circular steps. Playbeat’s UI is relatively simple
to get to grips with from the of. After loading a
selection of drum samples into the 8-tracks
(there are 196 factory samples bundled within
the download) we’re ready to go.
The main Steps Grid displays the current
arrangement of the 8-tracks. Changes can be
applied manually by selecting All or just an
individual channel. Step editing is generally
fairly simple, with self-explanatory controls for
step quantity (with a max of 32), shule, shifting
and duration. There’s also the option to make
sure that tight sequences you’re happy with are
irmly locked before you get too experimental
with any global changes.
Across the top of the UI are arranged options
to switch focus on editing the Density, Pitch,
Flam, Volume and Pan of each sample. Most
74 / COMPUTER MUSIC / June 2022
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