At the heart of BlastBeats is a vintage FM chip called YMF-262 also known as the OPL3 chip & previously found in computer sound cards of the early 90s.
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These chips were notoriously hard to program and were rarely used to their full potential. However, they can produce surprisingly rich beautiful and utterly dirty sounds with a bit of exploring...
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By putting so many parameters within easy reach BlastBeasts makes it fun and easy to master the signature sound of the DOS era!
RYTHM & SYNTH
BlastBeats is a 10 voice groove box offering 6 drum voices and 4 synth instruments.
The many faders offer full control over the parameters of the instruments and can be automated and modulated per step
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Beats and melodies are a pleasure to program thanks to the high quality illuminated buttons
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FEATURES
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OPL3 (YMF262) FM chip featured in vintage sound blaster cards of the MS-DOS era
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Quad audio outputs with custom instrument routing
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High fidelity audio amplification with low noise floor
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mix (mono) and phones (dual mono) out each with per step volume control
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6 drum tracks (bass drum, snare drum, tom, closed & open hat, cymbal) that can also be used for melodic parts.
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4 synth tracks: two monophonic (2x2op or 1x4op) & two duo-phonic (4x2op or 2x4op)
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100 kits with per step kit changes
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160 songs x 16 patterns x 64 steps
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patterns of of arbitrary step lengths
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micro timing (variable delay) of each step
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Quantised or Unquantised recording
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Pattern rotation (forward or backward)
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Cloning and transposing of individual synth patters
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MIDI note numbers of drum parts can be re-assigned
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Web based configuration tool
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Kits and patterns stored on included SD card for convenient management and sharing.
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56 faders with per step automation and modulation
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Real time and per step (a.k.a parameter lock) fader automation
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32 high quality illuminated switches
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MIDI input and output on DIN5 ports
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customisable MIDI input channels
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All tracks transmit MIDI enabling Blast Beats to be used as multi-track MIDI sequencer
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Analog sync in and out on 3.5mm jacks
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All Audio on 6.35mm jacks
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Premium sandblasted anodised aluminum chassis
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All instruments can be sequenced internally or played via MIDI allowing BlastBeats to be used as a 4-operator 8-waveform polytimbral MIDI synthesizer
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Probability per instrument
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Swing (with automation per step)
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Kit and pattern randomiser
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Fader wiggling: randomiser with adjustable depth per step
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3 tricks ( pitch bend aka spin down, freeze and stutter with real time automation and step sequencing of all tricks.
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Synth pitch vibrato and tremolo have adjustable speed and depth (with automation per step) and a choice of 10 waveforms
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Several operator waveforms and algorithms yielding infinite sound textures.
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Dimensions: 29.5cm x 16.5cm x 4.5cm (11.6" x 6.5" x 1.8")
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Weight 944 g ( 2 lb)
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9V DC power supply included.