What is BeatStep?

BeatStep fulfills multiple requirements for a wide variety of musicians.

BeatStep was designed to give you the control you need, whether you’re working with your favorite DAW or loop triggering software, VST instrument or effect, drum software, DJ app, MIDI synth or even analog gear with CV/Gate inputs. The possibilities are nearly endless.

It’s truly a chameleon, ready and able to become many things to many people. No other compact pad controller on the market offers this level of control plus a step sequencer at such an amazing price.

What can you do with it?

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MIDI Controller Mode

With 16 velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads, BeatStep is the perfect compact solution for playing percussion.

The ultra-sensitive pads allow for great dynamic performances. The 16 encoders can be assigned to adjust parameters that allow further real-time control over your drum sounds.

The 16 pads can be configured individually for:

  • note generation
  • MIDI CC buttons
  • Sending program change messages

And with 16 user presets you can have a controller setup for every occasion.

When used to send note data, these ultra-sensitive backlit pads can send velocity and pressure information in either Gate or Toggle mode. These options allow you to use the pads to play drum and percussion parts using a drum module (Gate), or you can use them to trigger notes and hold drone tones on a synthesizer (Toggle).

In MIDI CC mode the pads can be used as assignable switches for your favorite DAW functions, or used to trigger clips or effects in a looping DAW or DJ application.

In MIDI Program change mode you can send program change messages as well as bank change messages.

Step Sequencer Mode

SEQ mode turns BeatStep into a completely different product: a step sequencer.

Originally popular in the 1960’s and 70’s, interest in step sequencers has surged along with the popularity of modular synthesizers.

We’ve enhanced many of our analog synthesizer models with step sequencers, notably ARP 2600 V, modular V, and Jup-8V.

In SEQ mode the pads and encoders work together to enable steps in a sequence and set pitches for each step. By simply pressing a pad you can enable or disable the current step in a melodic pattern. A few presses and tweaks is all it takes to create and modify musical patterns in real-time.

BeatStep holds 16 sequences in memory and recalls them instantly. This makes creating your own songs spontaneous, easy and fun.

Selecting pitches on most step sequencers can be difficult. But BeatStep makes it easy to find the notes you want! Its Scale modes quantize the pitches of the encoders to a specific set of notes, which means that instead of having to move the encoders up and down chromatically like with most step sequencers, BeatStep can filter the notes so that you will only pick notes within the scale you have chosen. Look ma, no wrong notes!

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Massive Connectivity in a little box

BeatStep blows away most other MIDI controllers because it connects to other gear in so many ways.

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Gallery