‘Beatmaking’ is one of those music production buzzwords that means different things to different people. Some would assume that it relates only to drum programming, while others continue to call a more fully-formed groove - one that also features melodic and harmonic content - a beat.
Whatever your view, what can’t be denied is that online DAW Soundation has just got a new dedicated beatmaking tool. Known, appropriately enough, as the Beatmaker, this is a step sequencer and sampler that comes with plenty of pre-rolled kits and beats and also enables you to import your own sounds.
Each kit comes with its own pattern, which you can tweak, delete or build on. Your audio files can be tweaked using envelope, pitch, volume and pan controls, and creating patterns is as simple as pointing and clicking.
There’s a collaborative element to all this, too - because Soundation is web-based, you can work with other people on the same project at the same time. So, you’ll be able to see their cursor(s) moving around the Beatmaker and every change they make is updated instantly.
Soundation has collaborated with various producers on Beatmaker content. You can already remix beats by MG the Future, and kits by Justin Hawkes and Bishu are on the way. Further beats and kits will be added in due course.
You can sign up for a free account and start your beatmaking journey on the Soundation website. This enables you to work on three projects and gives you 1GB of storage. Subscription plans, which give you more projects, samples and storage, start at £5 a month.
