FXpansion has announced GURU, a new beatbox plug-in that offers advanced step sequencing, groove manipulation, sample editing, and beat slicing.

GURU's architecture is perfect for anything from straight-up breaks and stomping floor-fillers to complex polyrhythmic, multi-layered grooves. The built-in FX and graphical parameter automation allow you to mutate your beats or create subtle variations. Mash up your sounds with pitch modulation, repeat triggers, start-point and timing manipulation, resonant filters and much more. Everything from precision funk to disturbing sonic mangling and glitch beatscapes is possible.

Breathe new life into your loops with GURU's intelligent loop slicer, which categorizes slices as kick, snare, hihat or percussion hits, letting you use any audio material effortlessly and in the context of your pattern, or extract individual hits and the timing feel from loops. The extensive editing and processing tools then allow you to tweak samples and slice points, or layer more sounds.

GURU allows you to record performances with the mouse or a MIDI controller, fire off sequences with a MIDI key, layer multiple engines, drop parts in and out and switch grooves on the fly. GURU is a complete sample workstation environment, ideally suited for live use or for intuitive composition in the studio.

Features:

• Advanced Step Sequencer - 128 steps, 16 channels, 24 memories per engine, full graphical automation, MIDI remote control, independent tempo multipliers, real-time and step recording with undo.
• Automated sample slicing, classification and pad mapping (kick, snare, hat, percussion) with manual slice-tuning capability.
• Can load audio loops (WAV/AIFF/REX), MIDI loops, single-hits, complete kits, pattern banks.
• 8 Engines, each comprising:
  • 16 MIDI-triggered Sample Pads.
  • Powerful step-sequencer with up to 128 steps.
  • 24 MIDI-triggered Patterns.
  • Three Aux effects units.
  • Master effects unit.
• Intuitive mixer view offering a convenient overview of all 8 engines.
• Flexible groove/shuffle control for patterns - take the groove of one MIDI file and apply it in real-time to another.
• Comprehensive Pad Editor offering individual control of the following for each pad:
  • Gain, pan, coarse/fine tune.
  • Resonant filter blend between LP/BP/HP.
  • 3 Aux sends and an Insert effect slot.
  • Start/end point adjust.
  • Amp/FX envelope.
  • 8 velocity cross-fade layers.
  • Cut groups (choke groups).
• Includes library of over 2GB of sample content, featuring material by Yellow Tools, Wizoo, Gearshift and others.
• Eight stereo outputs, flexible routing.
• Built in MIDI mapping allows you to quickly setup GURU to work with your hardware groove box / drum triggers.

Guru will be available as a Stand-alone application and ReWire device, plus VST, DXi, AudioUnit and RTAS plug-in formats for Windows 2000/XP and Mac OS X. The price has not yet been announced.