One Small Clue has announced the release (for registered users) of version 0.4 beta 1 of Poise, its new drum sampler VST instrument for Windows.

Current Features:

• 16 Drum pads.
• Each pad can load up to eight samples.
• Multiple sample switching modes (Round Robin, Random and Velocity Controlled).
• Inbuilt sample browser with preview.
• Drag and drop sample loading from the inbuilt browser or windows explorer.
• 16 Stereo outputs.
• 8 Choke groups.
• Amplitude and Pitch envelopes.
• Saturation and bit crush FX.
• Sample reverse.

A full version of Poise can be purchased for $30. This price is an early bird price only available while Poise is still being developed. The license will be valid for all 1.x versions.

An older demo version is available for unregistered users (v0.3 beta). It is fully functional except it will stop making sound after 15 minutes of use. The demo is able to save and load drum kits so this limitation can be bypassed by saving and reloading song projects.

New and changed features in v0.4 beta 1:

• Sample Layering is now possible.
• The underlying sound generation architecture has changed. In version 0.3 there was one Amplitude and Pitch Envelope per Pad, with each sample being enveloped identically. In version 0.4 there is now one Amplitude and Pitch Envelope per Sample, so each Sample can have an individually shaped envelope. In addition each Sample can now have an individually specified Pitch, Volume and Balance level. Each pad still has Pitch, Volume and Balance controls, which affect all samples on the Pad. The main reason for these changes was to support sample layering.
• The Amplitude and Pitch Envelopes are now relative to the length of the sample. In version 0.3 each Envelope used absolute time values. This change will hopefully make the envelopes less fiddley and easier to use with short samples.
• The method for specifying sample directories has changed. Poise now uses an ini file. (Please refer to the "PoiseDirectories.ini" file for information or later in this manual). This is only a temporary solution.
• The Bit Crusher + Samplerate Reducer controls have been replaced with a modular effect unit. Now the former [Bit Crusher + Samplerate Reducer] is labeled as "Distortion". Additionally a lowpass or highpass filter with resonance can be used instead.
• The GUI has also undergone some changes which are not fully apparent yet. I would like to release Poise with a skinnable and re-sizable GUI. I've made some progress in that direction by creating some new GUI widgets but there is still some way to go. As such the current GUI is still ugly, but is now also a little inconsistent.