BeatForge

BeatForge — hybrid drum machine and sequencer.

BeatForge combines circuit-modeled analog drums (808, and now 909), sample players and REX-style loop slicing in one step sequencer. Plugin or standalone. The idea behind it is simple: most loops die because every bar plays the same hits the same way. BeatForge is built so they don't have to.

NEW: the 909 engine.

The biggest addition so far. Kick, snare, toms, hats and rimshot are modeled from the original TR-909 schematics — synthesized in real time, not sample playback — so tuning, decay and tone controls behave like the circuits they come from. The cymbals are samples, because that's how Roland built the real 909 too.

Also in this update: a reworked tube distortion stage, improved bit-crusher, better oversampling at lower CPU, a NAM amp-profile loader on the master bus (load .nam files, e.g. from tone3000.com), and a visual refresh.

Edit groups — the core idea.

Every sound can have up to 32 independent variations, parameter-locked to individual steps: pitch, envelopes, filter, distortion, FX. In practice that means one kick can become a bassline, one snare a whole fill kit, and an eight-bar loop never has to repeat itself exactly.

Slicing and beat detection.

Drop in any audio — demos, vinyl rips, phone recordings. Tempo and groove detection runs on the Beat This! algorithm (the actual state of the art in beat-tracking research, not a marketing name). Imported loops auto-slice and behave like REX files: rearrange, mute, stretch and parameter-lock individual slices.

The rest, briefly.

64 tracks, freely mixing samplers, REX players and the synth engines. Per-track time signatures — run 3/4 against 4/4 if that's your thing. Probability, flams and micro-timing on every step. Three LFOs per track. Convolution reverb that takes your own impulse responses. Full bidirectional MIDI learn, MIDI out for driving hardware, and a standalone mode for working away from the DAW.

Trial.

14 days, every feature unlocked, nothing crippled. If it doesn't fit the way you work, uninstall it, or better, message me and tell me what I can do to make you buy it. I'm easy to reach @ beatforgehelp@gmail.com.