Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) BPM Beat Production Software

Sound libraries these days are awash with loops. And what is a loop, exactly? Someone else's beat. Isn't it time to take back creative ownership over your grooves?

Isn't it time to once again release your own unique, inspired beats on the world? If only you had a rhythm production instrument that let you program beats as fast as your mind can "hear" them. There just hasn't been anything even close... until now.

Features
Complete rhythm production center for Mac and Windows

Combines state-of-the-art rhythm programming technology with playable virtual instrument operation inspired by the classic drum machines of the 80's and 90's

Provides complete creative control, from recording and programming individual samples to building and arranging entire songs

Includes a comprehensive, expertly produced urban sound and loop library for urban, R&B, pop, rock and other music styles

Combines drum machine programming, sampling, loops, synthesized drum sounds, multi-sample instrument sounds, mixing, effects processing, song arranging and asset browsing in one streamlined window

Plug-and-play support for hands-on pad controllers such as the Akai MPD32 controller

Exclusive SP1200 Emulation mode faithfully reproduces the unique characteristics of the classic sought-after E-mu SP1200

State-of-the-art environment for laying down beats as quickly as your mind can "hear" them

Experience the ultimate Beat Production Machine
BPM unites drum machine-style operation with advanced virtual instrument technology to give you the ultimate rhythm programming experience. Combine drum kits, sequenced patterns, sliced loops and instrument sounds to realize your rhythmic vision, mixing and matching any playing style with any drum kit. Or plug in your pad controller or MIDI keyboard to capture your live, groove-quantized performance directly in BPM.

Explore a new universe of new sounds
Browse BPM's vast 15 GB sound library of expertly recorded and mastered 24-bit 96 kHz rhythmic material for urban, R&B, hip hop, techno, electro, house, pop, rock and other music styles. Sample your own drum sounds directly into BPM's drum pads, or simply drag and drop clips from your computer desktop, to add infinite possibilities to your own, unique sound. Add further punch with BPM's Drum Synthesizer. Combine unlimited sample layers per pad with programmable layer switching. Now add guitar, bass and other multi-sample instrument sounds from BPM's included library, MachFive or any other MOTU or UVI sample instrument library.

Let your beats flow, from start to finish
Trigger scenes during live performance from pads or MIDI notes. Drag and drop scenes into a song to build an entire track in seconds. Finalize your track with BPM's comprehensive graphic mixer, unlimited effects processing and dozens of world-class effects, including multi-band EQ, filter, delay, drive, distortion and convolution reverb. Advanced features include drag & drop audio import/export, multiple outputs, universal plug-in compatibility and stand-alone operation.

Technical Info

System Requirements
A minimum of 1 GB of RAM is required. However, since BPM loads samples (or a portion of the samples) into the computer's RAM add as much RAM as possible to your computer; 2 GB is recommended.

Large hard drive(s). See below for Mac and Windows specific hard drive requirements.

A free USB port for the iLok USB key. Note that if you have multiple products which use iLoks for authorization you can consolidate multiple authorizations onto a single iLok; see this tech note.

A CD/DVD disk drive for installation.

For Mac:
- G4 1 GHz Power Mac or faster, with multiple processors/cores highly recommended; a G5 or Intel-based Mac is recommended
- OS 10.3.9 or higher. Version 10.4 or higher is recommended.
- Hard drive(s) with at least 18 GB free to hold the sound files, plug-in, and application. The drive(s) must be formatted as Mac OS Extended (also known as HFS+); journalling can be on or off.
- An audio sequencer software package that hosts MAS, AU, VST, or RTAS instrument plug-ins. As BPM has 34 outputs (stereo main outs + 16 stereo aux outputs), the host needs to support instruments with greater than 32 outputs. Alternately, BPM can be used as a standalone application.

For Windows:
- Pentium 4 1 GHz or faster (or AMD equivalent), with multiple processors/cores highly recommended
- Windows XP, XP x64, or Vista (32 or 64 bit)
- Hard drive(s) with at least 18 GB free to hold the sound files, plug-in, and application. The drive(s) must be formatted as NTFS.
- An audio sequencer package that hosts VST or RTAS instrument plug-ins. As BPM has 34 outputs (stereo main outs + 16 stereo aux outputs), the host needs to support instruments with greater than 32 outputs. Alternately, BPM can be used as a standalone application.

Audio Samples