It is a beautiful thing this beast.
It is one of those applications that I can not write a review for as it seems unnecessary as anyone that start to play with it liking synthesizers will be happy and start to wring their hands together muttering hmm let me try this and what about this- woow that is interesting, never got my Android device sounding like this before.
Yes it is a joy to play with and in my eyes is one of the few standalone synthesizers that offers this much flexibility maybe the only comparable is Heat Synthesizer. ( Talking about standalone synthesizers and of course there is in Caustic the modular but that being monophonic and in SunVox you can build up some crazy synthesizer monsters but neither is not as flexible/direct and the sound is different so it becomes complementary).
But it is not a question of Heat over the Beast as they have very different characters and depending on who you are or what you are looking for you would prefer one over the other but it is very probable that you want both in the end. One thing where it has an advantage over Heat Synthesizer to me is that it is more fun to tweak.
Having to do with the layout but also it is easier to try things out and get useful sounds out of it or totally off the wall craziness faster than Heat making it more inspirational leading to more creative tweaking.
Having said that everybody prefer different ways of working so this is just my personal opinion and not making Heat synthesizer less of a Synth as it is one great synthesizer to.
It is a lot of thought that went into the design of the functions over 80 parameters that can be manipulated but also to have no more than two screens to deal with and being smart the developer made them slidable so you do not have to switch screens but just sliding them up and down.
Another thing that makes the workflow easier is that all the main functions when building your sounds is laid out in the first screen and the "secondary" functions in the second following a natural path to sculpting the sound to what you want. Then you can add up to four different effects in different combinations and there is a lot of them! The effects are icing on the cake and a lot of times they are not really necessary as the synth engine is so good in itself.
This synthesizer has all the controls you would be accustomed to from a analog synthesizer but it has also in a clever way implemented FM synthesis into the mix amongst other things... added to this is a modulation heaven where there is sooo much modulation possibilities.
Actually one reason why I am not writing a proper review is that it would be too much for me
as there is too much to ponder and test and go into that it would not be reasonable.
But it does not matter that there is so much that you can do with it if you are a beginner at synthesis as with just the slightest knowledge you will be excited, inspired and think that you will learn it automatically for this reason.
And for the seasoned pro think that you will be amazed to have this power in your Android Device.
There is also a forum with the developer being friendly and active if there is questions:
http://www.planet-h.com/gstomperbb/index.php
Right now there is just a small manual built into the application
but there will be a better manual and video/s to come.
It is midi compatible, right now it is note on/off, velocity, modwheel, pitch wheel/pitch bend with more coming.
So you can use your midi keyboard or your DAW (with the right cables) or other hardware that sends midi if you use one to control the Beast.
You are going to need a strong device to use it as it is maximized both in capabilities and in it's sound engine.
On the device I tested it on the latency was tolerable a Samsung Galaxy S3 still on Android 4.1 so if you have a version later than that or even better a Google Nexus Device you will probably not suffer much at all.
There is even one guy already using it for live concerts.
So this Beast will be incorporated into G-Stomper in February but think that if you want a standalone synthesizer to play with your midi keyboard/DAW and having the possibilities to save patches with the effects it is worth to have just this one or both as it will work differently when it is incorporated into G-Stomper.
Personally I will end up having both as it is convenient for me depending on what is on the agenda.
Ending with some presets that got recorded by me... first some to show the synthesizer in a more conventional manner then some presets made by me being a little bit more... personal.
Sorry to say they are in mono as my soundcard only have mono input for microphone and/or RCA cable
So you won't hear the examples in full stereofied glory.
It is one of those applications that I can not write a review for as it seems unnecessary as anyone that start to play with it liking synthesizers will be happy and start to wring their hands together muttering hmm let me try this and what about this- woow that is interesting, never got my Android device sounding like this before.
Yes it is a joy to play with and in my eyes is one of the few standalone synthesizers that offers this much flexibility maybe the only comparable is Heat Synthesizer. ( Talking about standalone synthesizers and of course there is in Caustic the modular but that being monophonic and in SunVox you can build up some crazy synthesizer monsters but neither is not as flexible/direct and the sound is different so it becomes complementary).
But it is not a question of Heat over the Beast as they have very different characters and depending on who you are or what you are looking for you would prefer one over the other but it is very probable that you want both in the end. One thing where it has an advantage over Heat Synthesizer to me is that it is more fun to tweak.
Having to do with the layout but also it is easier to try things out and get useful sounds out of it or totally off the wall craziness faster than Heat making it more inspirational leading to more creative tweaking.
Having said that everybody prefer different ways of working so this is just my personal opinion and not making Heat synthesizer less of a Synth as it is one great synthesizer to.
It is a lot of thought that went into the design of the functions over 80 parameters that can be manipulated but also to have no more than two screens to deal with and being smart the developer made them slidable so you do not have to switch screens but just sliding them up and down.
Another thing that makes the workflow easier is that all the main functions when building your sounds is laid out in the first screen and the "secondary" functions in the second following a natural path to sculpting the sound to what you want. Then you can add up to four different effects in different combinations and there is a lot of them! The effects are icing on the cake and a lot of times they are not really necessary as the synth engine is so good in itself.
This synthesizer has all the controls you would be accustomed to from a analog synthesizer but it has also in a clever way implemented FM synthesis into the mix amongst other things... added to this is a modulation heaven where there is sooo much modulation possibilities.
Actually one reason why I am not writing a proper review is that it would be too much for me
as there is too much to ponder and test and go into that it would not be reasonable.
But it does not matter that there is so much that you can do with it if you are a beginner at synthesis as with just the slightest knowledge you will be excited, inspired and think that you will learn it automatically for this reason.
And for the seasoned pro think that you will be amazed to have this power in your Android Device.
There is also a forum with the developer being friendly and active if there is questions:
http://www.planet-h.com/gstomperbb/index.php
Right now there is just a small manual built into the application
but there will be a better manual and video/s to come.
It is midi compatible, right now it is note on/off, velocity, modwheel, pitch wheel/pitch bend with more coming.
So you can use your midi keyboard or your DAW (with the right cables) or other hardware that sends midi if you use one to control the Beast.
You are going to need a strong device to use it as it is maximized both in capabilities and in it's sound engine.
On the device I tested it on the latency was tolerable a Samsung Galaxy S3 still on Android 4.1 so if you have a version later than that or even better a Google Nexus Device you will probably not suffer much at all.
There is even one guy already using it for live concerts.
So this Beast will be incorporated into G-Stomper in February but think that if you want a standalone synthesizer to play with your midi keyboard/DAW and having the possibilities to save patches with the effects it is worth to have just this one or both as it will work differently when it is incorporated into G-Stomper.
Personally I will end up having both as it is convenient for me depending on what is on the agenda.
Ending with some presets that got recorded by me... first some to show the synthesizer in a more conventional manner then some presets made by me being a little bit more... personal.
Sorry to say they are in mono as my soundcard only have mono input for microphone and/or RCA cable
So you won't hear the examples in full stereofied glory.
It looks innocent on the surface but peak under the buttons
and amongst other things a great modulation monster rears it's beautiful head!!!
and amongst other things a great modulation monster rears it's beautiful head!!!
Playstore link:
VA-Beast Synthesizer
VA-Beast Synthesizer
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