Manufacturer's description
At the heart of BlastBeats is a vintage FM chip called YMF-262 also known as the OPL3 chip & previously found in computer sound cards of the early 90s.
These chips were notoriously hard to program and were rarely used to their full potential. However, they can produce surprisingly rich beautiful and utterly dirty sounds with a bit of exploring...
By putting so many parameters within easy reach BlastBeasts makes it fun and easy to master the signature sound of the DOS era!
RHYTHM & SYNTH
BlastBeats is a 10 voice groove box offering 6 drum voices and 4 synth instruments.
The many faders offer full control over the parameters of the instruments and can be automated and modulated per step.
Beats and melodies are a pleasure to program thanks to the high quality illuminated buttons.
FEATURES
- OPL3 (YMF262) FM chip featured in vintage sound blaster cards of the MS-DOS era
- Quad audio outputs with custom instrument routing
- High fidelity audio amplification with low noise floor
- mix (mono) and phones (dual mono) out each with per step volume control
- 6 drum tracks (bass drum, snare drum, tom, closed & open hat, cymbal) that can also be used for melodic parts.
- 4 synth tracks: two monophonic (2x2op or 1x4op) & two duo-phonic (4x2op or 2x4op)
- 100 kits with per step kit changes
- 160 songs x 16 patterns x 64 steps
- patterns of of arbitrary step lengths
- micro timing (variable delay) of each step
- Quantised or Unquantised recording
- Pattern rotation (forward or backward)
- Cloning and transposing of individual synth patters
- MIDI note numbers of drum parts can be re-assigned
- Web based configuration tool
- Kits and patterns stored on included SD card for convenient management and sharing.
- 56 faders with per step automation and modulation
- Real time and per step (a.k.a parameter lock) fader automation
- 32 high quality illuminated switches
- MIDI input and output on DIN5 ports
- customisable MIDI input channels
- All tracks transmit MIDI enabling Blast Beats to be used as multi-track MIDI sequencer
- Analog sync in and out on 3.5mm jacks
- All Audio on 6.35mm jacks
- Premium sandblasted anodised aluminum chassis
- All instruments can be sequenced internally or played via MIDI allowing BlastBeats to be used as a 4-operator 8-waveform polytimbral MIDI synthesizer
- Probability per instrument
- Swing (with automation per step)
- Kit and pattern randomiser
- Fader wiggling: randomiser with adjustable depth per step
- 3 tricks ( pitch bend aka spin down, freeze and stutter with real time automation and step sequencing of all tricks.
- Synth pitch vibrato and tremolo have adjustable speed and depth (with automation per step) and a choice of 10 waveforms
- Several operator waveforms and algorithms yielding infinite sound textures.
- Dimensions: 29.5 x 16.5 x 4.5cm
- Weight 944g
- 9V DC power supply included
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK, 'next working day' shipping is free if the order value is over £150, and £5 otherwise. We can also ship on a 'next working day before 12pm' service, which costs £6 for orders over £150 and £7.50 for orders under £150.
Shipping to mainland EU typically costs between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of DPD, Royal Mail and Parcelforce for the UK, and for international orders it's either DHL, FedEx, UPS, Royal Mail or Parcelforce depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we aim to dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 16:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes the couriers may come to collect a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Saturday/Sunday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 16:00 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday or Sunday delivery with DPD. This is FREE for order values over £350, £5 for order values between £75 and £250, and £7 for order values under £75. (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). Please note that any orders placed after 16:00 on a Friday will ship on the Monday.
International shipping times
Since April 2020, the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer. There is absolutely nothing we can do about this, unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
Product Overview
Manufacturer's description
At the heart of BlastBeats is a vintage FM chip called YMF-262 also known as the OPL3 chip & previously found in computer sound cards of the early 90s.
These chips were notoriously hard to program and were rarely used to their full potential. However, they can produce surprisingly rich beautiful and utterly dirty sounds with a bit of exploring...
By putting so many parameters within easy reach BlastBeasts makes it fun and easy to master the signature sound of the DOS era!
RHYTHM & SYNTH
BlastBeats is a 10 voice groove box offering 6 drum voices and 4 synth instruments.
The many faders offer full control over the parameters of the instruments and can be automated and modulated per step.
Beats and melodies are a pleasure to program thanks to the high quality illuminated buttons.
FEATURES
- OPL3 (YMF262) FM chip featured in vintage sound blaster cards of the MS-DOS era
- Quad audio outputs with custom instrument routing
- High fidelity audio amplification with low noise floor
- mix (mono) and phones (dual mono) out each with per step volume control
- 6 drum tracks (bass drum, snare drum, tom, closed & open hat, cymbal) that can also be used for melodic parts.
- 4 synth tracks: two monophonic (2x2op or 1x4op) & two duo-phonic (4x2op or 2x4op)
- 100 kits with per step kit changes
- 160 songs x 16 patterns x 64 steps
- patterns of of arbitrary step lengths
- micro timing (variable delay) of each step
- Quantised or Unquantised recording
- Pattern rotation (forward or backward)
- Cloning and transposing of individual synth patters
- MIDI note numbers of drum parts can be re-assigned
- Web based configuration tool
- Kits and patterns stored on included SD card for convenient management and sharing.
- 56 faders with per step automation and modulation
- Real time and per step (a.k.a parameter lock) fader automation
- 32 high quality illuminated switches
- MIDI input and output on DIN5 ports
- customisable MIDI input channels
- All tracks transmit MIDI enabling Blast Beats to be used as multi-track MIDI sequencer
- Analog sync in and out on 3.5mm jacks
- All Audio on 6.35mm jacks
- Premium sandblasted anodised aluminum chassis
- All instruments can be sequenced internally or played via MIDI allowing BlastBeats to be used as a 4-operator 8-waveform polytimbral MIDI synthesizer
- Probability per instrument
- Swing (with automation per step)
- Kit and pattern randomiser
- Fader wiggling: randomiser with adjustable depth per step
- 3 tricks ( pitch bend aka spin down, freeze and stutter with real time automation and step sequencing of all tricks.
- Synth pitch vibrato and tremolo have adjustable speed and depth (with automation per step) and a choice of 10 waveforms
- Several operator waveforms and algorithms yielding infinite sound textures.
Technical Specs
Shipping Details
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK, 'next working day' shipping is free if the order value is over £150, and £5 otherwise. We can also ship on a 'next working day before 12pm' service, which costs £6 for orders over £150 and £7.50 for orders under £150.
Shipping to mainland EU typically costs between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of DPD, Royal Mail and Parcelforce for the UK, and for international orders it's either DHL, FedEx, UPS, Royal Mail or Parcelforce depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we aim to dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 16:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes the couriers may come to collect a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Saturday/Sunday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 16:00 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday or Sunday delivery with DPD. This is FREE for order values over £350, £5 for order values between £75 and £250, and £7 for order values under £75. (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). Please note that any orders placed after 16:00 on a Friday will ship on the Monday.
International shipping times
Since April 2020, the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer. There is absolutely nothing we can do about this, unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
