Keyboardsampler
£15.99/$19.99
“Allows you to create professional sounding beat patterns in a very short space of time”
Sometimes, specialist music software can be intimidating to newcomers. We love Syntronik, but if you just want to get the beats in your head down and have no real idea how to use the software then it’s going to take a while to learn what every button and dial does. Keyboardsampler is a much easier-to-grasp proposition that uses your standard Mac keyboard layout to lay down basic drum patterns using built-in instruments. It is also a handy tool for experienced musicians as a means to create a quick beat.
What’s good about this app is the vast amount of features, which include Note Repeat, Sample Chords and Arpeggios. These allow musicians to create professional-sounding beat patterns in a short amount of time simply by assigning them to your Mac’s keyboard. The downside is that you’ll need a lot of trial and error to get the results you want because the tutorial videos are terrible. Strangely, this is largely because they contain no sound (baffling for a sound-based app), only words and demonstrative keyboard presses. So unless you actually know what an arpeggio is then this app won’t help you. The tutorials also play really fast so keeping up is a large problem.
It is this severe lack of professional sheen that makes it hard to justify the lofty price tag. We like the simplicity and an interface that makes it easy to assign beats to a tempo dictated by the keyboard layout, but you’ll need to invest a lot of time experimenting before you start getting the results. There’s definitely potential in the updates though…
Verdict
Hamstrung by ‘mute’ tutorial videos you’ll need to keep scratching at the surface to get the most out of this app. But it works as a simple beat-generator.