Isotonik Studio's latest offering in the Beat Shaker line, the Alexkid – Beat Shaker – UKG Flavor, gives you the power to craft dynamic and quintessentially UK Garage sound beats right from your Ableton Live interface.
A brainchild of a partnership with SOUND CAPSULE, the pack serves as a ready toolkit for producers, enabling you to model dynamic drum patterns and infuse your music with heart-pumping rhythms. The pack comes complete with three distinct drum racks, a set of 228 one-shot samples, and 25 MIDI files, all geared towards equipping you with the essentials to start creating UKG beats.
Notably, the heart of the Beat Shake UKG Flavor pack isn't just drum racks and samples; it lies in the Beat Shaker Max for Live MIDI device. This versatile device gives you control over the key parameters to truly shape your beats. At your disposal are the dynamic tilt and velocity controls that can take your beat making to the next level.
You can harness the power of the Beat Shaker controls to easily alter the texture of your beats – toggling between Kick, Snare, Hi-Hat, and Percussion Pads, each with two variation pads to trigger or sequence. The Shake feature enhances the dynamism by introducing random variations that truly shake up your drum patterns. And with the Link option, you can ensure synchronicity across your drum types.
Outside of beat-making, the Beat Shaker device also doubles as a sound design tool, offering individual tuning controls for Kick, Snare, and Hi-Hat. You can also manipulate Dynamics controls like Impact, Snare Decay, Hi-Hat sustain, and even utilize the built-in Glue Comp compression setting to tighten your Hi-Hat sound.
As for MIDI controls, the Beat Shaker provides clearly labeled MIDI input triggers for each drum hit type, making it easy for you to map your MIDI controller to the device. The UI also provides some handy information and setup instructions to help you get the most out of the package.
In essence, the Alexkid – Beat Shaker – UKG Flavor equips you with the necessary tools to shape the texture and energy of your music, while also making it exciting and fun to use. You can create fresh, dynamic beats with the simple press of a button, tapping into the classic 90s UK Garage sound for authenticity.
This package proves to be a must-have tool for those seeking to unlock new potential in their Ableton Live sessions, adding a fresh twist to their productions with contemporary UK Garage flair. With the Beat Shake UKG Flavor pack, seizing creative control over dynamic beat crafting has never been more accessible or more exciting. Find out more and get your hands on it for yourself at the Isotonik Studio's website today.
Example Usage
Imagine you've just started producing your very first UK Garage track. You're eager to lay down a versatile beat that captures the essence of the 90s sound but sophisticated enough to give your track a modern edge. Here's a simple guide on how to use Isotonik's Beat Shaker – Alexkid’s UKG Flavor to achieve this goal in your Ableton Live session:
Step 1: Installation After purchasing and downloading the Beat Shaker – UKG Flavor pack, you'll find an .alp file and several .amxd files. Double-click the .alp file to install the Drum Racks into Ableton’s Packs section. For the .amxd files, create a new folder on your hard drive, store the files there, and add the folder to Places in Ableton's Browser for quick access.
Step 2: Load a Drum Rack Open Ableton Live and create a new MIDI track. From the Packs section of the Live Browser or your custom folder in Places, drag one of the Beat Shake UKG Flavor Drum Racks onto this track.
Step 3: Insert the Beat Shaker Device Next, find the Beat Shaker .amxd device file and drag it onto the same MIDI track, before or after the Drum Rack – it doesn’t matter where in the device chain it goes.
Step 4: Importing MIDI patterns The pack includes 25 MIDI files with pre-made rhythms to get you started. Drag one of these MIDI files onto the MIDI track you’ve just set up. The Beat Shaker device will now trigger the corresponding sounds in the UKG Drum Rack.
Step 5: Get creative with Shake controls Begin playback to hear the imported MIDI pattern. Experiment with the Beat Shaker device by hitting the “Shake” buttons beside each drum type (Kick, Snare, Hi-Hat, and Percussion). Small changes can induce subtle variations, while larger shakes can transform the beat entirely. Link these controls across drums for uniform changes, or unlink to affect each drum type individually.
Step 6: Fine-tune with Dynamics and Tuning Adjust the tune of your kicks, snares, and hi-hats using the dedicated tuning knobs for each. Fine-tune the dynamics of your beat with 'Glue Comp' on the hi-hats for tightness, and modify 'impact' and 'decay' settings to taste for snares and kicks.
Step 7: Mapping to MIDI Controllers If you have a MIDI controller like PUSH 2, the device and Drum Racks are already mapped for instant hands-on control. This makes it even easier to tweak and perform your beats live.
Step 8: Save your beat Once you’ve crafted a beat that you're happy with, it's a good idea to record it into a new clip in Session View or arrange it directly in the Arrangement View. This way, you can build upon it or loop it for the rest of your track.
With these steps, you have quickly set up and creatively manipulated dynamic UK Garage beats that can serve as the backbone to your track. The Beat Shaker gives you an interactive way to break free from static drum loops and inject life into your music right from the start.
Imagine you've been tasked with creating a new track that captures the essence of a foggy London morning, translated through the rhythmicity of UK Garage. You want your beat to have a dynamic, jazzy swing, with a touch of randomness to mimic the unpredictability of the bustling city streets. Donning your producer's hat, you dive into Ableton Live and load up Isotonik Studios' Alexkid – Beat Shaker – UKG Flavor to breathe life into your vision.
First, you drag and drop Beat Shake UKG Flavor Drum Rack 2 onto a new MIDI track. Inspired by the classic UKG sounds, you feel the nostalgia of the '90s scene flowing through your fingertips. You scroll through the 25 MIDI files included in the pack and select one that has a shuffling hi-hat pattern indicative of the genre.
Once the MIDI file loads, you trigger the pattern and listen to the raw groove. It's time to add depth and complexity to the beat. Focusing on your kick drum, you use Beat Shaker's dynamic control to add slight variations to each hit's velocity, ensuring that no two kicks sound exactly the same, adding a humanlike feel to the pattern.
Next, you decide to address the snare. You seek a crisp snap that cuts through the mix paired with an organic roll. Within the Beat Shaker interface, you enable 'Shake' for the snare and adjust the 'DYN' knob until the snare variations provide that quintessential 2-Step bounce. You also experiment with the tuning control to pitch the snare slightly up, lending a unique character to your beat.
The hi-hats, however, are the soul of UK Garage - crisp, frenetic, and relentless. You tweak the 'Glue Comp' setting to tighten the hats' release, giving them that much-loved 'garage' feel. Varying the velocity and shaking pattern of the high-hats, you watch as the Beat Shaker drains a life-like pattern into your beat - at times off-kilter, at others orderly, exactly like the city it represents.
Percussion elements come next, where you decide to use Beat Shaker's individual 'Shake' function to introduce random percussive elements, providing the much-needed ear candy and a further nod to the genre's breakbeat ancestry. You selectively link certain percussive elements to maintain coherence while preserving the groove's intricate spontaneity.
As your beat takes shape, you send occasional elements through a return track loaded with a grain delay followed by a reverb, set to give a distant and atmospheric ambiance, transforming your rhythm into a mesmerizing soundscape.
Finally, it's time for the finishing touches. You activate PUSH 2 and enter note mode to perform additional elements in real-time atop your sequenced pattern, exploring the tactile interface to capture the human element of live performance within your track.
After some creative arrangement and additional tweaks, you sit back and listen to your track, a cataclysm of UK Garage transported straight from the mist-soaked streets of London to your studio. The Beat Shaker – Alexkid's UKG Flavor not only served as your drum programmer but also as a catalyst for bringing the concrete jungle's heartbeat to life in your music.
Further Thoughts
Let's journey through how you can leverage the Isotonik Studios Alexkid – Beat Shaker – UKG Flavor to pump fresh life into your UK Garage tracks.
Start by dragging the Beat Shake UKG Drum Rack 2 onto an empty MIDI track in Ableton Live. This particular Drum Rack is filled with crunchy snares, beefy kicks, and snappy hi-hats that are signature to the UKG sound.
Next, load up the Beat Shaker Max for Live device and place it before the Drum Rack in the device chain. Instantly, your interface converts into a playground for beat generation, giving you interactive control over each drum element.
With Beat Shaker ready to go, feed it a MIDI pattern. You can use one of the 25 included MIDI files that come with the pack to get a quintessential UKG groove. Now, it's time to shake things up. Hit the 'Shake' button for the kick drum. You’ll notice subtle, random variations being introduced to your pattern. This is where you can start molding the groove to fit your track perfectly.
Experiment with the dynamics controls. Edge up the 'Impact' on the kick to add more punch and increase the 'Glue Comp' on the hi-hat for a tighter, more cohesive top end. With a twist of the snare decay, you adapt the snappiness to fit the feel you’re after, be it classic two-step bounce or something more experimental.
The beauty of Beat Shaker lies in real-time manipulation. Map the 'Shake' functions to a MIDI controller for on-the-fly creativity during a live set or recording. Triggering different shake intensities can drastically transform a static loop into an evolving rhythmic landscape.
For a fully customized beat, delve into individual pad variation. If the high-hats are too uniform for your taste, selectively shake them for staggered, off-kilter patterns that add movement and life to your beat. Use the ‘Link’ function sparingly – it’s powerful for unifying changes across drums, but individual manipulation can yield more interesting results.
Lastly, don’t overlook tuning. Slightly detune the snare to sit perfectly in the mix, or pitch down the hi-hats for a darker vibe. Combining these adjustments with the dynamic controls, every tweak you perform on Beat Shaker translates into a groove that’s unmistakably yours.
By now, your UKG groove should be thrumming with vivacity. Whether it's the subtle variance introduced through shaking or the precise tuning adjustments, you've constructed a beat that’s dynamic, groovy, and reflective of the classic UK Garage feel, all from the comfort of your Ableton Live session. This is the power of the Beat Shaker – UKG Flavor. It's not just any Drum Rack; it's a catalyst for injecting life into your beat-making process.