REAKTOR COMMUNITY

DESCRIPTION

new in 2.5
Almost 200 new snapshots on banks 1 and 2
Improved filter algorithm combines the "compromise"-integrators of the original filter with zdf-techniques to provide a resonance peak of up to 20kHz even at 48kHz sample rate. (And halving the sample rate means halving the cpu load!)
Improved automation
Reverb less CPU hungry
Improved modulators
Improved bitcrusher (freely mix original and aliased signal)
Improved tape emulation
Every single sound in the demo is made with bEAST 2.5

New in 2.04
Added destinations for modwheel and aftertouch.
New in 2.01
Pitchbend range is now adjustable
New in 2.0
What startet out as: „oh I found a cool Moog filter emulation. Let’s pack a bunch of Oscillators together and throw as much harmonics on it as possible.“ has become my everyday go to synth. Every single sound in the demo songs, even drums, is made with bEAST2. Added a lot of features over the last years. Enjoy!

1. Oscillator 2 Section is completely new, it offers 6 different Oscillator Styles
2. Every connection now is Audio. (Ok, almost: Vibrato and Ost 3 Modulations are still Event-Based). Upside: Envelopes are so fast, you can build drums sounds. Downside bEAST2 needs more CPU power than recent versions.
3. Added a Transient Generator to the Noise Section
4. Added comb filtered Noise
5. Added Reverb
6. Envelopes got a second type with flexible curves
7. Added a Compressor and OTT Style Compression
8. Added 80s Workstation style sounds
9. It needs at least 88.2 kHz sample rate
10. Saturation Section got a overhaul. Better control of the last two stages
11. The „supersaw“ osc3 can be used to generate chords and clusters
12. Tons of new presets


New in 1.9:
There are demo sounds for some of the new stuff. You can find them in the „demo of new features“ bank.

Overhaul of the „Supersaw Oscillator“. I found an interesting research paper from Alex Shore on the JP-8000 „Supersaw“, wich led to some modifications in my Supersaw Oscillator. It now consists of 7 Oscillators, (not 6 as before) and they come in three different flavors: „LoFi“ spares antialiasing and therefor has a rougher sound, „Super“ is built with primary oscillators (as before), and „Hyper“ adds another 7 oscillators on top, but these are impulse oscillators not sawtooths to add sheen to the top end. "Knack" key-triggers 3 Oscillators, the remaining 4 run free. This gives some impact to the attack.

Alternative envelopes with exponential attack
Most digital ADSR-Envelopes work with linear attack and exponential decay. Now you can switch the filter- and amp-envelope to exponential attack and control the attack slope. This removes some of the clockwork routine and feels a bit more "springy". I like it, what do you think?

Distortion
Inside the Beast structure there are 3 points where some kind of saturation or distortion is added and level is crucial to the sound: filter, amp and at the output. Filter and amp work polyphonicly, so there is no cross modulation between voices. But before the output-section is reached, all voices are added, so this distortion has quite a different effect. In the „Global“-Section to the left you now have access to „drive“ and „ceiling“ of this output distortion. Leave both knobs at zero to get the same sound as before. The „Drive Organ“ Snapshot is a good starting point for diving into distortion research. Besides the before mentioned parameters try „Filter Saturation“, „Volume“, „Sat Bias“ and „Highpass“. Each one has its specific impact on the overall sound.

New in 1.8: Still in search of the "perfect" sawtooth, I changed some highpass filters inside the saturation circuits. I also changed the behavior of the "impact"-section. It did a 3dB/octave rise over the whole Spectrum, to let sounds better cut through the mix, but it was overtly bright. Now it's 1.5dB/oct. I also added "sweetening"-style bass and treble EQs. They are neutral at the 7 o'clock position and fine around 12.

New in 1.7: Added a small oscilloscope view, inspired by the "minilogue"

New in 1.6: Did you know there's an audible difference between rising and falling sawtooth waveforms? I didn't until yesterday. And I'm still not completely convinced, but the falling sawtooth to me often sounds rounder and fuller than the rising one. The older bEAST Versions worked with rising sawtooth waveforms, this one produces falling ones. Is there a difference or am I hallucinating? There's a phase reverse switch in the mixer section, so you can make your own observations :)

bEAST is a virtual analog Synthesizer specialized in agressive and distorted Lead, Bass and FX Sounds. It is built around the Ladder Filter-Algorithm by Antti Huovilainen and Vesa Välimäki, Filter implementation in Reaktor Core by Salamanderanagram (many thanks!) The Audiopath is full stereo from the Oscillators on. For best results, run it at 88.2 or higher.
Though the Layout with Oscillator Bank, Mixer, ect. may look familiar, bEAST is not a Minimoog Clone. Have Fun!