audio.computer

If you had a play with MACHINE #2 yesterday, then come back today! Ben barely slept, and has added some new features to try out, including loading different sound sets. What does Cerberus sound like? Who can say? You can! Come and find out! We’re so tired! @superbooth_berlin

puter have been busy working on a new instrument that aims to take time-stretching to new heights. We take a look and listen to a very early prototype, which is currently known as the Machine 2. #audio #musicproduction #recording #synth #synthesizer #synths

MACHINE #2: a multi-loop time stretcher for textural soundscapes. Import your own stereo audio files over USB, record with line-in, or record in the field with its battery power and built-in stereo microphones. Use the sliders to slow, reverse or freeze each track in real time, without any change in pitch. Vary each track’s volume, pan and stretch with the Movement section, add effects with our inscrutable Triforce, and experiment with a variety of timestretch algorithms. It’s an all-in-one texture workshop. We hope to be taking pre-orders later in 2026, but you can try out the prototype at @superbooth_berlin from Thursday 7th to Saturday 9th May. Hope to see you there…

Next week Beat Friend returns to @superbooth_berlin , where we will celebrate its first birthday. 🎂 We launched Beat Friend at SB25 last year – @bobeats and @sonicstateuk gave it a shout out, @soundgasltd spread the word, and the first batch sold out not long after. Since then we’ve shipped 200 drum machines, including one to @abbeyroadstudios (💅), seen it used live on tour by @voka_gentle , had a glowing review in @soundonsoundmag , and we’re pretty sure we can hear Beat Friend’s analog tones on the new @kneecap32 album… We’ll be back at the same booth this year (W240, in the headphones area), and there will also be a Beat Friend to play with in the new FLINTA* (women, trans, non-binary, agender, intersex and gender-diverse people) area. Oh, AND we might have a prototype of a new thing. You’ll have to come and see.

We knew this was coming, but it’s still quite overwhelming to see it! The @soundonsoundmag folks were enthusiastic about Beat Friend when we took the first prototype to #synthfest2023 in Sheffield, so when we sent them a demo unit we hoped we’d get a nice little mention. But a 4-page feature?! Wowsers. And a reviewer who obviously put a lot of time, care and thought into the work and really understood the intentions and character of the machine. Amazing. You can read the whole thing in the IRL print magazine or for a small fee on the website, but a few choice quotes: “all the smoothness and snap, the woody resonance and classy saturation that we love about the CR-78” “[Its] greatest trick is pretending that its functions are flung on impetuously, when in fact they have clearly all been selected painstakingly to toe the line between reliability and unpredictability.” “The Beat Friend doesn’t just look retro; as far as I’m concerned it might just have the makings of a classic.” And just in time for @superbooth_berlin too! Couldn’t have planned it better. I’d better get back to soldering – sounds like we might need to make a few more of these friendly little machines…

Read more! 👇 Earlier this year we got the incredible opportunity to head down to @abbeyroadstudios to chat to the engineers and staff and give some training on gear that we had recently provided for them It was so nice to meet everyone and even nicer to see everyone having so much fun with gear we have come to know and love here at the Soundgas HQ Can you spot any Soundgas regulars in here? 😉 Read the full blog now on our site and find out about Soundgas at Abbey Road! Song is “Good Rain’:’:’:’” by @bluefields.mp3

The joy of sonic adventure: sometimes when sitting down to create sounds for Soundgas Sounds sample packs, the music just flows. When you start out with playful experimentation, good things happen. What’s in your sonic playground? The promotional offer on our latest patch ends this Thursday - buy now for your chance to win an Roland RE-201 Space Echo or Fieldtone Weaver. 10% of all proceeds go to @musicvenuetrust charity supporting grassroots music venues.

Soundgas at Abbey Road! Beyond our wildest dreams… THE studio everybody knows. 👉Swipe for more… Read all about it in part one of Tony’s blog about how we helped the amazing team at Abbey Road build a new collection of classic and inspiring new instruments and effects for Studio Three. This is where The Beatles recorded Revolver and Abbey Road, Pink Floyd made Wish You Were Here and Dark Side Of The Moon, and Radiohead had The Bends (and Fela Kuti, Amy Winehouse, Stormzy, Fontaines D.C., The 1975, Dave, Little Simz, amongst many, many others)… This is the story of how we helped shape the future sound of Abbey Road…

📢 We’re going to be in the London Borough of Hackney next weekend (21-22 March) for the London Synth Expo (@synthexpo ), which promises to be a lovely day out for the locals. If you’re in London, tell all your band friends to come and try the synths. There are loads of great synths on show (@musicthingmodular ! @ericasynths ! @chompi.club !), and you get to put on headphones and tinker to your heart’s content. There’s even a whole pedal expo next door for the 😬 guitarists. We’ll have two Beat Friend drum machines (maybe three!) ready and waiting for you to play. Come and say hi! You may not realise it yet, but if you need beats you need a Beat Friend. And who doesn’t need beats? #beats #beatfriend #hackney #london #synth

The second Beat Friend batch is shaping up nicely. We’re back in the flow of building them now. Shelves are filling up, checkboxes are being checked, the air is alive with the sound of analogue drum circuits being tuned. In about 6 weeks, 100 more drum machines will be out there in the world, keeping people company.

In episode 2 of the Gas Club I talk with Ben Walker about the journey to create The Beat Friend - the most fun, playable and friendliest drum machine I’ve encountered. We ended the session with a twin Beat Friend jam, which was a revelation… Watch the full episode on Soundgas YT channel.

Beat Friends. We just finished filming Episode 2 of The Gas Club with Ben Walker of Audio.Computer - designer/maker of the fabulous Beat Friend. We ended the day with an impromptu jam on two Beat Friends which was so much fun - we could’ve continued for hours. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch the next episode when it launches. You can also watch episode one with Tony in conversation with Hugh Jones of Fieldtone Instruments - designer/builder of The Weaver and Box Of Uncertainty. Build two preorders for Beat Friends are selling out fast - shipping in early April - so be quick if you want one (and you do).