Time to switch our attention to groovecrafters, beat-builders and all things rhythmic now as we take a look at our favourite software drum machines of 2023. This is a broad category, as acoustic drum emulations sit sideby-side with wholly new concepts in beat-design UI philosophy. Speaking of which, an instant favourite this year was Modalics Beat Scholar.
This debut product by the small software company surprised us by both redefining the depths of detail we could get via its ‘pizza’ slice ethos, and with just how intuitive making the wonkiest and weirdest of beats could be. In our review, we summed up our glowing praise by saying, “Beat Scholar will undoubtedly be a welcome addition to the collections of producers who need to fine-tune and tweak, with endless scope to minutely re-shape drum patterns over time, to get absolute precision or even its opposite – joyous freeform humanity and expressivity. Hitting the ground running with its first product, we’re excited to see where Modalics’ giddy creativity will take it next”. We didn’t have to wait long, with its EON Arpeggiator being similarly top-notch.