Heartbeat: Modeled Analog Drum Synth by Softube

The core of Heartbeat is its eight instrument channels. Two bass drum channels can be tuned for deep, punchy kicks or for snappy, hard-hitting woody textures. Two dedicated snare channels offer six parameters each, covering edgy rimshots, soft snare rolls and machine-like claps.

The two percussion channels are identical and can model synthetic toms, cowbells and noise drops. The hihat and cymbal channels also use flexible synthesis engines, so each drum can be shaped in detail.

Each channel has its own mixer strip with volume, pan, ping-pong auto panning, an EQ adapted to each instrument and send levels to the reverb and delay effects.

The built-in effects include adapted versions of Valley People Dyna-mite and TSAR-1 Reverb, plus a new Filter Echo with adjustable cutoff and resonance and an output saturation stage. The Auto Layer Machine has four channels for layering sounds or triggering chains of events, and its Chaos slider adds randomness, from subtle variation to heavy trigger changes.