New Splice plans bring Bridge plug-in, Beatmaker and Astra virtual instruments
Subscription and sampling service Splice is freshing things up with new plans, weekly tutorials, new in-house plugins, and extra sounds. The new Sounds+ plan (USD 10 per month) includes Splice Bridge, software which brings the Splice Sounds platform into your DAW. The new Creator (USD 20 per month) and Creator+ (USD 30 per month) plans also include the Beatmaker and Astra virtual instruments. The new Splice software is made to deliver quick results without lacking depth. It’s worth an exploration, in addition to everything else going on at Splice.
Splice Bridge
Splice Bridge is included in all plans. The tool connects Splice Sounds with your DAW and matches the key and tempo of the samples you are auditioning to your DAW project. This way, you can seamlessly drop in and try out sounds before buying. This is an useful feature that’s bound to save time and credits.
Splice Bridge is installed under the “Splice” section of the Tools view in the Splice desktop app and activated from the Output to DAW button in the bottom-right corner of Samples view. Load the Splice Bridge plug-in in your DAW and the sounds you browse will be automatically synced to your project’s tempo and key.
Splice Bridge
Splice Beatmaker
Exclusive to the Creator and Creator+ plans, Beatmaker is a virtual instrument with a 4×2 grid of virtual pads that contain up to eight sounds. The plug-in has two views – Pads and Sequencer.
Pads view contains the grid and lets you browse presets or make your own kits by dropping sounds onto the pads. The pads can be played from your MIDI controller or sequenced from the piano roll and external sequencers. Each sound can have its volume, pitch, gain, panning, reverb, delay, and waveform position adjusted from the bottom of the GUI. There are also effects, such as distortion, filters, and flanging. They can be applied onto individual sounds or the whole kit.
Sequencer view features 32-step lanes to trigger hits and adjust their velocity. The controls include Clear (clears all patterns), Randomize (adds random steps), and Play (play and stop the patterns). Sequences can be exported as MIDI and audio clips. You can also drag MIDI patterns into your DAW’s tracks or piano roll.
Splice Beatmaker
Splice Astra
Available in the Creator and Creator+ plans, Astra is an everything-softsynth that maintains ease on use. Designing a very deep synth that’s also user friendly is quite a challenge, but Splice took their time and produced admirable results. Astra does virtual analog, wavetable, sampling, granular, and FM synthesis using two main oscillators, a sub-oscillator, noise generator, multi-mode filter, two envelope generators, two LFOs, sample & hold section, and built-in effects.
You wil also find a pair of sequencers. The Macro Sequencer lets you automate macro controls from 32-step sequencer lanes. Each lane can run at its own unique rate, range, and number of steps. The Notes Sequencer offers individual 32-step lanes for pitch (P), velocity (V), and gate (G). Step mutes are linked, and note ranges can be restricted to popular scales. Right clicking in a lane generates a line tool and allows fades and uniform patterns to be written. Swing values for all of the sequencers are also linked. There’s also the Modulation Matrix with ten slots. The envelope generators, LFOs, sample & hold, note (key follow), velocity, pitch bend, modulation wheel, and aftertouch values are some of the paramaters that can be modulated.
Splice Astra
Price and availability
The new Splice plans are available now:
- Sounds+ (USD 10 per month) includes the new Bridge plug-in, samples, presets, MIDI, the Splice desktop and mobile apps, and 100 monthly Sounds credits.
- Creator (USD 20 per month) includes the new Bridge, Beatmaker, and Astra plug-ins as well as new Skills tutorials and 200 monthly Sounds credits.
Creator+ Everything in Creator, and: - Creator+ (USD 30 per month) has everything above plus 500 monthly Sounds credits.
Each plan can be trialed for 14 days and you can test all products included in it.
More information
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- Splice Bridge: Splice
- Splice Beatmaker: Splice
- Splice Astra: Splice
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