I don’t think we’ve covered BeatHawk on DJWORX so far, but as is our philosophy, we want to help the little guy. There’s always plenty of cool apps and gear, off the beaten track, so heavily worn down by the likes of those behemoths of the industry such as Native Instruments, Serato, Pioneer, or inMusic.
Made by French developers UVI, BeatHawk is a fully featured ‘portable music production studio’ for Apple’s iOS devices, and has just had a hefty free update, bringing it to version 2.0. The ‘substantial’ free update adds iPhone support, Ableton Link, and the ability to use it as an Audio Unit plugin for a host.
Check out their words on the matter below.
UVI RELEASES BEATHAWK V2.0, FREE UPDATE ADDS IPHONE SUPPORT, AUDIOUNIT V3 PLUGIN, STEP EDITOR, ABLETON LINK COMPATIBILITY AND MORE
UVI releases BeatHawk v2.0, free update adds iPhone support, AudioUnit v3 plugin, Step Editor, Ableton Link compatibility and more, available now on AppStore at $6.99 promo pricing
Paris, March 16th, 2017 – UVI releases BeatHawk v2.0, a substantial free update to its portable music production app for iOS delivering new and enhanced features, expanded connectivity with other iOS apps, web services and Ableton Live. New features include support for iPhone (5 or newer), an AudioUnit v3 plugin version, a featured Step Editor, compatibility with Ableton Link, the ability to export projects directly to Ableton Live and more. BeatHawk was designed to provide the professional sound quality of the UVI EngineTM in a portable, fun and performance-oriented package, allowing you to create beats, sample, layer melodies, sequence, mix, arrange and perform songs with an incredibly fast and focused work flow. The v2.0 update dramatically enhances its capabilities and ease-of-use making it more powerful than ever.
BeatHawk v2.0 includes all new app versions designed specifically for iPhone with UIs optimized for each iPhone, from the 5 to the current generation, to ensure a consistent experience. A one-time purchase gives you access to both iPhone and iPad apps allowing you to easily work with high-quality UVI sounds wherever you are. Meanwhile native support for iCloud, Dropbox, GoogleDrive and OneBox make it easy to save and continue your work on any of your devices.
Also new in v2.0 is the Step Editor, a featured step sequencer allowing you to write and perfect patterns of both Note and MIDI CC data. With the addition of MIDI CC also comes a new MIDI Learn mode, allowing you to bind and automate parameters in BeatHawk from the internal sequencer or external MIDI devices.
BeatHawk is now fully compatible with Ableton Link and, in addition to supporting the export of mix, stems and MIDI tracks, now allows projects to be exported as native Ableton Live projects allowing you to seamlessly move all of your work from iOS to DAW in one convenient step.
Other improvements include the addition of BeatHawk as an AudioUnit v3 plugin with shared resources, the ability to copy and paste audio directly to/from pads with AudioCopy, scale snapping in pitch mode, loop markers, accelerometer support, direct uploading to YouTube and SoundCloud, an improved help system and more.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY: BeatHawk v2.0 is a free update for existing owners and is available immediately at a promotional price of $6.99 for new users via. AppStore through April 10th (regularly $9.99)
ADDITIONAL PRODUCT INFORMATION: Additional information on BeatHawk is available at: http://www.beathawk.com/
About UVI UVI is a Paris, France-based developer of premium virtual instruments, effects and software for professional audio production. Over the past two decades UVI has released an extensive catalog of instruments and applications, winning numerous industry awards and accolades. As a key technology partner UVI has worked with many companies to enable groundbreaking software instruments with the renowned UVI EngineTM.
Spanning over 40 releases ranging from mobile to desktop, UVI products are used by many of today’s top composers, producers, sound designers and musicians, being heard on numerous hit-records, film and TV scores and games. UVI products are crafted to deliver the nest experience possible—offering a wealth of unique and inspiring instruments, the highest quality sound, innovative features, efficient and reliable performance and world-class user interfaces.
Leveraging a deep technology portfolio, extensive experience and a passion for sound, UVI continues to push forward creating new and imaginative tools that both enable and inspire.
My thoughts
With the drum pads front and centre in the workflow, BeatHawk looks like a great app for those that like jamming and sketching. There are some cues taken from the likes of iMASCHINE and Garage Band, but that’s no bad thing. There’s also the usual in-app-purchases to add expansions to the library.
I haven’t had a play with it (not owning any iOS devices), but BeatHawk seems like fairly powerful software in the right hands. I’m intrigued about the mention of using the app as an Audio Unit. That sounds like there’s potential for combining the app with others to increase creative options. And at £7, it’s surely worth a try?
Your thoughts
Does BeatHawk look like something you’d use? Have you tried it yet?
You can grab BeatHawk from the iOS App Store for a special discounted price of £6.99/$6.99 until 10 April.