AudioLove

We’re big fans of Ensoniq: the ESQ-1 and SQ-80 combine a lovely early-digital tone with a simplicity of programming that leaves most other 80s digisynths in the shade. Add in that big vacuum-fluorescent display and a ton of context-sensitive soft buttons, and you’ve got something that’s fun to play, fun to program and sounds fantastic.

A warm, mellow analogue drum machine. Super-mellow analogue drum machine • Thick, warm sounds with individual kit piece control • Built-in syncable preset rhythms to take you back in time

Regal Rhythm is a very simple drum box with a typical vintage analogue sound. The six on-board preset rhythms cover the kind of staples you'd expect from more of a home-orientated (rather than studio grade) piece of kit, and there's a slightly fuzzy, soft-edged tone to the whole thing that can work very nicely for chillout, downtempo tracks. It also comes in a neat royal red colour scheme that should cheer up anyone's morning – and check out that real wood veneer ????

All-analogue bass from the super-cool Hohner Bass 3. A closet classic – the wonderful little Hohner Bass III • Three combinable preset sounds • Tweakable effects and envelope controls bring it all to life.

Something that was weirdly great about the 80s was the emergence of “things that are also other things”. For example: pencil erasers that also smell of candy. Or toy cars that are also toy robots. Or school calculators that are also tiny synthesisers.

When it comes to drum machines, Roland have been in on the action right from the start. With the TR-808, they helped define EDM and hip-hop, while the 909 swiftly became a staple of the techno / house movement. But by 1986, old analogue beatboxes were making way (sometimes by being slung in skips) for the crispy 'realism' of digitally sampled drums. Everyone and their drummer cousin wanted a set of Simmons pads and a brain, and of course Roland were only too happy to provide.

The Wersi Drum Composer CX5 is an early digital drum machine with a punchy, aggressive sound that was clearly intended to poach on Simmons's territory. Physically, it's a monolithic slab of grey metal and plastic livened up by dozens of LEDs and a cool, Ensoniq-style vacuum fluorescent display; sonically, its low-bit-depth samples make for gritty, compressed loops that can add a really hefty foundation to a track. (It's no relation to the Yamaha CX5 music computer, by the way; that's a totally different monolithic slab of grey mid-80s metal and plastic!).

Total Samples brings you 65 Massive Presets ideal for the most Brutal Dubstep. Featuring Bass, Leads and FX. Chainsaws at the ready? Then let's begin... Take a lesson in sound design from a talented up and coming producer. Equipped with an electric drill in one hand, and an axe in the other, they have managed to forge together wobbles and screeches from bits of animals that should never have been put together.

'Pump Beast' is another banger that is a guaranteed hit maker with sounds inspired by Lil Pump, Gucci, Migos, 21 Savage, Future and Metro Boomin. Big Citi Loops are back with another banger that is a guaranteed hit-maker.

Alternative-universe steampunk Victorian musical box! • Hundreds of samples for natural variation and character. • Sound design courtesy of synthesised FM tones, sample reverse and forced-pitching controls • Note-off samples for clunks, clicks, whirrs and chiffs

R-O-B-O-T V-O-I-C-E-S! Need we say more? We can’t leave our Sinclair ZX Spectrum alone. Not only can it do awesome drums (see SpecDrum 2000) and print rude messages about your mates on shiny thermal paper, it can also do RO-BOT VOI-CES!

This course stresses on the importance of being a beatmaker behind music theory knowledge

When you're a beatmaker, all you want to do is create amazing beats.

500MB of Professionally Designed Melody Loops with Stems!

Hard puts the NanoMod architecture to work on hard-hitting, metallized, aggressive waveforms to give you a wide variety of powerful leads and angry basslines. It’s ideally suited to sounds that need to cut through a mix assertively.

NanoMod Hats rounds out the components of our ‘NanoMod Drumkit’ with some high-frequency fizz and clank. The eight source waves here range from typical analogue white-noise hisses through various more complex, metallic tones to a couple of low-bit-depth digital sounds – for when you want a more realistic hats track which still retains a bit of vintage flavour. Tweaking the Tone control can really add some sparkle, while the Grit Filter at its higher cutoff settings dials in attitude without killing the edge.