Top Christmas Gifts – Beatmaking

The Akai MPK Mini is a very popular choice among “beatmakers” and music producers. 25 velocity sensitive mini keys, 4-way joystick, 8 MPC pads, arpeggiator, octave selector and OLED display. Includes the following downloadable software: MPC Beats, 6 virtual instruments (Bassline, Tubesynth, Electric, Hybrid 3, Mini Grand, Velvet) and 2 GB of audio content.

The studio monitors with the famous yellow cone design, in the RP5 G4 version boast a 5″ glass aramid woofer and 1″ glass aramid tweeter. The woofer is 35 Watts and the tweeter is 20 Watts, making these monitors 55 Watts. Each one has an integrated backlit LC-display on the back so that you can adjust them to your room’s specifics using the visual graphic EQ presets (DSP based). In addition, you can use the KRK app with room correction tools (iOS + Android). Versatile!

This is a compact pad controller for Ableton Live. What that means is that you can have a more tactile production experience with its 64 RGB pads, 16 buttons and direct integration into Ableton Live (play clips and scenes at your fingertips, stop, solo and mute functions). It’s USB bus-powered, weighs only 380 grams and includes a USB cable and software package with Ableton Live Lite.

This fantastic standalone groove box has 16 velocity-sensitive pads, effects and plug-ins, swing, pad link, note repeat, step sequencer and vintage sampler emulation. Although it can also be used in conjunction with a computer, it’s selling point is that it can be used completely standalone because of its integrated Quad-core CPU, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC flash memory.
and two colour displays (480 x 272). Of course it also has an integrated audio interface. The package includes a 64 BG SD card and an impressive software bundle. Details on thomann.de!

A fantastic Groovebox containing 2 Synth tracks, 2 MIDI tracks and 4 drum tracks. 32-step step sequencer with off grid function, built-in effects and presets, pressure-sensitive backlit RGB keys, ability to archive projects on microSD, master filter controls, transpose and a variety of connections to integrate the system with your setup. Ah, and it can operate with the built-in battery! 😉 

Arturia’s Keystep Pro (Black Edition) is a USB/MIDI controller keyboard with 4-track step sequencer (with 16 step keys, up to 64 steps per sequence, up to 16 notes polyphony per step), 37 velocity-sensitive mini-keys with aftertouch and an LED above each key for visual feedback. Making beats has never been so stylish!

MPC Studio brings Music Production Centre (MPC) software to your fingertips through the combination of intuitive hardware control and innovative, inspiring software. Its 16 full-size velocity-sensitive RGB pads, an assignable touch strip controller (140 mm), a colour LC display, an endless push encoder for display navigation, transport and pad bank buttons, and backlit function buttons (undo/redo, tap tempo, note repeat/latch, pad/track mute) will have you producing pro-sounding tunes in no time.

The people at XLN know what’s up! This trending multi-FX plugin allows you to get all of that retro / vintage / lo-fi tone, texture and analogue warmth we all love and feel so nostalgic about. Check out some tutorials on YouTube and get producing right away!

The Porsche among samplers! With eight stereo audio tracks and eight MIDI tracks for controlling external devices, Elektron Octatrack is the center of any live set. Features like real-time time stretching, instant stereo sampling, and a powerful sequencer make it the first choice for beat professionals.

A classic among studio headphones! The AKG K-240 impresses with its semi-open circumaural design and ergonomic headband. A 3.5mm jack input and 6.3mm adapter (included) ensure maximum versatility. This guarantees perfect sound when creating your next beat!