At the 2014 NAMM Show, Arturia has introduced the Beatstep – a versatile portable pad controller & step sequencer.

BeatStep is capable of triggering clips in such applications as Ableton Live, and it also allows you to play drums in conjunction with such applications as BFD or EZDrummer.

BeatStep is also a 16-step analog sequencer for creating all kinds of musical phrases to be sent to analog synthesizers, MIDI drum machines, MIDI keyboard devices, or computer programs. Its connectivity options let you interface BeatStep with a computer or iPAD using USB, a drum module using MIDI or an analog synthesizer equipped with CV/GATE.

Features:

MIDI controller Mode – RED LED MODE

Step Sequencer mode – BLUE LED MODE

16 velocity and pressure sensitive pads

16 encoders

16 MIDI Controller presets

16 Sequence presets

Works with MIDI Control Center Editor

Internal and External clocking

CV outputs

USB I/O

MIDI output

iPAD compatibility (using camera connection kit)

Transports can send MIDI CC or MMC

Kensington Lock

Standalone MIDI or CV operation when powered via standard USB power adaptor

USB Class compliant (no drivers)

Here’s the official intro video:

Here’s a demo of using Beatstep via USB:

The next demo looks at using Beatstep as a CV/Gate controller:

The final video looks at using Beatstep as a MIDI controller:

The Arturia Beatstep is expected to ship at the end of March 2014, priced at US $129 / EURO 99.

Check out the info and let us know what you think of the Beatstep!