Audiotool is an up-and-coming online, digital music workstation and community, this means that it’s basically the school of rock for aspiring EDM artists. If that doesn’t catch your attention, then just know that it’s free- available to anyone with a computer and internet connection! If you’ve ever wanted to give producing a shot but lacked the cash or experience needed to start using professional music production softwares like Ableton or Logic Pro, you should consider Audiotool.
Based out of Cologne, Germany, the developers of Audiotool have been consistently updating it with new features and improved functionality since 2010. Its community has grown slowly but surely over the years, cultivating a group of talented artists and passionate followers numbering in the thousands. Users can remix each other’s work or share what they’ve made on other media platforms like Youtube, Soundcloud, Facebook and Twitter. What’s even more amazing is the ability of users to collaborate with each other from all over the world.
As I mentioned before, it is free and available through your browser. Lack of charge does not at all detracted from the quality of the application. The developers have put countless hours of hard work into giving the community several synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, mixing devices, and effects to play around with. This adds up to a total of 50,000 device presets that the user can tinker with to find their ideal sound. On top of that, users have access to “an ever growing, community fed cloud-based library of over 250,000 samples.”
Aside from what the developers and community provide to Audiotool, you too can contribute your own sounds to the community. Through a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), you can create and upload your own melodies and beats with any synthesizers or drum machines you may have lying around. If you don’t have any of that fancy DJ equipment you can always upload recordings of acoustic instruments and vocals to use or remix in a track. Literally, the possibilities are endless when it comes to the potential that this application provides to its users.
The company welcomes beginners and insists that those without experience can manage the program well. It definitely takes some time to learn about all of the features that are available through each device, but the community is there to help. There are plenty of video tutorials on Youtube detailing the specific function of each obscure knob or button on the instruments and mixing devices that are available to the user. Audiotool also has its own wiki to explain the general function of each device, however it is less specific than the aforementioned video tutorials. If you hear a track posted by a fellow Audiotool member that you really like, you can always click the “remix” button to open up their work in the application to see how they produced the sounds that they did. Sometimes this can be more helpful in discovering how to produce a specific sound or effect that may not be explained in any video tutorials.
Audiotool is a powerful platform for aspiring artists to get their feet wet with digital music production.They plan on making some great leaps forward this year, hinting at the possibility of a brand new version of Audiotool being delivered to the community later this summer. They are promising to bring brand new features and improved performance. One such feature, which is quite a game-changer, is the possibility for live collaboration between users. So, I call on all music lovers, regardless of your musical taste, to join this community! Whether you choose to simply listen to what other users have published or create some music of your own, Audiotool is a wonderful online community to share your passion for music.
Written by: Pierre LaBelle
*Note none of the photos used in this article are property of Bass Feeds the Soul and Belong to their respective owners.