Sugar Bytes is making no bones about the fact that Nest, its new ‘DIY sequencer’, is a “challenging” beast, but if you can grasp its modular complexities, it could have the potential to help you to make music “with a life of its own”.
The simplest explanation is that Nest is a software environment that can be used to create MIDI, but the fact that there are 20 modules that you can patch together - said to be inspired by “classic integrated circuits and today's computer features” - means it’s inevitable that things are going to get pretty deep, pretty fast.
You can actually generate up to eight MIDI voices and assign them to four targets. There are internal synths and drums, and you can host up to four VST 2 plugins. Up to 12 scenes can be saved and recalled via MIDI, and you can send to 16 MIDI channels. There’s support for MIDI CCs and automation, and you get five stereo audio outs and a “flexible scale system”.
By patching together the modules, you can create intelligent musical contraptions that will spin your music off in different directions. Nest isn’t restricted to software, either - you can also use it to drive your hardware.
As we said at the top, Sugar Bytes is well aware that Nest might take some time to master, but if you’re up for the challenge, you can find more information and tutorial videos on the Sugar Bytes website.
Nest runs on PC and Mac, both standalone and in VST/AU/AAX formats. It costs €99, and there’s also a demo.
