Spark 2

When you start producing electronic dance music, you'll want to understand drums as soon as possible. Without them, you can’t have a proper dance rhythm, so you can’t really have a dance song. Your DAW will surely have a number of drum samples to get you started. But if and when you want to get a bit more creative, you will want to start looking for additional pieces of software to increase your sonic arsenal.

Many producers employ software drum machines to help them create catchy and powerful beats. If you haven’t found your ideal instrument yet, then you should also take Spark 2 into consideration.

Spark 2 is more than a simple drum machine. While you shouldn’t have any trouble sequencing your sounds from the main interface, the instrument offers plenty more options to make your work a lot easier.

Go to the Sequencer section if you wish to program your patterns effortlessly and adjust velocity for each drum hit. The Song section allows you to chain patterns in order to create whole song structures. In the Studio section, you can change the drum samples, adjust filter parameters, and additional effects such as distortion, compression, delay, flanger, and many more.

If you want even more control over your patterns, go the Modular section and try to figure out new ways of connecting the synth’s different modules. Finally, the Mixer section allows you to tweak and polish the final product.

While Spark 2 is essentially a drum machine, it comes with a few additional sounds that could technically allow you to complete a song. You could start by using one of its many presets, or you could go to Arturia’s website and acquire a few expansion packs dedicated to genres such as techno, EDM, trap, or even hardtek.

I can only conclude that Spark 2 is a good drum machine but at the same time a versatile instrument that can help you enhance your music production.