Bram Bos Battlestation is an immediate, performance-ready groovebox packed with synthesis for iOS and macOS.
I’ve been an avid iOS user for over a decade. From experience, I can say that apps designed with touch in mind make a clear difference. They are more enjoyable and easier to use. I mean, not like a 1:1 port of a plugin like Waldorf’s Blofeld synth.
Bram Bos (Ruismaker) has done a great job of this so far: blending the iPad’s haptic, immediate character into beautiful, versatile apps. He has today released a new groovebox called Battlestation, which also conveys this direct, playful vibe.
Bram Bos Battlestation
Battlestation is a new, immediate, performance-ready groovebox app for iOS and macOS. Bram Bos (Ruismaker) describes it as a “1-minute groovebox”, designed to get a thumping EDM jam going in less than 60 seconds.
At the core of Battlestation are all the basics you would expect from a groovebox: an analog-style drum machine, three differently flavored synthesizers, a mixer, a bunch of effects, and utilities.
All of this is not hidden in seven sub-menus; it is all playable and adjustable from a single interface, making Battlestation very hands-on and easy to explore.
It starts with an analog-style drum machine with five fully adjustable synthetic instruments: kick, snare, closed and open hi-hats, and percussion. For example, the kick offers six parameters: tune, wave, decay, punch, click, and drive.
Yes, each drum instrument is a drum synth and therefore highly versatile. Additionally, you have a special drum rumble FX section to add spice to them.
Each instrument has an XOX-style sequencer enhanced with modern features, including timing, velocity, and mutation. With the sequencer +/- buttons, you can achieve polyrhythmic sequences with odd step lengths.
Three Synthesizers With A Generative Concept
The three built-in synthesizers handle additional drums, bass, leads, and other sound types.
iOS users familiar with Bram Bos’ apps will recognize the names: Noir, Phase 2, and Trouble. All synthesizers that also exist as full-fledged apps, but in a more simplified version.
Noir is an analog-style Synthesizer focused on drums and more percussive sounds. This app borrows its engine from the Noir app of the same name, which in turn is a Moog DFAM-style drum synth.
Bram Bos updated the Noir version in Battlestation by adding new parameters, including two FM knobs that expand the engine’s range. Phase 2 is a phase-modulation (FM) Synthesizer with three generator types based on the Phasemaker FM synth.
The last of the three synths is Trouble, a Roland TB-303-inspired Synthesizer engine based on the excellent Troublemaker app from Bram Bos. A key highlight is how these synthesizers are used.
You can’t program them step by step into a traditional sequencer. However, each engine includes a fun, generative pattern generator based on Tom Whitwell’s Turing machine concept. It’s fully adjustable and tweakable on the fly, giving instant new results while jamming.
Mixing & More
All channels flow into a clear mixer with independent channel strips, mute, and solo options. It also includes a compressor with side-chain compression.
A dedicated multi-FX section with tweakable delay and reverb processors lets you easily route them to individual channels. In case you need more organic, moving sounds, there is also an auto LFO that can be routed to the different engines.
And everything can be stored in so-called memory banks and fired from the Bram Bos Battlestation at any time and on the fly.
Not to forget: Battlestation is also an AUv3 plugin that provides all channels independently for further processing. And it’s a macOS app and plugin too!
First Impression
There are many grooveboxes on iOS. Many of them are very menu-heavy and have their features well hidden, making them less fun to use in jams. What I like about Battlestation is that everything is very immediate and hands-on.
Menus are rare, except when you want to change the scaling on the Turing Machine. All in all, a super fun groovebox where you can have instant fun without having to read the online manual beforehand.
Bram Bos Battlestation Groovebox is available now for $7.99/8,99€ on the Apple App Store. It runs as a standalone app and AUv3 plugin on macOS (Intel + native Apple Silicon) and iOS (iPhones/iPads)
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