O’Flynn’s Sonic Gymnastics: MusicRadar Tech Gets Messy with Modulars and Beatstep

The Arturia Beatstep gets a big, greasy shoutout. O’Flynn calls it a killer bit of gear for anyone—total beginners or seasoned modular freaks. Plug it into Ableton, hit the pads, and you’re off sequencing kicks and hats like you’ve been at it for years. The Beatstep’s swing and immediacy make it less like a sequencer, more like a street weapon for grooves. As O’Flynn points out, it’s as happy driving a modular rig as it is banging out MIDI patterns in-the-box, making it the Swiss Army knife in this rave bunker.

O’Flynn doesn’t settle for lifeless loops. He’s all about taking something basic—a drum loop, a scale-climbing arp—and running it through a gauntlet of effects until it’s dripping with character. The moment the Make Noise Morphagene gets involved, things get wild: arps are chopped, stretched, and spun into granular clouds, turning the mundane into the magical. Add the Hologram Microcosm to the chain, and suddenly space collapses in on itself—lush reverbs and glitchy textures transform barebones patterns into something otherworldly.

This is where the video really shines, and text can’t do justice to the sonic chaos that unfolds. You have to hear the way the granular module and effect pedals twist the sound—one minute you’re in functional techno territory, the next you’re floating in a psychedelic fog bank. O’Flynn’s setup proves that the right FX pedals and a bit of modular mischief can make even the dullest sequence slap.

If there’s one lesson here, it’s not to fear the cringe. O’Flynn flat-out says it: being bad is part of the process. What starts off as a wonky idea can become a certified banger with just a few tweaks and effects. The key is to keep pushing, keep clicking, and let the happy accidents happen. That’s where the real magic is—no shame, just experimentation. In a world obsessed with perfection, this attitude is pure gold.