Hive 2.0 comes with a new interface, further modulation options, NKS support and more. Six months after appending wavetable support, u-he has finished the long-awaited overhaul of Hive’s user interface. While the primary layout remains the same, u-he managed to enhance readability and contrast. Workflow has undergone significant improvement, including extended drag & drop support for modulation assignment, with on-target editing. An invaluable tool for sound designers, the new Scope module adds real-time visual feedback for the audio or up to 4 modulation sources, with freeze and zoom functions.
New Modulators
At the heart of the Hive 2.0 upgrade are the new modulators. A novel 8-segment Shape Sequencer adds 4 sources for evolving modulations, per-voice envelopes, rhythms, and gates. The basic shapes and levels, curvature and “ratchet” amounts can be separately edited. Surrounding the Shape Sequencer are two west coast-style Function Generators which are triggered by the keyboard gate, Shape Sequencer, LFO or any other modulation source. Although they are essentially AD-envelopes, the function generators can also be utilized as extra LFOs or lag generators. The new modulators flawlessly complement the Hive’s existing envelopes, LFOs and sequencer – they were designed to match the Hive’s core strength: Ease of use and fast workflow.
Updates to the Modulation Matrix incorporate visual feedback on the newly added modifiers (e.g. Rectifier and Slew Limiter), chord- and scale-based quantization choices and a new Sample & Hold. Building on these concepts, u-he added a global scale-based quantizer to Hive’s keyboard control which can also be used to modulate oscillator pitch in the musical scale of your choice – a simple way into the world of algorithmic composition, chiptune arpeggios and automated chord progression.
To illustrate the new options, u-he asked some of their favorite sound designers to create over 350 new presets, which include mesmerizing evolving pads, surprisingly complex rhythms, and even complete one-note demos. Those presets can easily be found by clicking on the special “saved search” in the preset browser.
Upgrade
For those of you who already own Hive 1.x: Hive 2.0 is fully backward compatible and will replace Hive 1.x in your plug-in folder. The upgrade from Hive 1.x costs 20€. There’s a grace period which started January 21st, 2019. Please check out the “u-he Hive 2 Upgrade PDF” which comes with the download – it contains all instructions and links you will need.
