Contemplating a name switch to Homeconjured Sounds, Homegrown Sounds releases Black Magic, a loop workstation that does away with the hocus pocus of loop creation to make it an intuitive, streamlined process. Though the picture to the left of this article may look like an actual, physical module, Black Magic is a VST instrument for PC. How'd they get an image of such a realistic looking piece of equipment, then? Hmmm. Let me see. I don't know . . . magic?

Perhaps most magically, this workstation can shapeshift without changing appearance as Black Magic can also be used as a MIDI drum machine which takes advantage of ten samplers, each with a sequencer and loads of adjustable parameters.

Beneath the virtual knobs and buttons, Black Magic weaves a web of complexity with the ability to adjust said parameters. The sequencers provided with each sampler are each 32 steps with adjustable step size. Trigger these via MIDI or randomize with Black Magic's built-in randomization system which uses a pre-defined seet of presets to ensure you avoid the disjointed mayhem of true randomization. Of course, if you want the truth, even if you can't handle it, Black Magic will give it to you. Nor will Black Magic appear courtside at Lakers games wearing sunglasses inside the arena. Black Magic is not Jack Nicholson.

If you like to think ahead, you can group samples together and save them as kits. Folders for samples even appear as banks in Black Magic. Locking these banks allows for more focused and less random randomization.

Finally, the FX Section is pretty massive. It includes Soundscaper (a delay / reverb effect), a stereo BPM delay and a switchable flanger / filter. The LFO gives you more shapes than a geometry book for your wave shaping needs. Finally, and right before the master volume, you get a compressor, limiter and noise gate -- the boring but necessary effects that keep your tone clean.