Review: Sample Magic Deep House

Product: SM24 Deep House
Format: Digital Download of Apple Loops, REX, Stylus RMX, plus Reason NNXT, Logic EXS-24, and Kontakt 2.
Genre: House, Disco
Distributed by: Sample Magic
Price: £39.90
Demo: Audio demos on product page.

Deep House is the latest sample library from Sample Magic. As with previous releases, this is a collection of both drum loops and one-hit sounds aimed at giving you everything you need to create your own afterhours club tracks. The overall sound of the collection melds elements of classic house, lounge, and nu-disco in a mellow, but head-bobbing hybrid. So let's see what's on offer here...

Let's have a look at the loops first. The collection starts out with a couple of folders of basslines. There's a good mix of organic and synthetic here with both acoustic/electric basslines and funky synth bass alike. Creative use of effects helps these stand out and feel ready to drop right into your arrangement. As with all the melodic loops in this collection, the key of the loop is listed in the name. The two folders of Chords loops feature lush stings, chunky pianos, ambient synths and lots of tasty delay. The Combi loops take things one step further combining basslines, chord parts, leads, and spare drum parts to give you an "almost complete" slice of music to customize. This is followed by an ample collection of Drum Loops (some in multiple variations). There's a nice variety here from stompy 909's and shuffling cymbals to quasi-tribal funkiness, to more minimal, mellow offerings. All are beautifully produced, punchy, and crisp. A small selection of heavily-edited Glitch Vox loops are a nice addition with a very authentic vibe to them. Both the Perc Loops and the Tops Loops are aimed at adding some spice to your standard kick and snare patterns. A nice range of feels can be found here from stiff and driving to loose and funky. Finally, we have some Synth Loops, which include not only lush, electronic beds, but riffs constructed with guitar, electric piano, and other more organic sounds. All useful and well put together.

In addition to the loops, there are a ton of one shot samples in the following categories: Chords and Stabs, Claps and Snares, Cymbals, FX, Hats, Kicks, Percussion, Synthetic Percussion, Tribal Hits, and Tribal Hits. You'll find pretty much everything you need to program complete rhythm arrangements for your house tunes, although most of these sounds would be extremely useful to any sort of club musician. The sounds are generally minimally processed with compression and EQ so you are free to customize them as appropriate for your particular song. Everything sounds fantastic, and I ran into no problems with the sample instruments when I tested them in Logic's EXS-24.

All in all, another job well done from the Sample Magic camp. If you're in the mood to make yourself some chunky, shuffley house tracks, this would be an excellent place to start. [9/10]