Info at the listing...
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Review: Sample Magic Tech House
Product: SM21 Tech HouseFormat: Digital Download of Apple Loops, REX, Stylus RMX, plus Reason NNXT, Logic EXS-24, Kontakt 2, and Halion
Genre: Tech House
Distributed by: Sample Magic
Price: £39.90
Demo: Audio demos on product page.
Today we're going to have a look at "Tech House", the latest release from UK sampleheads Sample Magic. The collection is split between 410 loops of various types and nearly 1,000 one-shot drum and percussion samples (pre-mapped for the most popular sampler formats). So let's dive in and have a look.
The loops are broken down by part and clearly marked with the tempo and musical key were relevant. Things start out with a selection of 1 and 2 bar Bass Loops. These range from wall-rattling subs to filtered bass with warping envelopes to bright, upfront, snappy synth basses. The basslines all groove nicely and the production is true to tech house's high tech bag of production tricks.
Next, we have a generous selection of Drum Loops. Most of these are available in multiple variations (no kick, top-end only, etc.) to give you more flexibility when using them in your own arrangements. The programming here is simple, but extremely creative, using minimal elements to their fullest extent. The kicks punch through and maintain plenty of low-end energy without being muddy. The snares are bright and present and surrounded by shuffling hats, synth percussion, and even glitched vocal or music snippets.
Perhaps a bit unusual for a loops collection are the 6 FX type loops consisting of breakdown and rising effects useful for middle sections, intros, and transitions. All of them are big and impressive sounding and would lend serious club cred to any arrangement.
Next up, are numerous Vocal Glitch Loops. These are rhythmically edited vocal samples useful for adding an instant housey vibe. Some of them make up recognizable phrases ("get up!") while others are heavily edited enough to essentially be funky gibberish. The production of these is nice, with some of the vocals sounding like they were lifted from vinyl, some of them sounding like they came form a vintage sampler, etc.
The Music Loops that follow consist of two or more synthlines/basslines combined into quick, ready to go arrangements. I'd have liked to have seen multiple variations of these loops with various elements stripped away to make it easier to vary the tracks a bit. Many loops do come in multiple flavors, but these are generally filtered/unfiltered, or rhythmic variations.
The Perc & Nu-perc and Tops and Hihats loops are both great for adding instant interest and groove to your existing kick and snare parts. All are very efficiently put together and perfectly produced, complete with the head-nodding shuffle so vital to building a house beat.
Finally, we have the Synth Loops, where you'll find all manner of chords, leads, plucks, and sequences for laying over your drums and basslines. As throughout the rest of the collection, these are beautifully produced, catchy, and energetic. There's really nothing here I'd consider filler - any of these riffs could be the basis for a club smasher.
In addition to the great loop collection, Sample Magic has included a ton of one-shot drum and percussion loops for creating your own beats with. These are pre-mapped into instruments for EXS24, Halion, Kontakt 2 and above, and NNXT. All sounds are helpfully broken down into categories: crashes, fx, closed hats, long hates, hits, layered kicks, kicks with less low-end, kicks with more low-end, layered claps and snares, nu-perc, rides, and tribal perc. These sounds alone will keep you plenty busy and sound every bit as impressive as the loops themselves. And because they're one shots, they could be used easily in just about any club-oriented genre in need of pure, electronic sounds.
Finally, it's worth noting that Sample Magic include something in their sample collections that sets them apart from others: a PDF booklet including tons of quick production and programming tips for users to learn more about producing the genre involved. While these will, of course, be most useful to beginners, they're handy in a general sense if you want your tracks to sound authentic. A great little addition to a fantastic sample collection. [9/10]
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Access 2 Foundation
A reader on my Facebook shared this with me and I thought I'd post it here, as it sounds like a fantastic cause. The Access 2 Foundation is a non-profit organization with the goal of providing studio spaces designed with the disabled in mind and much more:"The Access 2 Foundation is the brainchild of Bobbi Style, a British musician and producer who happens to be confined to an electric wheelchair. Its goal is to design, build and run “Bob Friendly” recording studios worldwide. What Bobbi means by “Bob Friendly” is that is easily accessed and used by people with a disability, such as Bobbi. The goal is to create an environment that a person with a disability could be creative without restrictions that are in most commercial studios. The first studio is up and running in Vancouver, BC, Canada and has been a great success. Bobbi now wishes to take it global with the assistance of friends and artists within the music industry and from the record companies themselves and other organizations.
Our next aim is to open a studio based in the UK, which will be part of our expansion plans for the foundation, and take it truly global. This will help to supply a truly inclusive, “in-house” support network for anybody who happens to be disabled to help express themselves through musical performance, production and access to music therapy services in a truly unique setting.
With the aid of friends old and new within the music industry, and the involvement of the public and pre-existing local services we aim to prove that music can heal. To provide those most vulnerable members of society to improve their life and express themselves in ways they know they can but have previously not had the ability to do so."
Our next aim is to open a studio based in the UK, which will be part of our expansion plans for the foundation, and take it truly global. This will help to supply a truly inclusive, “in-house” support network for anybody who happens to be disabled to help express themselves through musical performance, production and access to music therapy services in a truly unique setting.
With the aid of friends old and new within the music industry, and the involvement of the public and pre-existing local services we aim to prove that music can heal. To provide those most vulnerable members of society to improve their life and express themselves in ways they know they can but have previously not had the ability to do so."
Monday, February 28, 2011
Togu Audio Line Releases Version 3.03 of Noisemaker
Togu Audio Line has released version 3.03 of their excellent free Noisemaker synth. Here's what's new:"Release of TAL-NoiseMaker Version 3.03. This release includes several new features people asked for and 128 new presets byFrank "Xenox" Neumann / Particular - Sound FN, The Unshushable Coktor TUC, Alexandra Sendy AS, and TAL.
A vintage type delay, preset load and save support for simple preset exchange and full automation support are the main features added. We also added a filter drive effect that directly affects the 4x oversampled filter. The envelope editor has new one shot and constant bpm options that are useful for drum and percussion sounds."
A vintage type delay, preset load and save support for simple preset exchange and full automation support are the main features added. We also added a filter drive effect that directly affects the 4x oversampled filter. The envelope editor has new one shot and constant bpm options that are useful for drum and percussion sounds."
If I May Brag for a Moment...
I've known about this for a little while, but couldn't announce it until everything was official. My band, Assemblage 23 will be opening for electro-pop legends O.M.D. for two dates in Spain as part of a small European tour we're doing. If you had told me I'd be doing this ten years ago, I would've thought you'd lost your mind. "Architecture & Morality" is still one of my favorite albums of all time, so, yeah, I'm a bit stoked.Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Win an Oscar
Congrats to Trent Reznor on his Oscar win with Atticus Ross!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
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