BeatsAndBeyond.com Review: Berkson And What
With releases on labels such as Crosstown Rebels, Hypercolour Dessous, and Poker Flat, Dan Berkson and James What are known the world over for bringing only the deepest in house grooves to the floors. In that sense, we're not surprised to see the duo delivering a batch of loops and samples that especially come in handy for constructing deep house with a bite. As a whole, the pack weighs in at nearly 1.2 GBs (equaling a whopping 628 samples in total) and is divided in a relatively wide number of categories such as Bass Loops, Drum Samples, Vocal Hits and Synth Loops, all in crisp clear 24 bit quality. Now, of course you want to know how all this sounds like. Does it have what it takes to add the magic touch to your productions? Let's find out...
Sounds & FX
Let's take a look at the Sound & FX folder first. In here, we find a huge collection of bass, drums, synths, vocals and much more, all sounding very fresh and credible. The Bass folder includes a rather varied collection of Juno, MiniMoog and SE1 Studio Electronics bass samples to support your rhythms with, and little to no tweaking is needed to make that groove go deep. Just add a few percussion elements from the highly usable Drum Hits folder (watch out for the 808 and Jomox bass drums, hits and cymbals, they're hot and incredibly usable) and off you go.
Apart from the 'usual' elements, this pack also offers a selection of less common sounds that will definitely turn heads. We're talking about the FX and Noise Textures folders that each contain a set of elements that may sound a bit obscure at first, although they immediately reveal their magic when adding them to your sequencer. The FX folder holds a wide number of reverb sounds that'll add an powerful cosmic/psychedelic/druggy touch to your tunes (indeed, essential for deep house), while the Noise Textures folder is a wonderful source to turn to for ambient/experimental productions.
But perhaps the biggest strength of the pack as a whole are the synth sounds. Again, all sounds are divided into categories, but they all have one thing in common: they sound amazingly analog. Every single one of these samples sound incredibly powerful and some tweaking and editing here and there will be rewarded with a highly original sound that forms a killer addition to your tracks. A very valuable set of samples for the producer who isn't afraid to throw in an unexpected twist in his creations.
Loops
This sample pack includes a wide range of ready for use loops, including a set of 'full' (rx2) loops that you just need to drag and drop into your sequencer. Looking for a fast way to create a groove that will destroy the floor? Just use one of these premade rhythms, add some bass and synths here and there and Bob's your uncle. The WAV loops folder offers a batch of bass, synth, and full beat loops among others, and we must say we're especially impressed by the set of high quality Rhodes organs that sound, melodically funky, soulful and jazzy.
Patches
Included in the pack are countless patches to be used in the most common soft samplers. Check below for details.
Our verdict:
Berkson & What's Deep Electronic House sample pack is a great addition to your studio if you're looking for high quality samples to use in your (deep) house, techno, and minimal productions. For under a lousy GBP 35, you get a massive bundle chug-full of quality sounds that'll make you lock yourself up in your studio for days.
