BeatsAndBeyond.com Review: Spektre
Loopmasters continues to add sonic value to many a producer's set up by releasing multiple sample packs on a monthly basis. Among the latest packs made available is one by techno outfit Spektre (composed of producers Filthy Rich and Paul Maddox), who have designed an expansive pack for creating atmospheric, otherworldly techno. Let's crank up the sequencer and put it to the test shall we?
Spektre's pack is something completely different than Loopmaster's housier packs. This pack enables you to add those sought-after haunting techno sounds to your productions, such as reverb drums, swirling synthesizers and fierce big room kicks. We tested the pack using Ableton Live as the sequencer, Battery for the drum hits, plus a couple of soft synths to check the compatibility and usefulness of the samples in general. Unzipping the pack reveals four main folders, and as always we're starting with the Sound & FX folders.
Sounds & FX
This folder contains four subfolders (Atmospherics, Drum Hits, Instrument Multisamples and Risers & Transitions. The first one, Atmospherics, contains 13 sound waves varying from hypnotic to dark and haunting. Each sound has that distinct dark techno vibe and when chopped and tweaked a little, they definitely add a nice extra to your track. The Drum Hits section is divided over Claps, Hi-Hats, Kicks and Percussions and is a nice source for your track basics. The kick drums in here are definitely great tools to add that extra bounce to the ounce while the Percussion bits all have a slight industrial twist to them, making them odd but effective little extras.
Instrument Multisamples / Risers & Transitions
Now what makes this pack exceptionally good is the huge amount of non-drum and percussion sounds it offers. This pack gets you a buttload of extremely diverse and usable bass stabs and lines, drones, Detroit-techno keys and rave chords, each one of them sounding fresh, crispy, and sometimes downright evil. Most of them are capable of kicking the ass of many a bass module any time, and we've been working with some let me tell you that. From the Kicky Sub bass archive to Spacey Trancers, Drone Sub Bass and everything in between, this pack delivers. Big time.
The Risers & Transitions folder holds around 20 expansive sound waves ranging from low down bass to trance synthesizers, fx and percussion. We tested some of them by twisting and re-shaping them using a few standard Ableton plugins and the result was impressive. The best way to use these (just a tip!) is by slicing them up and adding them as background noise or an extra in your grooves. Trust us, you'll be amazed.
Spektre's one-of-a-kind looping insanity…
Now we already said that this pack is all about the instrumentals, and this is emphasized by the huge collection of ready-for-use WAVs, Rex Files and Sampler Patches it includes. Each one of these folders comes with a fine selection of loops that you just have to drag ‘n drop to the software tool of your choice. Next to rhythms, there's also a lot of pre-made bass loops (including some that will really upset your bowels), synth waves and oldschooly rave stuff. Just add an EQ filter, some delay and a touch of reverb and you'll be nodding to some ass-whooping techno beats soon enough.
Rex Files and Sample Patches
These folders are rigged with several files to use in your soft sampler and the vast majority of them provide a sweet enforcement to the backbone of your tracks. They work great as pre-made loops, but a little tweaking is the secret to success here.
Our verdict:
Let's hear it for Loopmasters and Spektre! We can welcome another very useful and original sample pack to the Loopmasters family, one that will definitely be a great addition to your studio if you're into the darker sides of techno.
