Loopmasters News & Reviews

Waveformless Review: SFX02 - A Perfect 10!

SFX Collection 02 is the latest release from acclaimed UK developers Wave Alchemy. It consists of over 800 hifi sound effects samples mapped into 16 instruments based on the category of sound. This makes it very quick to locate the type of sound you need and audition tons of sounds over your arrangement.

The first folder is called Cinematic Slams and consists, as one might expect, of the sorts of imposing booms, thuds, and crashes you might associate with big blockbuster movies. Tympanis, backwards cymbals, waterphones, and all manner of big sounding impacts are combined into a nicely varied selection of effects, as perfect for use in the intro to your latest club track as it is in a movie trailer.

Next up are the Cymbal FX which offer both acoustic and synthetic crashes, gongs, and cymbals processed through multi-effects chains adding panning effects, tremolo, huge reverbs, and pitch effects. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend replacing the crash in your next song with these sounds, used sparingly, they could definitely add an extra bit of uniqueness to the mix.

The Downshifter FX that follows are just what they sound like - effects aimed at transitioning a track to a lower energy level. Think of going from your big hookline to the breakdown, and you'll understand. Here you'll find tons of sweeps, swooshes, ring modulation effects, flybys, and descending effects. Again, lots of variety is available giving you tons of options to sort through to find the perfect bit.

The Impacts category is a bit similar to the Cinematic Slams, but with a more synthetic, artificial mood to them. Perfect for intros and breakdowns.

Next up are 2 instruments of Noise Tools. All of these sounds are based around white noise sampled and processed with classic analog synths as well as impressive reverbs. Sweep ups, sweep downs, wooshes, washes, reverses, and stereo effects are all available and all sound great.

Risers and Fallers consist of sounds with ascending or descending qualities that, like the Downlifters category, can be really useful as impressive transition effects between different sections in a song.

The Soundscapes Amb samples are mostly long, evolving sustained effects useful for adding texture or atmosphere to a track. Lots of impressive, granular-synthesis sounding stretched out, alien textures. While there are a lot of different types of sounds in this category, there is a decidedly menacing air to most of them.

Like the regular Impacts category, the Synth Impacts category is aimed at attention-grabbing, often bombastic sounds, but this time with a clearly electronic timbre to them versus the tymps, kettles, and bass drums of the other. Very nice and distinctly retro.

This is followed up with 2 volumes of Twisted FX. These consist of very heavily processed and manipulated samples. Lots of use of granular synthesis and spectral effects here. Great little bits of weirdness.

As you might guess, Uplifters is simply the opposite of Downlifters, offering effects aimed at raising the energy level of a track. These are those little touches that drive the audience over the edge after you've been teasing them for how ever many bars with a breakdown.

The collection rounds out with several volumes of Xtra FX. These are effects sounds of all types sourced from various bits of tasty analog kit. Subs, dubstep growls, shrieks, trilling LFO effects, sweeps - you name it. A great "grab-bag" of audio candy!

As with previous collections, the sound quality here is amazing and the programming and production of the sounds themselves is top-notch. If you make club music or do frequent remixes, there is literally no reason for you not to own this collection. But even outside "traditional" music production, people producing radio promotions, ads, or even their own films would do well to check this out.

Rating 10/10

Music Tech Review: Pro II by Wave Alchemy

Although best known for exquisite electronic drum sounds, the Wave Alchemy team has been locked away capturing the sound of the classic Pro One synth to create the company's first sample instrument, Pro II.

The main version of Pro II comes with a 3.9GB ore library and 195 presets for Kontakt 4 (and above) that make extensive use of the built-in effects and scripting.
Also available are slightly cut-down versions for Ableton Live (which features controls laid out using the instrument racks) and Reason's NN-XT sampler.

WA has gone to great lengths to deliver a dashing Kontakt GUI, with simple controls and a retro look spread across five pages, including synth controls, an effects page and a sequencer page.

In order to offer the most flexible experience, you'll find raw sine, saw, square, pulse and triangle oscillator waveforms at your disposal, with the ability to mix and match two, plus two sub-oscillators from a vintage Moog Source synth.

These sounds can be played using the keyboard of the nifty built-in 16-step sequencer, with lanes for pitch, cut-off and resonance meaning acid bass lines are a breeze to input.

To give things a more contemporary edge there's an effects section with phaser, bitcrush, distortion, flanger, chorus, delay and reverb, plus some lush sounding custom IRs giving the sounds a sense of life and space.

You'll find 38 patches programmed with this setup, plus 138 superb multi-sampled Pro One patches and 19 more complex, multi-layered Kontakt instruments. You can even load one of the programmed Pro One sounds and layer in the raw waveforms on top to create rich multi-oscillator patches. Our only gripe is that there's no way to sync the LFO and delays to host, although if you know your way around Kontakt, it's not too tricky to turn this on.

Wave Alchemy has really pulled out all the stops here and created a synth instrument that both captures the analogue heart of the original while offering enough editing options to make it a serious sound design tool.

Verdict

Combines excellent original Pro One synth sounds with a flexible interface and the ability to make your own patches using raw waveforms. The built-in sequencer makes this an absolute dream for techno producers.

Rating 9/10

Plughugger Review: Pro II by Wave Alchemy

If Sequential Circuits ever would have released a follow-up to the monophonic Pro One analog synthesizer, it might well have looked like this. Wave Alchemy does a truly remarkable job with its first synthesizer.

If the Minimoog is the dream synthesizer for performers who want to spend as little time as possible designing new sounds, the Sequential Circuits Pro One (and of course its older brother the Prophet 5) are definitely aimed for people who have a deeper interest in designing their own sounds.

As John Bowen once told me in an interview - they didn't add a third ocillator to the Prophet 5 in order to keep costs down, which led them to invent the Poly Mod section - the forerunner to the modulation matrixes we see in most synthesizers today.

The Pro One is basically a monophonic version of the Prophet 5 and has all of the Prophet's features - two oscillators, a resonant filter, an lfo and envelopes.

When the sampling maestros at Wave Alchemy started to sample the Pro One they did what the people at Native Instruments, Creamware and Arturia have already done - create a faithful clone of a legendary instrument.

But Wave Alchemy didn't limit themselves as hard as the other developers did. The spirit of the Prophet is there - but they allowed themselves to expand the concept and take the Pro One into the modern age.

What is it?

Pro II is built upon the Kontakt 4-engine from Native Instruments and NN-XT in Reason, which means this whole affair is constructed on samples - more than 6500 individual samples spanning over 3.9 gigabyte. The version tested here is the version for Kontakt.

To summarize the differences between the Pro II and the original Pro One

The Pro One has all its controls in one hardware panel. The Pro II has the controls spread over five tabs - Pro One, Pro II, Sequencer, Effects and Control.
The original has two oscillators. Pro II has two oscillators plus two sub-oscillators.
Pro II has effects.
Pro II has a built-in analog step sequencer.
Pro II allows stacking of many units (in Kontakt multi mode).
Pro One has oscillator sync and has pulse-wave modulation. Pro II has neither of those two functions (thanks to Ingo at Kvr for pointing that out).

Presets

There are three groups of presets in Pro II. First a group of 138 typical Pro One sounds. These sounds include everything from basses, leads to effects. The second group consists of 38 presets utilizing the extra features of Pro II. The last group is multis - in other words several Pro IIs layered. This category is made up by 19 presets, and is by far the most breathtaking.

The reason why there are presets for Pro One and Pro II is that this whole synthesizer is actually two. Sounds confusing? Yes, I admit it does - but it's quite easily explained. The Pro One presets are 100 percent Pro One, including the analog filters. Nothing else.

The Pro II part on the other hand utilizes the parts of the Kontakt 4 engine - among them the filters. Wave Alchemy told me they will release a version for Kontakt 5 with switchable filters. Although I never hesitate one moment to tell the world how annoyed I am with Kontakt 4, I think the filters works very well together with the Pro II oscillators.

As you probably can imagine. The Pro One presets sounds like typical analog sounds. The presets from Pro II sounds much more modern and the multis are... huge. Most readers of this blog knows I'm a fetishist when it comes to bass sounds and am not too fond of synth pads - but with the pads in Pro II I'd actually like to create music with pads. Huge, massive pads.

But the Pro II doesn't only excel when it comes to pads - happily I can inform you that it's almost as good with bass sounds.

Architecture

The architecture is what you expect from an analog subtractive synthesizer. Oscillators - filter - modulators. The additions here is that the two oscillators aren't analog but a huge number of sampled waveforms. The two sub-oscillators can be set to either sine or square. At the very end there is an effect section, which I'll go into further on.

Sequencer

The built-in step sequencer is a very cool addition. It looks great and is very easy to program. There is a randomization function built-in and you can control the sequencer via your keyboard. You can even trigger different patterns by pressing certain keys in the seventh octave. Very practical.

Effects

The available effects are phaser, distortion, bitcrush, flanger, reverb, chorus and delay - and are all (apart from the reverb) based on the built-in effects in Kontakt 4. Again - I am no fan of the effects of Kontakt - but here I have no complaints. I don't know what Wave Alchemy have done with the effects but they work very well with the sounds. The reverb is another cool addition that is entirely unexpected. By using the impulse-engine of Kontakt Wave Alchemy have provided 20 very nice reverbs from one of those ultra-expensive Eventide DSP-7000 Harmonizers.

Conclusion

Everybody who reads this blog knows I'm far from a friend of Native Instruments Kontakt. With that said, the amount of ultra-high quality instruments released based on Kontakt is staggering and Pro II is one of them. Creating sounds with the Pro II is easy. Sonically it doesn't feel like there is samples behind it. Apart from that you sometimes need to switch to another page - Pro II feels like your working with an analog synth - or rather an analog-digital-hybrid. Pro II is impressive in almost every aspect and for 40 pounds it's also a bargain. Two big thumbs up!

Future Music Review: Analogue Farmhouse

The term 'Analogue' is bandied about a lot these days, as producers search for that ever more authentic sound, but with the masters Mason at the controls this is the genuine article. In a variety of keys centred around the prime House tempo territory, this pack is full of deep, rich and wobbly waveforms. Mason have really hit the nail on the head with this one. The genre spanning set of sounds instantly resonates with inspiration and, a wealth of warm, wonky and buzzy basslines slotted right in to anything we tried them with.

The music and FX loops oozed with class, and the one shot library was hard-hitting and full bodied. Skillfully side stepping genre classification, these sounds will breathe life into any style of House that yearns for something classic sounding without being too retro. And at £25 for just shy of 950MB, this is a real gem.

Verdict: 10/10

Future Music Review: Kanji Kinetic Vol. 2

Weighing in at just over 550MB, Kanji Kinetic's subwoofer splitting Volume 2 is certainly not for the fainthearted. With audio loops split into a variety of tempos (mainly focusing on the in and around 140 and 170bpm mark), this pack leaves no stone unturned in the filth department. The bass loops in particular are saturated in all the right places and ready to be dropped straight into your tracks, as are the synth loops; however a few were slightly over-cooked in obvious 'nastiness' for our tastes.

Though the drum loops sound great, they do wander 'off topic' and some tepid one-shots might be a bit lightweight seasoned Dubsteppers and Junglists. The raga vocals, though authentic were slightly over-compressed and in places there was audible headphone spill, but this is a small griped with an otherwise great pack. Whether you're just getting into production or need something to bolster your arsenal, these are some well built sounds, if not a bit content-shy for £20.

Verdict: 8/10

Future Music Review: Progressive Tech Essentials

Uncompromising for the dance floor there's plenty to sink your teeth into with over 850MB at play. There's 16 construction kits in a variety of keys ranging from 125-128bpm with a variety of drum loops, basslines, FX sweeps and everything else associated with the Progressive/Tech House vernacular.

However with massive sidechains and modulation already in place some of the basses in particular are a little too processed and developed to drop straight into tracks. That said, this pack is worth it for the drums alone. Construction kits may not be your thing, and this isn't going to rewrite the book on House Music, but the hypnotic and thumping drum loops are a redeeming feature, certainly a lot of keepers there. Hard to justify the price, but there's some top production in here.

Verdict:7/10

Future Music Review: Swedish House Essentials

Another Swedes inspired pack that - while having nothing to do with the work of Ingrosso, Angello and Axwell - goes a significant way to serving up the same recipe for chart bound excitement. Taking gems from a multitude of genres there's big high frequency splashy FX, mighty chiming synth chords and - interestingly - lots and lots of over-excited bendy synths and even a smattering of Minimal pops and clicks for the sake of completeness. Part Tribal, part Trance the synths and beats on offer do gel together nicely and any combination produces uplifting, commercial House with an irrepressible shiny 'Pop' sheen. There 900MB of hits and loops with every bass, drum and synth given clear naming and equal emphasis. There are a few questionable inclusions that are a little wide of the mark but the great drum shots alone nail this one for us. It may be that you're looking for an injection of commerciality into your otherwise lack-luster tunes. If so this is the big bold pack you need.

Verdict: 8/10

Future Music Review: Shogun Audio D&B

Tight. That's the word for this collection. It's so macro-intense in its construction that it's often hard to gauge at just what just flashed by your ears. Drums are tuned up tightly, hats and clicks fizzle and pop and over on the dark side you'll find lashings of lovely warm ambient synth pads and punchy, dark bass. This is smooth, driving but easy to mess with D'n'B. It's at turns bright and intense but equally dark and involved. It's nice and sizey at 820MB allowing the guys to fully flex their sound design muscles and deliver something that's perfect for any D'n'B occasion. We love the Special FX and Stab sounds and the drum sets are among some of the cleanest and well-produced samples we've heard. Thoroughly recommended.

Verdict: 9/10

Rekkerd.org Review: Shogun Audio D&B

When Loopmasters released Shogun Audio Drum & Bass Vol. 1, the name Friction caught my attention. Friction aka Ed Keeley has made quite an impact on the drum and bass scene with his DJ skills and productions on various prominent labels like Hospital, Renegade Hardware, Valve, Tru Playaz, etc. I think I still have a copy of the Infantry E.P. with Friction and DJ Skinny (Nu Balance) on it, back from 1999.

I am not so familiar with the Shogun Audio, Friction's “diverse, exciting and forward thinking” drum and bass label. At the time K-Tee and Friction started Shogun Audio, I had already packed up my turntables and wasn't keeping up with new drum and bass releases much.

Icicle aka Jeroen Snik did not ring a bell either, but after reading his profile tagline on Shogun Audio's website I was expecting to like his work.

With this sample pack Friction and Icicle deliver a collection of 780 drum and bass samples, including 104 loops and no less than 676 one shot samples.

Here's a breakdown of the content:

27 bass loops
40 drum loops + 8 bonus classic drum loops
29 synth loops
30 bass one shots + 8 multi-sampled bass instruments
8 synth one shots + 12 multi-sampled synth instruments
63 stab hits
58 sound fx hits
277 drum and percussion hits
71 patches for Kontakt, HALion, EXS24, NN-XT and SFZ

The bass loops are generally silky smooth, understated yet brutal. Lots of deep sounds and plenty of filter action. Love that. The selection of drum loops is quite varied, with great overall quality. You get some beats done with sounds from classic breaks, as well as the more minimal beats reminiscing of Photek. Everything is very well programmed, though with an average of 8 bars per loop at 170+ bpm quite short in length.

I don't quite get the point of the included classic breaks. Sure it's just a bonus, but 5 short breaks and 3 amen fills with flanger effect? Not too exciting.

On to the melodic synth loops. There are no fillers here. Beautiful progressions (up to 64 bars), minimal tech stabs, moody pads, evocative dreamy keys. Very inspirational.

The single shot sounds and accompanying sampler patches feature a solid selection of sounds and fx. The bass sounds are good, but with a lot less filter and modulation they lack much of the appeal of the loops. The same with the synth samples. Great sounds - especially some of the pads - but you need to do some processing of your own to get the same vibe. Don't get me wrong though, this is how melodic single shot sounds/sampler patches are supposed to be in my opinion; a collection of supporting sounds with not too much processing going on for maximum flexibility. The stabs folder is full of classic hardcore/rave type stab sounds, chords and hits, and the sound fx folder boasts almost 60 quality original effects. Great material for spicing up your productions.

Drums and percussion samples are divided into cymbals and crashes (14), high hats (44), kicks (71), percussion (47), shuffles (28), and snares (73). Nothing earth-shattering, just a good collection of useful sounds for creating your own beats or to compliment the drum loops. The sounds are also available in 5 drum kit patches.

Where applicable everything is tagged with bpm and key for ease of use, and file names typically indicate the type of sound well.

So what do I think?

Friction & Icicle deliver some top notch content with their first sample pack. Even though the collection of loops is just some 125 MB in size, this is the heart of the library. Incredibly well-crafted bass and drum loops, combined with beautiful melodic synth loops which provide you with the authentic vibe that can only come from the hands of this production duo. That is what makes these “artist series” packs so great. My only complaint/wish in this section: I want more loops!

With the exception of the sound fx, the single shot sounds are a lot more generic. Still, this useful collection of bass, synth, pad, stab sounds and more is of high quality and suitable for a electronic music of any kind.

In short, Shogun Audio Drum & Bass Vol. 1 provides a solid collection of quality loops and sounds for drum and bass producers.

Verdict: 9/10

Rekkerd.org Review: DJ Krust - Bristol D&B

The mid 1990′s was an exciting time for me musically. Coming from a staple diet of bands like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Fugazi and the Cure, getting into music production with computers meant my interest in various genres of electronic music grew fast.

With drum and bass it was love at first sight. I instantly fell for the sounds from the likes of Goldie, Source Direct, Photek, J Majik, Dillinja, Lemon D, Ray Keith, Zinc & Hype, Trace, Ed Rush, and naturally Roni Size and his Full Cycle label mate and fellow Reprazent member Kirk Thompson aka DJ Krust.

I'm not sure which Krust track I heard first, but I know the one that made a big impact was Warhead. Whereas Krust's previous tracks resembled a lot of other early drum and bass tunes featuring the same classic breaks and 808-ish sine bass sounds, Warhead was different - jump-up if I'm not mistaken. I can still hear this tune without listening to it any time of the day.

Anyway, obviously I was excited to see one of the key players of drum and bass release an Artist Series sample library at Loopmasters: DJ Krust - Bristol Drum & Bass. And guess what, the Warhead breaks are on it!

Here's a breakdown of the content of the Bristol Drum & Bass sample pack:

30 bass loops - 8 to 32 bars.
64 drum loops - mostly 8 bars with some variations.
30 music loops - mostly string, pad and fx type sounds.
24 percussion loops - congas, bongos, shakers etc.
Patches (and single shot sounds): 5 + 12 multi bass, 99 drum sounds (26 hihats, 39 kicks, 5 perc, 29 snares) + 5 drum kits, 7 + 9 multi instruments, and 62 sound fx.

The bass loops set the stage for this sample library. They are rough and raw. This is Krust alright. Same with the drum loops, tons of beats with the classic Krust sound - uncomplicated yet full of life. The music loops are a bit sparse. Most of them are pad type sounds and some come with accompanying tail loops so you really only get about 20 melodic loops. The percussion loops are spot on and mix well with the other content. I especially like the fast bongo percussions. All the loops have key and bpm info included where relevant.

The one-shot sounds included in this library are mapped in instrument patches and multis in various formats. Most of the multis have about 3 or 4 samples each so don't expect any deep sampled sounds. For bass, drums, and melodic instruments these sounds fit in perfectly with the loops. You can tell they come from the same place. The sound fx samples are a valuable addition to the pack, and once again add to the “Krust-factor” of this collection.

Check the video from the man himself below:

So what do I think?

Drum and bass is a tricky genre. I happen to like pretty much all of its (sub)genres, but I can imagine if you're into jungle you might not like drumfunk. As far as Bristol Drum & Bass goes though, this is the real deal. I reckon that if you like drum and bass tunes by Krust, you will most definitely like this sample library as well.

The sounds are raw and authentic. It basically feels as if you were browsing samples on Krust's personal hard disk, which from the video I understand is exactly what this sample library is all about - a collection of sounds straight from the vault of a drum and bass legend.

Make sure to check the interview at the Loopmasters blog to learn more about Krust and this sample library.

Verdict: 8/10

Plughugger Review: Kick-Free Revolution 3

Review of Sound of Revolution Kick Free Revolution Vol 3: Oliver Schmitt is back with a new collection of kick free loops. If you are into electro and techno, this is a collection of loops that will help you stand out.

Oliver Schmitt is a man driven by a passion. Just like Deadmau5, Oliver Schmitt knows the art of creating drum loops that sound spot-on modern with a minimum of ingredients. For someone like me - who rather add than take away - it's almost like dark magic. But as the old idiom famously says 'the devil is in the details' - and that's what Oliver Schmitts loops are all about. Tiny details that you barely register but perceive as a whole.

In all its essence, the point of his Kick Free Revolution series is to provide the mood and the swing for drum productions. Basically all you need to do is choose and program the kick. This formula is as effective as it is clever, especially considering that these loops doesn't occupying every part of the frequency spectrum. In other words - it's easy to break out elements and tweak the loops to your own taste.

Before I forget - it's important to remember that this library is a library with only loops (both wav and Apple Loops) rex-files. The loops are conveniently put together in instruments for EXS24 and Kontakt - but there are not one single drum sounds in this library. Just loops.

There are 777 loops and they are divided into nine categories: Minimal, Hihat, Noise, Mixed, Tonal, SynthPerc, LivePerc, Kits and FX. Many of the loops come in an extra variation usually with more or less elements in them.

Each category has its own style. The LivePerc category is based on acoustic percussion sounds and the SynthPerc is based... yes, you guessed it: synthetic percussion sounds. While the loops in these categories are based on acoustic and synthetic sounds - that's just what they are. Based upon. The loops have been programmed and processed far beyond what you would probably call a traditional acoustic percussion loop. I'm not talking about mutilation of sounds - anyone can slap a multiband compressor on a loop and call it art - but creative processing dynamically over the loop.

"these loops do not only lack the kick but also the snare"

The loops are set in 127 bpm and work exceptionally well with traditional four-on-the-floor kicks (and the snare on the second and fourth beat) as well as equally traditional rock patterns. The reason for this is that these loops do not only lack the kick but also the snare. The omission of the snare might sound like a simple trick, but it makes the all difference in the world when it comes to actually use the loops in your own productions. This does it make very easy to build dynamic drums for entire track - with your favorite snares and kicks.

CONCLUSION

Being a somewhat decent producer myself - I marvel at the cunning steeped in this collection. The sounds are both carefully selected and masterfully processed. The usage of tonal elements is very clever and the loops are very dynamic - giving a feeling of ebb and flow.

If you are after the kind of sounds that will help you concur the charts of modern trance pop, this is probably too advanced for your audience. But if you are into modern electro and techno - or want to spice up your productions with those genres - there are few collections that will make you stand out in the same way as these loops will. People will think your production skills are way more advanced that they really are.

One final note about the price. In these days when you can grab gigabyte-sized libraries for 10-20 euros, a price of 64 euros is definitely high. But since the quality of these loops is so exceptionally outstanding - Kick Free Revolution files under investment, rather than expense.

DJ Mag Review: Friction & Icicle DnB

Loopmasters' 'Artist Series' provides DJ's and producers with sample packs that are intended for use in the specific genres that they are targeted to. It's proven a great revamp to an often non-inspiring selection of sample libraries created by boffins who are not on the frontline of cutting-edge dance music. Taking this philosophy one step further, Loopmasters have joined up with leading drum and bass label Shogun Audio to bring two major players of the scene together to collaborate on a truly floor-smashing pack: Friction and Icicle, who, between them, have more than enough production credits to name here.

'Shogun Audio Drum & Bass Vol.1' is a meaty pack with just under a GB of sounds, offering 104 loops and 676 one-shots samples. There are 27 speaker-wreaking bass loops, around 40 tight moving drum loops and eight bonus classic breaks for all rave lovers in the house, as well as a collection of instant track-inspiring synth loops. For producers who are a bit more musically savvy, there are bass tones and instrument samples to create riffs and basslines, the usual array of FX and over 250 single drum samples to programme beat sequences. Being Vol.1, expect some more in the series of releases via Shogun and Loopmasters. Available in the now usual formats, 'Shogun Audio Drum & Bass' is a must for producers into D&B, Dubstep, Breaks or Electronica who are looking for a tasty selection of samples.

Verdict: 8/10

Music Tech Review: Friction & Icicle Drum'n'Bass

Friction and Icicle are two leading lights in the modern drum and bass scene, offering up a combination of liquid grooves and minimal tech synth tones. Along with business partner K-Tee, Friction has pushed his Shogun Audio label to the forefront of the D&B scene with an eclectic range of cutting edge releases. The latest pack from Loopmasters sees Friction and Icicle team up for a varied collection of dance floor-ready beats, deep-tech synths and heavy basslines.

The download pack comes in your choice of ACID WAV, Apple Loops, Reason Refill and Live Pack, and also contains 71 sampler patches for Kontakt, EXS24, HALion, SFZ and NN-XT. First up are 104 loops ranging from 170-175bpm, with rounded, snarling bass sounds, deep-tech synth riffs and pads and a combination of upfront rolling beats and more quirky, glitch laden grooves. The production is excellent throughout, with thick low-mids where appropriate lending a warm sound, and all the synth loops being kept on a tight leash in order to retain space in the mix.

Although there are plenty of lashing beats on offer, most are a little more refined, with careful programming and tight grooves. There’s also a bonus folder containing eight classic breaks and drum fills for you to chop up and load into your sampler. The bulk of the pack is actually made up of the sounds and FX section, where you’ll find a large number of bass and synth hits, multisampled bass and synth instruments, ravey stabs, innovative-sounding FX and 277 heavily processed drum and percussion hits. Although a lot of the sounds here lack the originality of the loops, they’re solidly produced and offer a large range of staple D&B noises. That said, we enjoyed the inventive FX section, which features eerie stabs, processed vocal hits and risers made with machine noises, as well as the crunchy, processed drum sounds that would easily cut through a mix.

This is a well rounded pack full of both classic and original, new drum and bass sounds. Most of the hits and loops are kept quite short, so you’ll have to do some programming work to fill out your arrangement, but these elements make this an excellent raw resource for D&B and electronic music producers.

Verdict: 8/10

Music Tech Review: Complextro

Since our review of Loopmasters' excellent French Electro House pack back in Issue 99, producer Utku.S has gone on to start his own sample label, Freaky Loops, which focuses on providing upfront electronic sounds. The first release is called Complextro, so named after the schizophrenic new genre made famous by the likes of Deadmau5 and Skrillex, which combines elements of heavy dubstep, glitch and electro house styles.

The pack contains 682MB of 24-bit loops in WAV format, with the majority at 128bpm and a few at 130bpm. You'll find bass, drums, top-loops, music loops and combi loops, seven construction kits and several FX and synth multisamples. As with the French Electro House pack, the production is aggressive and upfront, with pumping synth lines and resonant analogue bass lines processed through an array of different distortions. Although you won't find a great deal of variety, the quality remains high throughout, with a raw finish gracing most bass and synth loops. We found it easy to create a number of different Complextro bass line riffs by chopping and changing the different four-bar loops on offer.

The drums follow a similar route and range from fuller beats with fast hi-hat shuffles to more stripped back but driving kick and snare grooves. Ideally, we would have liked to have each beat presented as its component parts so we could lay them out in our arrangement, but the drum top loops go some way to rectifying this.

Although the construction kits are a useful addition, it would have been nice to have more, and the combi loops may be a little too full-sounding for some. Finally, there's a small collection of synth FX and a slightly disappointing four multisampled instruments.

If you're after dance floor destroying bass synth loops you're in the right place as this is Utku.S' forte. Although the pack could have been made a little more flexible with more riff variations, you'll find a decent amount of chunky beats, nice arps and FX.

Verdict: 8/10

TheNews.co.uk Review: Iconical Vocal Acapellas Vol. 2

Hot on the heels of the marvellous Iconical Vocal Acapellas Vol 1 comes the second volume - a most welcome collection indeed.

This set of royalty-free full vocal acapellas from Iconical Music features the vocal talents of several excellent from electro pop to rock and dance to breakbeat.

You can even timestretch the vox without destruction to fit slower or faster tempos - the choice is yours.

They are crystal clear, tuneful, in a good variety of keys and tempos and make a refreshing change from run-of-the-mill phrases and glitch vox which seem to be ten a penny nowadays.

There is also a good mix of female and male vocals - and the icing on the cake is that there are verses, chorus lines, bridges and backing tracks - so you'll have no excuse not to turn out a banging, ear-pleasing track.

As I've mentioned many times before, it's easy to spend ages trawling the web to find some decent vocals but you always tend to end up disappointed so it's fantastic to see that Loopmasters have filled the void - and with great aplomb.

The pack can be bought as a whole, or tracks can be purchased separately with included Dry and Wet stems for maximum flexibility.

Iconical Vocal Acapellas Vol. 2 weighs in at 340MB, and includes 111 vocal stems in 24 Bit, and covering BPms between 105 to 128 BPM. The tracks include Barricade which includes 16 dry loops and 17 Wet versions; Crying Game includes 14 Dry Loops and 14 Wet; Going Underground includes 9 Wet and 7 Dry Loops; I'm On Fire includes 8 Dry Loops and 8 Wet FX Versions - and The Sweetest Sin includes 5 Dry Loops and 5 Wet, plus you also get an additional bonus folder with various shorter phrases and song ideas.

Equipment used by the singers include a Rode K2 with a retro fitted Electroharmonix tube, a Broadhurst Gardens Mic channel and a UAD quad core card. When selecting the appropriate version for your requirements the Zip (Main) format includes Acidised Wav and Rex2 Loops - all single (non-looping) sounds and Sampler Patches for Kontakt, Halion, NNXT, EXS24 soft samplers. Reason Refill, Ableton Live Packs and Apple Loops are not included, and must be purchased where available as a separate downloads. Apple Loops packs also include any single hits and EXS patches where applicable.

If in doubt, Loopmasters recommend you purchase the Zip (main) format which is usable with nearly all DAWs.

TheNews.co.uk Review: The Baker Brothers Funk Vol. 1 & 2

If you've been searching high and low for some of the very best funk sounds around today then you need look no further.

Monster Sounds and Loopmasters have gathered together two fine volumes of top quality loops and samples from the fabulous Baker Brothers collective.

The Baker Brothers have been rocking dance floors far and wide with their huge entertaining live show for nearly 10 years now.

With seven albums and numerous other releases under their collective belt the band have toured Japan and Europe extensively delivering an explosive, killer funk show!

They recently sold out Soho's legendary Ronnie Scotts and have supported legends such as Sly and The Family Stone, Jools Holland and John Schofield.

Their infectious, Raw Beats and Bass Lines underpin edgy Melodic Horns and Funky Guitars.

Over their consistently prolific career so far they have gained critical acclaim by the likes of Mr Scruff, DJ Muro, Keb Darge, Florian Keller and The Roots.

They have worked with guests such as Average White Band's Hamish Stewart, Vanessa Freeman of Reel People and UK percussion legend Snowboy.

So that 'honours list' proves you simply cannot go wrong with this ace library of sounds.

In these 100 per cent royalty-free Funk Sample releases - The Baker Brothers have laid down some fantastic funked-up basslines, keys, horns, flutes and guitars in a truly spectacular collection.

Volume One weighs in at 1.6GB and includes 645 samples, of which 579 are loops between 86-130bpm, and 66 one-shots, all recorded through valve equipment using fantastic mics and captured in pristine 24 Bit.

Producers of Funk, Hip Hop, Breaks, Cinematic and Downtempo styles will be amazed at the quality of these sounds.

Also included are seven ready to play patches for Reason NNXT, Halion, Kontakt, EXS and SFZ compatible Samplers. Apple Loops, Reason Refill and Ableton Live versions are also available separately.

Volume Two also weighs in at 1.6GB and includes 772 samples, of which 531 are loops between 86-130bpm plus a hefty 241 one-shots. Also included are five patches for Reason NNXt, Halion, Kontakt, EXS and SFZ compatible Samplers.

Again, Apple Loops, Reason Refill and Ableton Live versions are available separately.

So across both volumes you are in command of shedloads of basslines, drums, Fender Rhodes, guitars, horn sections, flutes, sax, trumpet and percussion loops.

So what are you waiting for? Get over to the Loopmasters site today and check out the demo and be amazed!

TheNews.co.uk Review: Moody Boys

ALSO coming highly recommended this week is this ace library of 'Dub Electronica' from the excellent Moody Boyz.

Dub Electronica includes 17 large construction kits which broken down include 99 Full Loops, 38 Percussion Loops, 79 inspirational Dub Music Loops, 3 FX Loops, four Vox Loops, 134 Drum Loops, 31 Bass Loops, plus 61 Single Drum Samples.

It's great for the good old 'mix 'n' match scenario and I even pulled out a grinding jelly wobble bass to slap into a crunk track because the quality of the recordings means timestretching - either up or down - is a doddle, without any quality dropout whatsoever.

It's a nice and different collection with plenty of ear candy to give your 'dance tempo' tracks some cutting edge.

It comes in at 1.75 gigs at a bargain £29.95. Check the site for tech specs.

Computer Music Review: Friction & Icicle

This library from two of the biggest names in deep and dark DNB is a solid package. The single hits are the star of the show. The 644MB of one shot drums, bass, FX, stabs and synths makes it one of the better DnB libraries around, while the extra multi-samples and loops sweeten the deal. Many DnB libraries fail to provide much useful content, but this is great for veterans and newbies alike.

Verdict: 9/10

Computer Music Review: Kanji Kinetic

Pure filth is the name of the genre here, presented at 140bpm and 175bpm. Subtlety is not within producer Kanji Kinetics remit – everything here is big and brash, with huge distorted bass noises and overdriven drums. Those after sounds not already mangled to death should look elsewhere, but for a quick and dirty way to make up front, filthy bass music, this library hits home.

Verdict: 8/10

Computer Music Review: Abstract & Weird 2

This weird and wonderful pack comprises 200 loops at 127bpm in various formats including WAV, REX files and sampler patches. There's plenty of phasing, flanging, filtering and extreme EQ and distortion going on, resulting in loops with unique timbres and feels. It's as slick as you'd expect from Sounds of Revolution. Take a listen to the demo before you invest, as it is an acquired taste

Verdict: 7/10

Waveformless Review: Pro II by Wave Alchemy

After releasing a number of high quality loop and one-shot drum samples, developers Wave Alchemy are back with something a bit different this time. Pro-II is the company's first instrument built for Native Instruments Kontakt (minimum 4.2 required, and no, this won't work with the free Kontakt Player). This is exciting news in itself, but as the font on the packaging may have tipped you off, the source of these sounds is the revered Sequential Circuits Pro One. Got your attention now?

What is it?

Pro-II is a virtual instrument built in Kontakt that makes extensive use of that program's scripting and GUI capabilities. Although it includes over 150 multi-sampled presets, Wave Alchemy also provided samples of the Pro One's raw oscillators allowing you to sculpt your own. This is done via five pages of controls that mimic the look of the old Sequential synths. These pages are divided by Preset (with a basic "easy" selection of parameters to tweak on the multi-sampled presets), Raw Oscillator (with controls for the 2 oscillators, 2 sub oscillators, white and pink noise generators, and more available in the 'synth' mode), a Sequencer (to sequence Cutoff, Resonance, and Note Values), an effects section with reverb, chorus, delay, bit crushing, flanging, phasing, and distortion, and a Control page allowing you to select whether the sound is mono or poly, unison settings, etc. So clearly, while the Pro One provides the inspiration for this instrument, the Wave Alchemy team decided to bring it into the 21st Century with features you won't find on the original.

The Sounds

Anyone who has played or owned a Pro One will instantly recognize its tone here... buzzy, warm, and tight as a duck's behind. The sampling is of the quality we've come to expect from Wave Alchemy - damn near perfect. Split points among the multi-samples are undetectable, and looping is smooth as can be. There's a good selection of "bread and butter" sounds including analog strings, funky basses, and leads, as well as more unusual FM and cross-mod type sounds that blur the line between digital and analog.

The Verdict

If you're a fan of the Pro One and don't have access to one, I don't know why you're still reading this. For the price, this is an outstanding value and the additional programmability will extend its shelf life as far as you care to take it. I've often said that where a lot of softsynths fall down is in the oscillators, not the filters, as many people say (it's probably a bit of column a, a little of column b). If that's the case, there's something to be said for using samples of the real deal versus trying to emulate it in software. Honestly, some of the most convincingly "analog" sounding patches I've made are for the sample-based Omnisphere. So while you won't have the same instability of tone you might from the real deal, this gets you close and without the headaches the real thing can provide. And while this relies on Kontakt's filters instead of modeled ones (in the Raw mode), for most purposes, it sounds fairly close. Of course the multi-sampled sounds have plenty of actual Pro One filter sound, so there's a bit of that available to you as well. Overall, I'm not quite ready to sell my Pro One yet, but I can tell already this is an instrument I'll get a lot out of!

Rating: 10/10

Future Music Review: Octane & DLR

Just when you thought DnB had got as formulaic as it possibly could along comes Drum and Bass Rollers to give the bulging D'n'B sample library business a proper kick up the arse.

Funky, unusual, well organised and supremely useful, every one of the sounds and hits are here will slot into and enliven any in-progress hard stepping D'n'b tune. The accent is on pacey excitement rather than ear-burning nastiness or Jazz-fused funkiness with a natural, organic sound throughout. Packing 129 loops and 157 one shots and 28 sampler instruments there's more than enough inspiration here to get you busy. Recommended.

Verdict: 8/10

Future Music Review: Spectre

Superb stuff. A great toolkit of useful sounds with a 'big' effect-heavy old school sound. Stick to the content of the pack and make deep, mainroom bangers. Or help yourself to any of the hundreds of loops and breaks on offer here and that big sound in an instant.

The pack is a serious mix, low on novelty value insanity and high on class and quality. Bass loops and scary synths are designed to inspire and a nice line in flickering, crunchy top loops give a nice retro vinyl flavour. A great piece of unusual ammo for anyone making any form of House.

Verdict: 9/10

Future Music Review: Dutch Electro House

Ok. Time to get a little kerrazy. Laden with more bendy synths than you've had barmy nights out, this insane collection of beats and synths is like a textbook of cutting edge House. Part deep hollow kicks and old skool ravey drums and part 'car alarm goes mental' synthesizer, the package is a completed and glued together with some great vocal chops, banging metallic percussion and radio-tuning spot effects.

There's 8-bit crunch, and a sci-fi sound effects at every turn making a faultless collection – thanks to the inate wackiness throughout – rather limits its usability in any genre other than its target. That said, it nails the Dutch sound dead.

Verdict: 7/10

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.

Verdict: 8.0/10

Music Tech Review: Kelevra

Monster Sounds is the relatively new samples label from club veterans Aquasky. They've released a string of no-nonsense dance-floor ready packs created by top artists and producers from around the world, plus a dirty House music pack under their own alter-ego Black Noise Warehouse, and several vocal packs featuring American MC's and rappers. The latest release is a fresh collection of Jackin', Tech and Electro House loops and one-shots courtesy of prolific bassline house producer Kelevra.

The download pack contains around 720 MB of 24-bit audio and comes in either ACID WAV/REX2/Apple Loops/Live Pack or Reason Refill formats. There is also a substantial amount of hits and multi-sampled instruments that have corresponding sampler patches for EXS24, Kontakt, HALion, NN-XT and SFZ.

Unsurprisingly, for a man known for his love of bassline sounds, this pack doesn't disappoint in the bass department. Not only do you get some tasty bass loops, but there's also a good number of aggressive dives and wobbles, big, resonant multi-samples and no fewer than 21 sub-bass sounds. Balancing this you'll also find tech and Dutch-style synth loops, big trance lead multi-samples, raucous SFX and a smattering of strummed guitar chords.

Although these feature some interesting use of reverb and delay, we occasionally found some of the riffs to be a little on the cheesy side.

In respect to drums you get a decent amount of processed hits plus a well thought-out collection of meaty, upfront loops, each with a top loop, full loop and variation.

Finally, there are 161 male vocal loops, shouts and phrases. Although many of the shouts are slightly clichéd (and all are provided with reverb rather than dry),there are plenty of potential hooks available and this is a nice addition to the pack.

This is a well-crafted and laid-out pack, but despite flirting with tech house grooves and big rave synths, it's the exquisite bass sounds that will keep us coming back for more.

Verdict: 8/10

BeatsAndBeyond.com Review: Jamie Anderson

Tech-house boss Jamie Anderson has compiled two massive sound libraries for Loopmasters, your number one spot for ass-whooping royalty free samples. Jamie's many years of studio experience and headliner gigs at Panorama Bar, Love Parade and Cocoon have made him one of the most credible and versatile artists in the house scene and his productions on Radio Slave's Rekids, Alter Ego's Klang Elektronik and Sven Väth's Cocoon imprints have made him a personal favorite of Richie Hawtin, Dj Sneak and Laurent Garnier amongst many others, which explains why we have been looking forward to his packs for quite some time.

Enough with the name-dropping. Obviously you want to know if this pack is a worthy contribution to your studio setup. Let's find out...

We road-tested this sample pack using Ableton Live 7, a digital drum machine, and a few soft synths for compatibility reasons. As is the case with all Loopmasters products, all sounds are divided in four main folders: Patches, Rex (Loops), Sounds & FX and Wav Loops. Each folder contains a set of sub folders dedicated to specific sounds such as kicks, drums, hi-hats etc. In total, that means nearly 900 MB of sample madness split into 1,200 samples, 220 loops, 990 single shot samples... and loads more.

Sounds & FX

This folder is one of the biggest in the pack and ranges from analogue synth sounds to chords, hats & shakers, kick drums and everything in between. The Analogue Synths and Bass sounds are divided into C & G keys and are extremely usable for adding short key stabs to your house productions, while the Kick drum section contains some of the crispiest punches we ever heard in a pack. But what really makes this section special is the huge amount of bass sounds, which comes with some of the best sounds we ever heard outside of any regular dedicated bass module. The Juno 106 bass sounds are incredibly warm and fit to you in pretty much any composition regardless of genre, while the 'regular' bass sounds will also come in handy when you want to add a bit of nastiness to your rhythms. In terms of basic rhythm parts, this section really stands out from the already high quality packs we heard from Loopmasters so far.

Wav Loops & Rex

Divided into Bass, Musical and Drum Loops, this collection of sounds (123-128 bpm) contains a myriad of sweet pre-manufactured loops to use as an extra in your productions. The Musical loops vary from trancey (in a very house kind of way) to minimal, with each of them sounding very basic to trigger your creativity. The Drum loops (tech-house alert!!) would be our pick of the bunch, but the others are honestly just as good.

Patches

The Patches department also houses a huge amount of loops to use in combination with EXS24, Halion, Kontakt, NNXT and SFZ. They're similar to the WAV loops, but load these babies into your sampler and a whole new world of creative opportunities will open before your very eyes.

Our verdict:

Top marks for this one! The ever reliable Loopmasters collective has managed to drop another massive collection of samples that will definitely be of great value to your music. The Sounds & FX section is among the biggest and most versatile we have come across in any of the Loopmasters products so far, with the Loops and Patches sounds completing a formidable sound library.

Rating: 8.3/10

Computer Music Review: Dom Kane Electro Tech

This pack covers the more commercial side of the genre, with Calvin Harris-esque chord stabs and Wolfgang Gartner-style synth riffs. The drum loops come with and without kicks and sound immediately ready for the floor, while the effects are as standard or as out-of-this-world as you need them to be. With a sweet 800MB of content, every mainroom electro producer should own this

Verdict: 9/10

Computer Music Review: Moombahton

Moombahton is a genre that's been championed by the bass-crazed likes of Diplo and Major Lazer, and this is a varied pack with the tempo circling around 115bpm. There's focus on calypso rhythms and percussion with an analogue approach, while the synth loops are monotonous and raw in tone. Fans of MIA and Diplo will cherish this pack (and it's price).

Verdict: 8/10

Loopmasters And Producertech Launch ReasonCourses.com

Reasoncourses.com is the latest joint venture from sample boutique Loopmasters and online music production academy Producertech LTD. It is a new website which features two online Reason video courses for beginners, intermediate and advanced level students, which has been designed and delivered by qualified trainer Rob Jones.

The concept of this new website is to allow students of all abilities and locations to login and study online whenever they choose, getting professional instruction and support as modules are delivered. If you want to get the most out of your Reason software suite and learn all the latest tips, tricks and workflow methods then this brand new online training course provides the perfect solution for you.

The course caters for those with the very latest version of Reason, as well as users of previous versions too, covering both the old and new formats and feature sets. Furthermore, with an included bonus tutorial that teaches the new effects in Reason 6, these are the first online courses of this nature to be 100% up to date.

Operations Director Tim Dawson states "The feedback we constantly receive is that students love learning through watching these videos at their own pace and in the comfort of their own home. Our courses are supported by course materials, notes and sessions which you download from our website as you progress. We are proud as a company to be a pioneer in online learning in the music industry".

The modular courses contain lessons of around 30 minutes each, with the 27 modules beginning at initial setup and audio/MIDI basics and introducing various advanced processing and mixing techniques, which culminate in the producing of a cutting edge remix. Students are supplied with comprehensive notes and Reason Sessions to work along to during each module, which are accessed via downloadable course packs that also features a huge collection of Reason-optimised samples and instrument presets from Loopmasters (worth over £50). Students also get access to a private online forum where they can chat together and talk directly with Rob and other students about the course and their progress.

Prospective students can download a free information pack from the site here: http://www.reasoncourses.com/info_packs/reason_infopack.pdf to find out more details, and can watch a free module from each course to judge the quality of content for themselves without any obligation to buy: http://www.reasoncourses.com/signup.asp

The price is £149/$230 for a single course, or just £225/$360 for both courses when purchased together.

SPECIAL OFFER

Get 20% off any course or combination at both Reasoncourses.com or sister sites Live-courses.com or Logic-courses.com with this special promo code: LM20

Future Music Review: Dom Kane Electro Tech

Dom Kane has nailed it here. Straddling both Pop House sounds with classic, Tech House, there's plenty to be had. The quality is top notch, especially in the ultra flexible drum loops that come with or without kicks and have separate folders of tasty extras. These include percussive top lines and cymbal work that can help inject a layer or groove or lift your beat at new points in the arrangement. The basslines are particularly cool, with Kane really showing off his programming skills and ear for a catchy riff. It's a great starter pack for anyone looking to create Dance music, plus the Drums and Bass samples will be a tempting cheat for experienced producers too.

Verdict: 9/10

Future Music Review: Prok And Fitch

The Brighton House duo serve up a righteous array of Funky House samples, with deep subs, percussive basslines, dry and processed vocals and all the elements you need for a commercial club banger. The brilliant thing here is that the samples are paired back enough to be extremely useful in many situations. Bass loops are sparse but thick in production and easily editable. Vocals are clean when needed and many of the drum loops are kick-free, adding more freedom in your own tracks. A killer feature of the pack is the folder called groovefillers, these small effects loops and noises give you those details that can inspire a whole new part in your arrangement. Leave it to the pros and they will deliver. It's Vengence House, without the guilt.

Verdict: 9/10

Future Music Review: Punx Soundcheck

It's the cross pollination of ideas that make for great inspiration with individual hits, multi-sampled instruments, patches and full blown loops. The loops themselves sound a little lack lustre, especially the drums, so in production you'll need to tweak. You're spending your for nice sound choices and off the wall rhythms here. The main pulses are interesting mixes of drum loops, the ripping bass sounds, multi sampled analogue synths and the mix of genres. Worth a look.

Verdict: 7/10

AltSounds.com Review: Tribal And Tech House by WA

Wave Alchemy's latest sample pack is Tribal and Tech House, described as "an exciting selection of tribal infused tech house rhythms and authentic percussive ensembles." For the sample library world this is a breath of fresh air as a lot of sample packs these days seem to be heavily drum and bass, dubstep and trance orientated.

This pack contains plenty of funky percussion sounds, kick loops and glitches with excellent effects. As with most sample packs the loops are arranged in categories, which are; groove assist and layering tools, mixed percussion and tribal, percussion loops, shakers and sticks, tech top loops and xtra bonus kick loops.

Groove assist and layering tools consists of tribal sound effects, glitches, percussion loops, vocal, crowd and chant samples to name a few. There are some really moody grooves that ooze a tribal feeling and the crowd sounds give the loops a full and exciting carnival feel. The raw percussion loops are an inspired feature of this pack. Being able to use unprocessed live percussion loops in a mix really brings it to life and gives it that live feeling which can so often be lost in electronic music. This sample pack has an undeniable organic feel and could really bring something new and fresh to enhance a mix.

The mixed percussion and tribal samples have some loops with African/Cuban style instrumentation and polyphonic rhythms that make you feel like you are in the middle of a carnival. With instruments such as bongos, congas, shakers, woodblocks, bells, djembes and the sabar (a west African drum), this pack is filled with hip-shaking grooves.

The tech top loops and xtra bonus kick loops is where the tech house really kicks in, the samples have a more electronic/house feel. They have professionally added effects and heavier processing to give them an edgier sound. In particular the xtra kicks are really well processed and have a really strong, clean kick beat. The mix of raw percussion, tribal sounds and tech loops adds to the diversity of this sample pack giving it originality.

All of the samples are well made and extremely high quality and this sample pack is a reasonable price of £27.95. You can listen to a demo track of tribal and tech house where you can hear the quality and originality of this pack, you can also download some free samples.

Samples.org Review: House Anthems

Finding house samples is difficult at the best of times, but finding clean, rhythmic, sexy, professionally mastered house samples is like trying to find a hooker at the vatican.

If you're looking for the best house samples, then look no further. I've found that hooker at the vatican. She goes by the name of House Anthems.

Sergei Hall and Keiron McTernan, otherwise known as My Digital Enemy, are smashing their way through the dance scene with their unique and original sound. Their productions receive global recognition and accreditation by the worlds biggest DJ's including Judge Jules, Paul Oakenfold and Roger Sanchez...

... and now you can get a piece of their sound with their highly acclaimed House Anthems sample CD. The biggest, and best, house samples beyond compare. No house sample CD steps close to this one.

Featured on the CD is 2GB of symphonious samples that will catapult your productions to the forefront of the dance world. Some of the samples on the CD includes:

Bass Loops
House Drum Loops
Glitchy Percussions
Arpeggios
House Kicks and House Snares
Tech Noise
Electro Bleeps
Hook Construction Loops
Melodic Construction Kits
Piano Loops
Jaw Dropping Synth Loops
Vocal Loops
Gates and Side Chain FX
FX One Shots
FX Loops
Vocal shots

Being the biggest house sample CD on the market you can expect quality. Each sample is pre-mastered to a very high standard allowing you to use these samples straight out of the box!

Sample formats are available in the classic wave format, Reason 5 refill, Apple Loops and Ableton Live 7 loops.

As a side note, personally speaking, what I find really useful is if I layer 2 drum elements, such as a snare, add a bit of EQ, I have a totally new and unique sample! Which means with a bit of creative thought you're never going to need to purchase another house sample CD again.

EQTV.DJ review: Trevor Loveys - Deep In House

In 2000 Trevor Loveys met up with Dave Taylor and started working on various projects together, the most successful of which was to become the renowned Switch. This collaboration yielded some of the most distinctive house sounds of the decade, a sound which has been dissected and laid bare on the new Loopmasters sample pack.

As always, there really is a wide range of options for the user. With various sampler formats on offer - EXS24, HALION, KONTAKT, NNXT, SFZ and REX - you have a wealth of choices from which to control and effect each sample. And if you're a fan of Trevor's sound, you won't be disappointed as this includes all the elements from his past and present work. The package has been labelled Deep In House, but Trevor's take on deep is a bit different from what you might expect. He's a purveyor of bass music, and here he has created 12 different types of bass ranging from the classic pure house bass to the nastiest of saw-wave basses. These are available in one-shot formats and also in a range of keys. These bass sounds are then used to create various loops.

Bass is not the be all and end all though, as Trevor puts together a mean beat. These come at you as a one-shot or as part of a killer loop. The package is completed with some tripped-out, spacey FX, tight strings and various chord hits. A great all-rounder package which gives you all the singular parts needed to build a very solid track.

http://www.eqtv.dj

Future Music Review Trevor Loveys - Deep In House

Kick back and feel the quality. While some collections go “cheese-on” to be as nasty as possible, Trevor Lovey’s collection is as sweet as its name implies. This is like being playfully punched with a velvet boxing glove.

Funky smooth grooves and warm fat synth basslines rule here, with sweet synth stabs and lush electric Rhodes pads. Great ambient vocals and chords will fill your tracks and inspire classy new grooves, and even when the synths do cut loose they do it with sheer class. Just the job for getting a little old school Soul and Jazz into your club tracks. Recommended

Verdict: 9/10

BeatsAndBeyond.com Review: Santos

One of Loopmasters' most exciting sample packs for tech-house producers is the one made by seasoned producer Santos. Here's the full analysis.

Among the latest contributions to the Loopmasters sample treasury is this huge pack created by Italian producer Santos, known for having released over 400 (!) releases in the past ten years. And Santos knows just what the producer is looking for, as evidenced by his massive sample pack. Let's first go over some specs: the full download gets you no less that 1.4 GBs of sounds, which equals 600 samples divided in a wide number of categories. There's 330 loops between 115 and 126 bpm, 270 one shot samples recorded at 24Bit and 62 patches for Reason NNXT, Halion, EXS, SFZ and Kontakt compatible soft samplers. Enough to keep yourself in heavy studio lockdown for weeks to come.

Now, is it any good? Yessir. We ran an extensive test in Ableton and found ourselves nodding our head to a self-produced massively rocking rhythm within mere minutes (much to the hilarity of bypassers, and chagrin of the neighbors). And it's plain to see why: this sample pack delivers sheer quality sounds tailored for the production of house, tech-house and techno. We first dug through a serious heap of pre-made loops, of which the vast majority are top-of-the-bill chunks of floorflilling beat mania that will cater to any tech house fanatic out there. Just add a bit of EQing, a compressor and perhaps, oh I don't know, some delay and you've got yourself a kick-ass foundation for your track. Great stuff, but we're always more fond of constructing our very own rhythms, and this is where the gold-plated one-shot samples come in handy. Bass hits, drum hits, fx, synth hits and multi's, it's all there for the taking and God they're good. The drum hits folder comes with a massive amount of percussive hits that will really make your creative outings a whole lot punchier and richer. Some of the drum hits contain an underlying bass or after effect, which results in surprising twists when added to your soft sampler. Last up in the main folder category are the Wav Loops and again we have to say they're incredibly suitable for both copy and pasting as adjusting to meet your demands.

Our verdict:

While we've heard many great sample packs before, Santos' addition has become a refreshing, incredibly useful, envelope-pushing sample pack. The Loop part is astounding, but what really excited us where the awesome one-shot samples. Another great value for money product from Loopmasters, hands down.

8.5/10

Future Music Review: Jamie Anderson Vol 2

This pack is amazingly well produced but the loop content won't be for everyone. With a huge proportion garnered from Anderson's 909, it's very niche. Synth sounds are more fun with Anderson sampling up loads of hardware and delivering some gorgeous melodies and hooks. The most attractive feature about this sample set and the sampler patches, which deliver great sounds spread across your keyboard for either EXS24, HALion, Kontakt, NNXT, and SFZ formats.

The quality overall is extremely high but this is a very specifically tailored set of sounds, so might not be for you unless you're seeking that slightly retro touch.

Verdic: 8/10

Future Music Review: Tribal & Tech House by WA

Blending the bouncy sound of tribal percussion alongside jacking Techy basslines, this pack has plenty of good vibes to liven up your tracks with the classy percussion really useful, especially when chopped and used as percussion fills. A folder of what Loopmasters call "groove assist and layering tools" are also great for injecting that swing where needed, whether it be bass, vocal cuts or noisy side-chained percussion - it's all useful. This pack is not only extremely useful within its genre, but could be fractured up into many genres of four-to-the-floor dance. From Toolroom to Hed Kandi this is a great set.

Verdict: 9/10

Computer Music Review: DJ Krust

Bristol is known for its bass-heavy approach, and DJ Krust is a legend on the scene. His pack is made up of 500mb of samples and with everything around 175bpm, it's ready for the floor. The musical loops are a bit thin, but the basslines are impressive and there are plenty of high quality one-shots. There's a lot of character here too, which sample packs don't always deliver on.

Verdict: 8/10

Music Tech Review: Reel People Vol. 4

The Reel People are back with Volume 4 of their hugely successful Broken Beat, Nu Jazz and Soul series on Loopmasters. Once again, Papa Records founder Oli Lazarus delves into his sample vaults for an eclectic collection of funk fuelled, Latino loops.

The pack is available in ACID WAV, Apple Loops, Rex2, Live Pack and Reason ReFill formats and contains619mb of 24-bit audio plus 28 sampler instrument patches for Kontakt, EXS24, HALion, NN-XT and SFZ.

Volume 4 in the series offers up much the same as the previous packs - namely, live drum and percussion loops, hits and FX, several one-shot riffs and multi-sampled instruments alongside a mixed bag of instrumental loops and phrases. The overall vibe is a mixture of deep, laid-back chords, with more upbeat, funk and carnival grooves played on acoustic and electric guitar and bass, flute, organ, piano, Rhodes, strings and synths. There's an incredibly loose, natural feel to every element here with expert performances throughout, and even the synth parts remaining unquantised. Although each instrument resides in its own folder, we occasionally found the layout to be a little random, as some have only a few short riffs and others have longer phrases . That said, there's plenty to inspire, and a mere sprinkling of these samples into any track would undoubtedly add plenty of life and energy. The individual hits are equally random, but again, there are some jewels tucked away, including a fantastic collection of percussion hits. Our favourite element, however, is the organic-sounding drum and percussion loops, which are broken down into their component parts for easy arrangement.

Although this is a great-sounding pack, some may feel a little restricted by the small number of certain instrumental loops on offer, and as such, we'd love to see all four packs combined to form the ultimate collection of deep Latin House samples. That aside, there are still plenty of beautifully recorded and played riffs and grooves here that could easily breathe a sense of live performance into your tracks.

VERDICT - 8/10

A good collection of well-played and recorded, energetic live riffs ready to breathe Latin life and soul into your house tracks.

DJ Mag Review: Dirty Dutch House

As ever tapping into the dominant dancefloor sounds of the moment, Loopmasters "Dirty Dutch House" aims to give the modern producer the sounds they need to be the next Sidney Samson or Afrojack - but does it succeed?

124 drum loops kick things off, ranging from straight up electro House to the more urban/Dancehall influenced vibe that's so hot right now. The standard is high, both in terms of programming and sonically, and the loops are backed up by a healthy selection of one sot samples. Next up, a decent range of fairly aggressive bass loops move your production forward, as well as some very interesting FX and chopped vocal loops that would happily suit other "deeper" dancefloor genres.

However, Dutch House is all about those distinctive, squealing synths and speaker busting leads. Included are well over a hundred inspirational loops ranging from those suitable for more traditional electro House, to extreme fidget-y pitch bends, heavily distorted dancehall-tinged stabs and epic side-chained pads drenched in reverb.

The verdict? Unlike some other sample packs dedicated to a particular sound or scene, Loopmasters definitely gets it right.

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.

Rating: 8.0/10

BeatsAndBeyond.com Review: Alex Niggemann's House Pack

German DJ/producer Alex Niggemann's addition to the Loopmasters Sample Pack range is one budding house music producers will love...

Now this sample pack is one sweet deal. For under 30 bucks, you get 883 mb of sounds. That's 497 24 Bit samples, with 287 Loops between 115-126 Bpm, and 192 one Shot House Samples. Also included are 59 patches for Reason NNXt, Halion, EXS, SFZ and Kontakt soft samplers. Ableton Live Pack, Reason Refill and Apple Loops versions are also available to purchase separately.? In detail this supreme House sample collection contains 47 Dance Floor Ready Bass Loops, 32 Clubbed Up Drum Loops, 97 Inspirational Music Loops and Melodies, 53 Add on Percussive Loops, 52 Top Loops, 7 Vocal Loops, 115 Single House Drum One Shot Samples, 26 Dance FX, 34 Instrument One Shots, 10 Bass Single Shots and 6 Vocal FX . Right, so far for the specs, now let's find out how all this actually sounds.

We tested this pack in Ableton Live 7 and used a third-party soft sampler on the side. The thing that surprised us first was the incredibly crisp clear sound of the samples. Ever spent hours leveling the basics of your bass? Those days are over, as this pack offers a collection of one shot samples for instant use. The instruments and FX are top-of-the-bill too, but what really makes this pack stand out from the crowd are its amazing set of loops. There's almost 300 of 'em right here, all of which sound solid. Just drag'em into your productions, throw in the EQs, add some fx and off you go.

Our verdict:

Alex Niggemann's sample pack is a must-have collection for dance producers who aren't afraid of using pre-made loops into their productions. The separate, one-shot samples are really great, but the loops in this pack take the grand prize. Available now.

Rating: 8.0/10

Megamind Magazine Review: Alex Niggemann - "I Call It House"

This is a very solid pack of samples from a leading light in the current dance scene and will no doubt feature on many future dance floor smashes. Whether you make Chicago, Deep, Tech or Mainroom styles of Dance music - Alex Niggemann Calls it HOUSE!

Alex’s productions enjoy a solid reputation, and it was no surprise to see him being positioned in Resident Advisor's "Top 20 Charted Artists" ahead of DJ's such as Loco Dice, Joris Voorn or Ben Klock. Alex Niggemann launched his Soulfooled label together with Marc Poppcke and Oliver Fritsche from Superlounge in spring. The label has already signed a number of famous international artists including Audiofly, Till von Seine Phonique and David Durango. Soulfooled artists represent a cross-section of electronic styles ranging from Deep House and Techhouse, to old school disciplines like Detroit and Chicago House.

Niggemann's bookings have taken him around the world, his production 'Trippin' was released in October on Tsuba, and most recently he joined Steve Bug’s Poker Flat label with the 3 track "Lately EP". This year Niggemann continues his hectic schedule and will be headed for foreign shores with forthcoming tour schedules that take him to Europe, Brazil and North America.

Alex Niggeman "I Call it House!" sample pack from Loopmasters weighs in at a hefty 883MB and includes 497 24 Bit samples, with 287 Loops between 115-126 Bpm, and 192 one Shot House Samples. Also included are 59 patches for Reason NNXt, Halion, EXS, SFZ and Kontakt soft samplers. Ableton Live Pack, Reason Refill and Apple Loops versions are also available to purchase separately. In detail this supreme House sample collection contains 47 Dance Floor Ready Bass Loops, 32 Clubbed Up Drum Loops, 97 Inspirational Music Loops and Melodies, 53 Add on Percussive Loops, 52 Top Loops, 7 Vocal Loops, 115 Single House Drum One Shot Samples, 26 Dance FX, 34 Instrument One Shots, 10 Bass Single Shots and 6 Vocal FX .

iDJ Review: Jon Cutler Deep And Soulful US House

Jon Cutler has managed to produce quite the sizable sample pack. Everything is included in here, as you get drum loops, percussive loops, music loops, and bass loops. The drum loops range from downtempo shuffles through to jacking head-bouncers, and there’s heaps to choose from. The percussive loops also sound great and are extremely well produced, though sadly there aren’t as many of them to choose from. The bass and music loops are what you'd expect from a deep house pack. You can enjoy smooth pads, sharp chords and funk-laced basslines that have all been given the Jon Cutler touch.

iDJ Review: DJ Mixtools 16 - Mix FX

Sample packs don't always have to be about production. They can also be used as tools for performance, either in a live set-up or in a DJ'ing environment, and many of the DJ'ing software now support one-shot samples and loops. This suits Mixtools 16 down to the ground, as the pack contains tons of build ups, one-shots and noise loops aimed at adding more textures to your performance. Laptop DJ'ing is well and truly established in dance music culture now, and with the Mixtools series, Loopmasters have embraced this. If you're looking to add a little more texture to your DJ sets, then this is an ideal way to do so - and it won't even break the bank

iDJ Review: Justin Robertson - Disco Tech

Generally when you open up a sample pack with the word 'disco' in it's title, you're bombarded with the leftovers of a John Travolta tribute night. You get cheesy string samples and ridiculous basslines that leave a sickening taste in your mouth. Thankfully, what Justin Robertson has produced here is far from that, as quite frankly this sample pack is the nuts. What you get here is a fantastic collection of laidback musical grooves and loose drums. Nothing is done in an over the top manner: it's all very tasteful yet extremely enjoyable. This pack really is worth checking out, whether you're into disco or not.

Pro-Tone Review: Tech House Styles

Construction-kit based sample packs became more and more appreciated by producers, since they may offer well selected drum-, melody- and fx-kits saving the trouble of looking for matching sounds. Today we're gonna take a look at Loopmasters Tech House Styles, obviously taking care of the Tech House genre inclding popular styles like Detroit and Progressive.

Overview

550 MB deliver two main kinds of samples - construction kit loops(apple loops, rex2 & wav) and single sounds, which containing:

100 single drumsounds
20 synth stabs
20 chords

The construction kits are devided into 5 subgenres:

Tech House
Tribal Tech House
Progressive Tech House
Detroit Tech House
Minimal Tech House

Each kit contains 10-30 loops, amongst them several variations of the same basic loop, and demo loops showing the kit's potential. Root key information is included in the file name.

Summary

All in all the sample pack offers a nice allround supply with fresh sample material, although we would've liked MIDI files for the attached bass-, synth- and chordloops next to one shots of the samples used for the loops. Nevertheless, overall sound quality is top-notch, very punchy and professionally engineered. Most importantly, the caterogy fits each construction kit well and is quite characteristic for that genre.

Future Music Review: Alex Niggemann Gets 10/10

Yes! We call this House too. There's so much variety and quality in this pack that we'd say it's possible to put together a track in practically any modern Electronic style using the ammo onboard. There's ethnic loops, old skool Synth Pop and some great classic Ravey Pianos and hits alongside all the hard, deep dancefloor staples that today's tracks require. Quality throughout is superb and every sound feels hand picked to sit in the compilation despite its all encompassing mindset. It's deep, it's mainroom, it's one of the most powerful and useful sample packs you can buy right now. Thoroughly recommended.

Verdict: 10/10

Future Music Review: BOMB SQUAD With Full Marks!

Just stunning. No messing. No cheese. This is all about the beat - and not just individual hits and loops but huge, track filling soundscapes of glitch hits, crunchy Hip Hop stolen snatches and amazing, unrepeatable and unplaceable percussive synths and effect atmospheres. Sometimes African, sometimes Urban but all the while dangerously cutting edge and ripe for experimentation. It's huge, genre-crossing compilation and just because this was put together by the genius that is Hank Shocklee (of Bomb Squad and Public Enemy fame) should you assume this is purely Hip Hop. The sounds at play here could equally drive Dubstep or even give a glistening top loop to Minimal House. Not too sure about the slightly daft folder naming protocol (samples being grouped in terms of 'Sniper Weapons' 'Anti Tank Weapons' 'Traumatic Weapons' and more) but the net result is a veritable army of fresh 2012-ready beats. Can't wait to deploy this lot in our next manoeuvres. Ten-shun!

Verdict: 10/10

Computer Music Review: Tribal Progressive 1

This is all about progressive deep house paired with tribal rhythms and textures. It's the same high quality we're used to from SOR maestro Oliver Schmidt, and it's open ended nature means any electronic genre should benefit from this bulging pack. The price might reel in only the most dedicated progressive experimenters, though.

Verdict: 8/10

Computer Music Review: DubFX Sample Pack

Beatboxer and mouth musician DubFX, turns his, er, tongue to the world of sample packs. As well as the expected drum sounds, there are vocal stabs (think James Brown-esque yelps and yeahs) and melodies. Out of the 325 samples, the most useful are the drum hits - all are good for adding air and snap to your beats, and the snares are especially impressive. It's niche, but if you must have beatboxing, this is as good as you'll find.

Verdict: 8/10

Wusik Review: Syncussion Drums

Last issue I reviewed Wave Alchemy's Drum Machine Collection and gave it a good review. For this month it's Syncussion Drums - a collection of drum hit samples from (you guessed it) the classic analog Pearl Syncussion SY-1 drum synthesizer. The SY-1 is not just your typical classic drum machine but a rare beast that offers a wide variety of sounds. This soundware version is a 320 MB download with 24-bit resolution that includes 1885 samples of the 1979 Pearl instrument. Recording the SY-1 was a laborious task as Wave Alchemy had to capture the true sonic characteristic of the original unit. What I love about Wave Alchemy is that they seem to have an affection for classic, rare and odd bits of pieces of gear. Employed during the sampling session were plenty of great analogue outboard gear and high-end preamp hardware. Not only that, some of the sounds were re-sampled using an E-mu SP-12 for that lo-fi goodness and some one-shots were recorded through a Studer A0 mk1 tape machine to impart a 'warm and analog' sound. The result is a sample pack that is one of a kind. There are tons of great samples here that many producers can use over and over again.

Music Tech Review: S:amplify Patchworx

Loopmasters recently started the Patchworx series for preset packs created by named producers and artists for popular synths. This month's offering is the snappily titled Drum and Bass and Dubstep - NI Massive Presets, created by S:amplify.

The pack includes a range of bass, lead, pads, general synth and FX patches for Native Instruments’ Massive synth. Although lead bass noises seem to be the main focus here, they also span both the bass and lead preset categories.

MIDI files are also included as a demonstration of each preset, but we found that we preferred to interact with each patch ourselves via a MIDI controller as we flicked through them.

There are some strong sounds in the collection and extremely varied styles, all, generally, with a cutting edge to them. The macro controls have been utilised well, offering large sonic changes with little effort, so you’ll get plenty of mileage out of them. The other advantage of this is the ability to create easy call-and-answer sounds from one instance of Massive and automation of the macro dials.

The other styles of presets are equally interesting to use but small in number. One thing we did feel wasn’t covered was sub-bass, of which we found only one preset for.

Overall, this provides a lot of mid and high bass sounds that you can use as they are or as starting points for your own manipulation.

MTM VERDICT: 8/10

Plenty of dirty bass sounds to use straightaway or as starting points for your own creations.

Music Tech Review: Syncussion Drums by Wave Alchemy

Despite the seemingly infinite popularity of Roland’s 808 and 909 drum machines, many producers are starting to look further afield for more obscure analogue drum sounds to give their tracks a little more edge. Master of the electronic drum hit, Wave Alchemy, has taken this onboard, and it’s latest samples library is a collection of 1,885 24-bit drum hits that have been created using a rare Pearl Syncussion SY1.

The unit was originally manufactured in 1979 and features a set of raw-sounding oscillators that can be used to craft a wide variety of electronic drum sounds, which is exactly what Wave Alchemy has done. Not only will you find beefy analogue kick drums, but also a massive array of glitch hats, blips, percussion, toms and crazy SFX, plus several multi-sampled sounds that can be played up and down the keyboard. Although the sample hits are all laid out in the individual instrument folders, there are also 60 sampler patches with a selection of pre-made kits in Kontakt, Battery, Maschine, NN-XT, HALion, EXS24, SFZ and Ableton Live Pack formats. This is a nice addition that allows you to play beats directly into your tracks, although you’ll probably want to compile several of your own drum kits.

These raw sounds on their own are good, but the Wave Alchemy team has taken things much further with the inclusion of additional processed kicks, layered kicks, round – robin hits with subtle differences, hat and percussion sounds given the lo-fi treatment via an EMU SP12 sampler. On top of that you get an alternative set of the whole lot sent through a Studer A80 MK1 tape machine. These extra processed samples have been subtly saturated through analogue tape to give them a slightly thicker sound – although some may find the differences hard to hear, they offer up more choice when selecting hits for your track. This is an excellent value pack that has a surprising amount of variety given that it all comes from one machine. If you’re writing and form of electronic music and are tiring of the same old drum sounds, this library is definitely worth a look.

MTM VERDICT – Raw and punchy electronic drum sounds with a surprising amount of variety and plenty of subtle variations in processing.

Ibiza-Voice.com Takes A Peek At Inland Knights' Sample Pack

Groove Armada's Tom Findlay calls them 'part of the fabric of the British house scene', and we've certainly seen them weave their way through a few club nights in our time. Yes, I Voice catches up with long-time UK housers Inland Knights (Andrew Riley and Laurence Ritchie) to reveal what's going down their 'production hole' in 2011.

Andy and Laurence hooked up in the early 90s and by the late 90s they were creating their own tunes. Since then, the duo has seen their profile (and aliases) grow together with productions and remixes for labels like 20:20 Vision, NRK, Siesta Music and Om. In the late 90s they also started their own label, Drop Music, which is still going strong with a new album called House Bound (by various different artists) due out this August. Plus the guys have recently released a bunch of samples, entitled Deep Dub Tech House (which does what it says on the tin) via Loopmasters.

Of course, for many their music speaks for itself. But naturally we wanted to know more about how it's made. So find out what the guys had to say when we asked them to join us Down The Production Hole...

First can you tell us something about your frames of reference/what you think makes for a high quality electronic sound recording?

Laurence: The important things are you ears, then the room your in and then the monitors. Expensive monitors are a waste of time if your studio room isn't acoustically treated and your ears are tired. It's always good to reference other music you like and know well, for referencing. Strangely that's something we never used to do as our old studio had such a bad sound we couldn't hear records properly. But over time we actually got used to the room acoustics and could produce an OK sound in it. I always leave my masters at -6b with plenty of headroom for professional mastering. It's standard... But these days I find no one seems to know or bother and they just ram their music through tracks and similar. Which is OK on a budget but not great for your music.

Andy: Well I think the best way to get a good production sound is to start with high quality sounds in the first place. For instance using a synth sound from source instead of trying to lift it off an old record is going to make your life easier when it comes to production. We spent years trying to make pretty dirty samples sound good because all we had was an Akai S-3000 and a record collection. Now it's getting a bit easier with ready to go sample packs, etc. Having the samples is one thing, being creative with them is something else! We also tend to reference another recording in the studio, something we know sounds good when we've played it out.

What's your current music production set-up like?

Mac powering Logic Pro
Focusrite Saffire sound card
TL Audio Fat Track tube desk
Prophet 08
Juno-106
Moog Little Fatty Stage II
Focal Twin 6 monitors
Original Yamaha NBS10s
Focusrite Liquid Mix
TL Audio valve compressor
Alesis Micron
Akai S-3000 x 2
Yamaha 02R desk
Waldorf Pulse
Korg MS2000
Some outboard equipment (Valve EQ+Compression)
TC Finalizer
JBL monitoring with Mackie sub

What is/are your most essential tool/s of the trade within that set-up?

Laurence: I love the Focal monitors and Prophet 08 synth. Logic is a pain in the ass but it's what I know and, well, I guess it makes you work harder to get certain grooves by hand. I think other platforms kind of do it more for you and they sound more generic. The Prophet 08 is a really great synth! - lots of versatile sounds.

Andy: I would say I've got pretty used to the TC Finalizer; it's basically used for mastering and multiband compression. It's a very nice piece of kit. Ours is the 48K version. Also, I'm using Spectrasonics Stylus RMX a lot because it's really quick and easy to import REX files into and before you know it you've got your loops instantly in time and easily editable - great for time saving.

Can you reveal a secret about your production technique/s?

Laurence: I start with a bunch of loops and get about 12 tracks going over 8 bars, then I manually start to chop them all down until you start to get your own groove going while doing a bunch of EQing and effecting.

Do you have a general top tip for budding producers?

Laurence: Get the room treated for acoustics, bass traps and so on. There are tonnes of videos on YouTube to help. Also, try and re-sit your mix at a really low level on the monitors and you will notice any levels that are out of place.

Andy: I would say buy a good quality pair of monitors, and make sure your room is how you would like it acoustically. That is the solid foundation from which all other things can come! We struggled with a room that wasn't ideal and with mediocre monitors for a long time. It was a constant exercise in learning which part of the room to stand in to hear a certain frequency! All the plug-ins in the world won't make up for the fact that you can't hear stuff correctly in the first place.

Finally, what's your take on the future of electronic music production?

Laurence: The playing field will just get bigger and fairer and worse and better for everyone. If the last four years is anything to go by, it's going to be all about easily and quickly consuming samples - and cheaply making music that's very disposable and drowned out by large amounts of content on the download sites. It will become much harder to sell your music and have success, while it becomes easier and cheaper to produce the music in the first place. I personally don't like plug-ins; I like to plug things in. But that's because I come from desks and wires and such from when I started out in the mid-90s. I try to embrace both things equally. I feel the future is more about music being done in the one box and on your smart phone.

Andy: I'm guessing that there will be ever more powerful tools available at ever-cheaper prices. Making it ever easier for the bedroom producer to create something that has a 'big studio' sheen to it.

Interview With Berkson & What

Hi Dan and James, how are you? What have you been up to, been playing any gigs or festivals lately?

We're good, thanks. This week we're just finishing up the music and SFX for a game which has been really fun. We've been a bit more studio focused as of late, but we're going to Zurich next weekend to play a Live show together.

What do you get your influences from? Is there other creative outlets that inspire you, instead of just music?

I guess everything you do has to influence you in some way. Living in London there are so many creative things going on that can inspire. I'm not going to start talking rubbish about how we read philosophy and use the concepts to shape our techno records... You try to live an interesting life and hope that things rub off on your music..

How did you get into music production? I read somewhere that James, you attended the London SAE, I have a few friends that have attended SAE and loved it, how did you find it?

We both studied music pretty seriously before we got into production. Yes, James went to SAE here in London which seemed like a good experience. I think when you study music production you have to be ready to invest a lot of time and you really end up learning most things from experimenting on your own. You can get some good tips etc but really you need to work it out for yourself. Especially when it comes to making electronic music.

You both came from overseas to move to London, why was this? Were the music scenes not quite cutting it in America and France?

I was living in Boston and spending much of my time keyboards in bands. Slowly my interests were turning towards electronic music and I decided to take a risk and come to London to study production and just get involved in thing here. James grew up in the South of France so the progression to come to a bigger city like London was natural.

When you're not playing what clubs do you like to attend in London?

There are so many good things going on in London. Fabric is always a great club to go to, but generally it's the more underground warehouse parties that thrive in London. Secret Sundaze, half baked, Lokee, Electric Minds, Toi Toi... these are all good friends throwing great parties.

Tell us about your live show, what equipment do you use?

For our live show we both have laptops running Ableton Live. I generally use a Moog Voyager and James has a Vermona DRM-1 drum machine (303 clone) and various controllers. Over the years it's really changed a lot and now we tend to scale back the gear a bit depending on the situation. (5 years of travelling around the world with my moog was enough). We're really able to improvise constantly during our set and adapt depending on the situation.

When in the studio what does your equipment consist of? And if there was one piece of gear you could have, regardless of the price or how rare it may be, that you want?

In my studio I have an old Soundcraft 6000 desk, lots of old synths (Minimoog, SH101, Jupiter4, Juno60, MKS-80, Fender Rhodes), some drum machines (808, 909, 999, cr78, cr8000), FX units (space echoes, PCM70, Bel BD80) and various bits and pieces.

I'm pretty happy with my equipment, but if someone could arrange for it all to be working properly at the same time I'd be happy with that!

You recently created a sample pack for Loopmasters, how did you find this compared to writing a track?

This process was quite fun actually. We treated it as a way to kind of organise our sounds and sample up a lot of our gear in a way that would be helpful for other people, and also for us. It's completely different from writing a track, couldn't really compare the two.

Do you have any news you would like to share with our readers, any releases, big shows etc?

We both recently released solo EPs on Crosstown Rebels, and James has a new release coming soon on PokerFlat. James What - It Feels Wrong - Poker Flat (august 2011) w/ Lee Curtiss remix. We're also going to be doing a special new live set at Panorama Bar in Berlin in October.

Do you have any advice for budding music producers out there that are trying to make it in the competitive music industry?

Don't get so obsessed over needing new gear! The same goes for hardware and software. You're much better off becoming a master of a few things than a novice at many. Some people are still making amazing music with an Atari and an Akai S3000!

OhDratDigital Review: BOMB SQUAD

Straight out the gate, we'd like to register both an eye roll and protracted groan at the unashamed play on Call of Duty weaved throughout Tactical Beats and Sample Artillery. Thankfully, the actual contents of this Hank Shocklee devised sample pack is more original.

Nothing if not generous, Tactical Beats comes in at 1.4GB of 24bit audio, comprised of drums, percussion, bass, pads and SFX. The sounds themselves are divided into weaponry analogising categories, from the bread and butter 'Assault Weapons' and the one shots of 'Sniper Weapons' to the sub bass hits in 'Submachine Weapons' and more. Somewhat unsurprisingly given the warfare theme, the sounds are all bold, brash, synthetic and very effects laden. The single hit drums are the undoubted standout of the pack, almost every single one instantly usable (although there are some duplicates, or at least so equivalent they may as well be). Kicks are distorted and layered with subs, percussion is twisted beyond recognition, snares are filtered and pushed through spring reverbs, and everything is compressed to within an inch of its life for super quick attacks and extreme loudness.

The sub bass sounds are also fairly good, if arguably somewhat redundant to anyone with a half decent soft synth - there's also an issue with quite a few of the sounds having rhythmic amp or filter envelopes added to them, something we're not keen on for raw materials. The pads are long and suitably terrifying, from atonal dronescapes to bells and hints of fragile beauty; sensibly there are only a relatively small selection of pads so as not to risk sounding samey.

The jaw dropping amount of loop content is commendable, if slightly over egged. Many loops have six or seven variants, which bumps up the total size of the pack considerably: at its best this practice is a great inspiration source for building loops up, at its worst it harks to those lazy days of 'eJay'-esque drag and drop.

Entirely software sourced (with the exception of the UAD DSP plugins), Tactical Beats and Sample Artillery doesn't really deliver much genuinely unique material - but that's not to say that it's not expertly compiled and executed - by legendary producer Hank Shocklee, no less - with every sound having care and attention taken to its frequency range, punch and loudness. As a go to folder for quick access to hard, aggressive sounds Tactical Beats is a worthy purchase.

Interview With Alex Niggemann

Hi Alex, how are you? What have you been up to over the last couple of weeks? Any big gigs, festivals?

I'm fine, thanks. Still a lot to do, which is mostly a good sign. Traveling and playing a lot. Just came back from Ibiza, where I played Sunday at Space. Was a great great night!

How did you get into Music Production? Did you attend a Music Tech Uni course or are you self taught?

I did the first steps on my own. I got into it by first being a dj, although I wasn't really given a chance in my hometown. At that time I was 16 yet I knew I'd only make it if and when I started producing. As I was always trying to express myself through music, electronic music gave me a new and bright way to do it. I started increasing my technical knowledge and when I finished school I then had the chance to do full time studies. That education definitely was the missing piece, which helped me to make my music sound better in a much more technical way. I was always good at composing, but at some point you only get better, when you have the technical background.

What music were you listening to when growing up, or have you always been into House?

Well, the first record I bought was Armand van Helden's "the Funk Phenomenon". So in a way my musical taste has it's origin there. But as I was style-writing, doin breakdance as a young teenager, Hip-Hop/Rap was my first love. I got into EDM again when I was 15, while accidently visiting my first techno party.

I read recently that you are now living in Berlin. How are you finding the city? Do you manage to get out and go to many club nights when you're not DJ'ing yourself? If so, any recommendations for us that have yet to visit Berlin?

Honestly, when I have a free weekend, I prefer to stay at home, reading, watching a movie and relaxing, as I have parties usually every weekend and sometimes during the week. While playing sometimes it's pretty hard, because for my friends those weekends are the only possibility to catch up with me. They are usually the ones going out for parties!

I think everybody has heard a lot about Berlin. It's a fantastic city, with young citizens and a mixed culture. Berlin in summer is like Latin American countries. Life happens on the streets. Most parties are Open-Airs and free of charge. The city is still living and growing.

For sure I shouldn't forget to say, that Berghain/Panorama Bar, Watergate etc. are still the hot spots. Always love to go there when I can.

How do you find playing in Germany over other countries in the world, are audiences responses very different? And do you have any particular shows that stand out?

To be honest Germany is a pretty hard country to deal with and play. There are only a few spots and cities, where it really makes sense to play. Fee's are pretty low and new clubs aren't really able to make a success, its tough. You can only live, when booking the big 5 and therefor this is what most clubs do. Especially in western Germany. So it's hard for new dj's to get a name out there. I think this is very different to other countries like Spain, Italy, France, Romania etc.

I'm really happy that I have a few clubs where I play constantly in Hamburg, berlin, Munich, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf.

About the audience there's a lot to say. In every different country you can compare this to their culture. People in South-America definitely party more enthusiastic than in Europe. But Europe is more focused on the music itself. People are more critical yet i love the contrast of both. Fabric, Space, Berghain or Watergate are best places to play.

You've recently set up your own record label Soulfooled. How is that going? Any releases coming out?

It's doin great thanks. It getting more and more know and people are hearing many of our releases, as we are also doing a lot of worldwide showcases We have just released a remix EP of the most successful tracks from 2010 and following that is another Double-A side, a release that has already huge support.

You have also just released a sample pack with Loopmasters, how did you find creating a sample pack? How did you approach it, as opposed to writing a track?

Honestly, it's tough work. It doesn't really mean fun, but im really happy with the finished collection, really proud. I mean, I know how I started producing. I was using sample packs created by big artists. It's a big things to learn from and essential in gaining the skills I mentioned earlier. Right now, I wanted to give something back, that people can use - my sound.

What does your studio equipment consist of? And if there was one piece of gear you could have, regardless of the price or how rare it may be, that you want?

I think a very important thing is the room you are producing in and the monitoring. I just built a new studio with a room in room construction. As monitors I'm using 2 different pairs of speakers. I have 2 Klein+Hummel o300 and a pair of Yamaha NS10's. I switch between them during the production progress with a Novation Mainstation. I'm also using an Akai MBK for playing and controlling as well as a KORG Triton LE. All this is connected through a RME Fireface to my Quad Core Mac Pro. As Sequencer I only use Apple Logic Studio 9 with a lot of quality AU Plugins like Waves, SONOX, Sonalksis, Native Instruments, Aturia etc. For recordings I'm using several condensator or dynamic microphones like MD421, SM52 or TLM102. It depends on what I need to record. I'm also really happy, that I have my old Steinway piano in my studio right now.

Something that id love it's a big 48track SSL consol, to mix my tracks with. There are no better filters and compressors in the world than the ones that mixer has!

Do you have any news you would like to share with our readers, gigs, and releases coming out?

There's a remixed EP on Soulfooled out now, with great contributions by Fritz Zander, Salvatore Freda and Roberto Rodriguez. My Poker Flat release "Lately" just been releases and its, working pretty well. There will be a new Supernature EP and a contribution to the next "forward to the past" compilation from Poker Flat in late summer. Look out for a remix on Get Physical as well as a remix for Silicon Soul for their 20th anniversary pack. Most importantly though, I shall be continuing to work on my album.

Gig-wise Ibiza madness has started! :) I'll be playing at Space again. Another US-, South-and Central America tour as well as gigs in Asia.

Busy!

Do you have any advice for budding music producers out there that are trying to make it in the competitive music industry?

Be and stay yourself, try to do your own thing and don't listen too much to people telling you what is best for you. You will only get happy, if you find your own way

Wusik Review: Designer Dance FX

It's rare to find a good sample pack containing a wide variety of FX for build-ups and breakdowns. Fortunately, Designer Dance FX is here to serve up some perfectly processed sounds for all you dance lovers and enthusiasts out there. Included are lots of cutting edge elements and sweeteners such as impacts, bleeps, rises, drones, echoes, gated sonics, transitional tones and uplifters. Designer Dance FX is crafted using some state-of-the-art equipment such as Eventide H8000 and TC System 6000 and is produced by Marc Adamo, who is also the man in-charge for Loopmasters' Minimal Undeground Techno series pack.

This 1.4 GB, 24-bit library is definitely engineered with a fashionable dance genre in mind. What's good about the 600 samples themselves is that they are ready-to-play and quality is good enough to augment various mixes without further processing. DDFX is a cool way to spice up your dance tracks.

Wusik Review: House Builds And Breakdowns

Case in point: You've been working on a dance track forever. You gave it your best and finally come to decision that it is finished. But there's something missing. It lacks that edge to lift the crowd up and give your tracks the climaxes it needs. No need to worry, House Builds and Breakdowns is here. This collection boosts a healthy dose of unique loops and samples such as special FX, melodies, tonal flourishes and rhythm loops.

The loops are in the 126-128 BPM range, 2-64 bar in length, and are offered in pristine 24-bit format. This pack is broken down into different folders of FX, Tonal and Rhythmic. FX consists of big hits, drop ends, noise and cymbal rolls. The Tonal section has some tasty melody loops and a couple of vox loops. The Rhythmic folder offers noise gate and chain loops, rhythmic build loops and more. All in all there are 385 files in WAV format and 20 MIDI files. No doubt these loops will help add a definitive edge to your productions or give jolt to your listeners

Wusik Review: Drum Machine Collection by Wave Alchemy

This enormous bundle from Wave Alchemy contains two libraries rolled into one, the Drum Machines 01 and 02, combined to give you savings of £11 if bought individually. This includes several of Wave Alchemy popular 'Micro Packs' such as Airbase Drums, Deep Drums, Electrik Drums, 808 Drums, 909 Drums and Drum Fire. There are over 3500 samples in this collection, from classic drum machines sources like the TR-808, TR-909, MFB Schlagzwerg, EMU SP-12, SP1200, Drumfire DF-2000, Jomox AIRbase 99, Jomox XBase 999, Jomox MBase 11 and Vermona DRM Mk 11.

All samples were expertly crafted from the ground up. They were recorded with great detail and processed through high-end hardware units such as the API 512c, the Empirical Labs Fatso & Distressor, the SSL EQ, the Cranesong Hedd, the Sherman Filterbank and the Thermionic Culture Vulture. The results are some of the fattest, analogue drum hits I've heard. They are clear, crisp and punchy. The quality is superb and with its price you'd be crazy not to get this as part of your drum library arsenal.

Future Music Review: Utku S. - Electro House Producer

A highly eclectic and unusual set of loops and hits. While obviously 'Electro' in intention there's more than a little Tribal and Ethnic going on here, adding an exotic flavour to the more straight-laced face of European House. Tunes take on a shuffling, percussion-lead flavour with these loops, which while highly technical rely on conventional physical percussion alongside the more familiar and riotous synth elements. That said there are literally hundreds of snatched synth bursts and Ravey 5th megachords that'll blow your ironic moustache clean off. And watch out for some stunning, buzzing bass sounds. Ouch!

Verdict: 8/10

Future Music Review: DubFX - Vocal Beats, Bass And FX

Dub FX is a genius. The master of the loop pedal beatboxes, raps and sings like no other artist and this collection is an ideal way to get amazing sounding vocal work into dry and drab instrumentals. Anyone who was knocked out/baffled by the choral work on the last Kanye would be well advised to give this a shot. The range of textures here crosses borders from Ethnic to Classic, Urban to Mainstream, Ambient and Chill to Hip Hop and R'n'B. If you want beatboxing, there kicks, snares and percussion loops aplenty but it's the chord beds, distant ethnic chants and supercomplex Gregorian harmony that we envisage cropping up on a million New Age tracks in progress.

Verdict: 8/10

Future Music Review: 6Blocc - Dubstep Ammo

There's no mistaking the intention behind this bargain-priced set of samples. Vocal riffs and hits give countless variations on 'DJ!' 'Bassline!' and 'Rudebwoy!' while the synth work does its best to scare the living bejesus out of you. There's mega basslines and a wealth of dirty chords to string together in a selection that's more 'useful toolkit' than 'genre expanding progress'. Indeed, some of the lead synths sound a little squeaky and 'music for schools and colleges' at times and there's plenty of cross-genre pollination here as Electro riffs jostle with material that's straight up D'nB. That said the single drum hits are both plentiful and expertly produced, giving plenty of variation while remaining band on the genre money. Indeed, a quick dip into the 'Boom n Sweep' folder produces an amazing grab bag of (literally) explosive spot effects that will turn any wayward WIP into instant word perfect Hard Steppa. "Ere dis!"

Interview With My Digital Enemy

Hi guys, how is everything going? Any releases, or big shows coming up?

Our third release on Steath records has just been released on Beatport. It's the ‘Dirty Brass EP' and has had some pretty amazing feedback. We have three more releases lined up with Stealth this year. We are in talks with Stealth Live about DJing at their events in Ibiza, London & Amsterdam over the summer months.

I have read that you're from Brighton. How do you find the music scene in Brighton? Do you get down to the sea front clubs much?

There are some really good nights in Brighton. Our favourite is Prok & Fitch's night Floorplay which has now moved to a new venue called Digital which is right on the front. The night life in Brighton is legendary. There is always something going on and no shortage of parties especially through the summer months.

How do you find playing in the UK compared to abroad, do the crowds differ?

Crowds differ everywhere but it doesn't matter where you are if the crowd are really up for it! We have had amazing nights all over the globe but it is always nice playing back home.

How did you individually get into music production, and then meet and decide to work together?

We have worked together on various projects since we were at college. We both got into production at the same time and have stuck together since. We have had our ups and downs music-wise but are still as passionate about it as when we first started!

What are your favourite pieces of studio equipment, and what does your studio consist of?

We have three sets of Monitors. KRK VXT8's, KRK VXT4's & Mackie HR814's. The KRK's are probably my favourite. The 4's for nearfield monitoring and the 8's for midfield. We have a custom built (by us) overclocked watercooled PC running Cubase 5 with a massive amount of plugins. We use a MOTU soundcard and have a Powercore unit which has some really good effects on it. We always use the MX5 for mastering and the Virus is cool for leads. Other favourites are Trilogy & Trilian for basses & Massive for phat synth lines. Our Outboard gear consists of a Trilogy keyboard, Novation Nova, TL Audio C1 Compressor, Korg Prophecy and a selection of Mics for recording.

Having produced remixes for some large names, such as Beyonce, Groove Armada and The Qemists, do you prefer writing original productions or remixing?

I like both but given the choice writing original tracks wins hands down. Its much more satisfying creating something from scratch.

You recently created a sample pack for us here at Loopmasters, we often get feedback from artists saying it's a really different process to writing music. How did you find it?

Creating the elements for it was not a problem at all. It was really very enjoyable. Organising everything was the hard part. Now we've done one I know how it all works making more wont be anywhere near as challenging. In fact I have already taken ideas for two more to the loopmaster guys and am working on them as we speak! We have put eight new royalty free samples up on our facebook page as a free download. Head over to www.facebook.com/mydigitalenemyofficial and click on the Free Downloads tab to get them.

Were you worried about producers having access to your 'sound' and the possibility of others sounding like you?

A little bit at first, but by the end I got a bit carried away and was throwing in ideas that we were planning to use ourselves. I had it in my head that we might as well make it as good as possible. When we came to make the demo track we were on the verge of pulling some of the samples from the pack to make the demos into full tracks. In the end we decide to grit our teeth and bear it. It going to be interesting to see what tracks are made with them!

You've collaborated with artists such as Prok & Fitch and Carl Hanaghan. Do you have any more collaborating scheduled for the future?

We have new collaboration with Carl Hanaghan coming out on Stealth in the near future. We are also back in the studio with Prok & Fitch towards the end of the month and have just done a session with Jason Chance which went really well.

Do you have any advice for young producers trying to break through in the competitive world of the music industry?

Work at it and don't give up. If you have success work even harder to sustain it.

Computer Music Review: Sy & Unknown - Essential Hardcore

Hardcore veterans Sy & Unknown bring us this stomping 956MB pack of hits and loops. It's comprehensive, with everything from male and female vocals, scratches and strings, to pads, classic breaks and full ‘ardcore beats. The tempo is manic, the basslines heavy and the beats relentless. It's all done to the highest standard, offering a solid foundation for any hardcore track.

Verdict: 8/10

Future Music Review: Complex Indian Rhythms

Let me say straight off the bat that I love “other” time signatures, anything outside of the 4/4 and I’m interested. I also have a soft-spot for Indian percussion. So when Loopmasters teamed up with KV Bala Krishnan to record 16 construction kits covering tempos from 80-130BPM and 5,6 and 7 time signatures, clearly I was going to sniff it out.

Each kit comes with loops of various instruments such as Tabla, Urumi, Nagara, Bass Dholak (it’s all percussion remember) and then mixed versions. In short it’s a one-stop shop for interesting rhythms and grooves that will spice up any House or Electronica track with exotic percussion.

Verdict: 9/10

Future Music Review: Swedish House

"Swedish House draws influence from the chart topping sounds of the Swedish House Mafia", ie this is not an official package (despite that worryingly authentic packaging). So how does it fare? Well, there's an enourmous" vocal percussion" section that we're slightly confused by and some spoken dialogue that we’re a little bit embarrassed by, but things rapidly pick up with the synth effects. There's masses of detuned stabs, hits and some brilliant track-ready swooshes and elevators. The kicks are huge, middy punches in the face and the complete loops are entire packs in themselves. It's a bit silly. It's very niche but - by the Norse gods - this strikes the general nail with Thor’s mighty hammer!

Verdict: 8/10

Future Music Review: Fracture - Cosmic Drum & Bass

A collection of massively original atmospheres and hits that while aimed at the more experimental end of the DnB world would equally be at home making Dubstep. There’s some almost Kraftwerk-style synths, and countless ringing, ambient, atmospheres just ripe for chopping and glitching up. Drum hits are a well-recorded bunch, the accent being on capturing real sounds well, rather than mangling for mangling’s sake, but they’re very much a token set next to the synth and effects work elsewhere. Original and arresting.

Verdict: 7/10

Loopmasters Ride 1000 Miles For Water Aid

Between June 28 and July 9th 2011, Matt Pelling, Director of Loopmasters, has decided to take on the UK End to End challenge, or JOGLE as its known (John O Groats to Lands End) - with only his ipod and bike for company.

The ride which will see him travel 1000 miles in around 10 days is to raise money for Water Aid, a charity who dedicate their operations to providing safe and sanitized water to the world’s most impoverished communities.

Loopmasters are sponsoring the ride and providing him with some of the equipment needed to complete the challenge and all proceeds from charitable donations will be going directly to the charity itself which claims that for £15 a year it can supply someone with all the water they need to survive.

When asked about the ride he commented:
"Although I’m really no cyclist, I hope this is a challenge which I hope is within my capabilities, but nevertheless I know there will be some moments when I would love to jump in a car and go home! I’m looking forward to seeing this beautiful country under my own steam. And when it's over I'm hoping that I can be proud to have helped people less fortunate than myself in other countries who deserve the most basic of life's necessities"

Matt is hoping that some of Loopmasters customers and friends will find a small amount to make a donation to the cause which can be made at www.justgiving.com/mattp2011. Matt has also said that any Loopmasters customers who make a donation and email the receipt to him at matt [at] loopmasters.com will receive an exclusive and 100% unreleased 200+Mb sample pack link when he gets back at the end of July.

So what are you waiting for guys - do something to help those less fortunate than yourself AND get a free exclusive and unreleased sample pack into the bargain!!

We will keep you updated on Matts progress over the next couple of weeks - and wish him all the best.

http://www.wateraid.org
http://www.wateraid.org/uk/what_we_do/statistics/default.asp

New On The Blog: Compression Pt. 3 And MIDI Learn

Compression Basics – Getting Under The Hood pt.3

Hey guys, here’s part 3 of our post on making sense of the settings on a standard compressor. If you missed the first two posts read them first: Part 1 | Part 2

MIDI Learn In Logic 9

Here’s a great little video which shows you just how easy it is to setup your midi controllers to control your plugin synth’s, effects and anything assignable within Logic.

New On The Blog: Granular FX and Compression Pt. 2

How To Make Special Effects With FL Studio’s Fruity Granulizer
Turning your samples into something completely twisted is easy with Fruity Granulizer. Fruity Granulizer is a plugin that utilizes the granular synthesis technology.

Compression Basics – Getting Under The Hood pt.2
We left off last time by looking at the main function of a compressor and how you can modify that function with the Threshold and Ratio settings. This time around we’ll look at another couple ways you can modify a compressor’s main function – via the Knee settings and Attack.

LoopTV Fresh: Monitor Test And Synth Compression

Sound Monitoring Explained | Part 1 of 4
LoopTV brings you this first part of forepart taken from the DSP Projects recent series looking into the science behind your studio monitors

Ableton Live | Compression For Synths | Danny J. Lewis
LoopTV bring you this fifth and final Point Blank Online video from their new ‘Mixing Dance Music With Ableton’ course. In this tutorial Danny explains how to use the compression FX unit to level off synth stabs and add presence to a mix.

Public Records: Chiller Twist "Pearl" Video

Chiller Twist - "Pearl"Video

The more we listen to it, the more proud we are of the fantastic selection on “Late Night Logic” and it’s becoming clear from the feedback sheets that we aren’t the only ones who are enjoying this release.

One of the artists, Chiller Twist, has put together a great video which really captures the vibe of his track “Pearl”. Have a look and get lost in someplace else!

Pro|Tone Review: SOR's Abstract & Weird

Abstract & Weird is a specialty you might need some experience for. Listen carefully to trance productions of guys like Sean Tyas or explore some harder stuff of the progressive electro genre: there they are, those special sounds, weird, not really percussion, not very obvious, but they all do one thing: making a track unique and groovy. Until now we couldn’t find any similar sample collection to this one, which makes sense: as mentioned before, these kind of samples do need some producer experience and creativity to handle – otherwise they’re just some non-fitting musical elements. You need to work on them, maybe add a huge amount of high quality reverb and others… in other words, once again: you need creativity. If you think you’re ready for that, you might be the happiest person ever with this perfectly handcrafted sample pack.

Verdict: 10/10

Pro|Tone Review: SOR's Clicks And Glitches

Clicks & Glitches is a really lovely package to work with: all those extremely groovy, special click sounds are provided as basic loops, meaning that you don’t get perfectly grooving loops but truly inspiring material to work with: everything inside a loop is perfectly processed, but you have to work on most of the loops to make them fit into your track – which isn’t of any disadvantage at all! “Clicks&Glitches” makes you instantly cut, copy and rearrange the loops – at least it inspired our creativity from the very first moment. For every fan of electro house and progressive, for sure also other genres, there’s no better collection of these kind of sounds.

New On The Blog: Hank Shocklee Release Coming Up

Hank Shocklee Artist Series Sample Pack
Loopmasters are proud to announce that we’ve joined up with Hank Shocklee of the legendary Bomb Squad and we’ll be adding him to our ever growing list of talent to the Artist Series very soon!

Music Tech Review: French Electro House

With a new Justice album on the way, it seems fitting that the new pack from Loopmasters focuses on the heavily distorted French electro sound. Accordingly, up-and-coming star UtkuS has compiled a massive collection of distorted synths, throbbing bass lines and glitched-out beats, with a healthy dose of groove and programming swagger.

The pack contains around 1.3GB of 24-bit audio in ACID WAV and REX formats, plus instruments for ESX24, Kontakt, NN-XT, HALion and SFZ. If you require Apple Loops, Live Pack or ReFill formats, then an alternative download is available.

The 580 loops are spread across the main folders of bass, drums and music loops at 122-130 BPM, plus additional folders of glitch, side-chain FX and top percussive loops.

If you're familiar with the output of labels such as Ed Banger and the artist SeastiAn, then you’ll have an idea of what to expect: heavy, driving house beats with glitch percussive elements and edits, fat sounding analogue bass lines that have been shredded through distortion pedals, and brash, side-chained synth chords pumping away on top.

There's not a lot of subtlety here, but the production is excellent throughout, with inventive riffs, wild pitch bends and an overly processed yet somehow pleasing sound. We can only imagine the array of distortion pedals that were used in the making of this pack, but each loop has a raw, "outside the box" quality and liveliness to it that helps to make it stand out in the mix. As an aid to arrangement, several of the bass lines and drum loops have variations, so you can drop in different versions or splice several riffs together.

Although the loops are the focus of the pack, you’ll also find a concise collection of heavily processed drum hits and synth bass patches, and some inventive sweeps and rising effects. The overall sound of French Electro House is pretty in-your-face, with some quite full-sounding glitch drums and occasionally harsh sounding distortion, so it won’t appeal to everyone. However, for fans of the genre, there are plenty of superb bass and drum loops, plus original, inspiring production.

Verdict: 9/10

Computer Music Review: Reggae Soundclash

Canadian dub wiz Dubmatix brings his experience to the table. It’s no pastiche, though; this is as modern as it gets, and with 475 loops at between 60 and 180 BPM, it’s suitable for a wide range of genres. What makes the pack so appealing is it’s authenticity – you can even hear the breaths between notes on the horn samples. Classic sounds with a modern edge.

Verdict: 9/10

DJ Weekly Review: IG Culture Breakbeats & Electronica

IG Culture is one of broken beat’s most famous pioneers. Beginning his musical career in rap, he became drawn to the broken beat scene by its syncopated rhythms and freedom of expression. Culture’s productions are unique in that they play on the offbeat style of the genre while also utilizing influences from other musical styles.

The sample library contains 490 24-bit samples and 347 one-shots. There are also 88 ready-to-play sampler patches, so you can create your own versions of the sounds provided within the pack. Within the sounds you will find off-beat breaks, smooth pads, subby basses, expressive chords, syncopated stabs and a full arsenal of one-shot drums.

For producers of broken beat, breaks, dubstep and hip-hop, IG Culture provides an insight into his own creative studio techniques and allows a first ever look at what has made him so influential throughout two decades in music.

Verdict: 9/10

Kutski: A Review Of Organ Donors - Future Hard Dance

The Organ Donors have been leaders in the harder sounds of dance music for the past 15 years, but their current revolution in production has left everyone from hard dance to trance in awe of their tracks sheer unquestionable quality! This latest sound set will no doubt open doors to a whole new generation of producers, and even a new cross genre platform! This certainly has become the first port of call for all my remixes, re-edits, and bootlegs!

Verdict: 5/5

Mixmag Review: Organ Donors - Future Hard Dance

The Organ Donors, with their unique sound, are one of the leading exponents of the huge tech dance scene, so it is quite fitting that Loopmasters should ask them to distil that vibe into an exclusive sample pack! What you get is a really comprehensive, 1 GB snapshot of their current style with all the usual bases covered. What sets this pack apart from others out there is the feeling that every single variation has had real effort spent on it – every part of this pack has been designed with modern Hard Dance in mind and has enough scope to be of interest to producers of any forward-thinking dance music. This pack is most definitely worth a purchase for anyone looking to give their productions a cutting edge.

Verdict: 5/5

Wusik Review: Clicks & Glitches

Well, this is something different. I have never reviewed a "micro pack" before and this is the first, though certainly not the last. This pack lives up to my expectations, with some pretty useable esoteric loops that can add a littl 'extra' to your compositions. It's primarily geared for minimal techno but other electronic music producers an benefit from this as well. All loops are recorded in the standard 127 BPM and are offered in different formats such as 24-bit WAVs, REX, Apple AIFF loops, plus EXS24 and Kontakt 4 patches. Clicks and Glitches Vol. 1 comprises 100 loops (107 MB) that can also serve as top loops for drum mixes lacking that certain charm. A hundred loop library and for only 10.92 Euros (plus Tax/VAT).. . You can't go wrong with this.

Wusik Review: Minimal Underground Techno V. 2

When I reviewed Minimal Techno Underground a few issues back I was wishing there was a second installment because it was a fantastic pack. Little did I know there was more and that Marc Adamo and Loopmasters were only warming up. Minimal Underground Techno Vol. 2 picks up where volume one left off and this time it's guaranteed to inspire many producers. This pack caters to producers who are passionate about making Techno, House or Dubstep music. All major formats are supported and with 700+MB of24-bit resolution it contains inspiring loops that enable you to create your own banging tunes in no time at all. There are solid drum loops, synths loops, vox cut loops, risers and falls, impacts and individual percussion loops to boot. What I really like about this pack is that it represents the genre well. The samples are very well recorded, you can expect to have some very usable content.

Wusik Review: Future Garage

Here we have 500MB of content providing over 200 WAV loops, 135 REX files in 44.1kHz/24-bit format. Future Garage is inspired by the sounds of producers like Burial, 2562 and Martyn with usability in a whole host of genres such as UK Garage, Dubstep, Detroit and Dub-Techno. Tempos range from 132 to 138 BPM, and you get all manner of swung beats, shuffling hats, floor-smashing 4x4 and 2-step rhythms. Some sci-fi atmospherics, gorgeous pads, sweeps and SFX are also thrown in for good measure. As always, Push Button Bang pushes the envelope with their releases and this collection is exceptionally well produced and recored. I wish there were more loops in this collection but for the price it would be silly not to get it.

Wusik Review: India Surprise

From the get-go you know that India Surprise has a lot to offer. First of all, this specialized Ethnic/World DVD-ROM is full of traditional Indian samples and rhythms ready to be explored. Secondly, it includes a whooping 1500-plus files of percussion (tabla, dholak, partha, drum, etc.), stringed instruments (sitar, santoor, etc.), wind instruments (bamboo flutes), voices (singing, reading and mouth tabla), and a slew of sound effects. Thirdly, not only is this library in 44.1kHz/16-bit, but also in 96kHz/24-bit sample rate format - a real rarity amongst sample libraries. India Surprise also supports virtual instruments such as Native Instruments' Kontakt and Battery, with some of the instruments being pre-mapped.

Literally, India Surprise took me by surprise in terms of content. The high quality and the authenticity of the recordings also surpassed my expectations. I love the inclusion of "mouth tabla" which I think is great for augmenting Hip-Hop tracks. But to me, this library wins in the "sitar" department with some really tasty and inspiring performances. Nice packaging and cover art as well.

Wusik Review: Alien Robot Vox

A 354 MB collection of vocoded loops from Loopmasters, Alien Robot Vox is one fun sample pack to audition and to use in any electronic genre music. Split into categories such as Vocoded Loops, Android, Robot Talk, Cosmic Bot loops, One Shots, Vocoded Drum and Synths, Alien Robot Vox from Loopmasters focuses on loops that emulate the sounds and style of Kraftwerk, Daft Punk and Air. This collection includes over 250 loops in Acidized WAV and 210 REX files that were recorded in tempos between 90 and 126BPM. A separate Apple Loops pack is also available for purchase.

The selection of vocoded voices are well presented here but this sample pack also covers some nice vocoded drums and synth lines, which to me are very useful as fills or additional parts for any section of a song. You can always make DIY vocoded loops with the right source audio and vocoder effect plug-in but for quick and easy vocoded effects, phrases and sounds Alien Robot Vox is a good alternative.

New On The Blog: Organize Your Plugins, Flex Edit In Logic

Plugin Organization In Ableton Live

With the plethora of free and paid plugins currently available on the market, chances are that you already have access to a few of them. It might get intimidating trying to organize these plugins in a logical and understandable structure in your hard drive. Ableton Live has some nice organizational features that can make your life easier.

Working With Markers - Flex Editing In Logic

Flex editing in Logic Pro allows you to manipulate audio tempo and rhythm data by compressing or expanding the waveform. This is done with the use of flex markers. In this quick tip I will explain all about creating, manipulating and editing with flex markers.

Public Records: House EP Voting Stage Has Started!

The voting stage for the House EP has now opened, and we’ll be running that for the next couple of weeks. We’ve already chosen 3 quality tracks for the EP so we’ll be selecting one or two of our favourites from the current shortlisted tracks on the site in the very near future. Head over the the voting page and have a listed and let us know what you think!

Public Records Voting Page

LoopTV Fresh: Fred Everything, touchAble And Wobble Bass

DJ Fred Everything | Deep Analogue House | Studio Tour

LoopTV present this behind the scenes look at DJ Fred Everything's studio hideaway in San Francisco! Fred shows us round his enviable collection of hardware vintage synths and processors, which were used in the making of his latest Deep Analogue House sample pack for Loopmasters.

Ableton Live Controller | touchAble 1.2 Update | iPad App

The fantastic touchAble Ableton Touch controller app developed for iPad by programmer Christian Blomert, in partnership with French producer Sylvain "Le K" Garcia is an all-in-one Ableton controller with plenty of tricks up its sleeve.

Ableton Live 8 | Wobble Bass Compression Tips | Danny J Lewis

LoopTV bring you this second video Point Blank Online from their new 'Mixing Dance Music With Ableton' course, which gives some tips for brightening and controlling a wobble bass line in Ableton Live, using compression, EQ and Ableton freeze functions.

Wusik Review: Tribal Percussion by 5Pin Media

5Pin Media shakes the earth with this enormous collection of percussion loops aimed for tribal house, afrobeat, cinematic and electronica. This is a digital download product and you get 1.9GB of percussion loops, construction kit loops, MIDI loops, REX fies and one-shots. There are also 144 percussion shots available as a bonus. As with other 5Pin Media products it includes multisampled instruments for use in NNXT, Kontakt 3, Battery 3 and Live Sampler formats. Included are a massive range of percussion loops - 3 sizes of Djembe with Kesseng, Cajon, Congas, Bongos, Mandal, Berimbau, Caxixi shakers, Juju shakers, Shekeres, Guiro, Claves, Triangle, Tambourine, Agogo, Rain Stick and some custom instruments thrown in for good measure. How does it sound you ask? This extensive collection boasts some great live-sounding loops. A perfect addition to your quantized drum mixes.

Loopmasters Introduce New Series: Patchworx

As the world of music production grows and its tools diversify Loopmasters have entered new grounds to help producers with that we deliver best - top quality audioware.

Patchworx from Loopmasters is a new concept which presents fresh and exclusive collections of hand crafted patches for the most popular soft synths, direct from the studios of our best producers and artist contacts. Each title includes 64 custom made patches and also comes with 64 ready to edit MIDI files from the packs creators.

We launch the series with two very strong entries from expert producers: Jody Wisternoff's set of patches for Sylenth, catered for the Tech House-oriented producer/DJ and S:amplify Drum & Bass And Dubstep presets for Native Instruments' Massive Synth. Want to know what to expect? Check out the demo tracks on the produt pages

Public Records Announcement: Sine EP Out Now, Promo Campaign For PR03

"Sines EP" Out Now At Bandcamp

Our first Dubstep release, the “Sines EP” is out now and available exclusively at our Bandcamp shop. For those of you who like a bit of wobble in your bass, head on over to the shop to hear what we’ve been cooking.

Promo Campaign For PR03 Launched

We’ve launched a promo campaign for Late Night Logic with our partners at Ahead PR – this will get the release in front of tastemakers, press, radio and club djs around the world and we’ll be getting feedback from DJs who download the promo release.

New On The Blog: Cubase 6, Hank Shocklee And Ableton Sampler

Extracting MIDI From Audio
Here’s a great tutorial on how to extract MIDI data from audio in Cubase 6.

Hank Shocklee Joins Forces With Loopmasters
Loopmasters are proud to announce that we’ve joined up with Hank Shocklee of the legendary Bomb Squad and we’ll be adding him to our ever growing list of talent to the Artist Series very soon!

Tutorial Video On Ableton Sampler
Hey Ableton fans, here’s a great introduction video on Ableton’s Sampler and how to use its many features.

LoopTV Fresh:

Artist Clinic | Using Bass Layers In Logic Studio | DJ Fracture - Part 2

In light of DJ Fracture's brand new Drum & Bass sample pack due out on release through Loopmasters, Charlie Fracture takes time to show us round the new pack, with this exclusive 'Artist Clinic' and give us an insight to his sound design process.

Ableton Live | Sidechain Tips | Danny J Lewis

LoopTV bring you an exclusive selection of Ableton Live training videos for dance music production, which form part of their new 'Mixing Dance Music With Ableton' course launched in April 2011. This first video gives some handy tips for side chaining audio, without hearing the side chain key audio.