Freemasons

Freemasons

19 reviews|see all

Freemasons are infamously named after the Brighton pub adjacent to the studio where the duo started productions nearly six years ago. They first came to clubland’s’ attention with the much loved, Jackie Moore sampling – ‘Love On My Mind’ which quickly made the quantum leap from UK Dancefloors, into the charts and the Freemasons were off to a running start. A second top 20 hit ‘Watchin’ also featuring the extremely talented Amanda Wilson cemented their name with clubbers and industry alike and as the remixes started to flood in it soon became apparent to everyone that the Freemasons were definitely much more than a one trick pony.


Reviews

  • Having been witness to more than a decade of Full intention's utterly addictive House music It's been a joy to dive through this pack - It's Exactly what an artist led House Sample Pack should be - Classy and I'd expect nothing less from Mike and John - Check their combined discogs to see just how much top drawer house music they have delivered. Great Job !


    Live Deep Jazz House

    Rating: 9/10

    When Jazz and house collide successfully it's a match made in heaven and thanks to the Brilliant selection of players across this pack it's only a matter of time before someone makes a track to give St Germain a run for his money - lets face it Summer's on it's way and house is back !.. Always great to see Live players available to electronic to producers - Something loopmasters always promotes


    Subliminal Fx

    Rating: 8/10

    With There currently being more enormous Fx risers in the world than people in Bulgaria We've often found it tricky to find something to fit into the new and much smoother face of house music since EDM took hold . This is exactly where subliminal FX comes in - These FX sit perfectly in modern house styles and have been really rather cleverly thought out .. - This is not just a pack of white noise samples .. Been loving using them and that says it all really ! .. P.S. Nothing to do with Morrillo just so you know ;)


    Funk Guitar

    Rating: 7/10

    Guitar packs are always about the player behind the axe and There's a very accomplished player behind this pack - In my opinion all rhythm Gtr packs should be bone dry so you can choose your own Ambience and this rocks that box - It would have scored higher but everything is very Blues Styled Funk so quite limited in application on the chordal stuff as the amount of drive is perfect for the style but a touch too much for some apps - Do not expect David Williams ( Billie Jean / Thriller album session player) type material in this pack .


    This pack is so far up our street it's practically next door .. Every single sound in this pack is crafted , thought out and executed brilliantly - There is a quickly forming middle ground between the hi-octane sound of EDM and the current resurrection of more classical house styles - If you aim to work any side of those bate lines you NEED this pack - the drums hit hard enough to compete with stems full of fizzing synths but also feel perfectly at home with a classic house production - Every week we keep reaching inside this release and finding exactly what we need - that after all is the idea of soundwares - in a soundbite - It's just brilliant


    Afro Tech Percussion 2

    Rating: 8/10

    Summer's here and percussionist everywhere are dusting off their weapons ready for the annual migratory return of Latin in house . ..We've searched high and low over the years for drag and drog house percussion and normally been exceptionally disappointed .. This pack however delivers perfect loops in Spades ( or should that be Shovels ? ) Dont' be fooled by the raw loops - you MUST play them in context with your Work in progress as with any poly-rhythmic groove only gets going when everything plays off each other . Sonically these are stunning - nice and dry so you can choose your own processes for them and not repetitive like some rival products the folders within are first call for when working quickly - always a good sign

    Jazz Sessions

    Rating: 8/10

    There is always a chance , just a chance that anything with the word Jazz in the tit;e can enter to horrific world of the smooth .. Luckily the artwork gives this away - This pack is true to the form we all want to hear - Sleazy , late night , smoky seductive notes that pop away at the subconscious - This pack feels like you walked down the stairs at the 606 club , persuaded someone you were on the list , propped yourself up at the bar and stayed till 3am .. Great playing , great recording , true to the artform , yet inclusive enough to make the loops easy to use .. someone's going to take a load of these loops and make the next St Germain Album - that will then no doubt be over tv adverts for the next decade .. worth every penny


    I'm not sure when it happened , but suddenly House music in it's warmest and most naturally harmonious form has risen from the playlists of the coolest into the itunes top 10 . In sharp contrast to EDM's harsh upper mids, Deep house's warm underbelly suddenly feels like dance's teenage kids have gotten over their rebellious phase , met someone pretty and just about to have a summer they'll never forget dancing in a club where the San Miguel is brewed locally. Warmth is always connected to analogue and what Atnarko has done perfectly here is get everything to sound like it just fell into a bucket full of tubes on the way to an SSL . I'm currently on the hunt for the prefect house clap and it's all in the dynamics and reverb processing - this is obviously something Atnarko does naturally - his short verb processing is top drawer throughout Don't expect your master hook to be found in here , that is still down to you as it should be, but you'll find all the accompaniments you'll need


    I must admit I love a good texture .. Ever since BT did his late 90's CD rom I've found the answer to the lack of space is recording now we're all digital can nearly always be fixed by some randomly found , twisted and abused bed of electronic mayhem ... And this pack does just that . As the name suggests this pack heads into our perceived sonic view of whats outside of our planet's atmosphere and hence the sounds are full of low drones highlighted by electronic twists , extreme glitch and granular processing . nearly 70 years of sci fi soundtracks have certainly developed a style that we associate with space . In practice these sounds are nearly always useable and a low and hipass filter away from slotting right in somewhere .. The beauty of using this pack is when you've got it playing in key and then a certain note or harmonic you were'nt expecting jumps out and creates something amazing - these kind of things are never point and click , they take work but worth the extra minutes everytime


    I don't think I've every reached for a download button so quickly then the morning I saw this pack go up .. I've used part 1 again and again and unlike most sequels this one adds even more meat to the meal . This is not a bog standard hip hop pack the likes of which are scattered all over the sound-sphere - Every single sound on these construction kits has been lovingly sculptured - you really feel like you've got the Stems to someones album work here - It has not only the required attitude in the bottom end, but the messed-with atmosphere that reminds me of the glory days of Mo wax . There have been huge leaps forward in drum processing last few years and this pack has enough bite in it's beats to make you want to go back to the drawing board with your buss processing I May make house normally, but a pack like this goes across the board thanks to today's time stretching technologies , and now deep is firmly back I'll no doubt rinse the atmosphere in this pack during 2013


    As we've always constructed our drum tracks new every track We're always on the lookout for new fodder .. As drums are getting louder and louder it's a constant battle to find that extra layer or spot sound .. This pack quite simply contains pretty much every bread and butter kind of sound you'll need for the club beat programming in spring 2013 .. only fault I could find was a little bit of over compression on some of the kicks .. but kicks are a very personal sound .. price of a sunday lunch and a beer - bargain


    Total House

    Rating: 7/10

    Celebrating the sudden return of the open hi-hat I was drawn to this pack by it's swing and crunch - certain parts of the demo had a real feel of an SP1200.. It's not as comprehensive as many packs as its a selection of construction kits , but don't let that put you off . In a sea of house packs coming to the surface this has real swing and atmosphere sonically , quite unique and you can tell the producers are well versed in the creation of of modern house beat with classic undertones


    The rampant return of House music continues and suddenly is fury of open hi hats everything's changed - Again! .. Running straight through the PolarBears Musical torso is a protective thick layer of funk and the loops and drums of this pack shows that fact off perfectly .. Nicely juxtaposed with urgent modern synths .. 4/4 Club music is going to split in 2013 and I'd much rather be on the side of the fence with these chaps - especially if it snows again


    Over the last few years the word 'British' has appeared in music tech to describe famous EQ curves, compression settings and now the very month the British media is hinting at the chart return of guitar music comes a pack celebrating everything about the UK pop history of guitars .. Great thing is certain decades are interchangeable - You'll find the 70's orientated riffs stripped from any backing sound decidedly 90's and the cheeky 80's eqsue cockny riffs sound like Olly Murs is about to start singing over the top .. What sets this pack firmly at the Top of Pops though is the playing and recording - Both are second to none ...Wandering though the pack you start coming up with ideas instantly as they actaully sound like songs parts which is something most guitar packs miss - guitarist -created packs too often end up wandering off into riffing nonsense , but every part of this pack is concise and instantly usable .. Would be 10/10 if there were more but I'd much rather have quality instead of quantity .. can we do a processed / 80's version too ? (although more Flock of seagulls than Van Halen please )


    Funk can Be Elusive , it's the undefinable something that makes you feet and legs itch .. All too often in recent dance styles it's been replaced with raw sound and an almost rock-esque-everything-on-the-4s style of beat formation . The french have always had their own slice of the Electric-funk style where Chic-Like Rhythms collide with raw oscillators and anything else lying around Utku S had done the Tricolour proud here - these are not the kind of loops you can whack together in an afternoon - they take dedication to the cause to create and make flow and they sounds beautiful too .. It's interesting now in soundware that trusted names are starting to appear and How quickly I head for the play button when I see his name on a pack Would be a 9 or higher if there'd been rex files or 1shots/ drums in there too - now I actually have to do some work !!


    We're in one of the most creative periods of electronic music since the advent of the sampler . As a result no producer is confined by one style . This opens up a whole area of sample pack that can fit between genres which is exactly what this pack does beautifully - we were after some sawn-off dub effects for a downtempo track and ended up getting lost in this perfectly crafted piece of sound design . Probably even more relevant now than when it was first made - top work !


    Like all sampler addicts we're always up for trying to pull musical performances from one genre and dump them into another, and as we're right in the early stages of a cross-tempo project this took our fancy... All the best breakbeats are from Funk records, and musical parts sampled/borrowed from Funk make their way onto anything from lounge to indie (Fools gold?) so by default this sample pack should stand up to be used to a crate diving session To test this theory, we quickly slammed some of the very neutrally recorded loops into a series of vintage limiters (hardware and software), whilst adding a touch of Room verb and used Kontakts' time machine sample engines to mangle the riff sections into a new musical home... Results were excellent... Someone is going to some fab music using these instrument riffs (Hopefully properly credited!! )... The drums swing just the right amount without getting too far into over-muso territory and respond well to getting vinylised and crushed up... The keys are excellently played and sound fab, but I always find Rhodes and other piano riffs played in a funk setting don't travel so well out of their circle Niggles are minor... some cunning changes of snare drum during loop recording could have provided a bigger sonic pallette on the drum loops, just a few of the brass riffs are a touch 'tuney' (but, as the saying goes, def close enough for Jazz)... Also a Menu of the instrumental riffs by instrument within the sampler folders would have been a touch, but that is me just being lazy All in all - It's just damn good fun


    Having seen this unique performer live we were straight onto the download button . In a heavily machine orientated production, nothing gives a track life or soul better than the human voice and Mr Stanford is so much more than the average Beatboxer - He's also in possession of a stunning voice and it was this carrot that lead us into the zip The Harmony section of this DL is totally worth the asking price by itself , the loops are inspiring, one of a kind and refreshingly original - lots of layered vocal textures just crying out for stretching , gating , crushing and other forms of electronic torture and for once you know the vocalist would appreciate your plug-in chain .. we just wish there were more- much more ! The beatbox section and loops are fab too - very well recorded and post processed , but the weak link is the hit /stab sections - although technically top notch are'nt as exciting as the rest of the pack Dub dear chap - PLEASE do another of just the harmony styles - in the words of Alan sugar - These are your USP


    Sometimes the word Classic can be over used . When it comes to original house beats and drum programming there was a very good reason why the term "Todd is God" floated about the house music studios of the 90's . No one had hit hats as crunchy as this man , or understood the careful placement of a oddly trimmed SP1200 shaker better than him . Sometimes sample packs referencing a classical past can be only a shade of the original artists' pallette as sounds get lost as technology moves forward , but not here - This is exactly as was and we used it within minutes of finding the sampler patches - each hi hat complete with the correct amount of distortion and grit With a new worldwide fascination with 4/4 and the forward-retro programming styles , there's nothing like adding a bit of classic Todd Swing into your work ... And yes we are biased - we remember it the 1st time round !!



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