Jack Sparrow

Jack Sparrow

39 reviews|see all

Leeds based Ryan Wild AKA J.Sparrow has been producing his own strain of Dubstep since 2006 and in that time has shown his versatility in the studio ranging from dark tribal Techno to heavy "soundsytem" Dubstep styles. With residencies at Exodus/Dmz Leeds and Outlook festival (voted best european music festival 2011) he has fast become a household name all over the globe regularly touring Asia,Europe and UK with his take on Dubstep. His Debut album "Circadian" followed a string of releases with Pinch's tectonic label based in bristol and achieved a 4.5 stars from the like of Resident Advisor (4.5 stars) and Mixmag (4 stars) and also charting highly in the best albums of 2010.


Reviews

  • A really nice varied pack of presets from Ghost Syndicate. I have been singing their praises for years now and this pack in no exception to the high quality they deliver. The presets are ready to slot into your dnb/dubstep/jungle projects from the off but I encourage people to use these as a learning tool to see how to make your own patches from scratch. Serum is still a very powerful synth even though there have been multiple synths released since. These patch harness the true power of Serum.


    ATAJAR: Dubstep

    Rating: 9/10

    Again Ghost Syndicate flying the flag for the best sample packs for the Dubstep genre. Not a demo submission goes by that i don't hear their sounds being used by producers. I really like the fact there is a learning element for new producers in these packs, you can deconstruct the full drum loops into parts to learn the rhythms. Lots of squelchy bass one shots and synths. I've been known to use a cheeky snare shot from their packs in the past ;)


    CESTRA: Serum Presets

    Rating: 9/10

    I will keep singing Ghost Syndicates praises! These presets are high quality and complex which is a sign that some real work went into these. I really like deconstructing the workflow to come up with my sounds when buying into the Serum preset ecosystem.. I find that's where the value is for me anyway. Aside from deconstructing for my own education the presets are all killer no filler and can be used in dubstep/garage/neuro styles or whatever cross pollination you can think of!


    Debris

    Rating: 9/10

    It seems like all I do is sing the Ghost Syndicates's praises these days! They are back with Debris another essential minimal, crunchy, bassy and versatile pack. Sub kicks deep enough to fill the void in the most emo of souls. You can hear a lot of time and attention to detail goes into these packs and they are versatile sitting nicely in DNB / 140 / Electronic genres. Especially love the hats and percussion within this pack!


    Prism

    Rating: 9/10

    When I listened to the demos of this pack I loved it! Jazzy, bass & brass goodness. For fans of Author/ Chord Marauders and Deep Heads. As i'm learning with the Ghost Syndicate packs there no fillers its all calculated and engineered to hit the spot. I have yet to give anything 10/10 but this pack would be 9.5. I especially like the textures of the drums in Prism.- they move away from the digital and into the more organic realm of Dubstep.


    Tentacles

    Rating: 9/10

    Ghost Syndicate seem to be in tune with the latest genres and production styles. I have a lot of time on my hands..as everyone does currently so I have been checking a fair few packs and the ones by Ghost Syndicate are truly awesome. I always find something I can manipulate with the Syndicate packs and they are not over processed. Buy on sight

    I recently got into Serum again after a break using Massive X...Mainly for this pack. Icicle has shown what Serum is capable of and shown that Serum really can be the one stop synth for everything. Drum,Bass,Pads,Synth this pack has everything.. and its all made in Serum.


    Great pack from the Soundsmiths guys. I expected high quality warm samples and thats exactly what I got. 80bpm seems to be the focus on the pack loops but any DAW these days has stretching to be able to incorporate these samples into any genre or style. I use Maschine and this pack works well inside the software as one shot or loop library.


    Fantastic pack for those wanting to see how artists put together unique patches within Massive. Macros are essential to creating individual interesting sounds. Deconstruct these patches and learn or tweak to make them your own! I would have like to have seen a few more patches within the pack but none the less an essential purchase for dnb or dubstep producers.


    I really found these patches to be great sounding but also educational. They give the original version of massive a new lease of life. I haven't started using the new massive yet as I am still having fun learning about the original. These patches are a buy on sight and do not disappoint.


    Drum & Bass NI Massive

    Rating: 8/10

    Some classic sounds here! Modern fm style percussive bass hits alongside the usual "Reese" style sounds. I would say the pack is defined by its versatility for either harder or softer DNB. However there is no reason why you cant experiment and use this pack for HIP HOP/Breaks. Its worth paying with the macro knobs to customise each sound.


    A very versatile pack touching on bending the genre of Grime and blending it with Trap style beats. There are some lovely organic percussion samples that can be used alongside heavier kicks and snares to create movement and interest. One of the better Trap/Grime pacs available.


    Total Percussion

    Rating: 9/10

    I am always in need of percussion samples and high quality ones at that. This pack has been my "go to" pack for the last couple of weeks. It is really versatile and has clean selection of traditional percussion ready for samplers. Additionally you can use the loops provided within a DAW audio track. Recommended


    Humble Trap

    Rating: 7/10

    Humble trap is one of the better sample packs out there for TRAP style. I would have loved dry version of the ones shots and also a more extensive percussion folder. For that reason only it gets a 7/10. The patches and quality of the sounds are 100%. I particularly like that they used Sylenth as a go to synth.


    Smokin Ragga

    Rating: 8/10

    SIngomakers smash itnout the park with "SMOKIN Ragga". It's exactly what the title suggests ... smoked out breaks and chops. Versatile pack leaning into Jungle / DUB / 140 / Garage / Hip Hop styles.. Its a great toolkit for anyone looking to find those unique guitar stabs or new breaks for the next jungle track. Especially like the chord progressions with organ in this pack.... great for chopping up and resampling.


    Trap Shots

    Rating: 8/10

    This pack contains a neat diverse collection aimed at Trap music but easily finds its way into other genres. The Synth hits are key labelled so you can map them in any sampler or drag and drop straight from loopcloud or the pack itself. There are some warm rigid 808's which are also key mapped alongside some pretty solid drums. The thing I love about this pack are the Cymbals... hard to find a good Cymbal these days!


    Tech Kicks

    Rating: 9/10

    Nice selection of Kicks here for the basis of any club track. Ranging from warm to clicky.. they are all solid. You can never have too many kicks... in the sonic arsenal! For best results drag and drop into a sampler and edit the envelopes to your liking. Best served with a side helping of saturation!


    Although this pack is labelled as "future hip hop" I have been using it to make all kind of music, it is a real versatile pack and includes some nice and crisp sounds. People after something a little more ruff and ready will enjoy this pack.. recommended for hip hop, future garage and dubstep!


    This pack took me back to my high school days of listening to mixtapes and listening to kiss fm. There are some really key sounds in this pack which are stand out as "Classic Garage" sounds like the rim shot snares and 909 esq kicks. Freaky Loops have done a really good job to capture the scenes go to sounds. With Garage on the rise again its time to make some 2step or speed garage. Anyone after some authentic sounds from that old school era this is the pack!


    Voice of the Machine

    Rating: 9/10

    I really like this pack for 2 reasons... 1. the loops show how simple to make some of the vocal hook melodies you hear on popular records are to make and 2. they are high quality and ready to be dropped into projects straight away. I prefer the male texture sounds from the pack which are my preference but there are higher and lower keyed examples within the pack. You can go further and chop and switch different loops to be unique. Buy on sight


  • Grime Presets

    Rating: 8/10

    Grime is currently leading the way in underground dance music and these patches are a very good starting point to ease you into this murky bass heavy underworld! Grime is about simple yet energetic basslines... you will find what you need in this pack!


    As you would expect from the don Icicle these patches are very complex and show of the true potential of Massive. Fantastic Arp/Synth and Bass patches to be had here and reverse engineer. Buy on sight!


    Great collection of modern sounds here to reverse engineer or use straight out of the pack. Really solid for use in any genre not just dnb! Fire!


    I have been playing with this pack and I really like the idea of stem based soundscapes! more often than not soundscapes can be too complex to fit into a production but this pack simplifies that! Very well put together and sounds great!


    A really great way to start navigating Logic X. Being able to have these presets on call in the channel strip browser is great... they can show the potential for your mix and open up sounds you were struggling with. They will need some refining as the strips aren't meant to be generic so have a good play around and more importantly understand how they work.


    The drums in this pack are gorgeous! Excellent for that Drake style production. The pack contains some very nice Tonal FX which are keyed... I suggest loading these into a sampler and making pads or melodies. Great selection!

    Overloud Fx

    Rating: 9/10

    A lot of time seems to have gone into this pack which reflects on the quality. This pack is great for the darker side of music production wether that be electronic or film scores. Lots and lots of heavy industrial strikes and percussive hits. Great!


    Hip Hop Ultra Pack

    Rating: 8/10

    This pack contains really high quality content! Crackle, REALLY weighty snares and kicks! All the one shots are keyed for you to make sampler instruments or MPC style edits/melodies. Bangin!


    So much detail has been crammed into each sound sample its hard to know where to begin reviewing this pack! I could listen to the vinyl crackle and firework strikes over and over. The ticking clock samples are amazing when used as percussion or background incidentals. My favourite part of this pack is the "Stone Percussion" section.. these coupled with snare add so much grit and dirt to really make a unique texture. SOLID PACK!


    Indian Vocal Sessions

    Rating: 8/10

    Its not often that a vocal pack contains lead vocal, harmonies and ensembles, so when I opened this pack I was pleasantly surprised to find key matched separate stems. The quality of the phrases are outstanding! and completely free from effects. The loops are in Appleloops formats and Wav so you can simply drag and drop or chop into a sampler. Rex files are also included for use in Reason or Geist. This pack is suitable for all production types from Hip Hop to Trance.


    Voice Of India

    Rating: 8/10

    Qawalli to Bollywood! this pack is really exciting. All Vocals are key coded and mono which means you can drop them straight into your open project and start stretching and chopping! I have been experimenting with reverb and delay on pre fade and had some great Pad/Drone results! Array of tempos and moods!!


    Toys, Stationary and Floppy Disks are among some of the sounds featured in this pack. Producer making minimal style music like minimal DNB, Minimal Techno or Dub Tech should really invest in this as the sounds are very detailed indeed. Within minutes I had some great mid/high range percussion tracks! See also Junkyard Percussion Vol 3!


    This pack really thumps! From cement mixing machines to mouth springs it pretty much has everything you need for a alternative percussion pack. The folders are split into categories and loops organised into rex2 files for people using sequencers, those loops are then split into one shot samples. A really flexible pack with the bonus of room verb added so they sit nicely in the mix from the get go. Tracks that lack that sprinkle of low, high or mid range percussion will benefit from this pack.


    Traditional Percussion

    Rating: 9/10

    5Pin Media have really gone to town on Tribal Percussion. The samples are split into keys and loops. The one shots are also included so you can make your own loops via sequencer. If you get stuck you can use one of the many many midi loops provided and edit until you find your perfect percussion arrangement! Suitable for all music genres!


    Dub & Reggae

    Rating: 8/10

    I really like this pack for two reasons. Firstly Niche Audio have thought about complete beginners who are opening a DAW for the first time and want to see how a track is structured and second the demos are actually pretty good and easy to manipulate with no complex plugin chains or automation. Even experienced producers looking to make guide tracks for vocalists within the dub & reggae world will find this extremely useful. Varied pack and lots of templates!


    I got this out of pure curiosity and it really surprised me. SO MANY USEFUL SOUNDS! This pack is all killer no filler, it's one of the most interesting packs available. Crunchy Claps and Percussion with tonnes of soft synth presets. Clean well produced SubBass examples. An essential pack!


    This will be going straight into my sequencer! Found sounds always add that sparkle and interest to music. If you want your music to stand out and feel gritty and organic then this is the way to go about it. Super easy kit layout for samplers and anyone using MPC style midi sequencers. GREAT!


    I wish these kind of packs were around when I first started making music, it would have saved me hours and hours of research and facepalms! If you are just getting into making music or have been doing it for a while these channel strips will give you the transparency you need to understand mixing and workflow. Great inspirational tools for Novice and Intermediate alike!


    20 years on since Dub Pistols started up they prove again with this pack why quality sounds are timeless! As a personal fan of the outfit I grew up listening to their albums and took inspiration for my own music. If you like warm horns, textured drums and clean Sub Bass then this will be a ''go to'' pack for some time to come. There are elements of ''live feel'' drums and atmospheres as well as a more digital modern DNB like sounding elements in this pack. The Kicks and Snares would sit well in any Dub, Dub techno, Big Beat, Electronica or Hip Hop track. There is a real sense of a Analog organic alive feel with this pack. It's a real A-Z of what Dub Pistols are capable of in the studio and live.



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