October
9
Loopmasters have recently announced the launch of a new line of sample packs - the Global Underground line. The idea is that the sample packs are all collated by DJs and producers who have released a coveted GU album. It's a nice little tie-in/marketing approach, methinks - I'll be interested to see how it pans out, but it could perhaps end up helping both brands.
But that's not really the point of this article, which is a review of the first two in the series - one from Jim Rivers, and one from Anil Chawla & Dale Anderson. As you may or may not expect, these packs are therefore centred around deep, techy house, with nods to progressive, minimal and techno. Both include one-shots, percussion loops, FX, synth loops, basslines and all the usual extras like sampler programs and so on.
I'll start off with
the Anil Chawla & Dale Anderson pack: 200MB of all the abovementioned, with lots of variations in each. The tendency is towards a tough, darker, progressivey kind of sound I'd say, and it's put together a bit like a 'construction set'; there are lots of variations on similar loops, which implies that the intention is for people to drop them straight into Ableton to switch things up in a live kind of setting. The downside to this, is that although there are (for instance) 45 complete drum loops, this is essentially 9 drumloops, with 5 variations on each. So while there is a decent amount of content, and it does all sound good, it doesn't cover an awful lot of stylistic ground.
Similar can be said for the synth loops - there are 18 basic loops, at tempos from 124-128BPM, all at three different pitches each for the sampler crew. They're well produced and sound 'right' - you could certainly drop them straight into a track - although some of them seem a touch polite on occasion.
The one shots and multi-samples are all solid, if not the most thrilling, but the pack is lifted by a good selection of effects and some random percussive noises - maybe this is an odd thing to be bigging up, but they're reverbed and effected well, and would add some pretty interesting atmospheres to a track. Overall, it's a decent pack, and at 19 great British pounds is worth checking out, especially if you're after something along the lines of a construction kit.
The superior pack though, to these ears, is
the Jim Rivers one. The tempos are a touch more varied - in this case from 120BPM to about 128, and there's a lot more stylistic variation - from disco type drum loops, to techno, to stuff that even sounds rather like good old nu-skool breaks, and there are some really cool percussive loops in there too. The bass and synth loops don't have variations at different keys, but cover a lot of sounds and styles, and there are some quite interesting and creative rhythms dotted about aswell. The overall emphasis is towards warm, technoey synth sounds, and they all sound authentic, although again, a bit more grit on a couple of them wouldn't have hurt. The one shots are also pretty tight, in particular the 'snares' - most of which don't sound anything like a recognisable snare, but are all interesting noises that will pep up your drum loops. Criticisms? Well, the kick drums sound a bit uninspired, and as ever a bit more of everything would have been appreciated, but overall I'd definitely recommend this pack for those looking for a decent, introductory kind of pack for deep, techy sounds.
------
i.d.
Comments [0]