ONE-SHOTS
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Jason Scott Alexander
NOMAD FACTORY ROCK AMP LEGENDS
GUITAR-AMP SIMULATOR
Known for its amazing-sounding Blue Tubes bundle, Nomad Factory has collaborated with world-famous guitarist Jimmy Crespo for its latest plug-in effort. Contracted to custom-build the “definitive guitar amp simulator plug-in,” Crespo worked in the studio with the engineers to capture impulse responses of legendary tube gear, including the 100W JCM800 and Super Lead Plexi head from Marshall, the Vox AC-30, the Matchless Chieftain, the Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier and the Fender Twin and Tweed. Although the 18 amp and cabinet simulations aren't specifically laid out by brand, the 82 factory presets do a profound job of sonically identifying their unmistakable characters. The front panel provides typical master, presence, treble, mid, bass and drive controls along with a knob for dialing in reverb. Flipping the FX switch takes you around back to an assortment of rather generic-sounding effects, including tremolo, auto-pan, delay, chorus/phaser, EQ, compressor, gate and stereo imager. I would rather have seen effects modeled on classic stompboxes for a more authentic vintage vibe, but you can always insert your favorite plug-ins to the chain for this.
Whether it's a crisp solid-state amp you're after or that distinctive roar and larger-than-life tube edge of the Marshall models, the tones here are rich and velvety. The lead sounds, especially, exhibit a beautifully full character with gobs of overdrive and liquid sustain that transforms naturally into interweaving bands of feedback. If you're looking to effortlessly implement coveted British and American amp tones, Rock Amp Legends reproduces the responsiveness and feel of these amps to a tee.
NOMAD FACTORY (DIST. BY TASCAM)
ROCK AMP LEGENDS > $299
At a glance: Guitar-amp-simulation plug-in for HTDM, RTAS, Audio Units and VST. Mac OS 9/OS X, Windows.
Contact: www.nomadfactory.com
EAST WEST PERCUSSIVE ADVENTURES 2
PERCUSSION LIBRARY
Building on the huge success of Percussive Adventures 1, percussionists and sound-design experts Kurt Wortman and Tony Humecke have plotted a sequel that should prove equally tempting to big-name film and TV composers as it undoubtedly will be with remixers and electronic-music artists. This world-inspired escapade of beats and electronic atmospheres is housed on a single DVD and installs 3.2 GB of samples along with a special version of Native Instruments Intakt. Operational in stand-alone mode or as a plug-in instrument, Percussive Adventures 2 contains 70 presets, each descriptively titled to convey the sonic mood, genre or geographic region upon which it is based. These range from Latin/Brazilian, Indonesian, Middle-Eastern/Arabic, American jazz and funk (with a distinguished urban vibe) to African and Amazonian tribal.
Arranged intelligent-construction-kit style, each preset typically includes a full-bed mix on C2 followed by a dozen or so full-bed loops, several alternate mixes, phrases and ambient flowing textures, an octave or more of individual elements or hits, and several miscellaneous effects sounds. With tempos varying between 90 and 150-plus bpm, some loops are short and sweet (none shorter than eight bars) while others travel along for well over a minute, evolving many times throughout the journey. Longer phrases have been thoughtfully chopped into smaller, more manageable chunks for custom arrangement, and all parts within a preset work splendidly together, adding spice and adventure to any style of contemporary music.
EAST WEST
PERCUSSIVE ADVENTURES 2 > $399.95
At a glance: Construction-kit-style library of extended percussion performances hosted within special looping version of NI Intakt. Stand-alone, VSTi, DXi, RTAS, AU. Requires Windows XP or Mac OS 10.2.6 or higher.
Contact: www.soundsonline.com
MODERN BEATS VINYL SCRATCHEZ 2
SCRATCH AND VOCAL COLLECTION
Many pundits feel that today's hip-hop has lost its vinyl roots. The latest entry in Tha Vinyl Scratchez Collection from Modern Beats aims to bridge that gap by packing 191 MB of the grittiest-sounding old-school turntable tricks you're likely to find in a single download. What could otherwise prove to be a disorderly array of cuts, Vinyl Scratchez 2 intelligently arranges the wares into 25 well-coordinated presets, each containing nearly 80 performance-based scratches and vinyl effects. Vocal-scratch presets dominate the landscape, including at least a couple lifted from what sounds like funk-fortified vocoded records, while scratches lifted from string, brass and early electro records round out the remaining presets. There's even a program containing nothing but vinyl noises and crackles as beds for your beats.
Mapped chromatically, samples start off as quick baby scratches, fractional bursts, chirps and static drops that gradually increase in length and complexity as you move your way up the keyboard. Forward and backward scratches are conveniently paired side-by-side. Higher octaves contain sliced cuts compiled from expertly executed phrases consisting of just about every scratch technique known to DJ kind. Wicked-sounding scribbles, flares, hydroplanes, orbits, reverses, strobes, tweaks, tapped spin-downs — they're all here. Available for download, Vinyl Scratchez 2 is sold in all major software-sampler formats, including Steinberg HALion, Apple Logic EXS24, Native Instruments Kontakt and Battery, Propellerhead Reason NN-XT, SF2 and WAV. It may also be purchased together with other volumes from the growing Modern Beats catalog as a customized CD-ROM.
MODERN BEATS
VINYL SCRATCHEZ 2 > $29.95
At a glance: Multiformat vocal- and vinyl-scratch collection.
Contact: www.modernbeats.com
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