ONE-SHOTS
Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Jason Scott Alexander
ZERO-G URBAN ELEMENTZ
EAST COAST MOVES SOUTH
New York remixer/producer Robert LaRow and the Xfonic crew have assembled more than 1,350 fresh hip-hop and R&B samples (1.5 GB) in a superb cross-pollination of urban flavors sure to fill floors and influence the charts in months to come. Generally tipping the high end of a 65 to 114 bpm spread, you get 35 construction kits offering 16-bar full mixes and backing submixes, complete with builds and turnarounds, individually tracked instruments and a multitracked selection of the drums (including fills) for mixing. Single drum hits used in the main groove and a folder containing hundreds of complex scratches accompany each construction kit, providing plenty of variety.
Aside from killer programming, brilliant instrumentation went into these kits. I love the trippy clarinet hook that forms the backbone in “Breezy,” which is countered by a Mellotron flute phrase and string stab with a big fat tuba holding it all down. Likewise, the troubadour-themed “Don Robbery” combines mandolin and piano with Latin congas, low synth strings and flute for a mysterious, commercial sound. “Drumline” integrally weaves subkick and kick drum into call-and-answer tracks, while a string/organ riff is signed off by a large timpani and finger cymbal on the down beats. A common thread through this self-proclaimed East Coast library, though, is that it often blends in Dirty South influences, such as the Timbaland-like “Southernstylez” kit and many Neptunes-style samples. This disc could drop some seriously ill tracks.
ZERO-G (DIST. BY EAST WEST/SOUNDS ONLINE)
URBAN ELEMENTZ > $100
At a glance: East Coast meets Dirty South construction kits. Acidized WAV, Apple Loops, REX2, Kontakt, EXS24, HALion.
Contact: www.soundsonline.com
UNIVERSAL AUDIO NEVE 1073 EQ
ANOTHER OF RUPERT'S REVERED DESIGNS
Sporting the same RAF military aesthetics and oversize knob controls of arguably the greatest preamp/EQ module in the world, UA's latest plug-in for its UAD DSP cards was developed under license from AMS Neve. At the right end sits a selectable four-frequency highpass/low-cut filter featuring musical sounding roll-offs at 50, 80, 160 and 300 Hz. Next is a four-frequency low-shelving EQ with 35, 60, 110 and 220 Hz settings, perfect for contouring all-important “pocket” frequencies. The six-position midrange section is a bell-shaped parametric EQ with settings of 360 Hz, 700 Hz, 1.6 kHz, 3.2 kHz, 4.8 kHz and 7.2 kHz, while the high-frequency band is a fixed-shelving type set to 12 kHz. For the mid and low bands, you click on or near the detented markings on the outer frequency ring, while the inner attenuation knob is continuous, making adjustments quick and mouse friendly. Boost/cut values aren't labeled, but as with the original, 16 dB in either direction is possible. Other features include a 30 dB range of make-up gain control, off positions for each band and phase reverse and EQ bypass buttons.
Whereas you tend to cut with most EQs, it seems like the Neve was made for boosting. All three bands — especially the treble — add gobs of character and make components of a mix really stand out and sound larger than life. The sheen, clarity and present character exactly mimic the original. This level of accuracy comes at a CPU price, however; a DSP-optimized SE version of the plug-in is included, allowing 16 mono or 15 stereo instances per UAD-1 card. I do wish UA had broken from strict Neve convention and added modern touches such as switchable 10, 14 and 16 kHz positions to the Hi EQ, and perhaps extended the mid to include 10 kHz. But the Neve 1073 EQ sounds impeccable and painstakingly accurate.
UNIVERSAL AUDIO
NEVE 1073 EQ > $249
At a glance: Neve-authorized replica of the 1073's EQ path with extra SE version. Requires the UAD-1 or UAD-1e PCI card and version 4.3 of the Powered Plug-Ins software.
Contact: www.uaudio.com
SUBMERSIBLE MUSIC DRUMCORE 2.0
DEPLOY THE SKIN-BASHING TROOPS
Supplied across two install DVDs comes a whopping 9 GB of material from the likes of Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses, the Cult, Velvet Revolver), Alan White (Yes, Lennon), Zoro (Lenny Kravitz), Sly Dunbar (Sly & Robbie) and DJ Syze-up (Ultra Naté), to name a few of the 13 drummers whose infectious grooves are featured in this update. Provided as audio and MIDI material, their performances are played at 10 bpm increments to capture differences in playing and feel as tempo changes. Each drummer's custom kits often feature one-of-a-kind, custom-built drums and cymbals and are also included for MIDI triggering in the updated 2.0 drum sampler. Here, you now get separate mono or stereo outputs for each drum pad, and you can route each sound to the inputs of a ReWire host, as many as 32 buses. New pitch and pan controls for each piece within a kit allow, for example, fine-tuning of a kick so it fits snuggly into a bass part. You can also sync DrumCore's playback to any ReWire host with as many as three decimal places of accuracy, in case you've been slaving away at a 126.158 bpm track. Then there's the curious new Gabrielizer feature that mangles beats using one of 13 internal regrooving rules. At first, I found this somewhat gimmicky and hit-or-miss, but I soon discovered its potential as an exciting ideas palette, allowing you to continuously remix a drummer's audio or MIDI grooves rather than merely applying swing or shuffle. Lastly, DrumCore content can now be exported as REX2 files (sadly this does not include Gabrielized beats). You could actually use DrumCore 2 for auditioning and importing any REX2/ACID file just as easily as DrumCore's own content.
SUBMERSIBLE MUSIC
DRUM CORE 2.0 > $249; $49.99 UPGRADE
At a glance: Create great drum tracks from A-list drummer content in both audio and MIDI formats. PIII/800 or G4/400, Win XP and Mac OS X 10.3 or higher.
Contact: www.drumcore.com
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