Sonic Foundry
Jul 1, 2001 12:00 PM, Dave Hill Jr.
Intelligent Dance Music is a genre composed of computer-inspired tonalities and textures that have been skillfully edited, cut up, and processed so the meat of the sound is left on the hook for you to pulverize. Intelligent Dance Music: Twine Components (WAV, $59.95) is not a CD full of techno grooves but of technology grooves. Its 350 synth and rhythm loops are sure to make left-field, cerebral, and avant-garde music makers lose their minds.
Intelligent Dance Music: Twine Components has bleeps and bloops for every occasion. IDM's drum loops and samples sound like slivers of digitally cut-up electronic tones and synths percolating with simple processing and synthlike tonalities. The “Abstract Rhythms” loops, as their name implies, sound sporadic and unsettled; whereas “Structured Rhythms” are not as rigid as you may expect. Even the 37 included “Melodies” share an atonal quality. Although one of the demo tunes clocks in at 150 bpm, many of the grooves felt best at slower tempos such as 85 bpm, so the grooves are really in half time.
In terms of sample time, 93 structured and 45 abstract rhythms make up the largest portion of the CD. Those sections range from futuristic synth rhythms and computer noise to analog waves run through a percussion synthesizer. The result is charming, unusual, and organic.
As with many of the Sonic Foundry sample CDs, you will have to experiment rather than read the meager descriptions. The trial-and-error approach is both a great teacher and a frustrating time waster. For the producer in a crunch, “Combination Rhythms” provides a premix of drums, music beds, and melodies, but the more adventurous will appreciate 16 “Textural Soundscapes,” each of which blends a variety of ideas into meandering, cinematic walls of sound.
At times, IDM can sound startlingly minimalist and unusual while at others, it sounds brilliantly creative and original. The style's nontraditional structure is apparent in the one-shots section, in which there are only 3 snare drums and 10 kick drums but 23 digital signal processing hits, each with a computerized-sounding quality.
IDM's 54 bass tracks will also keep you guessing. Some of the basses sound more like digitally distorted xylophones than traditional bass guitars or keyboard lines. Another oddity: the bass sounds are neither always low-pitched nor round and full. “Basses,” like much of Intelligent Dance Music: Twine Components, are great for adding nuance to your music, but you will likely need other sounds to reach popular or commercial realms.
Don't misunderstand — CDs such as Intelligent Dance Music: Twine Components add interesting colors to a producer's palette while challenging the listener to be more forward thinking. Although the CD is not built for the old-school techno or hip-hop crowds, it will please those who are searching for new personality and attitude, even if it's the personality of a lab coat. Okay, smarty, let's see you dance.
Overall Rating (out of 5): 3.5
Sonic Foundry; tel. (800) 577-6642;
e-mail customerservice@sonicfoundry.com;
Web www.sonicfoundry.com
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