Sonic Foundry
Jul 1, 2001 12:00 PM, Dave Hill Jr.
Siggi Baldursson is clearly from another planet one most likely run by a government of tabla-thumping senators and beat-tweaking prime ministers. Luckily for us, the former Sugarcubes member and Björk drummer was sent to this world to inspire earthling music makers with his cosmic grooves.
With loop titles such as “Landing Party,” “Extra Terrestrial,” and “Alien Influence,” Processed Drumkits: Zero-Gravity Beats (WAV, $59.95) may well provide the secrets of Baldursson's sonic mission. Whereas his first sample CD, Sugarloops (Big Fish Audio), demonstrated Baldursson's acoustic talents, Processed Drumkits packs stellar, effect-laden grooves. The most artistic element of Processed Drumkits is Baldursson's choice of effects: delays, flangers, metallic echoes, strange EQs, and huge reverbs are rampant yet applied with futuristic innovation.
The majority of Baldursson's grooves are in funk and hip-hop veins, accented by an infusion of interplanetary twiddles and tweaks. Some of the strange sounds on Processed Drumkits include New Orleans style shuffles with the snares flipped off and a West Coast hip-hop rhythm with quiet but persistent delays that tug on the snares and hats. Baldursson even uses more than one snare at a time to create compelling Björkian jams.
The folder names share the cosmic theme, but the titles may confuse those with more grounded leanings. Each folder contains a variety of funky grooves, eloquently processed in a manner that supports the rhythms instead of distracting from them. Standouts include the evenly flowing “Event Horizon” and the deeply fascinating “Impact Crater.” The Elements folder contains my favorite samples in the collection, particularly its subfolders, Particles and Shards, which respectively house single-sound source motifs and practical one-shots. “Tactile Impulse” features unusual hand-drum morphings, and “The Void” is full of cymbal and bell washes. Some patches, such as “Vacuum Beats,” are the same sound rerouted through filter effects; whereas the beats of “Pulsar” are scattered across the galaxy.
Baldursson has taken great care to ensure that this drum CD is unlike any other. Each folder offers so much variety that you really need to explore every possibility a time-consuming task, the upside of which is stumbling into one of those happy accidents so common with Sonic Foundry's Acid software. Although not all the effect choices here will please hip-hop and funk purists, many selections will inspire new stylistic fusion. If space is the place, we are lucky to have Baldursson to instigate our travels.
Overall Rating (out of 5): 4
Sonic Foundry; tel. (800) 577-6642;
e-mail customerservice@sonicfoundry.com;
Web www.sonicfoundry.com
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