ONE-SHOTS
Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Jason Scott Alexander
BIG FISH AUDIO ELECTRO MAGNETIC FURY
STRONG ENOUGH TO DEGAUSS YOUR DRIVES
Although highly sophisticated and mysterious — rather than the unrelenting ear-grinding noisefest heard in other libraries — Electro Magnetic Fury's 1.5 GB of Acidized WAV content (also provided as REX and Apple Loop files) is generally fast, furious and always menacing. Each of the 95 construction kits contains a full mix and elements broken out into individual loops such as drum grooves, metal-hit or hi-hat patterns, noisy loops and sublime, otherworldly pads and effects. The production is inventive and totally inspiring — by far some of the best programming and mixing I've heard in such a library.
The Scalping kit gives an idea of the twisted nature on display here, with its distorted house groove, rich marching-band snare roll, broken noise effects loop, reversed string pad, tribal voices and vocoded backing percussion. Tempos generally hum along in the upper echelons, soaring as high as 200 bpm. Not everything is fast-paced, though. The Crank kit jaunts along at 67 bpm with slow-motion vocoded drums and filtered sticks, ideal for a villain ambling through a smoky nightclub as the camera stays focused on the divas dancing. In the Ghoul kit, a ghostly distant voice howls through a fog of reverb, dripping drums and a feedback rainfall of sparklike effects. Some kits are completely atmospheric and contain no rhythmic components whatsoever. Voices of the Past is such a candidate, and beautifully combines reversed guitar harmonics, harp and voice for an IDM intro ready to drop. There's even a folder of nothing but drones and atmospheres. Often sounding as though it would be right at home in a car commercial or movie trailer, Electro Magnetic Fury is a highly evocative collection suited to dramatic remixes and multimedia.
BIG FISH AUDIO
ELECTRO MAGNETIC FURY > $99.95
At a glance: Furious beats and menacing atmospheres arranged as construction kits. WAV, REX, Apple Loops.
Contact: www.bigfishaudio.com
BLUTONIUM HARDSTYLE SAMPLES VOL. 1
EURO TRASHINESS
Although not nearly as dominant on this side of the pond as in Europe and the UK, hard-style, jump-style and hard-trance are finally being honored in a big way through this ballsy collection by DJ Neo and Blutonium Boy — two biggies in the genres. The CD is arranged in toolkit fashion, making the entire disc capable of being mixed and matched at will. Since everything is programmed at 142 bpm (Acidized WAV and REX provide trouble-free tempo adjustment), you can quickly audition parts in full context as you build your arrangement. Rhythm components include 117 drum loops with attitude aplenty, 98 bass attack tones for multisampling, 93 complete bass lines, 130 bass-drum samples, 50 hard-style distorted kicks, 42 open and closed hi-hats, 28 snares, 84 claps and 43 cymbals. With tons of prerequisite bounce (both on and off the kick for jump- and hard-styles, respectively) and delicious filter-mod to the bass lines and attack tones, at first I found it odd that the lines incorporated kicks or closed hats. In practice, though, I realized that helps glue the more backing-track vibe of the drum loops together. The kicks can layer very well to produce rich, complex tones that'll punch you squarely in the gut. Folders of multisampled bell/pulse synths, grating one-shot “hard sounds,” dramatic fade-ins, orchestral movie hits and sci-fi effects round out the collection. My only complaint is that the variety of bass timbres is somewhat limited. Otherwise, this is a rare and welcome find for these progressive genres.
BLUTONIUM (DIST. BY EAST WEST/SOUNDS ONLINE)
HARDSTYLE SAMPLES VOL. 1 > $99.95
At a glance: Alternative collection of hard-style, hard-trance and jump-style kits. WAV, Acid, REX.
Contact: www.soundsonline.com
TRACK STAR HIP HOP EXOTICA
SOUNDS OF THE HIGH-ROLLERS
The integration of ethnic instrumentation with hip-hop beats is nothing new, but Hip Hop Exotica does a lot more than merely throw in a worldly lick or two here and there. Producer Josquin de Pres eloquently blends his West Coast recording experience and southern French origins to create a cutting-edge hip-hop sound that's deeply infused with cultural flava. Across 55 construction kits, arranged by tempo and key, he manages to set Western beats playing extraordinarily well with the Asian, Indian, Arabic, Latin American, Spanish and African influences of the library. Instrumentation includes live recordings on original baglamas, jubus, sitar, tabla, koto, guiro, Bolivian charango, rainstick, oud, Greek bouzouki, mandolin, tribal flute, synth lute and more. Kits contain full mixes and component loops and a subfolder of individual drum tracks and single-drum hits.
Depending on your imagination, what you're reading may sound either cheesy or extremely cool. Believe me, it's the latter. Hip Hop Exotica had me envisioning bling-adorned DJs and rappers flying private jets to meet up with Arabian royalty at a sun-kissed Gulf resort, working a hot nightclub in London's melting-pot district at 3 a.m. or toking on hookah water pipes surrounded by gorgeous women at a swanky Middle Eastern café. And the concept simply works, with not an ounce of the DVD's 1.9 GB sounding contrived or over the top. The solid beats will definitely please finicky American programmers, but it's the instrumentation that will set you on a fresh path.
TRACK STAR (DIST. BY BIG FISH AUDIO)
HIP HOP EXOTICA > $99.95
At a glance: The future sound of hip-hop with international jet-setter appeal. WAV, REX, Apple Loops.
Contact: www.bigfishaudio.com
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
