TR-909 Shootout: The best TR-909 drums 09/27/2011
Review of Audiorealism ADM, D16 Drumazon and Sounds Outside the Lines Revolution-909: in this test we are comparing three of the most detailed recreations of the most famous of drum machines in all time: the Roland TR-909.  The famous 909 kick. When Tadao Kikumoto where designing the TR-909 for Roland, he could never had imagined that his skills in engineering would be standard and after 30 years after it's release, still rule the dance floors. It's quite amazing actually.
While the TR-808 and TR-606 also have their product ids burned down in history books, compared with the TR-909 they are stuff for the gourmet, while the TR-909 is for the masses. Even if you are massively bored with the sound of the 909 there is no escape from that the kick, snare and hats together with modern processing create new variations, bringing the sound from 1983 way to the current sound of the dance floors. As some Know-It-All-Person told me 6+ years ago: trance, my friend, is going to die out. We all know what happened with trance. It fused with pop and is now ruling the charts harder than ever. I think we safely can predict that the 909 will be at the centre of dance music for a long long time. 7 Comments Review of The Studio Edge: Studio Concepts, Gear & the Physics of Sound: in this dvd Ask Video teams up with engineer Jim Pavett in an attempt to lay the foundation of audio engineering and sound recording. While the dvd is very informative it's not as good as it could have been.  Learning. When Ask Video announced the release of their dvd 'The Studio Edge: Studio Concepts, Gear & the Physics of Sound' I immediately wrote them asking for an NFR for review in one of the magazines I'm writing for. After two failed attempts transporting something so simple as a dvd from Canada to the heart of Europe I forgot about all it until Ask had a holiday sale some months ago.
This time the dvd arrived safely and as quickly as I had my perverted hands on it I shredded the shrink-wrap to pieces and jammed the disc into my computer, hoping that I in a few hours time would be much wiser and some desperately needed light would be spread on areas where my knowledge is - ehem - less than satisfactory, such as microphones and what lies behind all those cryptic studio connector acronyms. After watching it from beginning to end I am indeed wiser, but as The Stones once so famously put it - you can't always get what you want. For those who don't like reading I'll give the verdict right away: 'Studio Concepts, Gear & the Physics of Sound' is a tutorial that spans from absolutely brilliant to pointless. 5Pin Media Prog Tech Synths 07/29/2011
Review of 5Pin Media Prog Tech Synths: Prog Tech Synths is a collection of midi files specifically aimed for progressive and tech house. While the material in the collection is good, it could have been executed in a much better way.  Before the era of software synthesizers midi-files were the Big Thing and together with the General Midi specification it became - uh - huge. Suddenly you could give a song on your friend and the sounds would sound pretty much the same. As everyone knows - although that the General Midi specification was a good idea - all sound cards and even external sound modules sounded pretty much rubbish. Even by the standard of that time. Damn it, even by the standards of today, built-in General Midi Sounds in sound cards sounds horrible. So for many users the word midi became synonymous with low quality.
Although not a new idea, midi files are seeing a renaissance, specifically when added together with sample libraries. Many developers of sample libraries are today not only selling their loops and sounds, but also the original files that were made to create the material. The idea is actually quite useful and is executed in a brilliant way in Trance Cosmos Elements Volume 3. So when 5Pin Media not only release a library with focus on midi files, but it's the third in a series - it's hard not to get interested. Prog Tech Synths is a collection of mainly midi files, but also some samples. The basic structure is built around ten construction kits. Katana Bits Advanced Hard Dance 01: Raikiri 07/05/2011
Review of Advanced Hard Dance 01 Raikiri: what happens if you take eurodance, combine it with rave and put it in the context of 2011? The answer is: A fresh and cheeky injection of sounds for the dance floor.  Japanese Eurodance. Katana Bits is a new sound designer that recently signed up for distribution via SoundsToSample. Raikiri is a term from the japanese anime series Naruto meaning 'lightning blade' which if my Kung-Fu is still relevant is some kind of hardcore ninja-skill. What is publicly known about Katana Bits apart from their devotion to manga is not much. They are japanese. They come from Tokyo and have an obvious passion for the fast and bombastic.
I think the latter is what caught my ear when first skimming through the library. When minimal styles still are in fashion - a compilation like this shines through like a multicolored rainbow in the dark. It's like Leila K stumbling in a housing cooperative meeting, wearing a mini skirt with a bottle of champagne. The people over at Katana Bits are apparently fans of the Sylenth software synthesizer - and on their Soundcloud page you can listen to the sounds they come up with. But let's get to business. What does Raikiri actually contain? Little Endian SpectrumWorx 2 06/11/2011
Review of Little Endian SpectrumWorx 2: SpectrumWorx builds upon the old Delaydots and works by processing the incoming sounds on separate frequencies rather than the signal as a whole. Is SpectrumWorx a tool for the most extreme of sound pushers, or can it also satisfy the needs of producers who want something different but doesn't necessarily want nuke the whole incoming signal? The answer, my friends, is a bit of both.  SpectrumWorx. Not long time ago, I was very close to sell my Virus TI and the only reason why I didn't was because I - by accident - routed it through my old Ensoniq DP/4 - it was like a door swung open in my face. What a sound! What possibilities! So let there be no doubt that a good effect can turn something meh into something hot. In some respects a good effect is more inspirational than a new sound library. A good effect can transform your old sounds, synthesizers and samples into something totally different.
But an effect can also complicate things and ultimately create a mushy soup of the material. It all depends on the usage and the effect. More complex effects are by nature more versatile but also more difficult to master. Yes, Native Instruments Reaktor. I am looking at you. I cannot think of any more advanced sound mangler than Reaktor and although I've had my share of fun with it - I honestly can't say much of the insane effects of the user library have ever ended up in any of my productions. Sample Magic Electro 03/02/2011
Review of Sample Magic Electro: Release number 20 from soundbenders Sample Magic is dedicated to electro - and when Sample Magic talks electro, they mean commercial electro.  The magic is back. If I would say that trance is dead, it would come back and haunt me until I repent. So I won't say that. Instead I'll say that Electro is the hottest style on the three most important places right now: clubs, radio and the fitness club. So when sample moguls Sample Magic release a 850+ sound library in the said style, you pay attention.
It's easy to repeat yourself when reviewing products from Sample Magic, and right now it seems this producer of loops and sounds can do nothing wrong. While I personally am a big fan of Sample Magic, I feel their greatness have come with age. Although early releases were good - I think their most recent releases have been impressive as in 10/10. Samplerbanks Minimal Pop 02/14/2011
Review of Samplerbanks Minimal Pop: Minimal Pop is a classy collection of drum and bass loops for modern dance music production.  House, not pop. Minimal Pop from producer Samplerbanks is described as a collection minimal loops in the form of chords, synths, basslines, breaks, glitched sounds and drum loops. The inspiration of the library was taken from artists such as Alan K, Brandon Plank, Andy Lee and Nieghel. The style of the material is aimed for (quote) "Minimal, Minimal House, Deep House and Tech House music". Synapse Audio Dune 01/15/2011
Review of Synapse Audio Dune: After years of hibernation old softsynth maestros Synapse Audio once again show their skill in creating synthesizers. Dune is a synth clearly aimed for the electronic dance music scene, and gives synths such as Sylenth 1, ElectraX and even Nexus a tough run for the money.  I control the spice. Review of Synapse Audio Dune: After years of hibernation old softsynth maestros Synapse Audio once again show their skill in creating synthesizers. Dune is a synth clearly aimed for the electronic dance music scene, and gives synths such as Sylenth 1, ElectraX and even Nexus a tough run for the money. Fxpansion Geist 01/05/2011
Review of Fxpansion Geist: The followup to the legendary drum sequencer Guru is finally here, but it's not Guru 2 - it's a whole new product called Geist.  Geist. While Guru was an extremely powerful and versatile sample based drum sequencer - it was still only that. A drum sequencer. The new Geist is still a drum sequencer, but takes the concept a few steps further, streamlines it and the result is something that is starting to touch pattern-based sequencers. While the acronym DAW is not appropriate - it's most definitely getting closer with Geist. Just to be clear. Altough this text focus on Geist, I'll be throwing in references and comparisons to Guru and also to native Instruments Maschine as I see fit. Wave Alchemy Deep Tech and Progressive 10/26/2010
Review of Wave Alchemy Deep Tech and Progressive: Wave Alchemy have a solid reputation of being one of the top players among the creators of sample libraries, and with their latest product they show they're not afraid of pushing the boundaries.  Last time I laid my perverted hands on a library from Wave Alchemy was a couple of months back when I got the opportunity to write about their Drum Tools 01 collection of processed drum samples. Since then they have been working on a new library, just released - aimed for the more quirkier and darker side of techno. This time, it's not just drum sounds on the menu, but also loops: drum, bass and synths. Since I have three nasty deadlines hanging over me, I won't waste any time but get straight to it. | Subscribe news
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