Review of Sidsonic Tubes! Tubes is a sample library specially designed for sounds passing of old dusty vacuum tubes. As with all products Sidsonic - Tubes is not for the person who enjoys tubification in small, well constrained, amounts. Ass-Blasters set to burn!

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Sidsonic Tubes!
Tubes, tubes, tubes. They are all the rage and fashion and have been popping up in all kinds of instruments, mixers and pedals, but also in quite unexpected gear, such as the 2002 Aopen PC mainboard with a built-in russian-made tube to ensure your pleasure while listening to Gorillaz.

It's all - of course - about distortion.

As with recording to magnetic tape, distorting a tube doesn't clip in the nasty way it does with a/d converters and transistors. The headroom brings something extra. You've all heard about the wonders and magic about TUBE SOUND that brings WARMTH to your mixes. If I sound less than convinced - let me explain my cynicism here. When I read about some hot-shot dance producer talk themselves wet over the WARM sound of their latest gear, I get so tired I cannot finish reading. You wanna hear the truth? You damn morons hear what you want to hear. Period.

 
 
Review of Sidsonic Libraries Circus Circuit Bending Library: German soundmakers take circuit bending to the next level.

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Circus Circuit Library
Berlin based soundmakers Sidsonic are relatively fresh on the library scene, but have succeeded to make quite some fuzz with their two first Kontakt-based libraries Circus Circuit Bending Library and Tubes! While this review only concentrates on Circus Circuit - it's quite clear that Sidsonic is not an ordinary bunch of sound designers. Circus Circuit is (obviously) about circuit bending and Tubes! is a library created from the mad innovations by Eric Barbour/Metasonix. In other words: these boys like it odd.

While circuit bending is widely known to most people by now, it doesn't hurt putting yourself in the right state mind seeing Picachu making funny noises while being electrocuted.

 
 
Review of Sample Magic Ultimate FX: While Ultimate FX offers all typical effects for the dance floor, it takes the concept of effect libraries one step further, by inviting you to lay the last finishing touches.

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"Genres come and go, dancefloor tastes change, new influences permeate studios but some things in dance music are staples: sonic fundamentals that are permanent fixtures in the producers’ arsenal. Effects are such staples."

The above is a direct quote from the manual of latest library from Sample Magic, Ultimate FX. During the last three-four years I've developed a habit of always reaching for my Vengeance effect libraries when in any kind of troubles during production. A few well-placed effects can spice up any track quite a few notches. Whatever people might be saying about Vengeance - for dance music - their effects libraries are among the best, if not the best. As being a serious effect junkie, my pulse took a bungy-jump the moment when I saw the words 'Sample Magic' combined with 'FX'. Being a fanboi is a double edged sword. I'm not only expecting to get a good library with effects, I'm expecting it to make my current libraries a thing of the past, make my upcoming 8-bit remix of Miami Porno Machine perfect and cure my aching tooth. Make no mistake you gentlemen over at Sample Magic. Fans are cool to have, but most of us are insane.

At the first glance, Ultimate FX seem to deviate little from the walked up path of dance effect libraries. We've got cymbal hits, down-falls, fills, hits, impacts, noise loops and uplifters. The usual gang. As with many releases from Sample Magic, the tempo dependent sounds come in two flavors: 125 and 128 bpm. While the tempo police and audio connoisseurs might appreciate the finer details of these two tempos, I personally feel it's a wasted opportunity. I am aware that not everybody lives in the world of simple elastic audio a la Ableton Live, so I won't take my criticism further. But still. I would have appreciated two more different tempos, such as 125 and 110. The good thing about it is that the 125 bpm sounds and the 128 bpm sounds are not the same. No wasted space on doubles in other words.

 
 
Review of Prime Loops Ambient Illusions: ambient music - it's not just refreshing to hear something something more soothing - mixing styles is an old, effective trick to create new ideas.
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It must be the oldest trick in the book, but it is still one of the most underused ones. Yes - it's time for our monthly reminder of The Value of Contrast. Among all the shiny sports cars in bright colors, the black matte is the one that immediately grabs the attention. In the metro you'll immediately spot the one with a red jacket - or yellow - in the sea of dark, greyish, anonymous coats. To be able to go faster, you actually don't need to go faster. It's way more effective of adding something going slower, and you'll get the illusion of higher speed.

 
 
Review of Best Service K-Size FX Edition: 1400 effects and atmospheres specialized for dance music might sound like nirvana for the modern producer - but is a rather mixed library complete with some very clever stuff and instant sleeping pills.

Best Service K-Size FX Edition
The first thing to notice after a first, quick listen is that Best Service isn't too clear about the structure and idea behind the library. The website nor the enclosed pdf documentation sheds any light of what the categories mean. Ok - pretty much everyone can figure out what upsweeps, impacts and atmos mean - but modulations? or PreArrangementFX?

Straight out from the virtual box - K-Size FX Edition is big. 1400 wav effects spread over 1,33 gigabyte is quite a lot and multiply that with the additional formats for acid, rex2, Stylus RMX, NNXT, Live 8, Kontakt 3, Halion, EXS24, Battery 2 and Apple loops.

For the sake of clarity this review focus only on the wav format. Rex-lovers only get the loops pre-chopped.

 
 
Review of Industrial Strength Computer Core. With so many well-polished libraries out on the market, it was just a matter of time before something really ugly got released: welcome Computer Core.

Behind this pack of samples is a fellow named Steve Vasquez, a DJ, producer and sound designer who teamed up with the label Industrial Strength which is distributed by Loopmasters. Despite its name - Computer Core is not a reference to blippy 8 bit sounds you might expect, but rather the opposite. The revival of gabber? Yes - almost. The head-banging hardness is certainly there.
 
 
Review of Sounds of Revolution Minimal Techno Revolution is a library for the techno producer with a focus on drum loops and single drum sounds.

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Oliver Schmitt aka Sounds of Revolution is on a roll. Not only is his label Sounds of Revolution distributed by Mutekki Media who helped make Vengeance into fame, but lately he's got Tiesto, Timo Maas and Adam Beyer among his fans. When it comes to endorsement of famous artists in the same genre as yourself, for me it's hard not to become suspicious. All it takes is a photo of the artist smiling broadly next to the product, and at the next moment he's trotting off with a bag full of money to receive a truckload of free gear. But when it comes to endorsement for a sample library - even during my darkest and most cynical moments I simply cannot imagine Maas, Tiesto or Beyer not to afford a sample library for 80 euros.
So no. For once I set aside my ideas of sinister conspiracy theories and accept that they actually dig the stuff. Which is not hard to believe anyway. Once you start to listen to it. As the title suggests, this library has a clear direction. After my initial listen I would personally mark this library as proper techno. Not pop, no trance, no endless carpets of evolving pads. It's hard, at times clinical and sparse - there are no trendy supersaws in here. In other words, this is a library for the producer who a new fresh platform to create techno with.

 
 
Review of Zero-G Disco Gold. Disco is one of those genres that refuses to go away - but paradoxically although there are quite a few disco libraries on the market - many of them are less than satisfactory. Most of them are in fact soulless, recycled and repackaged rubbish. Zero-Gs Disco Gold is thankfully not one of them and also mixes disco with the sound from the 80s - a move that proves to be very potent.

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Whatever your personal thoughts about how catchy or cheesy disco might be - there is no way of denying it. The impact of disco on what we today call pop is fundamental. No matter what you think about the music of Bee Gees, Chic, Donna Summer & Giorgio Moroder - just load up any production by Stock, Aitken and Waterman and you'll clearly hear which path disco took since the middle of the 70s. The question poses itself naturally, if you're into pop, what better way is there to go back to its roots?
 
 
Review of Wave Alchemy Drum Tools 01 Minimal Techno sample library. Drum Tools 01 is a drum and percussion library which concentrates on synthetic drums.

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While there isn't really a shortage of electronic drum libraries on the market, Drum Tools 01 is well worth checking out. With well over 2000 samples (over 4300 depending on how you count) the main excitement is where the game is: the kicks and snares. Read on.

In my drum machine shootout, I've already showed how damn obsessed I am trying to find the perfect drum machine. Looking back, I believe this whole mania started way back in the 90s when I got a few floppies from Seba with his own assembled drum kits. The drum kits just suited me perfectly and since the departure of the EPS 16+ I still haven't found a drum kit I always reach for when starting to make music. Naturally, I am aware of the futility of my obsession, as the music I create have mutated many times since then, and in many respects, I am no longer the same person as I was back then. But, my need for finding that perfect drum kit seem to be etched into my DNA.

 
 
Review of Sounds of Revolution Kick Free Revolution 2. The most classic way to infuse more energy and/or shift the attitude to your songs is by using kick-free drum loops. Kick Free Revolution 2 is a collection of over 530 loops keeping the house and techno vibe in 127 bpm.

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When it comes to sound libraries for dance music (where dance music is spelled Popular Dance Music Intended For Clubs) there are a few safe cards. Vengeance, Sample Magic, Loopmasters and of course the german label Sounds of Revolution. Behind this label is a fellow called Oliver Schmitt who have been around long enough to earn himself a reputation of being a sound designer worth counting on. His library Kick Free Revolution 2 is basically a collection of drum loops without kicks. Kick-free loops, aka top loops, have been around for ages. Its purpose and function is genial. While a normal drum loop might inspire - it's limited what you can do with it. By just taking out the kick, you open up for more manipulation and editing and you'll get the pleasure for adding your own kick. Some people say Kick-free loops are like instant noodles and in a way they are. By themselves they are pretty dull, but add eggs and some vegetables and you have something nice. Me personally is a huge fan of kick-free loops so when Sounds/To/Sample announced the release of Oliver Schmitt latest offering, I couldn't resist taking it for a spin.