Although I consider myself to be a fairly intellectual person, there are moments where I place myself below the intelligence of a slug. Let me give you a few of the major highlights.

1) Some dumb nut convinced me that the Mac eventually would end up the same way as Atari, and since I was stupid enough to believe that, I bought a PC and were living in exile for fifteen years something until I finally bought a Mac. For me, it felt like coming home (although, I am kind of glad because of this since the painful software and hardware mutations from Mac anno 1995 to Mac 2010 have gone by without me noticing anything).

2) The same influence hit me when some other nut in a magazine (obverve the power of the printed word!) said that as soon as a style get's popular, you've already lost the wave. This was maybe five years ago, and they talked about trance.

Point being, never listen to anybody.

 

Although, I'm not a trance-boy by default - I do enjoy well-produced trance as it touches the core of what I basically love - pop. When it comes to software instruments, I am a fan of Nexus and for me that is in many regards the ultimate trance instrument. No matter what the KvR-Mob say - it's just right. But apart from instruments, there are few producers of sample libraries that Get It Right. German Vengeance is one of them, but those libraries are (or have been) so damn heavy on the drums that I find it more and more difficult to recommend them to anyone who needs something besides drums.

When I got asked to write about Myloops latest trance library I honestly was skeptical about just about everything. First I hadn't heard about the Myloops before, and after seeing that the library was built up around ten construction kits - I felt even more doubtful. The idea behind construction kits is good, but often just becomes an exercise in 'painting by numbers'. Pre-produced. Pre-chewed. Take Big Fish Audio for example. Absolutely beautiful material, but leaves almost nothing over to you for develop the sounds and ideas further. Fantastic quality, but boring. And for me, essentially unusable.

This library doesn't walk in those footsteps. No, this library gives you construction kits but with flexibilty.

(Said with the voice of Max von Sydow) At this point all you crave is to know more information about the library. You want the data. You want the numbers.

Construction kits: 10
Kick-less loops: 41 dry / 23 wet (47 different themes)
Kick loops: 10 dry
Bass loops: 55 dry / 44 wet (28 different themes)
Up/downlifter loops: 11 wet / 10 dry (12 different themes)
Atmospheric loops: 2 wet / 2 dry (2 different themes)
Synth loops: 60 dry / 71 wet (26 different themes)
Piano loops: 1 dry / 1 wet (1 different themes)
FX loops: 12 dry / 12 wet (11 different themes)
Strings loops: 23 wet / 29 dry (11 different themes)

Multisampled bass: 27
Multisampled synth: 27
Multisampled piano: 1
Multisampled string/pad: 9

Midi files: 99

Total size of library: 3,62 gigabyte.

You are having problem understanding the numbers this time? The number of themes is actually the number that's interesting. For example, a synthesizer line can come in several variations: tonal variation, dry/wet, filter up/down etc. While there might be eight loops - they all are part of the same family/theme.

In one respect you can say that this library contains 131 synthesizer loops.
In another, you can say it contains 26 synthesizer loops, plus 105 variations dry/wet/filter/tonal etc.

I prefer to view it as 26 loops + variations, but that's me. In any case - all of the hundreds of loops boils down to a much smaller amount of fundamentally different loops. While the bigger the better and quantities often rule our way of selecting - this approach is different. Not better or worse. Just different. You know how annoying it is when you buy a sample library, you find a great loop, but it's been processed in a way (reverb/delay/whatever) that makes it difficult to use in your own context. Dry versions fix that - but it's also nice to see actual variations on the theme - and unfortunately, not many sound library makers are taking the effort to do that. But Myloops does.

Myloops.net is a sound-design company launched in 2008 by Jonathan Blakoe, a dance music producer from the south of France. A quick visit to the Myloops web shows they got ten products on offer - eight of them are directly made for trance. Trance Cosmos : Elements Volume 3 is their latest library and have been co-produced with a fellow named David Michael Sherlock and is built around ten construction kits. The unique thing about these kits is the level of detail. Each kit not only provides one musical idea - with dry/wet/tonal variations, but also with the multisamples and midis. That's almost like giving you the key to their personal toolshed.

The focus lies on melodic, uplifting, euphoric trance and each construction kit follows the same structure, and the structure could have been certified by ISO. The same layout, the same elements, the same workflow, the type of sounds. Even the names are the same.

While I initially got disappointed by the lack of innovation in terms of - well, just about everything - I can't say Myloops have done anything wrong. Actually, they are the ones who are right.

Let me elaborate. Successful trance - as in commercial success - rarely depend on anything odd or out of the ordinary. No, Trance is Safe. The bass sounds are classic bass sounds, the leads can be just about anything as long as it's drenched in delays and reverbs. Trance is predicability & melodies packed in a nice Big Box.

If the same modus operandi would have been used to create a techno library, it would have been disastrous, as techno relies on quirkiness and the unexpected. But here we're talking about trance - and since trance is just another streamlined form of pop - I must say that Myloops have chosen the very right path for their library.

But with that said - I do have to stress that this library contains little width. It's specialized in a certain type of trance and does only this. The bass lines are all playing in the same sonic arena - content- as tonalwise - the kicks are all four-fours and the sweeps are all following the same pattern. After listening through the library - this is what strikes you most. The lack of width. But since we're only talking about ten construction kits only - this isn't a problem either.

I asked them about their favorite tools and this is what Jonathan Blakoe replied:

"I have been using Ableton Live for about two years now, both for sample design and for my own music productions. In my younger days, I was originally an FL Studio user but switched after discovering how beautifully intuitive and quick Live's workflow is.
As far as instruments go, two of my favorites are LennarDigital Sylenth1, Cakewalk Z3ta+. I often use Sylenth1 for smooth and delicate parts, and Z3ta+ for more gritty, aggressive elements. I also own an Access Virus TI that I use a lot for more charismatic lead and pad sounds.
The effect plugins that I value most are FabFilter Timeless 2 (an outstanding delay plugin), Audiodamage EOS (works great on pads and spacious sounds), T-Racks Opto Compressor (clean and elegant, and I use it a lot on my drum or bassline busses). The EQ plugins I use most would be Ableton's EQ for quick hi-passing a channel when mixing and the T-Racks classic EQ for more precise editing."

Conclusion
As I said countless of times, I'm becoming more and more a fan of smaller more niched libraries, rather than big heavy ones that try to cover all bases. I view Trance Cosmos Elements Volume 3 entirely as a loop expander intended for bringing new possible starting points for trance productions, and from this respect this library performs in the best of ways. But what charms me most is the fact that they also give the tools for you. You get the multisamples - you get the midis - which very a very generous move. You're into trance? Check this one out.

Myloops Trance Cosmos: Elements Volume 3
Web: www.myloops.net.
Price: 32 euros (download).
Good: Real big-sounding trance complete with multisamples and midis.
Bad: Nothing really.

Review copy: big thanks to Myloops for NFR review copy.