Bass/bass//bass. Is it possible to get enough of bass sounds? We at Plughugger certainly doesn't think so, but then again, we are serious bass fetishists.

While creating the Ultra Bass soundset we one goal in mind: to create a soundset that would cover both traditional bass sounds as well as sounds that stand out more in a mix.

Based on the powerful synthesis engine from Tassman, Ultra Analog rests on a solid foundation (sound-wise), which instantly ignited our creative spark: to bring out the true analog rumblings and nastiness of the Ultra Analog VA-1.

Ultra Bass is mainly designed for electronic styles such as house techno, but  due to an equal share of classic bass sounds this soundset will work just fine with styles such as pop and hip hop as well.

-The Ultra Bass soundset was distilled from 114 patches until only the 64 best remained.
-All sounds are 100% hand made and are not the result of mindless randomizing.

As most of the plugin world awaits the anticipated release of version 2, the original Imposcar is in fact one of the coolest synths ever made. And the evergoing hype about the upcoming version gave inspiration for a new soundbank.

Bassbox is a collection of 180 new sounds with one common theme: bass!

In this soundset you will find basses spanning from 80s popish basses to dark, wobbly and nasty. Hard detuned, soft, sweet, sad, hard, odd, huge, minimal, arpeggiated, sequenced, side-chained (fake of course), overdriven, re-pitched.

Bassbox is 180 new sounds divided up in five banks. Each bank with 36 sounds:

Bank 01 - Deep End. Focus on dark and deep basses.
Bank 02 - Noise. These sounds all have a slight amount of noise in them.
Bank 03 - Pitched. Envelopes/LFOs were used to create movements in pitch.
Bank 04 - Arpeggios. And sequences.
Bank 05 - Mix. A bank without any set theme or creative limitations.


Bassbox is a serious bass injection for one of the best synthesizers ever made - for a silly price: 7.90 Euro.

Logic users - rejoice! The UB version of Imposcar happily read FXB files, which means these sounds work perfectly alright within Logic.

Pushball Electro is a soundset with a focus on bass sounds, sequences and arpeggios. Originally developed for the Synth Squad heavyweight synthcruiser Cypher, the sounds were then developed, redefined, effected and sequenced in Fusor - the nifty Fxpansion container which wraps all of Synth Squad into one explosive package. Although Cypher by itself is one hell of a synthesizer - it really comes to life after being treated in Fusor.

All in all, there are 290 sounds in the Pushball Electro soundset, of which 150 are sequences and arpeggios. Although the focus in this soundset lies on bass - there are a handfull of disturbing textures and melodic synthlines as well. Not many, but a few that just couldn't be discarded just for the sake of keeping Pushball Electro 'bass only'.

Click here to listen to some demos.

Price: 9.90 euro.

A few weeks ago the core of my home studio went bipolar. Without going into too many details - during the last five years my studio has been build around a Virus TI, mainly because of its nifty plugin integration and built-in sound card.

The Virus and I already hooked up with the B-model and when the C-model came out I was one of the first to order a huge Darth Vader-esque keyboard version. When the TI series landed I didn't give it much thought and as I was moving to a new country the Virus Polar was the perfect solution - and not just that: it looked seriously good.

So right now, while my old companion now lives tucked away under a table in its own world of personal guru meditation, I've been wrestling with the questions: why Virus.

My personal relationship with the Virus is double in the extreme.

I am by no means a pop icon, nor an artist with any kind of fame. But I've sold my share of records and I've earned a few bucks as well, and while I don't know on how many productions I've used the Viruses - I know it's a lot.
The Virus is an extremely versatile synthesizer. Just by looking at its specifications it's quite clear that the Virus is a synth programmers wet dream come true.

No, wait. Stop it, right there.
This, is exactly the problem.

I would describe myself as a experienced synth programmer - and if there is anything I hate with the Virus, it is to program it. In my opinion the Virus has grown too big for its own good. A few months ago I started out on a new soundset that would be a highly personal take on electronic music. I must have come two thirds into the soundset when the Polar died on me, but I'll tell you... if it wouldn't have died by its own I wouldn't have been surprised if I on one of my more choleric stoned-on-classy-espresso-days would have jammed a hammer right through it.

The Virus is a damn fine synthesizer, capable of a huge range of sounds. It's way more versatile than the anti-Virus camp would like to admit. In order to become a Certified Spokesperson of Product X is only a matter of going to the local music shop for fifteen minutes with a pair of headphones, and the Virus is no exception. "It sounds just like a Virus" is a phrase almost as popular as the question "does it sound like a 303?".

But this is actually the core of the problem: it's capabilities are too damn vast.

By comparison, to whip of a gnarling sawtooth with a odd-rhythm lfo bringing in some swing on the filter is an operation that takes less than ten seconds to do with Sylenth 1. With the Virus this takes two or three times as long. And if you are starting to do some complex modulation - you're finding yourself spending lots of time flipping through pages or searching through long lists for the right destination. To put it short: there's too many damn options.

The Virus certainly doesn't lack mojo. In fact, it's pretty high up on the mojo-scale. But in order to do anything really cool you have to be equipped with a serious dose of patience (Ben Crossland - you have my total respect). In this respect the Virus is like Microsoft Word. It can do almost anything you want but the average user only use a fraction of its functions as nobody has the time and energy to learn how it really works.

My final verdict on the Virus is that is has to go. But only the way to Germany to have it serviced and fill it up with new cream. The reason for this has nothing to do with its design, thousands of free well-programmed sounds or that pulsating logo at the back. No - among all sounds there are a handful sounds that are just... perfect. Those kind of sounds that you remember so well, that you can be in the middle of a production and suddenly have a audio-mental vision of that sound. You try it out and it works just as you thought it would.

I only had this experience once before and that was with the original Nord Modular. I can't remember the name of the sound - but it was a very simple, synthesized bell kind of sound that was just... perfect. Melodies just jumped out with that sound. Still - after more than five years since I sold the Nord Modular, I still miss that sound and I won't make that mistake with my Virus.

But one thing is sure. I'll never finish my soundset for it.

/Carl

Many wise producers have said that if you cannot put a label on the stuff you make, you won't be able to market it properly, which in the end probably means that you will have problem selling it.

While my 2007 project Deepjack didn't attract any interest from anyone except other artists, it did result in me getting a copy of Native Instruments Komplete as the best reader demo in Future Music. While this was an unexpected and wonderful surprise, the last phrase in the motivation perfectly pinpointed the problem of that particular project.

“Easily our favourite Electro Pop New Wave Art House Disco track of the month.”

So until Beatport to open up its EPNWAHD-genre and I finally can start rejecting Madonna to please please remix her, I would assume using more defined styles in music is a good thing, right? Stamp it minimal techno and you know what it is. Yeah. Sure.

From the perspective of a consumer I cannot help getting tired.

Can anyone please tell me what 'minimal techno' really is? Sure, the definition according to the all-knowing Wikipedia is that it “is a form of electronic dance music that is considered a minimalist derivative of techno” – but how many artists or producers of sample libraries follow that gospel? One of my all-time favorite sample libraries is Minimal House by Vengeance. This library inspired me to create a handful of songs which in turn formed a Swedish-Japanese collaboration of happy unicorn-trance-pop.

I mean – come on. Happy. Unicorn. Trance. Pop. Where is the minimalistic about that? The same goes for the old Loopmasters sample library 'Deep Trance & Techno Producer'. A solid good library with some really nice bass and drum loops, but is nowhere near my definition of deep. I don't know how many hundreds or even thousands of megabytes of samples with less than relevant labels.

I won't hit you with more wisdom until after the holidays, so here's the last words of this year:

"Sample libraries are like sausages. The butcher stuffs it with all kinds of meat and call it something. It might be called Bundeswurst, Parasztkolbasz or Blommig Falukorv, but you still don't know what it is until you've tried it."

Never forget it. It's the best advice you'll be getting for the rest of this year.
Sample libraries are like sausages.

Like many other people I know I always get that irresistible urge each new year to make a few fundamental changes in my life. Sometimes it feels like I'm cheating, as the decisions I make usually have been boiling in my head for some time. Consciously or unconsciously. This year started off by me saying goodbye to PCs and Microsoft Windows.

If I were an unexperienced brat out for cheap points I would probably have started this column by saying something like 'dear Windows blah blah I hate you blah Steve Ballmer blah blah bloatware blah blah you suck'. Etc. And so on.

But to be honest, I don't have any strong emotional feelings about leaving Windows. It's like a dead pet that I didn't love anyway.

My decision is of a practical nature. To state the obvious, I am a nerd when it comes to gadgets & computers and at the end of the summer of 2009 I found myself working on three laptops simultaneously - and at the same time I was trying to find some use for one of those worthless Asus Eee 900 netbooks. This whole unstructured techmess left me with some kind of allergy to Windows: without much thinking, one day I went into the local Apple shop and bought me a cheap white Macbook. 'Just to try it out', I lied to myself.

If you're prepared for a sermon about the wonders of OS X and the rotten core of Windows, you'll have to look elsewhere. Although I do find OS X more clever than Windows and the hardware beats the shit out of my Very Expensive Dell That Just Is Falling Apart After One Year In Use - this is beside the point.

This was an escape. Start all over again. The BIG reboot so to speak.

Whenever the old My Computer Is Better Than Yours discussion flares up and turns everybody into talibans, there's always someone prudent jockey politely reminding everybody that the computer is just a tool.

Such talk is just rubbish. Most people I know have very personal relationships with their computers. Way more personal than that hammer that lies in my toolbox. The computer is an extension of the mind that can help you create damn fine things if you are tuned together. You're a Windows man? Great for you. You're a Mac fanboy? Go for it. Linux? Kinky - but whatever rubs your kettle.

So I've spent the last nine days creating a structure and installing software that represents almost 20 years of experience of making music with computers. Just creating that essential Windows XP partition took two whole days. Installing the big bag from Native Instruments took one and a half. But I'll be damned if I'm not nearing myself to nerdvana - but this whole setup I'm writing on right now is... let's just say that I'm proud.

But that cleverness obviously took its toll on something else. My upcoming album for my new music project is about 90% done - on that Dell that is slowly moving its way into the wardrobe. Moving computer in the middle of a production is one of the most stupid things anyone can even consider. So I'm topping it with both platform and host. But then again. It's just New Year one time per year.

We've all been there. You or somebody you know, are are about to play a new track, and then the Spell of Protection must be uttered: "it's not finished", "it's just an idea", "obviously the production is rubbish", "it's an old version" etc and so on forever whatever.

Damn me if I haven't been doing my best for not making up stupid excuses that I'm not a Michael Jackson or a Quincy Jones or a Mick Jagger on stage. Nowadays, I can pretty much shut up while I let the listener take it all in. But it takes some focus to do that. And if I'm not paying attention - "it's not mixed yet" and the BASSISMUDDYANDTHEREISTOOMUCHGOINGONAND jumps out of my mouth.

The obvious reason for this about setting weird expectations on yourself, and the equally obvious remedy is that you have to learn to fail. And be good at it.

This thought is, of course, nothing new. Books in the self-help genre have been exploring this to its fullest extent, as well as it's one of the key learnings in Buddhism. Too much of attachment does weird things with your mind.

This problem is deep rooted, and if I should allow my cynicism to get some air, I believe this attitude is well cemented in schools. Everybody are striving to get the best possible of scores, to perform optimal within a given norm. While this prepares us for the modern society, I cannot escape the feeling that it would be downright healthy to regularly spend time to explore all possible fuck-ups.

I know I'm getting into Edward de Bono-land, but he's not wrong, you know.

Everybody has experienced the feeling when a mistake turns out to be a stroke of total geniality. I don't know how many times I've by mistake sent a whole bus through the wrong effect channel and a whole realm of new interesting ideas appear in an instant.

One important step to free artistic development is to reduce the values we prematurely attach to ideas and projects, and to do so you can either do two things: be genuinely insane and experiment with literary everything that comes your way, or simply don't care.

My route thought the eye of that needle was with a band called Via Relativ. Although the musical ideas were good, we had the target on all sorts of wrong things and if you've seen the ending in the movie The Commitments you understand how the end looked like. A disaster. But - in all honesty - a well needed disaster.

After that a new, more concise idea formed in my head:

FUCK IT.

The process to mentally and truthfully stop giving a damn about what other people think, might think, might want to hear, might like etc ad astra, took about six months. Today I am involved with the two most exciting projects I've ever been in: Miami Porno Machine and Bloatfield.

It's still not easy not to say anything, but at least one thing have changed. If the person doesn't like it - well. Sorry for them. I know how damn good it is.

Instead of my usual rantings, I thought I would use this months column to discuss something we never seem to get enough of: samples. Although Plughugger isn't a dedicated place for reviews of new sample packs, samples is what gets reviewed a lot and the reason for this is simple: no matter how many gigabytes I got, I still want more. The confessions of an addict.

But managing any large amount of libraries causes brain-melt for most. Remembering where your favorite sounds are isn't always that easy - and if you like me got an insane amount of samples - getting lost is simple.

Before samples became the new plugs, life were simple. Whenever a producer released a new library it was big news. Today - except for some of the big names - who cares? The old times, weren't better, but they were at least manageable.
In the past, we had too little material and we used it to its fullest extent. Today we have so much that we spend more and more time just looking for things.

This won't be a sermon on How To Learn To Say No To Another Library - that would be futile. No, I would rather share a seriously insane idea I've been working on for the last two months: How To Bring Order Among Your Sounds.

Every day, I go through one library and clean out everything except the samples I find Very Interesting. Two more weeks and I'm done - including all those Future Music/Computer Music DVDs. 300+ gigabytes has shrunk down to less than ten gigabytes and some 25,000 samples. These samples are the cream - the best loops and the hits that inspire me.

Needless to say, it's more useful to have a folder with 100 kicks you know you like, than twenty folders with thousands of kicks you don't know a damn thing about.

It's been a hard work - but I'm getting close and working with a condensed library will be a much more manageable task. And will most certainly speed up production.

Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness.
-John Wayne

First of all. Sorry. I'm damn sorry. I've really been missing posting at regular intervals, but sometimes big stuff is coming your way and sometimes it's bigger than that. Two times bigger, to be exact. Move house & getting married. In other words, it's been totally insane.

At times like this, you don't prioritize. You simply shut off entire parts of your life just to be able to get along. The Band? Forget it. Concerts? No way. Even the latest news about the music tech world becomes totally irrelevant. But sooner or later pace is slowing down and you'll find yourself trying to get back in the saddle again.

Getting back where you left off is not easy, but I think it also serves as a CrapBarrier(™). Those splendid ideas no longer seem that great anymore, and the last lyrics you wrote before all hell broke lose seem utterly soul-less.

For once your inner critic might be right. There is nothing more revealing than digging down some projects for some time. An absolute diet off your own creative genius enhances the contrast between good and bad significantly.

Leave your stuff for a few days and you'll find out what's good and what's bad and what needs to be done much quicker.

I am not entirely happy in this overly digital time. Don't get me wrong. While I do love plugins and how much easier they make production for me. I love being able to stroll around the net and find Just The Right Plug, download the demo, buy it and having it installed and running within minutes. The more I think about it, the more ecstatic I become. It's just so damn awesome. Just to celebrate this fact, I'll go buy a new plugin right now.

But for the rest - well, yeah. Sure. I do like being able to download my favorite artists knowing they get more of my money now than before - and sure, there is a wealth of new music that I've never heard before and an even larger amount of brilliant music will never reach my ears. And sure - I'm not lying sleepless in the night agonized by the financial troubles that certain record companies are now facing seriously bad times. They should have been gone a long time ago and while I'm not Paul the Octopus, there is a real possibility the world is going to be better without them.

But seriously - is it just me who feels that everything have become just so damn boring? Music is not just about music. I don't want to favor any producer, but when the people over at Sidsonic Libraries kindly sent me their circuit bending library - something just clicked. I remembered that there can be something else than the eternal struggle to keep the profit margins optimal. I am, of course, talking about passion.

I don't want to know how much it costs to produce a box like that. I really, really don't want to know. But I do know that just about everybody who walked into my studio immediately got captured by it, starting flipping the switch, feeling the box asking me what it was and what it did. I do know that when I started to read the Sample Magic book about house music production, I enjoyed the quality of the paper and the colors.

Although my relationship with the 80s is not as lightweight as with most of my friends - by some weird reason I take that whole messed up decade seriously - this period of time marked the high point of some of the most innovative marketing gimmicks I've ever seen. Odd inserts, lyrics, picture discs in different shapes, fold-out sleeves with even more stuff folding out, rare mixes on colored vinyl (such as the must-have-been-radioactive-for-real glo-in-the-dark 12 inch of Kraftwerks Neonlights). Or the infamous floppy sleeve of New Orders Blue Monday that cost more to produce than it was sold for. It's so obvious that the people at Sidsonic are in it with passion, and sooner or later that kind of energy always pays off.

If your stand is - f-ck that, I don't want to pay one cent for anything extra. I want my stuff cheap. I don't need boxes, rotating flamingos or 3D or what else. I need The Stuff. Cheap. You're right. You're a cheapskate, but you are right. I'm just pointing out that the business is severely unbalanced in this respect - and the clever ones should ease their wallets a little for attention grabbing gimmicks. At this point of musical marketing history, they work better than ever.

The recipe for an electronic drum sound that you can push lunar landers out of orbit with, lies in the combination of using several TBK3s after each other. I found that using two compressors is optimal. One to shape the general feeling of the sound and one to push it over the edge.

You can read the full review of the Sonalksis TBK3 here or you can skip directly to the video that demonstrates how it can be done.

The effect is made by a normal reverb on a send channel. The reason why to use a send channel is we don't want the original sound to be modified and us being able how much of the effect is blended in to the original.
The trick is to insert a sidechain enabled compressor after the reverb on the send. Control the ducking of the compressor by a 4/4 kick, use a long reverb tail and you'll have that classic Vengeance sound.

The trick of getting a smooth pumping sound is to pay extra attention to the threshold and release parameters. A softer knee and a fast attack might also help getting a nice sucking effect.

Sebastian Ahrenberg, better known as Seba is a drum and bass producer and DJ from Ingarö, an island just outside of Stockholm, Sweden. Sebas career started in the middle of the nineties when he formed the ambient drum and bass band Peanut Planet and have since built himself a solid reputation in his genre. Seba is the owner of Secret Operations, a drum and bass record label. I caught him a few days after jockeying in the new year and winning a game of Monopoly.

John Bowen has been involved with some of the most influential synthesizers ever: the development of the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 & Prophet VS. After Sequential was bought by Yamaha at the end of the 80s, John Bowen moved over to Korg where he helped design the Korg Wavestation series and also the Korg OASYS system.
At the end of the 90s John Bowen started to develop for the Creamware Scope dsp platform and among other projects, he recreated the Prophet 5 and a totally new synthesizer called Solaris. After many years of planning, John Bowen decided to create a hardware version of the Solaris and the first preview was made at the Frankfurt Messe 2007.

After some unforseen delays, we were able to restart the project in December. I made a list of points that needed to be done for v1.0 software release at that point, and now almost all of these are finished, and we are proceeding with testing. There may also be some extra time to consider adding a few more functions that I had previously put off for later.

As for the hardware: it requires five custom text displays that match the color of the central graphic display. Getting these are going to take about a month longer than I expected. We've also had a number of ideas concerning how we should handle the ribbon controller, and last week we made yet another change.

The first units to ship will be to those pre-order customers, and I expect these to be shipped by May/June. Units available in stores won't be until maybe August/September, but during this time we will be working with several other third party preset designers to create more banks of presets.

With more than 30 years experience of making synthesizers, what ideas would you say that you are particularly proud over?

Well, the main thing for me was getting Dave Smith to add my idea of the Poly Mod section for the Prophet 5, so that I could use do audio rate modulation of the filter cutoff, oscillator A, and pulse width, as well as have the filter envelope sweep pulse width or frequency of Osc A, especially in Hard Sync mode. The other nice thing was to have asynchronous LFO effects, because with the Prophet 5's single LFO, all modulation was the same for all 5 voices, and some of the sounds I had in mind were based on having multiple LFOs, which we accomplished by adding the No Track button for Osc B, so that it could act as an LFO, and could provide this effect via the Poly Mod section.

When I was working on the Prophet VS presets, I got this idea one night that it would be nice to completely 'fade out' from an oscillator (using the vector mixer/joystick), and when you returned to that oscillator (by moving the joystick back to the osc's mix position), it would have changed while it was 'silent' to a different waveshape. If you could do this for each 'corner' of the joystick mix, then you could have a continually evolving sound, with each wave continuously changing, smoothly crossfading to the next. This idea didn't work, however, because the custom chip we used in the VS generated all oscillators at the same time, and if you changed the waveshape on Osc 1, you would hear an interruption on all the other oscillators as well. But I kept thinking about this idea when we came to develop the F8 (which was our predecessor project to the Wavestation, when we were part of Yamaha for 1 year). So, I had this basic idea of a continuous chain of different waveshapes with an overall crossfade for each (which I intented to call 'wave sequencing'), but I didn't have the idea to offer different tunings or levels or crossfades for each step (those ideas came from Stanley Junglieb), plus we weren't using samples at that point. Later, when I first got to play with a functional wave sequence in the lab, without any crossfade yet, it immediately struck me that the more rhythmic pattern-type effect that automatically happened was going to be the bigger characteristic to identify the Wavestation sound.

The Solaris originates from the Creamware/Sonicore family of dsp-cards so you're not unfamiliar with creating software synthesizers. What are the pros and cons regarding software plugins, and when are we going to see the first John Bowen designed VST-plugin?

Pros Regarding software plugins - obviously, you can freely design front panel surfaces (the User Interface) as you like, and also, add functionality as you wish, without causing too much headache. With hardware, you have to figure out a way to handle your UI so that it can best accomplish the goals, but inevitably you have to make some compromises within given hard limits, which you don't have with a software UI.

Cons re: software plugins - maybe it's more a problem for those of us 'older generation' guys, who like to be "hands on" with our dedicated knobs, sliders, and so on, versus using a mouse to control everything. Although, as we have recently seen, there have been many attempts to produce a satisfactory solution to this with all of the MIDI controller products out, and I suppose these work well enough, providing a number of sliders, knobs, and switches, but it's always up to the current plugin you are running, what each knob/slider/button does (although you definitely tried to assign similar functions to the same controllers for consistency, I'm sure). For me, there's a certain amount of interaction with a dedicated UI system, where you can instinctively reach for a controller that belongs to a fixed parameter, even with your eyes closed, and have a more satisfying experience. But this is an impossibility when you have hundreds of parameters, as most of the sophisticated systems have now.

re: a John Bowen VST plug-in - easy answer - as soon as someone comes up with a fail-safe way to prevent piracy of VST plug-ins! The software piracy (that seems unavoidable) makes such a horrible feeling in my stomach, that I am just not interested. Besides, there are thousands of VSTi now (several really wonderful ones, too!), but I think overall, the value of the work is diluted to such an extent that it really doesn't mean as much when a new plugin is introduced. It's much harder to get the user's attention.

The biggest changes in music production the last 10-15 years is without a doubt the computer which now enables anyone to create professional sounding music. Which in turn make the noise level high and makes it hard to grab attention. I would assume this is the same situation when it comes to synthesizer design.
Today, practically anyone can draw up a synthesizer model that on paper beats the Minimoog. But the amount of oscillators, modulators, envelopes and filters are just one part of the success of a synthesizer. What advice would you give to anybody who is interested about synthesizer design and would like to get their hands (physical or virtual) dirty?

I disagree that the high 'noise' level exists to the same extent for hardware as it does for software synths, as I said in the previous question re: VSTs. This is one of the main reasons why I went the hardware route with Solaris, actually. I've gotten a lot more visibility now than I ever did with the Scope plug-ins, because now I am not platform-specific, and can provide a product that anyone can use without having to depend on a computer, plus the design path I've taken has a pretty high profile, with such a complex device.

But what you asked is, besides the basic structure of the thing, what else goes into the design approach to make a 'good instrument', besides the fact that you want it to 'sound good' (which is usually subjective anyway)? Well, obviously, I've spent a lot of time thinking about and designing user interfaces, and have wanted to try other ways to interface with the high number of parameters that exist in modern synthesizers. Ultimately, the objective is to make a tool that helps the person on the creative end get what's in his or her head out into the real world. To this end, you need to understand the musical use of the functions, how to make the main groups of functions accessible, and so on. The better you can do that....if I can accomplish that, then I feel really satisfied. And, oh, yeah....it's got to sound really good!

Re: getting your 'hands dirty' with synth design now - for hardware, I see the various Modular systems as quite an active (and growing) community. It seems like you can get into production for less cost, and if you have some unique ideas, you can gain a good reputation quickly, since it is such a tight-knit community.

For virtual design work, if you are interesting in coding at the DSP level, you are going to be in demand. Good coders are very hard to find - I know, I searched for several years! (We are always on the lookout for people who are interested in digital signal processing, specifically for the Analog Devices SHARC processor.) If you are coming more from a music or sound designer background, then I think the best approach is to use one of the many software module kits out there to start learning how things connect together, and then go with your ears as your guide. Outside of the dedicated dsp hardware Scope system, which is really fast, flexible, and produces high quality sound, one of the best native programs out there, in my opinion, is SynthMaker. This provides you with a very nice graphical interface that's easy to use, with very flexible and good-sounding modules. Less satisfying to me in terms of sound quality is SynthEdit or Reaktor, but they all basically will provide you the kind of fertile ground for experimentation and learning which you will need to get started.

Your friends are throwing their annual music gear masquerade. What piece of equipment would go dressed as this year?

I would most likely go as a drum set. Always fun to play, drums connect with everyone on a very primal level - probably one of the best User Interfaces ever invented!

More about the Solaris - John Bowen Synth Design
More about John Bowens synthesizers for the Scope dsp cards.

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.

WAV by the numbers:

Atmos: 115
Downsweeps: 101
Hits: 131
Impacts: 104
Loops 128 Bpm (mixed): 200
Loops 128 Bpm (simple): 100
Modulations: 66
Noise: 23
PreArrangementFX: 40
Singleshots: 204
UpSweeps Long: 100
UpSweeps Medium: 102
UpSweeps Short: 114

Total number of loops: 300
Total number of one-shots: 1100
Total number of files: 1400

The atmospheric sounds are mainly synthetic, and by synthetic I not only mean sounds that have a synthetic origin, but sounds which have a synthetic edge to them. There are exceptions, of course. One sample sounds like it's been recorded on a busy marketplace somewhere. The style of the atmospheres goes from neutral to moody to uplifting. There are not so much material that could fit your latest track in the Horror Techno genre though - sure - there are lots of tense and even disturbing moments, but the really scary stuff are absent from this library. Although not short, these atmospheric soundscapes aren't long either (which in a way make them shortish, of sorts). It's not uncommon for atmospheric sounds to drone on for twenty seconds or so. With these sounds the average is usually around 6-13 seconds.

The downsweeps are intended to pave the way for a new musical part such as a break. Again, the style is of a synthetic nature and there are classic analog 'ufo landing' sounds (Zzzz) to vinyl stops and events combined with a long reverb tail, sometimes layered with a crash cymbal and delay.
Personally, I've never really understood the point of downsweeps. Upsweeps - oh my, yes, but down? Does not rub our kettle. But if you need some inspiration - these will undoubtedly be of help.

The categories Hits and Impacts are so closely related that it makes more sense to write about them together. Generally speaking, Hits contains impact/hit-sounds with a deeper end - usually a kick drum at the bottom and a crash cymbal, noise or synth sound on top - with a massive amount of reverb and delay. Impacts contains sound of a lighter style. Generally speaking, I would describe the Impacts as Hits minus the kick.
These kind of sounds are highly useful for to create depth in any track. A classic trick is to start with an upsweep then finish it with an impact. Very effective to quickly create drama and release. On one hand, these hits and impacts doesn't bring anything new into the arena - but in all fairness they don't have to. These are designed to lift your attention for a few moments and they do this in the best possible of ways. There are over 230 of them and the selection is varied - they span from dark and moody to huge and filled with energy.

With K-Size FX Edition comes 300 loops divided into two folders: mixed loops and simple loops. These loops are all in the popular house tempo of 128 bpm and can best be described as synth-percussion-esque loops. The loops in the 'simple loops' folder can easily be sorted into a kickless loop category - here you'll find hihat loops and synth-style percussion. The style is more towards minimal techno rather than classic house. The sounds are sparse and often programmed in a more intelligent way (compared with static 16th hihats and open hats between the beats). These loops are made with care and are a part of the highlights of this collection.
The 'mixed loop' category is still based on percussive sounds but have been processed to the degree they become something else: resonators are used a lot to turn percussive loops into tonal and rhythmical loops, filter sweeps, short delays to make the sounds stutter and bit crushers. 'Mixed loop' is a mixed bag category with no clear definition - just rhythmical loops that once have been percussion.

The noise category is interesting and worth a mention. Instead of just having a bunch of samples of different colored noise - these samples have a flavor toward crash cymbals, open hats and impacts - but since they only are based on noise, they sound interesting. Half on the mark - half off the mark if you know what I mean.

Finally we come to the upsweeps. While it's not difficult make these kind of effects yourself, they are often extremely useful to have around. Many problems with breaks that don't hold together can (partially) be solved by using upsweeps. In this library there are 300 upsweeps and they are all sorted into folders of length: long, medium and short.
These samples are actually quite nifty and in many cases very well done. Example - some of the samples doesn't just use the normal fade-in to achieve the upsweep but there are tonal sweeps as well and sounds that change character during the transition. The long sweeps are indeed long and gradually introduce the effect. They span from reversed reverb-crashes type to ambiences that are building up in a very clever way.


Conclusion
While I'm always bashing on Loopmasters libraries that they generally are too short, this library shows the opposite. Numbers never tells the truth - although it's very tempting to believe so. Best Service K-Size FX Edition is not by any means a bad quality product. It got highs and lows, just like any other library. But I can't shake the feeling that this library would have been a better one if its producer would throw away a third of the samples and distill this whole package to a more condensed form. Its main strengths are the loops and upsweeps - two very important areas - but many of the one shots and other effects feels so uninspired that even the royalty-free sounds from Future Music and Computer Music are better.

Best Service K-Size FX Edition
Web: www.bestservice.de / www.soundstosample.com (distributor)
Price: 87 euro.
Good: very good kick-free loops and very clever upsweeps.
Bad: many of the effects are uninspiring. Expensive.

Review copy: thanks to Sounds to Sample for NFR review copy.

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.

When I first heard about Prime Loops Ambient Illusions were not about mixing styles, or using contrasts, but my first thoughts went to the musical geniuses/madmen KLF.

I know - I am ancient, but in my book KLF made the most definite definition of the musical style ambient with their album Chill Out. Forget about White Room, that was only to please the masses. And yeah, sure. Brian Eno should be mentioned, Jarre, Aphex Twin and so on. But nothing comes close to the geniality of Chill Out. If I were sent off to a desert island and I could only choose one album: this would be the one, and I wouldn't hesitate about it either.

So naturally I was intrigued when I saw Prime Loops released an ambient sound library, and I must confess I was hoping for a collection of distant trains and sheep and maybe some hazy country guitar - equally naturally I didn't hear any of that nor Elvis Presley on the radio. Bummer.

Ambient Illusions is a synthetic library with inspiration drawn from Eno, Jarre, Tangerine Dream and also partly the Orb. When I say synthetic, I mean synthetic in an analog sense, but not purist analog - rather, analog sounds treated with modern production techniques. Behind this library is the Prime Loops producer Dimitry Vasilyev who have used mainly Rolands and Korgs as the source of sound: Alpha Juno, Juno-106, MKS-10, Mono/Poly and Poly-800. The synthetic foundation is clear, but it's executed in a clever way so you don't think too much about it. I assume that most of the work designing this library was during the processing.

Ambient Illusions by the numbers:

Formats: WAV, Apple Loops, Ableton Live Pack, Acid Loops, Akai MPC and FL Studio.

Synthloops: 96
Seqloops: 11
Arploops: 3
Ambientloops: 2
Musicloops: 2
Percloop: 1
Bassloop: 1
Chordloop: 1
Eploop: 1
Pianoloop: 1
Unmarked loop: 1

Total number of loops: 120

Tempo: 65 - 140 bpm

All loops are marked by type, base key and tempo, which makes them easy to use. Although every sound is set to a category, I would rather say that these categories should only be regarded as guidance as they move fluidly between styles. In general Seqloops have a more ploppy character as has the Percloop. The majority of loops are in the so called Synthloop category, which is a sort of a mixed bag category. There are lazy chords, odd melodies of sorts, bell-like loops - reverse is used quite a bit in the Synthloops - arpeggios, atmospheric drones. Uplifting, magical, moody and disturbing. But nothing really scary. Unfortunately I might add.

The loops are long - usually from 15 to 30 seconds - which is not just spent on repeating the theme over and over again, but the loops evolve quite a bit and usually comes back together again when the loop starts over again. In other words, the work behind this library is not sloppy.

Conclusion
Despite that me and Prime Loops (and the rest of the world for that matter) might not agree with the true sense of the musical style ambient, they indeed capture the soul of it. The sounds are well worked out but never crosses the border of becoming something that really grabs your attention - which is the point of the whole genre.
The only negative thing I can say is that 120 sounds feels more like a taster than a real library. There were many moments when I wished for a few variations, or some loops in the similar spirit.
Although I clearly can see how these loops can be used in ambient creations, I would say that these loops might be perfect for game developers, or - which brings me back in a full circle: use for contrasts. These loops works truly great if you are a producer who likes to experiment with styles. Slap a furious distorted break on top of a mellow pad is always effective as hell. Contrasts. Remember that. Class over.

Prime Loops Ambient Illusions
Web: www.primeloops.com
Price: 18 UK pounds.
Good: well-produced loops which captures the spirit of ambient music. Cheap.
Bad: wouldn't have hurt with a few more loops.

Review copy: thanks to Prime Loops for NFR review copy.

Gerald Simpson is a legend. While pretty much anyone who played at the Hacienda in Manchester are legends in my book, but Monsieur Gerald is more legendarish than the rest. While he'll always be remembered as the guy who were behind tracks such as Voodoo Ray and Pacific (808 State), his catalogue and works stretches far beyond. My earliest memory of A Guy Called Gerald is from one of my insanely hip friends who sent me an early mixtapes with G before he got big and starting redefining the sound of house. Big words - but while Marshall Jefferson might be the granddaddy of the US house movement - I would personally name Gerald Simpson as one of founders of modern house.

So when Loopmasters announced a sample library called Deep Techno Sessions by A Guy Called Gerald/Gerald Simpson I was over it the instant it was released. Unfortunately, the thing called life came and sucked out every opportunity to go through the library, so here we go. A month later or so.

Turn on the kettle and let's start chewing on some of the numbers.

WAV Loops

Atmospheres and FX: 49
Bass loops: 63
Chord progressions: 13
Drum loops: 127
Musical loops: 46

WAV Single shots

Bass hits: 59
Instrument sounds: 32
Misc: 19

Kicks: 39
Snares: 31
Hats: 45
Cymbals: 21
Toms: 25
Percussion: 40
FX: 19

Total drum hits: 220
Total single sounds: 330
Total drums: 347

Total loops: 298
Total samples: 628
Total time: 44 minutes 32 seconds.


While Deep Techno Sessions isn't a huge library it is well balanced. As with All Libraries Called Techno there is a fair number of drum-related samples in here, so let's start there and let's go directly to the common areas of trouble and tedious repetition: the single drum sounds.

With 39 kicks, 31 snares and 45 hats you never feel overwhelmed. The selection is well thought-out and covers a broad area. There are kicks for minimalistic electro as well as the stone hard punches for the clubs - there are even a few kicks distorted all the way into gabber-land.

The snares confirms Geralds deeper understanding of drums. There are of course the traditional both 909 and 808 sounding snares - but surprisingly few of them - and on top of that there are quite a few acoustic snares.

The percussion sounds are sort of a mixed bag with claps, toms, shakers, rim shots, snaps and even some effect-like sounds. With only 40 sounds, these sounds is a good foundation of what most people would use as percussion. On the other hand, they are not original nor does score high on the impress-o-meter. A useful selection of additional drum sounds.

What I like about the selection of drums is that they doesn't repeat themselves to death. Yes, turning a knob on the 909 one anthair to the left indeed results in a different sound. But, really. Who gives? This is a small collection of drum sounds that are easy to handle and sounds good. Electric & acoustic. Clean & layered. It's not what I would call the Final Collection of Drums, but very well thought out and highly usable.

The bass sounds are organized as one file per sound. In other words, there are no multiple takes of the same bass sound - which personally is fine by me. I never learnt to appreciate multi sampled synthesizer sounds anyway. Strings, brass and piano - great. But synthesizer sounds? I usually manage with single shots. So that leaves the user with almost 60 bass sounds. The sounds stretch from deep sub basses to aggressive techno-nastiness and all have a moody and a bit aggressive feel to them. Although you most definitely can use them for your upcoming Lu Lu Lu-cover, but they suit best among more wilder animals. Another good thing about the bass sounds is that they are unprocessed. No massive reverbs, hell-house eq curves or distortion. Just plain bass sounds. Which make them very suitable for being violated by your own tools.

Before we move on to the loops, just a few words about the instrument sounds. Despite that logic and sense would have us assume that the instruments folder contains synthesizer sounds that you can use to build melodies with - the larger part of these sounds are surprisingly more of an atmospheric nature: pads and drones, there are even a few bass sounds in there, which kind of make this category into a I-don't-know-where-to-put-these-sounds, but that aside, the sounds are excellent. Especially the soundscapes and pads - which have a dark, brooding feel to them.

Leaving the DIY-area we head straight over to the beef: the drum loops. All in all there are 127 of them and while there are a few kickless loops in there, the vast majority are with kicks. The pre-set tempos are 116, 120, 127 and 130 BPM and most of them are electronic. If I should would point to the area where this library reaches its peak - this is it. These drum loops are damn, damn, damn good. Although I've come a long way from the classic fourfour pumping since the hight of my personal commercial success in the nineties - I can't match this guys drum-programming voodoo. As with all intelligent techno/house/dance music, the drums play an active role in the music and these loops do that with top grades. They are like small worlds. The only negative thing I can say about them is that it would have been great with a few variations, or at least one without kick. Thankfully, the loops kind of play in the same sounding domain, which make it not too difficult to switch loops during a track. I was equally impressed with the acoustic loops as well. Although much fewer, the acoustic loops feel genuine and not ripped of by some old heavy metal or funk record. Fresh.

The rest of the loops are also of high quality. The basses have a low edge and are more rhythmical rather than melodic. As with the chord progressions, the basses are coated in a serious/moody vibe, which works great with the drum loops. The Musical section is not that musical really. Or at least not melodic, if that what you mean with musical. It's made up by higher, tonal rhythmical sounds - sure - but as with the basses, the treat is the combination of sound and rhythm, rather than a catchy melody.

Conclusion
Deep Techno Sessions is a damn fine library. It's not overprocessed and it's not overwhelming. Although the selection of both tonal and drum samples are highly relevant, the main treat is the drum loops which are superbly programmed. The moodiness and darkness is present through all of the sounds which also gives the library a uniform direction. Fantastic.

Loopmasters A Guy Called Gerald/Deep Techno Sessions
Web: Loopmasters.
Price: 35 UK pounds (download).
Good: Uniform library for darker house. Good collection of drum samples. Fantastic drum loops.
Bad: Slightly uninspiring percussion sounds.

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

"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.

Before we start digging the bytes, let's have a closer check at the numbers.

Crash & Cymbals: 32
Falls & descenders - 125 bpm: 55
Falls & descenders - 128 bpm: 50
Fills - classic fills - 125 bpm: 23
Fills - classic fills - 128 bpm: 23
Fills - glitch fills - 125 bpm: 20
Fills - glitch fills - 128 bpm: 23
Fills - nu-rave fills - 125 bpm: 24
Fills - nu-rave fills - 128 bpm: 24
Fills - twisted vox fills - 125 bpm: 18
Fills - twisted vox fills - 128 bpm: 18
Impacts & bombs: 22
Layered fx (examples): 14
Machinery hits - 125 bpm: 13
Machinery hits - 128 bpm: 9
Noise & detail loops - 125 bpm: 17
Noise & detail loops - 128 bpm: 19
Orchestral hits: 11
Risers & lifters - 125 bpm: 55
Risers & lifters - 128 bpm: 63
Synth fx - chords: 34
Synth fx - reverse: 25
Synth fx - single: 43
Tape, vinyl & static fx: 26

Total number of samples: 661

As you can see, the samples are organized into detail. But not just that - the downsweeps and the uplifters are also marked with how many bars they play: 1, 2, 4, 8 up to 16. While looking at the file size is enough to judge on how long samples are, this make selection more convenient and the fact that Sample Magic have named each and every sample is another nice touch.

Uplifters are an all-time favorite of mine, so let's begin the tour right there. The majority of these samples are uplifters in the synthetic spirit, and by that I mean that they sound synthetic. In many cases you can clearly hear the layering of different elements. There are lots of analogue-style ufo/lfo-kind of warbling layered with noise and tonal components. It's also interesting to hear that these uplifters aren't merely volume fade-ins, but many of them evolve during time as well often with a small energizing push at the end. Although some tonal, but mostly not, I must confess I wished for more tonal upsweepers. More tonal and more complex. Tonal upsweeps are generally more difficult to use, but I've found fading in dark atmospheric drones can be a cool trick. But my finding lack of complexity was not random and had a deeper purpose. In the manual, Sample Magic advices not to use one uplifter but layer several different on top of each other. Take one 16 bar uplifter and layer it with an 8 bar and a 2 bar - and play them all together and make sure they all end at the same spot - a trick that turns out to lightning a bowl of tequila with your fingertips. Incredibly effective. Another clever thing is that these samples are surprisingly unprocessed - no delays or reverb one these babies. Clean and ready for your own processing. Good! Sample Magic have also made a few examples to show how this technique can be used.

In contrast to many other producers I've never really understood the point of downsweeps/downfalls. Upsweeps - oh yes - but downfalls? Maybe I've got a natural talent for easing off parts and preparing them to go offline. Maybe I'm just plain dumb. But no matter. The downsweeps are in many regards the same stuff as the upsweeps but the other way around. They are synthetic, come in different lengths, not too complex by their own and most definitely can be layered, and many are built around noise. I personally liked the shorter ones best, as they can be used as softer impact sounds.

Another part where Sample Magic put a lot of their effort is with the fills. Now, if there is anything more difficult to create in a sample library than a decent non-repetitive collection of single drums, it's most definitely fills. Creating fills is an art by itself and the temptation of going to libraries for fills is hard to resist. The only problem is that it seldom works. Creating fills with drum elements that aren't anywhere else on the drum channel often sound artificial and is more like an effect. It must be said though, that cutting in a fill with a totally different sound can be damn cool. It's like when DJing and instead of mixing hitting stop on the 1210 and get that classic vinyl stop effect and start the next song after a minimal pause (viva le 90s). Stuff that earn you cool-points for sure, but must be used sparse. If use pre-made fills too often, your productions are going to feel cheap. So try to resist the temptation of using them too often - which in this case is damn difficult. Some - no, wait - most of these fills are noting short of brilliant and are just begging to be used.
The Twisted vox fills are quite different from the rest. While the Glitch fills feels hitech the vocals are quite radical. Me, personally wouldn't really call these vocal fills, but rather Looped FX Vocals or something. They sure work as fills, but can equally be used during longer periods, such as for a shorter break.

The Impacts is a collection of 22 huge, reverb-drenched kick drum-esque sounds - usually with some layering to give them slightly more complex shimmer. Instant massiveness right out of the box - boom.

The most odd section of Ultimate FX is most definitely the Synth FX section. Here, your hard working sonic adventurer was expecting classic synth effects, analogue squeeks, zaps, rumblings and an armada of lfo-wobbling. To my surprise there was none of that. Not. One. Single. Analogue. Zap. Imagine that (rhyme unintended). No, this category consists of over 100 synth sounds and stabs and all of them are up to the high standards we are expected to see from SM. The reversed section contains reversed sounds and stabs and works great for alternative uplifters.

The Tape, Vinyl & Static section contains exactly what you expect. The vinyl crackles here are by far the most tastiest - very cool and totally authentic, as are the short static sounds from radio. Apart from a few vinyl spins, this category is like finding an old box of dusty records and a tube-driven radio.
The orchestral section contains a few handful orchestral sounding impacts - no orchestral stabs - but percussion-like impacts. When talking about impacts - although there already exists a impact category, 'Machinery hits' is a great addition, with some serious booms and impacts, loops as well as single sounds.

Interesting to note, the included booklet is more useful than normal. Instead of the usual bragging about how hot The Stuff You've Just Bought, there are a couple of pages with some useful production tips. If you've read Sample Magic's book about dance music production, you'll know that these people know their stuff and the tips here are both useful and relevant. A small thing, but sure made the Value-meter jump up a notch.

Conclusion
There is no question that Sample Magic have done an excellent job with Ultimate FX. There are no weak parts - in fact, many of the sounds are selected and produced in a very conscious way giving the producer room for his/hers own processing taste: the uplifters/downsweeps are not drenched in reverb or delays - but the impact-sounds are. Just the way they should be. Although I am not a huge fan of downsweeps or pre-recorded fills - that entirely is my personal taste, and I know other producers who find them both useful and inspiring. If you are looking for a fresh injection of effects - this should be one of the first libraries to check out. Full of win.

Sample Magic Ultimate FX
Web: www.samplemagic.com.
Price: 47 UK pounds (download).
Good: Excellent quality. Inspiring material. Useful and relevant tips in the booklet.
Bad: Nothing bad.

Review copy: big thanks to Sample Magic for NFR review copy.

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.

Sidsonic obviously have a penchant for odd, weird noises and we might thank The Maker these guys are german. And that german in the most german of german senses. These guys have no fear fiddling around with electronics, but thankfully they do it in a very methodic fashion, which after over 18000 samples of 14 seriously violated sound-making machines - have been distilled into 179 multi-sampled presets in Kontakt 3 format. While I do know one or two things about sampling old gear, but this must have been a gargantuan amount of a work. Sampling chaotic signals from mental instruments is one thing. Putting them together in playable, multisampled instruments is a whole different matter.

You already get impressed when getting the box. Yes, you read correctly. Box, as in physical item. The box itself is beautifully constructed with two very real rca sockets and a dip-switch on the right side. The sockets and switch serve no other purpose than to make the box stand out, and it sure does. It looks damn cool.

Inside the box there is the installation dvd, serial and a 36-page booklet. Before we move on to the actual meat and potatoes here, I'd just like to say a few words about this booklet. As the box is beautifully constructed, the booklet is a joy to read. Apart from that it describes the actual library, it also gives some history and insight about circuit bending (which started already in the 60s) and spends a lot of space on each and every instrument - about the instruments themselves, their bending capabilities and events that happened during the bending sessions.

Some details about the library:

Number of instruments bent: 14
Size of library: 5.2 gigabyte

Synths:

Casio SK-1: 24
Casio SK-2: 7
Casio SK-200: 16
Texas Instruments Speak & Spell: 14
Texas Instruments V-Tech: 2
Yamaha PSS-140: 19
Yamaha PSS-270: 5
Yamaha VSS-200: 26

Drums:

Alesis HR-16: 9
Boss DR-550: 5
Korg DDD-1: 12
Korg DDD-5: 19
Roland TR-505: 12
Roland TR-626: 9

Total number of patches: 179

As you can see, the library is divided into two parts: synths and drums. Let's start with the synth sounds. Casios sampling keyboard series SK and the Yamaha PSS keyboards are getting most of the attention from the tweakers. All of the sounds can clearly be put in the lofi category, but the Casio SK sounds are the lofi:est of them all. I assume this has to do with that the SK series only has a sample frequency of around 10 kilohertz, which makes the sound dark and damp. While the Yamaha PSS sounds neither can be put into the high fidelity box - those sounds are way brighter and have a total different character.

For those who have experienced circuit bent sounds before, it is most important to point out that these sounds are playable - these are multisampled sounds which are always tonal. Sometimes the sounds are looped - in the sense they give you a rhythmical pattern or in the sense it holds the tone steady as long as you press the key.

The sound range from slightly odd to quite odd - but never goes too far into the acidic fog of burned capacitors. The character is moody, melancholic. There is very little for any upbeat happiness here. It's very easy to see how well these sounds would work for animated short stories, such as the odd sounds of Rupert - The Dancing Demon. If you're a fan of Native Instruments Gaugear ensemble for Reaktor - this library is right up your alley, but is - in my opinion - more usable.

The patch names are not very descriptive, which isn't a big thing, but sometimes they are outright confusing. I know what I would expect from a patch called 'synth bass' and that's definately not a analogue reedish long-release padish sound. No big deal, but still.

While I personally found a lot of interesting ideas for odd melodies in the synth section, my favorite part of this collection is without a doubt the drums. First of all, Sidsonic have not - as so often is the case - provided us with all kicks, snares etc in separate presets, but have taken the effort to collect them into usable drum kits.

If you got Kontakt you know that you have access to most of the parameters and can fiddle around with the sounds as much as you want, but if you're bound to use Kontakt Player - it's good to know there are five pages with parameters you can access. For the drum presets, each preset also provides unique settings for kick, snare, tom, cymbal and the percussion. This really makes a difference. It's extremely easy to tweak these drum sounds and it's absolutely lovely as well. There is a solo button that let's you focus on one drum at a time. Creating seriously odd beats and breaks is highly enjoyable. Ever wanted to go for that Fractal Techno you've been dreaming about? Now's the time.

It's good that Sidsonic provides a shortcut to all important parameters, because - getting off topic for a moment - there are few things I detest more, than editing parameters inside Kontakt. It's a damn mess of parameters and fold-out menus and the fact that I have to resort to the manual just to find a simple function that exists in every sampler made since Akai and E-mu were the hottest names on the street, is in my opinion a huge fail for Native Instruments. I have no love for Steinberg Halion, but I do hope said coming version is going to put some pressure on the Natives, because this is neither practical or inspiring.

Enough of Kontakt-bashing and let's get back to Circus Circuit. One very very cool thing is that Sidsonic have supplied you with a quite a number of impulse responses, but instead of them sounding like reverbs, they coats the sounds in an additional layer of oddness. They are very difficult to describe and it's even more difficult to find any favorites. One effect might be glorious on one sound, but might be boring on another.

Also worth to mention is that Sidsonic have a bunch of quite useful video tutorials on their website, on how you navigate and can use the library. Here's on the Boss DR-550 drum machine.

Conclusion
When I wrote my review of Loopmasters library Circuit Bent Sounds Vol2, my biggest wish was that it would be so damn nice to hear sound designers do something useful with these madly weird sounds. To take circuit bending to the next level, so to speak.
This is it. With Circus Circuit Sidsonic are serving you a wealth of seriously unique sounds and have made all the dirty work for you. While many of the sounds work straight out of the box, the real fun begins when you start mucking about with the filters and lfos. Sounds tend to change very rapidly with these sounds. There are no libraries that deals with circuit bending on the planet better. This is the Holy Grail for circuit bending fans and a goldmine for anyone who are looking for odd, moody sounds. Brilliant.

Sidsonic Libraries Circus Circuit Bending Library
Web: www.sidsonic-libraries.com.
Price: 189 euro.
Good: Inspiring, unique, well executed, fantastic drums.
Bad: Nothing really.

Review copy: a huge thanks to Sidsonic for NFR review copy.

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.

Get me right here. I'm not saying it doesn't bring warmth or does work. Oh my, it does. But as tubes bring a seductive glow to your studio, as a girl get an expensive cream packaged in a beautiful box. We expect it to work miracles - and so it does.

In all fairness, I need to stress than I've come to enjoy digital distortion as much as overdriven tapes and tubes. Yes, now I've said it. I'm out of the closet. I am a heretic and I'll probably burn when the time comes, but there you have it. I like digital distortion. Bit crunchers and sample rate munchers - all cool. But I damn LOVE pushing things into the red with any of my daws and pushing the a/d converters of my samplers. Captain Crunch says Oh Sweet Mama. Need some Hank Williams to cool down.

While tube distortion are on the other side of the destruction coin, and while gentle tubification can give a nice fuzzy coating to your digital recordings, as with digital distortion, the really fun stuff begins when you push it.

Say hello to Sidsonic Tubes.

Sidsonic is a group of german enthusiasts and samplists that were behind the Circus Circuit Bending library for Kontakt. In their follow-up library - Tubes! - they explore the world of vacuum tubes according to Eric Barbour. Eric Barbour is a name that will be mentioned a couple of times during this review, so it's a good idea to introduce him right away. Without knowing the man, you can confidently put him in the box labeled Odd. In five foot letters.

Eric Barbour runs a company called Metasonix which specializes in music instruments and effects that are built around tubes. Stomp boxes, multi effects, synthesizers and drum machines. All with tubes in them.

Some people consider Metasonix stuff to be gimmicky, one-trick ponies that serve little purpose than empowering the myth about Eric Barbour, and his wild experiments. While I personally cannot shake the feeling he craves attention, product titles such as Ass-Blaster, Butt Probe and Scrotum Smasher comes to mind - with some agonizing cartoons on the casings - but why bother to care? Every good producer of anything knows that a well designed product is something you can distinctly separate from others and you can also tell when it's being used. Metasonix succeeds with fulfilling both of these criterias so from the Mighty Plughugger HQ we salute you. Blast your way into eternity, friend.

Sidsonic Tubes! is a collection of sound sources that have been treated with a handful of the Metasonix Apparatus. All the way from analog modular synthesizers, via digital synthesizers, to software.

Sidsonic Tubes! by the numbers

Sounds
Acoustic like: 8
Bass: 29
FX: 27
Lead: 26
Pad: 17
Synth: 24

Total number of sounds: 131
Total size: 16,3 gigabyte.

The box (yes yes, box!) is grey and constructed in a folder-like manner. Although not as strikingly cool as the box for Circus Circuit, it's a well-made package.
As with Circus Circuit, there is a 36-page booklet partly describing the instrument itself, plus some history of vacuum tubes - all the way from Edison inventing the lightbulb to the nasty perversions of Eric Barbour/Metasonix. All of this makes some seriously interesting read - even the part where the technical minds of Sidsonic explains how tubes actually work.

But let's not waste any more time - and let's dive right into the distorted world of vacuum tubes.

Tubes! is an instrument built upon Native Instruments Kontakt engine. All the pre-made sounds are divided into six categories; ACOUSTIC LIKE, BASS, FX, LEAD, PAD and SYNTH. As often with categories, they shouldn't be taken too strictly. In the right context, a sound from the PAD category will work excellent as a bass.

While Kontakt is far from a favorite of mine, I think Sidsonic have done as well as they can. My personal single biggest issue with Kontakt is that it's too damn big for handle. It's like that Carbon ensemble for Reaktor - fantastic. Just too damn many parameters anyone less that a parameter freak can handle. Why is that the Minimoog is still one of the coolest synths ever made? Or OSCar/ImpOSCar? Complexity is rarely a good thing while being creative. Thankfully, you are not forced to wade through all the endless menus of Kontakt just to be able to adjust the envelopes a bit - most of the most important parameters are accessible from the front end of the library.
Without going too much into technicalities, but there are five tabs of parameters: main, insert fx, send fx, envelopes and lfos. Main is where you adjust the filters (there are two of them), speed and grain (more about them further on). Insert fx offers a more distortion in form of a cabinet and amplifier, rotator (leslie) and a stereo modeller. Send fx is where you find classic modulation effects, such as phaser/flanger, chorus and delay. The envelopes and lfos can control volume, tune, the cutoff for filters one and two, plus resonance).

Apart from the normal subtractive sound shaping you can do - filtering, envelopes, lfos etc. The two more interesting features is the playback speed/grains and the cabinet/amp. As you might have guessed, the playback speed/grains is a way to change the speed of the actual sample - granular synthesis. It's a way to radically change the character of the sound - quickly. The cabinet/amplifier serves as a last final stage of distorting. I must say that I enjoyed the sound of the cabinets here - they work very well together with these sounds, and the leslie adds a very nice touch.

Although I really really don't want to go there, spreading my own incompetence by dropping catchy adjectives, but I sort of can't avoid it. If I were to describe the sound of Tubes! it would be if you would imagine a hellfire-digital-distorted drum'n bass bass, not sounding that damn digital, but rather analogue. Warm and a bit organic - but very very nasty.

Even though you can use this library for anything - I would say this goes perfect with techno, modern electro, minimalistic styles and for those moments when you need to scare the hell out of your audience or grab them by the proverbial balls. It's excellent for movies where a humongous lizard-godzilla-thingy emerges from the fog.

After playing around with just a four-note sequence in Numerology - it immediately became nasty techno, french style. Something that definitely would please Mr Oizo. There are quite a few Chemical Brothers moments in here as well.
But it's not all instant coolness - you do have to shape the sounds a bit, which leads me to my second criticism of Tubes! I do wish for a bunch of more refined sounds. I get the feeling that Sidsonic basically have sampled a good source of sound, then setting it up in a fairly general setting, then moving on to the next - with basically the same methodology. Being a not too mediocre sound designer myself, I tend to notice things like that. It's not a major criticism, but still. I would love to hear what emerging sound designers such as Rob Lee and Xenos, or for that matter Ben Crossland or BigTone.

Before signing off, I'd also like to point out that the library also comes with a couple of short videos that guides you through the elemental parts of Tubes! There's also one quite entertaining animation well worth checking out.

Conclusion

As with Circus Circuit, Tubes! is not suited for everyone. Even though it's been sampled and set up in the most accurate of fashions - it's not a calm, well-behaved shiny rainbow-pony we're dealing with. It's unruly, mental, odd, unpolished, dirty and absolutely nothing you would add as a last ingredient to a finished upbeat trance mix. That would be like cutting up slices of cake with a chainsaw. These sounds demands a lots in terms of energy and space in a mix - which is a good thing. Lovely sounds with serious character. My only major complaint does not lie with the content, but rather of the vessel, Kontakt. But apart from that - it's a fantastic library that shouldn't be missed.

Sidsonic Libraries Tubes!
Web: www.sidsonic-libraries.com.
Price: 189 euro.
Good: unique sound, unique sound, unique sound.
Bad: Could have done with more designed sounds. Uses Kontakt as the engine.

Review copy: a huge thanks to Sidsonic for NFR review copy.

Anyone who's following this blog, probably knows about my quest for finding the perfect drum machine. I am aware of that it's just a futile dream - but as with so much in life, the search is often a desirable goal by itself. So with that in mind, my spirit got filled with nice white noise when I got contacted by Stephen from Audiospillage asking me if I would be interested to take the latest version of Drumspillage for a test drive.

Audiospillage is a young company. Their first release, Minispillage, came out last year and is a free drum synthesis plugin and was later followed up by The Real Deal Drumspillage, which quote Audiospillage "with an emphasis on creative electronic percussion synthesis."

Is this a contender for the mighty Microtonic we see on the horizon? Read on.

Drumspillage is a drum and percussion synthesizer, which means that instead of relying on samples, all sounds are created mathematically on the fly. Just like ADM by Audiorealism, Tattoo by Audio Damage and Microtonic by Sonic Charge to mention a few. Like ADM and Tattoo, Drumspillage relies on specialized algorithms rather than generic ones. This means that the algorithm - or model in Audiospillage-speak - for a kick drum is specialized for kick drums and not for hihats.

There are several benefits by having specialized models for different kinds of drum sounds, and the most important is that it's much easier to set up your own personal drum sounds than it is with a generic drum synthesizer, such as Microtonic. In fact - Microtonic, at times, can be downright nasty to get where you want. But with the specialized models of Drumspillage, it's easier and a much more enjoyable task. It leaves you with plenty of energy to concentrate on the details.

As of september 2010 there are eleven models available in Drumspillage: BassDrum, SynthClap, WoodDrum, NoiseDrum, HandBell, Clave, Membrane, ElectroBassDrum, ElectroSnare, ElectroHiHat and ElectroCymbal.

In a nutshell, Drumspillage really sounds like a drum synthesizer of the golden days. While most people are schooled in the gospel of Roland - it's important to underline that Drumspillage is not another TR-909 clone. It's not a drum box you've heard before - it sounds more like a compilation of many. The hihats smells a lot like the ones from the TR-808, and the snares could also - partly - been inspired by the 808, but the capabilities are wider. The crash cymbals doesn't really sound like crashes, but more like rides, but they do have their own character and attitude and since they don't sound like everything else, I fell for those quite quickly. As I said, the character of Drumspillage is drum synthesis in the analog sense. The only sound that didn't really live up to my expectations was the tom sounds, which lack most of that goodness that make me return to my trusty 909s and Simmons kits. A possible solution is on the horizon though. The developer are currently in the process of creating a special FM module, something that will expand the sound palette of Drumspillage. No date on the release, but it's coming.

At first listen, the kicks might come across as kind of wimpy, but the explanation for that is that the sounds in Drumspillage - all of them - are unprocessed. If you want some oomph you need to lure it out with a compressor (and a multiband distortion unit and maybe an extra compressor) - just like you process the 909.

The LFOs are the single most important key if you want to create some seriously weird percussive noises. Depending on which model you use, you can use up to four different LFOs, all with a maximum speed of 80 hertz(!), which opens up for quite radical sound transformation, from lofi Commodore 64 wobbles to digital/metallic FM timbres.

Having specialized models gives several benefits, such as ease of use, but there are also a downside to it as well. With a generic engine - when you've learned how to use it, it's versatile and then you can create anything from hissing crashes to deep synth basses and effects. To put it short (and not entirely accurate), a specialized engine brings a good sound with an absolute minimum of fuss. You learn it quickly and you can concentrate on the finer details. A generic engine is on the other hand more powerful, as it covers way more ground than the specialized one. But it's more problematic to learn and master. Working with Drumspillage is easy and you almost never feel the need to open the manual, which I consider to be a sign of good product design.

There are 16 pads lined up in the standardized MPC-style and they can all be used for different sounds in any layout you desire. Besides the individual model parameters, the pitch and volume envelopes are two of the most important. The envelopes themselves are of the ADSR-type which is more than you usually need for drums, but since you can use Drumspillage to create tonal, playable sounds, the more advanced envelopes are indeed welcome. My personal favorite is the pitch envelope, and together with the ADSR envelope, you can create some quite vivid sounds. The only thing that I didn't like here was that only one envelope can be viewed and used at a time. You have to switch between the envelopes, which in all honesty isn't a huge thing, but I like having both available at the same time, as my designing often goes back and forth between those two a lot.

There is one multimode filter that can be set to low, high and band pass, and also band reject. The filters are quite clean and doesn't have a whole lot of character, which in practice means they are better used to filter out certain parts of the signal, rather than shape the sound. If you want to shape, the options are in the distortion menu where you can select six different algorithms ranging from analogue type of clipping to bit crushers. These algorithms are very, very nice, the analogue types of distortion gives that instant massive boom-iness, they're not too gentle, but without going too far into the land of blown tubes. The lofi-algorithms are also very good and have to very different characteristics.

There are a few quite nice quality touches, such as up to eight separate outputs, choking groups (that make sure that a closed hihat won't play at the same time as an open hihat), a number of velocity maps and dynamic accent. It's also very nice that you can preview the presets already in the file browser, which is a great time saver.
Which leads us into presets. Drumspillage comes with a handful of presets and kits, but honestly I was quite disappointed that there was so few of them. The quality is good alright, but eight kits? 24 kick drums? 19 hihats (open and closed)? No no. It's not nearly enough. I wasn't expecting thousands of sounds, but much more than this. Most people are aware that the single most important selling point with any audio-making machine or software are the presets, for the simple reason people buy the product to fill a need. Enough of ranting, but seriously. This baby needs presets - badly - but luckily this is high on the priority list of the developer.

As I mentioned, Audiospillage is a quite new company, and speaking generally I must say that I have my reservations when it comes to software and new companies. While the fresh blood they bring in as well as new ideas and great product, you never know how deep their devotion goes. I don't know how many good plugs that I have that would have been absolutely marvelous if it wasn't for that the developer suddenly disappeared, got bought up or simply got fed up with trying to please the hordes of us morons that by large make up the exclusive club of plugin-sluts.

I'm not saying I get the feeling that Audiospillage will disappear in the near future, and this fear of mine is off-topic of this review. But this is something I do worry about and many with me. One positive sign on the Audiospillage part is the fact that they at this moment only develop the plug as OS X Audio Units, which surely must reduce developing time and frustration to deal with all two platforms and a multitude of formats.

Personally, Audio Units is not my favorite format as it adds extra folders and messes up my Perfect Creative Structure (tm), but to be fair - it's not that big annoyance that I cannot deal with it. Developing Audio Units for OS X as the only format makes sense - and if all those poor people on Logic can enjoy the plug, and that's jolly good (but that Apple axed the support for VST plugins was obstinate in the extreme - but that is another discussion and one that we won't get into here). But I was told VST support indeed is on the Audiospillage To-do list.

The fact that Drumspillage lacks an internal sequencer is problematic for me, in that sense I honestly do not know what to think. Until now, I was a No-Sequencer No-Installation type of guy, but the more I worked with Drumspillage, I got used to dot in my rhythms straight in Live, I realized one huge benefit: you have direct control over what's playing at any given time. Anyone who have triggered patterns in Guru (or any other drum sequencer for that matter) knows how easy it is to lose yourself trying to keep track of 'this pattern should go there' and 'this pattern there'. It quickly grows out of proportion. But still, there's no denying sketching out basic drum patterns with an internal sequencer is king. After a quick word with Stephen at Audiospillage, revealed that a sequencer actually is planned, but not until version 2. Me - excited.

Conclusion
There are lots of improvements that can turn Drumspillage from very good to absolutely essential. Stuff such as more algorithms are important, a VST port would be appreciated and a drum sequencer (although simple) would be great to sketch out the skeleton of your beats - there has to be more patches with Drumspillage. And when I say more, I do not mean an upping of ten-fifteen nice sounds and kits, but a humongous infusion of bass drums, snares - bass sounds, synth sounds and of course pre-made kits. More of everything. Almost any sample library you buy today have more drum sounds than Drumspillage - and although you can dial in good sounds yourself pretty easy, people are preset-slugs and that includes me. Thankfully, the developer are aware of all of this and have plans for improvement in all mentioned areas.

Since my daring escape from PC to Mac I rarely look back or feel I'm missing out on something. Yeah - there are a whole lot of cool/odd/weird plugins from small developers that never reach OS X - but on the whole, the only thing I basically miss is Magix Samplitude. But besides that one - I'm fine in OS X-land. It's rare that there are softwares that only exist in the Mac-world which makes PC owners jealous. Numerology is one good example and Drumspillage is showing great potential of becoming another.

Audiospillage Drumspillage
Web: www.audiospillage.com.
Price: 119 euro.
Good: Very easy to use, wide sound palette, great distortion and lofi effects.
Bad: Lacks preset sounds.

Review copy: Plughugger salutes Audiospillage for the kindness of giving us a review copy.

House. No matter what kind of music I listen to, I always come back to house. It's like coming home. Tech House. Minimal House. Uplifting House. Old-old-school hiphop (which I consider to be house in its most original form). Whatever. House is Home.

Without dragging sexual preferences into this blog, I'd like to say there are only three types of clubs I honor with my royal presence: 1) dark, atonal techno clubs 2) where ever Plump DJs are performing and 3) gay clubs. No matter how straight or bent you are, there are few places that play better, more danceable music than gay clubs. And in gay clubs, they play House. Real House. Not the minimal technoish-kind nor the silk-like tones of smokey Rhodes of laid-back house. No, Real House is upbeat in a feel-good manner. The Only One (tm) you actually want to start clapping your hands to the beat without feeling like a moron.

This is the arena where Sample Magics latest offering, Organic House, is playing, and considering Sample Magics amazing track record, I was quick answering yes when I got asked to write about it.

Instead of going entirely back to the roots of house, such as with Marshall Jeffersons sample libraries, Organic House blends the sound with influences from disco but also more modern styles such as minimal, tribal and techno. But the key word here is: influences. It's like coffee with a few drops of milk, rather than a few drops of coffee in a cup of milk.

Before we go further, I know you would be helpless without knowing the numbers. So here they are the breakdown of the Wav files:

Bass loops (125 bpm): 57
Bass loops (128 bpm): 47
Combi loops (125 bpm): 48
Combi loops (125 bpm): 36
Drum - hihats: 109
Drum - kicks: 63
Drum - percussion: 133
Drum - snares and claps: 50
Sound - one shots: 46
Drum loops (125 bpm): 102
Drum loops (128 bpm): 88
Fx one-shots: 32
Fx loops: 33
Music loops (125 bpm): 50
Music loops (128 bpm): 45
Percussion loops (125 bpm): 54
Percussion loops (128 bpm): 47
Synth loops (125 bpm): 46
Synth loops (128 bpm): 35
Top loops (125 bpm): 55
Top loops (128 bpm): 48

Drum and percussive loops: 394
Tonal loops: 364
Total number of loops: 758

Drum and percussive hits: 355
Tonal one-shots: 46
Total number of one-shots (including fx): 433

Total number of samples: 1225
Total size: 873 megabyte. 24 bits.

The whole download pack includes the following formats: Wav, Rex2, Stylus RMX Rex, Apple Loops, EXS24, Kontakt 3 and NN-XT.

Let's start with a personal favorite of mine: Bass. There are 104 bass loops within Organic House and they are all quite easy to classify. Dark, deep and simple. The phrases are usually quite short and simple. In other words, these basses works more like a deep, sub-conscious force. You don't hear them, since their repetitive character renders them invisible after awhile. They rely more on the rhythm than on clever melodies or cool phrases. The style is heavily influenced by funk and disco. Speaking broadly, the type of sounds you'll find here are (filtered) electric basses, deep (filtered) organs or deep (guess) synths basses. There are the occasional bright snappy synth bass - but those are rarerare.

Alphabetically we come to the Combi loops. These loops are half-baked foundations for songs. Each loop contains a number of elements, such as drums, bass, effect and maybe a synth and each variation contains different combinations of instruments. I won't go into detail that these are the first that I delete from my hard drive - as they are too pre-made for my taste. Just add vocals and you have yourself a solid tune - but where is the fun in that? But the real value for these is for advertisement agencies and producers for TV and radio - who in practically no time can mash together a working musical background.

Continuing with the loops, we move on to the musical loops. Here we have two flavors: Music loops and Synth loops. The Music loops are like the Combi loops, but stripped down to two-three different sounds at a time. Some of them contains drums, some not. They all come in a number of variations - and I suspect they are intended as firestarters to get you going in some direction. I found these much more inspiring than the Combi loops - and can actually be a starting point of the very interesting creative exercise Filling in the Blanks. By using a part of music, equalizing away parts such as drums or bass and then programming them yourself, in your own style, can be quite inspiring.

But exercises apart, the real meat for me comes with the clean Synth loops. In this collection, there are 81 of them and they contains Rhodes, organs, mellow synths and brighter synth stabs. A few interesting points to keep in mind is that these loops do not give you any melodies, but rather the backing tracks for them. The underlying harmonies so to speak. The second thing I noticed in my analysis in the Plughugger Laboratories of Sound (which occupies the whole third floor of the Plughugger HQ) is that the sounds quite often lack immediate attack, but are a bit rounded. Later I discovered that this trick was also included in the booklet, but more of that later. Lastly, these loops usually lack any serious amounts of sustain. Sometimes the decay is longer, but generally speaking, these loops are more of the plucked sort (if that makes any sense). A nice touch here is that the Synth loops all come with about zero processing, so you can easily add your own goodness to them.

Moving on to the drums and percussion loops there are three categories here: drum loops, top loops and percussion loops.

The drum loops contains elements such as kicks, claps/snares, hihats and sometimes simple percussion. These loops always come in four variations with different elements playing. The style is four-oh-the-floor and is quite traditional. They aren't filled to the brim with activities or have any attention-grabbing sounds. Kicks are where you expect them, snares can be a little more experimental and the rest brings the groove. The style is entirely synthetic - but this goes without saying - without that über-synthetic feeling. These loops are not attention grabbers that simulate the sound from huge PA systems. It's traditional house beats that brings a steady pulse and some groove.

Top loops contains everything except kick, and sometimes even without snare or claps. These are very nice in face, and opens up for more interesting possibilities from your creative side. Since the loops lack kick - and also sometimes snares/claps - it's easy to transform these loops into something totally new. Or just slap a steady kick on it and let some glitchy plug (yes Automaton, I am looking at you) bend the top loop into something else.

The percussion loops are different animals and are based on acoustic-like percussion sounds such as congas, shakers, toms etc. These loops have obviously not been played by hand, and while they do have that kind of acoustic-sequencer feeling to them, it's nothing I am considering bad. They are quite sparse which makes them easy to add into any kind of material, or even add wild effects on (yes Crystallizer, I am looking at you).

There are 355 percussive one-shots in Organic House and here are all the usual sounds covered: kicks, claps, snares, hats - percussion. You name it. I always get happy when I listen to libraries with not too many drum sounds in them. As I've said countless of times before, there are a gazillion possible variations of the 909 and you are already bored to death after fifty similarish Phat Kicks (tm). In Organic House you get 63 kicks - and I think that's enough for covering the field: woody, layered with hats, punchy, low, deep, short, snappy. The kinds of kicks you won't find here are the overcompressed and overdistorted kind. These sounds are processed, but not that hard, which gives it possibility to work with them further, if one would want that.

I won't be getting into each and every category here, but just to round off, I can say that the claps/snares/hats follow the same pattern as the kicks. Good usable material - without any deviation from the set style. There are no minimal klick-kicks or burn-me-gabber-blasts. It's classic sounds processed medium-rare.

One of the things I like most about any releases from Sample Magic is that the enclosed pdf-booklet actually is usable. Apart from all the thank-yous and equipment list they also dedicate a couple of pages with hands-on production tips, and they are always relevant and make interesting read. But this time also the equipment list reveals something odd. Among royalties such as Sherman Filterbanks, Virus TIs, Culture Vulture there is an E-mu E4XT Ultra hardware sampler (and I though I was crazy going back starting to use old samplers again). I couldn't resist asking Sample Magic to give me The Big Why - the answer from the main producer Sami Luiski was "Yep, I used it for some nice colouring, ran some parts of the loops through it. The infamous zplane filters are especially nice. It also has synthesis onboard that I used for some synth / bass / music loops. We love the classics here!".

Can you guys please shut up? Fifteen minutes later I read that statement, I was already at Ebay searching for one of those nifty E-mus. I'll stop for now, but did you know that you can install memory cards into them? Must. Try. To. Resist.

Conclusion
What I like about Sample Magic is not just the quality, but that they always remain on target of the chosen style. While I personally don't really mind messy libraries mixed styles, but with Sample Magic, you know what you will get all the way to the end.
Organic House is not a hard house library - nor laid-back - in any way. It's Clap-Your-Hands and Feel-Good. The sounds are generally a bit softened which gives the whole collection a rounded feel. Before I hand out the award - I'd like to add that although this library is damn fine - I must say that I miss strings. A lot actually. There are a few house pianos in there, and although I wouldn't have been upset if there were more of them - I'm really missing a bunch of those dramatic, divatastic classic disco strings.

Sample Magic Organic House
Web: www.samplemagic.com.
Price: 50 UK pounds (download).
Good: A highly relevant and most useful toolkit for anyone who wishes to embark on a journey on house...
Bad: ...but bring your own strings.

Review copy: big thanks to Sample Magic for NFR review copy.