Electro-Harmonix C9

Reviews | Mini Reviews
104
Retrospective Presents Back to
the ’80s | £29.95
www.loopmasters.com
The ’80s wasn’t all
Miami Vice jacket
sleeves, Rubik’s
Cubes, and time
travelling sports cars
– there was some
iconic music too. Over the course of this
789MB pack you’ll hear some of the best
and brightest sounds of the decade. Think
Electro’s booming 808 bass, Classic
House’s one-fi nger synths, and early
Hip-Hop’s tough drum programming and
you’re getting warm. That’s the overall vibe
of this collection, as its low-slung beats
and handclaps cut through the rich
analogue melodies. There’s no
cone-melting bass, frantic builds and
drops, or schizo synth lines. The picture
painted here is of a laidback and groovy
’80s, which will be right up the street for
any producers out there feeling a bit worn
out by the pace of the sound of late 2015.
Tempos range from 104-122bpm, and all
of the 419 WAV fi les were recorded at
24-bit 44.1KHz. Roy Spencer
8 /10
Defected Percussion
Shovell | £29.95
www.loopmasters.com
Defected Records had
already dipped their
toe in the sample pack
scene with the
excellent Copyright
comp, Defected
House. For round two M People
percussionist Shovell is tasked with
supplying the loops, and he does here
what he does best. The 1.26GB of 24-bit
44.1KHz loops and hits are exclusively
percussion. Everything from bongos to
congas get a workout, and they’re locked
into such intoxicating rhythms that you’ll
be itching to drop them into your tracks
the minute you clap ears on them.
Standout picks include the 103
indispensable shaker loops, or the fi ne
batch of cowbell licks. Every folder hides
some gold, though, and they are sure to
lift your 4/4 drum patterns into funky new
heights. We dig. Roy Spencer
9 /10
Sample Magic Soma
Samples | £19.90
www.samplemagic.com
If any label deserves
the sample pack
treatment it’s House
and Techno imprint,
Soma. Since 1991
they’ve been at the
forefront of Dance music. Everyone from
Daft Punk to Funk D’Void have dropped
game-changers on this beloved Scottish
label and, where they go, people follow.
Now you can too, with this epic set of
samples inspired by the output of the vast
Soma camp over the years. The 625
24-bit WAV fi les ooze class. From vintage
Detroit infl uenced synth and pad chords,
to contemporary speaking quaking
basslines, this pack takes in the breadth
of the label’s output over the years without
any elements feeling dated, or, indeed,
trendy. The key-matched and cleanly
labelled loops are a breeze to work with,
and everything has been recorded with
care, using some of the most iconic
machines in Dance music history.
Scrolling through the folders feels like an
education, and the contents are sure to
fi re the imagination. Roy Spencer
8 /10
Prime Loops Shaolin
Beatz | $25.53
www.primeloops.com
King Fu fi lm sampling
started with
experimental Breaks
bods like Depth
Charge, but the true
master of the style has
to be RZA. The Wu-Tang beatmaker really
ran with it on his fi rst batch of group and
solo albums, taking snippets of movie
dialogue to add mood and punch/kick
sound effects to bolster his drum hits.
Prime Loops are picking up the baton to
bring you more battle-ready beats for your
buck. And what a crop! They’ve dusted off
their Shaw Brothers fi lms, broke out the
MPC, and really gone to town on this
Wu-Tang inspired collection of Golden Era
East Coast samples. The 895MB+
collection has more neck-snapping drum
hits, funky Oriental melodies, and punch
and kick SFX than you can shake a
nunchaku at. The Kung Fu content is
wrapped up in 14 fully-formed song kits,
and two dedicated folders of MIDI fi les.
Roy Spencer
8 /10
APM Productions Halloween
Vocal Intros Vol 1 | £7.26
www.soundstosample.com
As you read this,
Halloween will be
some ghoulishly
distant memory, but
there’s always next
year. That’s where this
comes in – a vocal sample pack dedicated
to the most haunting night of the year. It’s
always a big party night and parties mean
DJs, so why not stock up on some scary
voices, maniacal laughter, and spooky
vocal intros to pepper your next monster
mashup with? At 91 fi les it’s a bit skeletal,
but it is a budget pack so you don’t expect
too much more meat on those bones. As
vocal sample packs go, it’s hilarious –
twice as camp as Vincent Price’s spoken
word bits on Thriller, if you can imagine
that. Perfect for cheesy intro overlays for
your next Halloween set. Roy Spencer
7 /10
Mono The FlyBy
Pack | £145
http://monocreators.com
Legowelt Studio Sound
Pack for Elektron Rytm | £12
eu.elektron.se
The FlyBy from Mono is the second
largest pack in their EFX range and
undoubtedly the most useful. The
pack is able to transform into two
separate bags leaving you with one
lightweight laptop backpack and one
messenger bag for the rest of your
gear. Storage options are plentiful and
we found it very easy to pack in a
basic live set-up consisting of an
Elektron Rytm, a few effects pedals, a
17-inch laptop, headphones, audio
interface and a whole bunch of cables
– all of which are neatly held in place
in their own compartment with a
velcro loop to prevent any tangling.
The bag itself feels quite bulky, but
it’s reassuringly protective and comfy,
so you won’t be worrying about your
gear in transit. Simon Arblaster
8/10
Whether you prefer to build your
beats from scratch, or just like to
tweak the sounds presented to you,
Elektron’s sound packs are a great
addition to your set-up. The quality is
always high and this offering for the
Rytm from Legowelt is no different.
The soundset is brimming with dense
and crunchy tones all laid out in one
Rytm project. There are some
heavyweight drums and samples on
offer here which will have your
creative fl ow taking new directions
with ease.
The same can’t be said for loading
the sample pack though. Rytm power
users will no doubt fl y through the
submenus with ease, while the rest of
us do battle with the instructions, and
frustration is further compounded by
the whole transaction taking around
20-30 minutes. Simon Arblaster
9/10
FMU299.rev_mini.indd 104 11/5/15 10:29 AM