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down wit’ you,” says Mikal. A Dance producer might consider this to be archival, but the average songwriter/musician is likely to have limited use for it. This is a problem that every sampled vocal collection faces, and the solution lies in how you use it. Attempting to make a lead vocalist out of sampled phrases is probably not going to work, but a few well-placed ad-libs from a “guest vocalist” can brighten up nearly any song, especially singers as good as these. If I wanted to feature these loops heavily in a recording, I would think hard about adjusting the song’s tempo and key to match the loop’s, rather than the other way around. Best of the bunch Although the collection is big on HipHop/Dance and Classical phrases and loops, there are a few other offerings worth a look. In the software instrument patches, “Human Beat Box” is a barrel o’ drum-machine fun. Many of the hits have secondary beats that work very well at around 85 bpm (see audio example 1). The slow attack of “Mixed Choir” conjures up majestic visions of Elves and Rivendell (see audio example 2). Realistic blends of men and women, which change as you ascend the scale, make the choir patches easy to play and arrange for. These blends were apparently achieved during the recording process, as opposed to crossfading the samples. For sheer wacky fun, “Vocal Shout FX” provides a variety of spoken-word content, much of it very vintage-sounding: science-fiction tech-talk, airport control tower jabber, old TV shows, Eisenhower-era DJs. In the Loops category, there isn’t a single bad singer in the bunch, so the search for useful content is mainly about matching tempo, key and mood to the project you’re doing. Between the plentiful Dance and R&B samples, though, is a plethora of alternative and interesting stuff. Ethnic voices and chants abound, from Cuban Fun singers to African Mist voices; the Bollywood and Irish selections are real standouts here. Classical voices, including Gregorian chant, solo Mozart and Verdi offerings as well as long chorale phrases, are beautifully rendered. A few generic Gospel phrases seem very usable, and there are even a few country singers and a line-dance caller (“Earl”) to round out the collection. Thinking outside the vocal booth: advanced user tips Some of the best uses for this collection may involve using it in ways its creators hadn’t intended: for this, it’s best to get at the raw files. For the EXS samples, hit the “Edit” button on the EXS window to bring up the edit window with sample placement by note and zone. Select the arrow tab of any sample and choose “Reveal in Finder” or “Open in Sample Editor” to get at the raw unadorned loop. As mentioned earlier, The Apple Loops feature a number of selections called “Backgrounds.” Unfortunately, many of these are polyphonic and unless by freak chance they match your song’s chord changes, they aren’t going to work. You may do better by creating multiple tracks of a single-voiced Background and detuning them to make harmonies. Loading the tracks’ content into an audio editor such as Melodyne may make it possible to change each note in the chord, getting you one step closer to the ideal of humansounding, realistic vocals that fit the track. For the Logic-based producer willing to put in the work, there are serious possibilities for this Jam Pack. Even beginners using GarageBand will find inspiration and fun here in plenty, and should be encouraged to use GarageBand’s capabilities to put Apple’s amazing Voices in their compositions. Bob Emmet (emmet@recordingmag.com) is a keyboardist, producer, and recording engineer in the Los Angeles area. Learn more at www.bobemmet.com.

http://www.bobemmet.com http://www.gracedesign.com

Recording - April 2010

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