EQ Magazine - July 2008 - (Page 62)

SOUNDS SONY: AFTERHOURS EDM—ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC Ah yes, dance music—made for loops, and available in infinite permutations and combinations. Afterhours EDM provides 15 construction kits, each with around 20 loops. Pinning a label on the music is tough; it leans toward progressive house, but depending on the kit you’ll find some trance, chill, acid, and even techno elements thrown in as accents, making this a very versatile set. One of the best features is the utter lack of filler: Every loop works, and mixing and matching between construction kits is a snap. In fact, it seemed a little too good to be true, so as a test I collected some random loops from different kits, and mashed ’em up—even that sounded great. Part of the reason for this is that many loops are simple elements (snare part by itself, bass parts broken down into multiple loops, etc.), so they become the musical equivalent of Lego blocks. Best of all from my selfish standpoint, this is ideal for video. If you’ve seen my webinars for EQ or videos for Harmony Central, you know I like to throw some uptempo music in the background. Afterhours EDM is ideal for that; the loops themselves are generic enough to fit in a wide variety of contexts, but the material is done so well that the results of using those loops is anything but generic. I’ll be getting a lot of use out of this CD in the months ahead. —Craig Anderton Contact: Sony Creative Software, www.sonycreativesoftware.com Format: CD-ROM with 520MB of loops; 15 demo songs in Acid format; 16-bit/44.1kHz List price: $39.95 NINE VOLT AUDIO: TEXTURAL REX What’s the easiest type of file to convert to the REX2 format? Drums, of course— but you’ll find zero drum loops here. Instead, this DVD-ROM contains melodic, percussive, and textural fills that work seamlessly with Stylus RMX, Reason, or any other program that reads REX2 files. Additionally, the loops are duplicated in Apple Loops and Acidized WAV formats. The loops—often duplicated in different keys, recognizing that REX files are better at time- than pitch-stretching—are duplicated as two sets, one organized into folders indicated by BPM, the other with 82 “suites” of related files. Nineteen of the suites have “a” and “b” version loops that are designed to complement, and work with, each other. As to the loop sounds, think step-sequenced, electronic “effect” sounds that are tonal and percussive; many have synced delay effects. In a dance mix, these are the sounds that come in after the drums stop, make a statement, and then continue playing in the background. The title is accurate— we’re talking textures—but you can also think of them as either part of the rhythm section, or icing on the rhythmic cake. When deciding what to review for Sounds, I try to find products that either fill a specific need admirably, or are just plain very well-produced. Textural Rex is both, and can add a much-needed element to electronic productions. —Craig Anderton Contact: Nine Volt Audio, www.ninevoltaudio.com Format: DVD-ROM with 541 loops in REX2/Stylus RMX/Acidized WAV/Apple Loops format; 16-bit/44.1kHz List price: $79.99 (download or DVD-ROM) BIG FISH AUDIO: GARAGE BREAKS These 40 construction kits, identified with tempo and key, average about 11 loops each, including a mixed demo file. While there’s definitely a garage/punkish vibe, a lot of the loops would fit in a Chemical Brothers CD—and given the tempos (125 to 160BPM), they could slide into a FatBoy Slim set, too. Instrumentation is drums, bass, and guitar, with an occasional synth part, effect, or horn riff. The drum parts sound programmed, or at least played with pads into a sequencer-with-quantization/electronic drum set combo; but the intense playing— coupled with a lot of ambience and effects—give an engaging combination of very tight and very raw. Bass gets some respect in this set, forming the foundation of many of the pieces and working well with drums. I would have liked to see more alternate parts, but I can cut and paste. The guitars grind, wah, fuzz, gnash, and generally misbehave. It’s hard to pigeonhole this set. It’s grungy and funky, but not as anarchic as the Punk and Indie Rock set reviewed in the 08/07 issue. And while it has an electronic veneer, it remains true to the sledgehammer garage ethic; there’s a lot of power in the loops, yet it doesn’t smash you over the head as much as seduce you first—and then smash you over the head. This is pretty cool, and if a band sounded like this, I’d buy their CD. —Craig Anderton Contact: Big Fish Audio, www.bigfishaudio.com Format: DVD-ROM with about 936MB of unique 24-bit/44.1kHz WAV content, duplicated for Apple Loops, REX files (where possible), and Stylus RMX List price: $69.95 62 EQ JULY 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com http://www.ninevoltaudio.com http://www.bigfishaudio.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - July 2008

EQ Magazine - July 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Louis XIV, Four TET and Steve Reid, Can Your Record Go Gold in the Digital Age Tool Box Death Cab For Cutie Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Propellerhead Reason 4 Sony Acid Pro 6 EDAX Audio Labs VTP-100 M-Audio Profire 2626 Tape Simulator Shootout Tape Simulators Sounds Room With a VU: Infrasonic Sound Recording Company, Los Angeles, CA.

EQ Magazine - July 2008

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