EQ Magazine - September 2008 - (Page 64)

SOUNDS BIG FISH AUDIO: NU METAL CITY V2 I liked the original’s rude, dark, intense vibe—in fact, soundtracks I created with it showed up on quite a few videos. Can lightning strike twice? The format is the usual Big Fish formula: Construction kits (25 total) at various tempos and keys, as indicated in the file names; loop options are non-Acidized WAV, Apple Loops, Stylus RMX, and (where appropriate) REX2. All kits also have a mixed “audition” file containing the kit elements. Stylistically, V2 has more variation than the original, and a sound quality upgrade, but retains the sheer head-banging power even while branching out into wider territory. One of the strongest points is having a dozen or more relatively short variations on drums and guitars, allowing you to put together convincing parts with interesting variations instead of just looping the same parts over and over and over . . . some of the guitar lines even make harmonies when layered. In fact, everything fits together like a somewhat anti-social jigsaw puzzle. Other standout features: nasty “atmosphere” effects, a few wicked synth and scratch parts, intense guitar one-shots, and a folder of “X-tra Hardcore Drum Loops” that sound like Keith Moon on black metal. The audio example at www.eqmag.com doesn’t show the variety, but shows the power. Check it out, and you’ll see why this gets a major thumbs up. —Craig Anderton Contact: Big Fish Audio, www.bigfishaudio.com Format: DVD-ROM with 1,055 loops (1.36GB) in multiple formats; 84 guitar one-shots (99MB); 24-bit/44.1kHz List price: $99.99 SONY: UNDERGROUND—UK HOUSE AND ELECTRO The title tells the story: The loops offer much of the looseness of house, but instead of the “elastic,” loping feel of classic house, it’s rhythmically tighter, and with harder-edged sounds—that’s the electro part checking in. Sometimes, it even starts approaching the techno world tonally, but not in terms of tempo; percussion and drums have folders of loops at 120, 125, 127, and 130BPM (although of course, Sony has the Acidization thing down, so these stretch very well). The net result stakes out new territory. The CD-ROM includes synth bass (66 files), drums (186), electric guitar (16), FX (80), pads (34), percussion (128), synths (91) and drum one-shots (49 files). The drums, bass, and percussion are what’d you expect, while the guitar updates some of the jazz and “Shaft”-type sounds of the ’70s. Don’t expect string pads and sweet synth melody lines; the pads tend to be more like movie atmospheres crossed with effects, and the synths often feature bubbly, arpeggiated lines—think acid bass up an octave. However, there are also some more conventional options. As to the FX, they’re way cool: Throw them behind, or even instead of, a breakbeat, or to add some musical punctuation. Check out the example at www.eqmag.com—this is definitely the type of CD where the sum is greater than the parts, because everything fits together so well. —Craig Anderton Contact: Sony Creative Software, www.sonycreative software.com Format: CD-ROM with 491MB of loops and 5MB of oneshots; demo song in Acid format; 16-bit/44.1kHz List price: $59.95 EQUIPPED MUSIC: PREMIER BEATS After Nu Metal and House/Electro, let’s go to hip-hop/trip-hop land, where the tempos live between 85–95BPM. Premier Beats is a class act, from ace content to organization to packaging. One DVD has 1,414 loops in Apple Loops and non-Acidized WAV file formats; many are deconstructed versions of full musical selections, such as kick-snare loops, just chords, just hi-hats, full instrumentals, full beats, etc. The second DVD-ROM has the same content as REX2/RMX files, and a Reason-specific ReFill (Combinator, ReDrum, and Dr. REX patches, along with samples). There’s also a folder with 3,740 WAV samples—chords, bass, electric piano, kicks, snares, hats, percussion, scratches, vinyl noise, etc., with tonal ones often containing samples in three keys. Are 310 snare and 606 kick samples enough for you? Yeah, I thought so. I didn’t audition every single sample and loop—because I’d still be writing this review in 2009. But I listened to a ton of material, including Reason patches, and it’s all good. The drums sound exceptionally solid, the instrumental parts are authentic, and I’ll be using the samples in various soft synths. For audio examples, go to www.equippedmusic.se, where you’ll find lots of MP3 snippets. Other than not acidizing the WAV files, this set does everything right—and with so much good material, gives value for money. —Craig Anderton Contact: Equipped Music, www.equippedmusic.se, dist. by www.bigfishaudio.com Format: Two DVD-ROMs with Apple Loops, WAV files, REX2 files, Reason ReFill, and thousands of WAV samples; all 24bit/44.1kHz List price: $199.95 64 EQ SEPTEMBER 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com http://www.bigfishaudio.com http://ww.eqmag.com http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com http://www.equippedmusic.se http://www.equippedmusic.se http://www.bigfishaudio.com http://www.eqmag.com

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

EQ Magazine - September 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Punch In Freak Folk Todd Rundgren Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Sony Acid 6 Ableton Live 7 Portable Recorder Showdown Gadgets and Goodies Sounds Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - September 2008

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