dnbbeats.com

Howdy, just a quick update.

I’m just going through the grind of installing Windows 7 and all wonderful plugins that keep me rolling.

What VSTi or VST have I been feeling lately?

Well, In terms of EQ… i have to give it to UAD Massive Passive. This plugin is so damn close to ANALOG its not funny. I’m sure MOST people wouldn’t be able to pick the difference in a blind test. Sucks a monstrous amount of juice from your UAD card but its so worth it. Trial it if you dare. You’ll be coughing up the $$$ quick smart!

Compression? Well, i’m really loving the 1176 Collection from UAD again here. Sorry guys… they are just killing with the quality at the moment. What about native compression then? Ok, for native i’m really feeling the Cytomic The Glue. Great plugin and goes very nicely on the Dum Buss or the Master Buss. Does what it says on the tin. Glues stuff. Nuff Said.

VSTi/Synth? Well, been hammering the Virus Ti Polar lately. Making my own patches. Who doesn’t like the sound of Access Virus? The Reverb and Chorus are just superb and really make a patch come to life.

Hardware? Well, got myself another EMU 6400 Ultra Samplers for some Wormhole goodness. Got it for a great price. If you have some spare change lying around grab one. They are worth their wait in gold and you won’t sound like every body else… this is a good thing believe me.

Anyways, better get back to the installing… How many DVDs left you say?

Oh Dear…

See you on the dance floor

Dauntless

Howdy, Its been a while hasn’t it?

Too long and my apologies.

Now you know from the last post I wrote I was suffering from Carpal Tunnel. Well the good news is my condition is finally getting better and I’m able to work in my beats again for a few hours without PAIN. The biggest lesson I learn’t from all this (its not completely healed btw) is

YOU MUST TAKE REGULAR BREAKS!

Now the details of my some what recovery I’ll bore you with another time but for now know that I’m doing okay and thanks for the kind words.

Quick bit of news for you.

Our good friends over at Loopmasters have kindly offered my readers a whopping 20% DISCOUNT on your next item/s. Excludes Sale items but its still a great deal considering the low cost of some sample packs these days! Just use the code: DNN20 for your discount.

Okay, now for some tips for you to use in your studio.

A good friend of mine was over the other day and he was telling me about how his Hi Hats in a certain track just wouldn’t fit. He tried EQ and compression and different pitches and envelopes but still they wouldn’t fit.

MY ADVICE…. find new hats for the track.

Now this may seem obvious but sometimes when you are in the lab battling your creative demons you forget one of the most important rules.

ALWAYS TRY TO USE THE BEST POSSIBLE SAMPLES.

I don’t know how to put it better than that…

In fact i’ve gone through a bunch of my old projects and disabled all the EQ, Compression and FX and was shocked that the track/tune sounded better without them! Imagine that… you’ve gone and done all this work to only find out it sounded better without all that fancy EQ and Compression! lol

Now, some tracks still sounded like rubbish but those samples I was trying to use were T.U.R.D.

and you know you can’t polish one of those!

So DONT!

Anyways… thats my rant over!

See you on the dance floor

Dauntless

PS. I’ve just moved the website onto a new server. So there will be some changes going on. FOR THE BETTER!

Howdy,

No doubt most of you would have noticed my lack of posting on DNBBEATS.COM and probably thought I’d slacked off to the corner with an MPC and hidden myself from the world!

Wrong.

I’ve had Carpel Tunnel/RSI for the last 6 months and I’ve had to seriously take the time off Production due to the amount of pain!

I’ll give you guys all the details soon as I feel its something that could happen to anyone.

You spend  a lot of time on a computer guys.

Look after your health!

Take regular breaks and keep hydrated.

I’ll be back on the beats soon!

woo hooo

See ya on the dance floor

Dauntless

Howdy Peeps,

Just a quick post here on getting your tracks loud, punchy and have loads of weight (RMS)

If you’ve been watching any DnB Production videos of late then you would have noticed what most people have on their Master Buss these days.

1. Izotope Ozone 4 or Ozone 5

now… Ozone’s Maximiser is fantastic and sounds absolutely brilliant but DO NOT over cook it. Just use it to catch the peaks and keeps things under 0db.

Now, if you are like me and  abused Ozone to get the RMS or Loudness required then you would have realised you were WRONG.

Which brings me to….

2. Layering. In order to get the sufficient RMS and Loudness needed you to layer and layer and layer everything.

I’ve watched loads of videos on Mixdowns and Mastering etc. Not much applies to Drum and Bass.

Essentially with DnB you layer the crap out of everything and smash it into the best Limiting Plugin you get find. (Ozone)

You want somewhere between -7 to -5 rms… Now this is loud. Believe me. Plenty loud.

Some Tips on layering….

1. Dont just layer for the sake of layering. e.g.

A Snare might consist of:

a) 200 punchy layer

b) Tone layer

c) Clap

d) Release

e) White Noise

So figure out what your Snare/Sound needs and add the appropriate layers. Group and Compress them so they sound like one.

Once you do this your Tracks will sound bigger/phatty/chunkier and have the right amount of RMS.

Now, i’ve run over the major ideas really quickly here. So if you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask.

See you on the dancefloor.

Dauntless

So i did something a bit different with this  Loxy and Resound Drum and Bass Vol.8 review.

I placed all the samples into Ableton Session view and sorted them by type- Pads/atmos/kicks/snares… you get the picture. I even loaded up Kontakt  5 so I could play some various patches. Then I just jammed! and jammed some… and some more… and some more. Instant VIBES!

I’ve never done that before. Usually I’ll go through each sample one by one or I’ll build a rough mini track from all the parts. What a pleasant surprise! Instead of obsessing over each individual hit I wanted to hear how the parts worked as a whole and WORK THEY DO!

Click Here for FREE Loxy and Resound  Samples

Lets have a close look at the Sample Pack

WAV LOOPS

ATMOS AND PADS
You get 18 really awesome pads/atmos sounds. Generally on the darker/tribal vibe. (its what they make). You should have no problem getting a nice vibe going with this folder of sounds.

DRUM LOOPS
95 is a really healthy amount of loops is a sample pack. However most of them are broken down into component parts. So you get foul pride conga, full, main, ring, snare etc. This is a really good way to mix it up and do what you want with the break. Extremely flexible and i wish more sample packs gave you these options. The vibe once again is darker/tribal breaks. However, there is quite a number of Breaks on offer so the folder covers a lot of ground/styles.

CONSTRUCTION KITS

I like construction kits. They allow young punters to hear what sounds make up a track and then disasemble the track to hear the individual parts. Great if you just want to study the bass line groove on a tune etc.I think what you’ll find out is that when it comes to music sometimes its not about individual sounds but all the parts combined. Which is why these construction kits are so awesome because they cover so much ground sonically and highlight this fact so easily. You get 16 Dark steppers/tribal/driving/funky/jungle construction kits.  So make sure you check them out thoroughly!

I think this easily the best part of this sample Pack.

SOUNDS AND FX

BASS HITS
At first I was a bit disappointed with the Bass Hits folder. 15 hits was definitely NOT enough for me. Especially when the 15 you DO GET have so much character and vibe. However, you do get the Bass Loops from the Construction kits and the Bass Loops folder so all its not lost. Plus you get to study the samples in isolation which is the real bonus. AB them pronto. They are full of win!

DRUM HITS
This is a really good collection of Drum Hits, especially thSnares. You get 30 really well chosen snares that range from light and snappy to the more rimshot variety prevalent in DnB right now. The Kicks are big and PHAT and the Hi Hats have got the right amount of flavour.

CONCLUSION

The Loxy and Resound Drum and Bass Vol.8 Sample Pack is pretty special. It brings the current Minimal/Tribal sound of DnB to your studio and it does it with ease. Nothing was held back here. You get the full force of these two top producers samples to use in your own tunes. Don’t waste this opportunity.

This sample pack is easily worth the purchase price. Check it out here.