All I can say is WOW! Friction and Icicle Sample pack from Shogun Audio and Loopmasters?

KILLER!

As soon as I got word of the sample pack I just had to check it out immediately!

I was full of apprehension though.

How good was it going to be?

Were they going to give us some of their own personal samples?

Was it going to be filled with usable samples?

Click Here for the Free Samples

Lets dive in and see if it lives up to the hype!

What You Get

The full sample pack is roughly 740mb which is a pretty decent size enough. Took me about 20mins to grab it from the Loopmasters webstore.

When you unzip the folder you get the standard:

Rex

Sampler Patches

Sounds FX

Wav Loops

Digging Deeper 

When I’m reviewing a sample pack I like the crack open an Ableton Live project and try to make a track with the samples. I feel its the best way to gauge the quality of the sample pack.  So I set Live’s BPM to 172 and got stuck in.

It wasn’t long before I realised this was a pretty special sample pack. Starting with the drums/breaks loops I was blown away with the quality of the samples.  Every loop was expertly created and there wasn’t one dud in the whole 40 of them. All the drum loops were clearly labelled with BPM for easy reference which is just the way it should be.

The drum loops covered a lot of genres so you had a mix of steppy breaks and minimal breaks and a few more jungle breaks thrown in for good measure. I swear the hardest part about the drum loops folder was picking one because they were all THAT GOOD!

Moving On

Bass was the next port of call and once again Friction and Icicle didn’t disappoint. 27 superb samples with NOT A DUD in sight.

The flavour of the Bass loops are definitely in the Icicle Style so modulating filtered long bass notes are the order of the day. I love that sound and from what I can tell people on the dance floor love it as well! (I love the Icicle sound and the I always find a way to get one of his tunes into my sets… )

There’s enough diversity in the Bass Loops though to keep every one happy but if you are more into the tear out or jump up kind of sound the sample pack comes with an awesome collection of Kontakt patches… read on.

Sample Patches

All the usual suspects are here, EXS24, Kontakt, SFZ etc. However, the quality of the patches is outstanding. 38 patches to keep any one producing Drum and Bass happy as a fat kid with his icecream!

If you want to get all create and start making your own Bass loops (as you do) then you are not going to find a better collection of Bass patches to get you grooving. In fact, I auditioned all the Kontakt patches and its all QUALITY.  The Drums, Bass, FX and Instruments are awesome and deserve to be included straight away into your personal sound library.

In next to no time I had a Phat Tune rolling out. In all honesty you could roll out loads of Phat tunes with this sample pack its that good.

Wrapping Up

The Friction and Icicle Shogun Sample Pack is AMAZING. I highly recommend it to ALL producers of Drum and Bass and even Dubstep if you get down to a little 140 action. All the samples are highly usable and the patches are top notch.

If you are after a little inspiration or just want some welcome additions to your own sample library then get this bad bwoy on your PC/Mac.

Click Here to Grab the Free samples or more Info…

If you’ve been following this blog/site at all for the last year you’ll know that ABing or referencing your tunes is one of the MOST CRUCIAL things you could ever do! Now for all the peoples that are using Ableton Live this process is DEAD EASY to do. Just follow the steps below and you’ll be ABing properly in no time.

*** I have to give a big shout out to the guys over at the Ableton Live Forum for the heads up on this. ***

If you’re not using LIVE then don’t fret too much. Its pretty much the same process so just consult your manuals for your DAW.

 How to Set Up and AB Track

1. Make sure you activate the I-O Section (1)

2. Select Ext.Out  and then select 1/2 for your main sound card Outputs. (2)

3. I live to put a Voxengo Span on the Reference channel so that I can monitor the RMS (3) and the frequencies.

4. So all I do is DE-ACTIVATE THE CHANNEL and then just toggle the SOLO switch for quick ABing. Works great and is well easy to do!

Like i said before, this is not so hard to set up with Logic, Cubase or Pro Tools. Good luck and have fun!

See you on the dance floor.

Dauntless

All I can say is WOW!

Loopmasters Presents the Octane and DLR Drum & Bass Rollers Sample CD and what a great/awesome/killer sample pack it is!

Chris Octane and James DLR are some of the freshest guys in DnB right now and this sample pack is a showcase of their talents.

Grab Free Samples Here

I’m not even going to go through all the samples one by one and give you the usual run down.

I DONT NEED TOO! THEY ARE ALL GOOD.

The Drums, Bass, FX everything is TOP QUALITY!

So, if you’re after the current new HOT sound of DnB right now then look no further then this sample pack.

I highly recommend this sample pack to any producers out there in love with the Octane & DLR/Ulterior Motive/Zero T/Break and Survival/Vicious Circle/Hybris and Rido style etc.

NO! This sample pack wont make you them but you will get into the minds and sounds of the producers you and I look up and I’m sure with enough work your productions will go up a notch or two! Use the samples for REFERENCING against your own work. Try to recreate the breaks, bass and fx samples. Use an analyzer and LAYER LAYER LAYER!

Of use some of the samples to kick off a tune quick smart. You’ll have something going in NO TIME flat. TRUST!

Anyways… check out the sample pack and more information here.

See you on the dance floor

Dauntless

The first part of this 3 part series is dedicated to:

Sub Bass! 

Yep, the really low low low how low can you go aspect of DnB.

To be honest the Sub Bass part isn’t too difficult as long as you follow a few simple rules.

1. Sub Bass is really hard to get right in the mix and your Bedroom/Studio room probably isn’t helping in any way  so do what most people do. USE A SPECTRUM ANALYZER! I use SPAN by Voxengo and the Ableton Spectrum. Spend some time getting to know the analysers because they are all different. Study your favourite producers tunes using the Analzyers but don’t rely on them! Ears FIRST!

2. If your just putting a Sub underneath a Mid layer then a regular Sine wave from a synth will be fine. You can use Albino or the EXS24 default patch. Just copy the midi notes or pitch of the Mid Bass and you’ll be fine.

3. If the Sub Bass is the prominent layer then you’re going to have to double it up. So duplicate the Sub channel. High Cut the new channel and add some distortion. You NEED to do this in order to hear the Sub in the mix. Use the Ableton Overdrive or Saturation effects or N.I Guitar Rig etc.

4. Make sure your Sub is in a “friendly” key/pitch. I normally write tunes in F/F#/G.

You can go up to A if you want but I would not go any higher or lower then the ones I recommended.

5.  You can pretty much make Sub bass from anything. Kick Drums or field recordings of pots and pans or tapping on a desk. Bung the sample into a sampler. Pitch down, loop,  experiment and have fun.

6. You really want a nice even and consistent Sub Bass so don’t forget to Compress and Limit if need be. I find that when using Span -21db if about fine when ABing against other tunes. You can go up to -18db but make your drums lighter.

7. Make your Sub Bass MONO if you plan on getting your tunes on WAX. Nuff said.

8. If you’re having a few issues with clicks and pops in your Sub Bass then playing around with the envelopes on your synth/sampler etc. If your still having problems then bounce the audio and use the FADES tool in Ableton Live etc.

9. If your Sub Bass is clashing with your Kick Drum then either

a) Use a kick that hits at a higher Frequency like 100hz etc.

b) Use Sidechain compression with the kick as the trigger.

Getting your Sub Bass right shouldn’t be a problem if you follow the steps above. This leaves loads more time to spend on some of the harder things like drums and mid bass!

Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon!

Dauntless

Howdy Folks, Just a quick headz up to say “Hello there and Sorry I haven’t been around much!” Honestly, I haven’t been around much because I’ve been deep in the beats. It’s a bit of a catch 22 because even though I would love to update the site more with fresh content and videos etc when I get some spare time I’m busy producing music.

I hope you can all forgive me.

Anyways… I’ve been thinking about changing the format so that I can update the site more often.

I’ll probably just hit you with the good stuff in point form, like this:

VST Plugins I’ve been using loads in the last year that I couldn’t live with out. 

1. N.I Kontakt 4/5 – Love it. Learn to automate the Filter/Pitch/LFO’s.

2. N.I Guitar Rig 4/5 – Use each effect in small amounts.  Don’t over cook it. Great on Midz.

3. UAD EVERYTHING – The new Studer A800 is GOLD and the Cambridge is a MUST!

4. Sonnox EVERYTHING – The Limiter/Dynamics/Inflator are a must. Try just using the Warmth on the Dynamics/Effect on Inflator/Saturation on Limiter.

5. OhmForce Everything – These French Guys know what they’re doing and they do it brilliantly! Plugin Master builders!

6. Ableton Spectrum – Love this little Analyzer! I put it on every channel nearly!

7. Smexoscope – I place this on my Master Channel. Great for working out how “spikey/transient” a sound is. That way you can flatten the peaks if need be.

There is probably a few more in there but that will do for now.

BIG DNB Production Tip of the Week. 

Learn to layer some “Stereo Hits” on your Drum hits. By doing so you’ll get maximum stereo width and this in turn will make your Drums sound HUGE!

Works great on Hi Hats/Crashes/Rides/Percs and the Upper Snare Layer. Just make sure the samples are Stereo and have plenty of top frequency content.

Use an Analyzer if you’re not sure!

Well, thats it for today… speak to you guys a little later in the week.

Ez

See ya on the dance floor!

Dauntless