So, after the great success of Total Science Drum and Bass Vol.5 and BHK Rough Connections Vol.4 Loopmasters aren’t taking a backward step. Oh no good peoples of the free Earth NOT on your LIFE!

Enter ASC into the sample CD arena with:

ASC Experimental Drum & Bass

Click Here To Download Free ASC samples NOW

Now, I you probably know me as a bit of a tear out tech producer but the minimal experimental sound is really growing on me. Producers like Jubei, Skeptical and Ulterior Motive are just unbelievable right now so I was definitely keen to check out this sample pack from a veteran now of the Drum & Bass scene and see if I could fit a few new sounds into some new beats on working on.

So, lets just stuck in…

Sampler patches

Nothing unusual here. You get your Kontakt, EXS24 and NNXT and SFZ files.

Bass Hits

You get a nice little collection of 20 Bass Hits. The best bit about the samples are there pretty varied but they all have just the right amount of bottom end. Some are heavy whilst some have a bit more reverb and sound a little more techier. What A.S.C was aiming for here was quality NOT quantity. My favorites would have to be the Donk sound of 16, the heavyweight 3,10 and the tech sound of 9.

Drum Hits

Kick Drums

40 Kick Drums a couple of them I really like. Mainly mostly very Deep Subby kicks but so saying that there is quite a lot of variation. If few dud kicks in there as well which is a shame.

Snare Drums

Okay so the same number of snares as kicks which is 40. Once again variety is the name of the game here but I managed to find 7 or 8 really good snares to use. I don’t know what reverb he used on them but its sounds awesome. Just the right amount used as well which is nice. Also the fill up the stereo field really well so they sound big! Some of the snares probably ain’t going to like but the pack is experimental after all!

Perc Hits

30 perc sounds on the experimental side. Nothing too crazy though. Fizz, pop bang kind of thing. Incidental noises but sounds that can definitely add something to your tune. Especially if you’re into the minimal steppers that are going around right now like Jubei, Skeptical, Ulterior Motive and Alix Perez. Actually I have a light stepper that would benefit from a few of these Perc Hits!

FX

Just a small collection of 10 samples here. Nothing much to report. Fizzy lazer types of sounds. Moving on…

Noise Layers

Awesome folder of 16 noise samples. First person I know to really give you a collection like this! (That I can think of anyway)
These little guys can add that bit of dirt and ambience to your tunes if used correctly. (Just put them low in the mix) Anyways, big up the A.S.C for adding these little beauties!

Atmospheres

A.S.C is well known for his moody atmos/ambient DnB so I was really keen to hear this folder of samples and he didn’t let me down. All 20 samples are moody and would work in movies let alone tunes! Expertly crafted with the right amount of reverb and fx. The samples are constantly moving so you never get bored with the sounds which is an indication of the skill involved in creating these sounds.

Bass Loops

Mixture of good Bass loops and to me NOT so good Bass loops. Processing wise the loops are heavy and could definitely kick start off your creative process. Just don’t count on all of them to do so.

Drum Loops

Great collection of mostly experimental flavored Drum n Bass breaks. You get the odd really nice break here and there which is nice. The experimental breaks are indeed experimental but NOT over the top and if you’re into minimal DnB you’re going to be in heaven! I myself have handpicked quite a few breaks that I think would be an excellent start to a few steppy tunes! Hybris here I come!

Music Loops

40 really good music loops. Quality through and through here. Just like the atmospheres the samples here just spell out quality damn it! Plenty of variety so what ever mood your in you should find something suitable to kick start your session. The sounds are made up of layers and layers of samples and the right modulation and fx. Brilliant.

In Conclusion

I would have say the ASC Experimental Sample Pack is a real winner. Sure it could have been a bit more “experimental” but then where do you draw the line? There has to be plenty of usable sounds in a sample pack and this one has plenty and that’s good enough for me. The samples are really well produced (the music loops are amazing) and their is plenty of them so you really do get your money’s worth.

If you love ASC or just want to get some chilled/ambient/experimental sounds into your productions then buy this little beauty straight away!

Click Here To Download Free ASC samples NOW

At last…

Well, i finally took the plunge the other day and booked in a real mastering studio for 2 days of drum and bass production madness!
I was really keen to see how my tunes were going to sound in a proper super acoustically treated room.

There was plenty of reasons for me wanting to be in a real studio but the main reasons for me was the lack of distractions I would have and the room itself. Sometimes its really hard to get tunes finished at home for whatever reason. Whether its work, or the mobile phone rings or friends pop over or whatever. All these distractions just pushes the finishing off of the tune that much further away. So after negoiating some the time off with my lovely wife I made preparations for an exciting 2 days.

Two Heads Are Better Than One!

I’ve been working a lot with my homeboy FUJ and to be honest he has been a great inspiration for me in the studio. I’ve written before about the benefits of working with somebody else in the studio and I’m still a great believer in the practice. Apparently you have some blind spot in your brain so if you have somebody there in the lab with you they can pick up on your mistakes its called ____
and is a really fascinating subject so check it out later.

Anyways…

Fuj promptly arrived in the morning to help load the van with all the equipment and away we went….So I thought.

Had I Upset The DnB Production Gods?

On the way to the studio on one of the busiest streets in Sydney I promptly broke down. No lights worked on the van, no hazards NO NOTHING! I had a whole street of cars, trucks, vans and buses behind me so I jumped out in my flip flops and starting pushing the van down the street to the nearest side street. Luckily it wasn’t too far and Fuj was just up the road so after a quick call he came round to help me out.

Ripped my brand new pair of shorts as well!

Totally Wrecked Brand New Pair of Shorts

We tried jump starting the Van but to no available. So I send Fuj to buy me a new battery for the van as we thought this was the main problem. After a few minutes Fuj arrived with the new battery and in no time we were at the studio and having some fun!

I can hear clearly now…

After we set all the gear it was time to get GRIMEY!

I brought my Event Opals in the studio and they kicked major ass (the cheap Tannoy Reveal sounded great as well). They sounded as good as the day that I bought them in the show room. I will be the first to tell you that my unit/flat is absolutely terrible sounding but you probably know that from a couple of previous posts. However, being in a proper studio made me realize just how bad my room really is and to be honest I was NOT going to fix it using the Behringer Ultracurve or IK Multimedia’s A.R.C software (although ARC is pretty damn good!).

Reaktor Studios

The real benefit of working in a treated room is the confidence it gives you when you need to perform any task EQ, Compress, Stereo spread etc. Now when your boosting or cutting say a kick drum you know that your making the right decision for the sample/track/. I have a standing wave of 50hz in the room so anything in the Key of G just BOOMS like crazy! Very annoying YES! Could I live with it? Hmmm…

First Thing is First

For the first few hours of studio time I just listened to music. My own stuff. Noisia’s stuff. My own stuff. Had a cry. Then back to Noisia, Phace, Misanthrop, Fresh etc. It’s important to do this to get your ears to the new surroundings. Every hour or so I would take a break and walk outside to reset my ears. I was loving the studio big time and I hadn’t even started to do work yet!

Reaktor Studios - Heaven for a Bedroom Producer

Getting Started

Because my room/unit is so bright I was amazed at how dull sounding all my drum hits/breaks were in the studio. So I quickly set about fixing that problem by doing a quick clean out of the crap samples from my personal library. Man… there was quite a few bad apples in there and its a boring part of drum and bass production but it has to be done. The same process went down for the kicks and hats etc.

I then went on a marathon 12 hour studio session just working on beats and bass and everything in between. As it was my first proper studio session I just went through some of my older tracks to see if anything good was lurking in the project folders. I was happily surprised to find quite a few bits that i really liked and I marked them down to work on later.

I was really shocked by my experience in the studio. Sure my knowledge and skills have improved over the last 6 years or more but I was literally blown away by how cool the whole experience was.

What Next Then?

Well, if you’re producing at home, in the garage, in the bedroom. Take some time out to acoustically treat your room as best you can. Your beats may not be as bad as you think they are but the room is making them sound terrible. Now, I’m sure Noisia and Phace sounds brilliant in your lab but this brings me to the next part…

A/B your shizzle!

I’ve also spoke at lengths about A/Bing your stuff with quality tracks. Now, I’m going to say it to you again. DO IT! You have to do it. There is no other way of knowing whether or not your stuff is making the grade. I’ll admit I haven’t been doing it as much as I should but all that changed BIG TIME. I’ll write another post on the best practices of AB testing your stuff but for now just grab some of your favorite tunes and play them next to yours. Easy as.

Headphone <3

My whole trip to the studio was not all bad. The good news was that stuff that I had made on my Sennheiser HD650s sounded great! Sure I had to tweak a few things here and there but all in all I was extremely happy with the results I obtained from using them. As a by product at home I only use the HD650′s now. I’m planning on getting some crap PC speakers as this seems to be a very popular choice for big named producers. PC speakers are tiny and they don’t throw sound all over the room so they would be perfect for my setup at home.

Studio’s offer a great way to work undisturbed from the world. A really good studio will give you the clarity and confidence to make important changes to your tune thus helping you create better tunes and mixdowns. AB a crap load and if you have a very difficult room to work in like myself work mainly on a good set of headphones and every now and again using some cheap PC speakers.

Right now me and Fuj are finishing off some tunes so that we can polish them off in the studio together in a big session. I really can’t wait to show you guys whats been going on. Till then I hope your beats are smashing up the dance.

Speak soon.

Dauntless

Okay, so one of my all time favorite Drum & Bass Artists Total Science have joined forces with Loopmasters and released Total Science Drum & Bass Vol.5 so as you might be able to tell I was very KEEN to check out this sample cd.

Ever since “Champion Sound” hit the dancefloor I have always been impressed with Total Science. The big drums and even bigger bass never failed to impress me. Now thanks to Loopmasters I could incorporate some of their sounds into my own projects!

BIG UP!

Click Here To Check It Out

So, lets dive in then!

Drum Breaks

You get a healthy bunch of breaks to work into your tunes. Most of the breaks sound nice and full,have a nice stereo spread on them making them sound big. They also have good dynamic range and are jammed with loads of character. Now this can be bad if you just get lazy and use the break as is because you’ll be caught out. So DONT DO IT!

Do you have to layer them up? Well, for some of them you do but for others you don’t. I personally would layer some more breaks on top to make your track more original.

Its not all plain sailing though because I think there is way too many drum breaks Fx loops. In my opinion a few are ok but there is way too many here for my liking. Small criticizm but one nonetheless.

Total Science has also supplied us with the construction Kits as well. Making it easy to mix and match what ever elements of the break we choose. You still have to do a bit of work with the Kicks and snares but the real value is in the hi hats, rides, claps and perc. Great way to give your own breaks a bit of character or grit or top end shizzle.

Drum Hits and Drum Construction Kits

Your best bet is to use the supplied Ableton Sampler patches which make life so easy when it comes to finding the perfect kick,snare or Perc loop to layer. Ableton Sampler is a REAL God Send if you ask me. Its so easy to use but is so powerful that some times I wonder if I need Kontakt at all! You get access to all the important features of a synth you need, filter, pitch and the envelopes. However, my favorite feature is the wave shape with can add a nice bit of overdrive/distortion to the sample.

Bass

I know a lot of people love Total Science for their great drums but for me it was always their crazy bass sound that i loved, Heavy but always catchy! Tracks like Borderline and Jungle Jungle are some of my all time favorites so I was keen to get stuck in. I wasn’t dissapointed because the bass loops are top notch. Plenty of usable loops to get you grooving straight away and in quite a few different styles as well.

The Ableton Sampler patches I have to report are very useable indeed. Most sample packs let you down when it comes to the presets but not Total Science. Well labelled and most times pitched correctly the lads have provided some heavy BASS to get your low end sounding nice and proper.

Pads and Chords

Great collection of Sampler patches. Instant quality through and through. I’m amazed at the level of quality in these patches. You can start vibing start away with patches.

Vocals

little collection of vocal snippets. Perfect for adding a bit of old school spice to your tunes.

FX

Supplied in the handy Sampler format the FX patches are quality. You get a great collection of risers all with the correct pitch and intelligently labelled. There isn’t a great collection of Stab or Hit FX but you do get a few really good DuB FX sounds to throw in your tunes.

Perc Loops

The Perc Loops are a bit hit and miss. Some of them are awesome and some a bit average. No problem really just use the good ones then!

Lead and Music Loops

If your struggling for a bit of musical inspiration then these loops will definitely have you up and running in no time at all. You get quite a lot of loops here but all of them are very useable indeed. The loops come in a tonne of different styles and moods making the sample pack perfect for what ever tune your writing.

Listen, I have no problems recommending Loopmasters Total Science Drum & Bass Vol.5 to any body. If you’re a beginner then its perfect because it has everything you NEED to get up and running quickly. If you’re more of an advanced producer you can analyze some of the sounds to dive into more of the sound design and A/B samples with your own. This sample CD is unlike any other out there in the market today for Drum and Bass. Its proper quality through and through and I think you’ll quickly discover that buying it was one of the best purchases you could have ever made.

Click Here To Check It Out

Okay, this tip is not really a new one. The plugin I’m referring to here is the PSP Vintage Warmer 2 by those Polish boffins of Audio Software PSP.

If you had the chance to check out the latest CM mag with heavy weights Icicle, Reso and the Qemists then you’ll know what I’m talking about.

If you didn’t. Go out and grab the magazine or Google that shizzle.  Most definitely worth it.

Works absolutely brilliant on drums and well… er anything. Perfect if you need to add a bit of life to your drum break or fatten it up 200%!

Using The PSP Vintage Warmer 2

1. Turn up the drive knob.

2.Play with the Knee. 0-12 should do it.

3. Put it into FAT and Multi mode.

4. Turn the Limit OFF (use the Sonnox Oxford Limiter)

5. Adjust the High and Low band EQ to taste. I use them subtractively to flatten out the break whilst using Voxengo Span.

The thing about PSP VW2 is its pretty ease to use but the results are awesome.

Now… go out there and FU*K up some breaks!

Well, to be honest I’ve struggled in the studio in the last few weeks. Some times its been good but most of the stuff I’ve been firing out just has been an utter ball ache. So what to do when things aren’t going well for in the LAB?

Well, I needed some inspiration and I turned to the Q&A on “The Grid” for some much needed advice and boy was I glad I did! One of my all time favorite producers in Optiv from the Cause4Concern and his Q&A was a blinder.

Here are a few notes from the Q&A:

1. We start off with a relatively simple drum kit or loop,
2. Find a sample that evokes some kind of vibe,
3. Work on some bass and from there just add elements that reinforce the idea.
4. Usually the first half of any session is about sound design and preparing samples. Then we arrange the sounds and start on the arrangement.

This is how I kind of work right now but notice point 4? First half sound design and the second half arrangement. Optiv mentions that he never starts to arrange until he has all the sounds just right. This is a BIG BIG BIG tip. If you’re trying to do some major tweaks to your samples in the arrangement phase things are NOT going to go well for you. DON’T jump the gun with the arrangement. Get the sounds right before moving on. Keep adding and adding parts to your track until you can’t add anymore. Then arrange. This should help you keep your flow when arranging and, ultimately help you finish tunes as well.

Let’s face it. Drum and Bass Production is tough. So getting your work flow right is CRUCIAL if you want to write good quality tunes in a small space of time.

Best of luck.