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…

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

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

Mr Carbone Returns

Mr Davide Carbone is back with another Drum and Bass sample pack called S:amplify brought to you by those lovers of everything sampled Loopmasters.

I knew something was cooking when Mr Carbone himself asked a few questions to the “Gridsters” on DOA about what he should include in the “next” sample pack. This Is a smart man I thought to myself, getting user feedback is so important in today’s day and age and more producers/companies should take notice.

Its clever and makes a hell of a lot of sense. So without further ado:

Check Out Samplify HERE

Loopmasters Samplify- What’s on the inside?

Well, to start with, you get 1.4gb of samples. Which lets be honest is plenty. I prefer quality over quantity and S:amplify doesn’t disappoint. All the major formats are covered from Kontakt, EXS24, Reason Refill and Ableton Live so it really doesn’t matter if you’re a Cubase, Logic or Reason junkie, Davide’s got your back.

Inside you get bass loops, drum loops, keys and synth loops, musical loops and percussion loops. Drum Hits and Bass Hits and FX all in 24bit 44.1khz quality.  All the loops in Loopmasters Samplify sound great, are well eq’d and compressed and come prepared so that all you need to do is drop them into your sequencer of choice. You don’t know how much faster this makes the whole tune making process! This leaves you with more time to think about the all important creative stuff.

One criticism I have of Loopmasters Samplify is that there is way too many Sax and Heavy Metal Guitar loops. Sure they sound good but I few different sounds would have been nice as well. Also, there could have been a few more Ride Loops, Conga Loops and the definitely more stabs! You can never have too many Stabs in your personal sample library! So, moving on then…

The Ableton Live test…

I fired up my trusty Ableton Live  and set the tempo to 174 and got busy. First things first,  I started by  looking for a vibe-y atmosphere sample that I could work from. Loopmasters Samplify has quite of few of these types of sounds so what ever genre of Drum and Bass you make you won’t have a problem getting started. However, there is a lot of sounds geared towards the lighter side of drum and bass so “liquid lovers” have got it good here. Maybe a few too many keys for my liking but hey, you do what you can.

Anyways, I found a nice energetic keyboard loop easy enough and found a nice sax loop to go over the top. Next, I added some nice shakers and tambourines. The Perc Loops are pretty damn good. They fit well in the mix and have all the bottom end taken out of them which saves you so much time! Just wish there was a few more!

Drums- Its all about the drums…

Moving on I found some nice punchy drums that had the energy I was after pretty quickly. The drums in Loopmasters Samplify are great quality. They hit hard and sound good in the mix. I then applied a little high pass with my trusty Cambridge EQ to give the Sub a little room to breathe. You don’t even need to get all crazy with a hundred layers of beats. Just 2 was enough to take care of the rhythm section. That’s when you know the beats are slamming!

The Bass…

The first Bass loop i tried was a little disappointing. It sounded great but It was severely lacking some proper low end. I tried everything to get some low end action but came up short so I picked another sample. No problems. Loopmasters Samplify has loads of quality bass loops for you to use. So, what next?

The Rest…

Now that I had the main idea/theme down finding the rest of the samples was easy. The folders are well organized and the files are conveniently marked with BPM, Key Signature and Type. Sweet! A grabbed a couple of sweeps and a couple of hits, applied some FX. It couldn’t be easier.

The final thing to do was a quick arrangement, add some effects like delay and automation and perform a quick mixdown and voila!

Complete.

From start to finish it took me 3 hours which isn’t it too bad.

In Conclusion…

Loopmasters Samplify is spot on. You get great beats, bass and fx and all the samples are high quality and should be a part of your personal sample library. The musical loops are great because you really can find that bit of inspiration quite quickly and get moving on a tune fast!

The samples are really well produced so you don’t have to worrry about all mucking about with compression or eq but most importantly the beats are phat! Whack them into your tunes for that instant dance floor pressure. Mr Davide Carbone and Loopmasters have done it again.

Check Out Loopmasters Samplify HERE

Howdy, I’ll get straight to the point because I have not one sample cd to review but two!

1. Loopmasters Bop – Minimal Drum & Bass

2. Loopmasters A Guy Called Gerald – Deep Techno Sessions

Loopmasters Bop

I’ll start with the the Loopmasters Bop sample CD. Minimal drum & bass is all the rage right now so it comes as no surprise that we see a sample cd emerge from the ether. This time Russian producer  Bop has been given sample cd duty after a string of high quality releases on Hospital records and Med School.

The Sample Pack is the usual affair:

# Over 570Mb of content
# 460 Wav samples
# 216 Loops
# 245 Single Sounds.
# 33 ready to play Reason NNXt, Kontakt, Halion and EXS24 Patches
# Apple Loops, Reason Refill or Ableton Live Versions also available

How does it sound?

Positives: Great selection of minimal drum grooves. Definitely 100% authentic sounding. Great Kicks, Snares, Hi  Hats Awesome synth loops – light/airy/dreamy/vibey loops and great pad/atmos/glitch loops.

Negatives: NOT enough instruments patches and the instrument patches that are there are boring and not very inspiring.

Look, if you want to write in the minimal drum & bass style and are having some troubles then Loopmasters Bop will definitely help you out loads! Check out the samples HERE.

Loopmasters A Guy Called Gerald

A Guy Called Gerald is a pioneer in electronic music and I for one was keen to hear this sample pack ever since his Future Music interview. GCG has carefully sampled all his vintage gear and created his own refills. In his own words:

“My aim is to give you all a deeper understanding with as much enjoyment as is physically and mentally possible using the three elements more frequently missing from this music – the basis of all dance music : RHYTHM, MELODY and BASS.

The sounds herein contain patterns that create specific air movement sequence in earth atmosphere used at the correct pressure.  The sounds will transport you to the groove simulator 1st level : the holographic key to die hold activation.

This package is an attempt to capture some of the sounds and loops so future generations can attempt to connect to the mother groove.

Enjoy!

Anyways, this is a TECHNO sample pack but I wanted to see if we could draw some inspiration from the sounds. Generally I find Techno/House sample cds a waste of time but hey I was willing to give this a shot because it was Gerald!

How does it sound?

Well, er… no. I was right in thinking that this was not going to work for drum and bass production. The drums are all wrong and the bass loops are boring or not usable. In fact this was the general theme for the whole sample pack.  Sure there was the occassional sample here or there that “had” something but they were few and far between.

The drum samples were the usual suspects( Drum machine style and vinyl  samples). So the usual 808′s and vintage breaks kicks, snares and hats.

The Bass instruments were solid but pretty much only came in one flavor which is that House bass style. So nothing new there and certainly nothing that you shouldn’t have in your Sound Library already.

So, I couldn’t and wouldn’t recommend Loopmasters A Guy Called Gerald if you want to make drum and bass. I think its strickly for the House/Techno peeps. I know you are a hard headed lot so if you need to check it out click HERE.