Fracture Cosmic Drum and Bass Review

Fracture and Neptune has been supplying us with great music for a decade now so its with great joy that we finally get to lay our ears on some sonic goodness courtesy of Loopmasters.
Cosmic Drum and Bass is fantastic sample cd and drum and bass producers shouldn’t have a hard time finding some quality sounds to add to their library to use in their own productions.

Grab Your Free Samples HERE

Lets get stuck in and see whats in there

Bass Loops
Layered Bass10 kits from 170 bpm to 174 in various keys from c-Ggreat collection of samples. you get 3/4 samples. Top, Sub and Mixed. This way you chop and change them up as you wish.
The sounds them selves sound warm, dirty have plenty of motion in them. My fav of the bunch has to the tearing Fm- Scotchbonnet!

The tops do have FX on them but don’t let that stop you from going crazy with more effects.If you’re into Neuro or artists like Ulterior Motive, Alix Perez or Octane and DLR then this pack is perfect for you.
Another good thing about having them seperated is you can then go in on them and reverse engineer them and see how they were put together which is awesome.

Single Layer Bass12 samples of single layer bass from 170-172bpm. Keys from C-Am. Dj Fracture has taken the time I must say to accurate go through all the samples and give us the BPM and the key signature.
The samples here continue with the same quality. You get a nice collection of moving distorted dirty loops that are warm and have plenty of bite and interest. You won’t have a hard time finding something substantial to get vibing off.

Drum Loops
20 drum loops with several variations of a couple of loops with tails/FX. You get the full mix of the drum loops and all the seperate elements as well.
You get a nice mix of drum loops here as well. Steppy minimal dnb vibes is the order of the day but a few nice rollers in there to keep the kids happy.
Once again the breaks are warm and have plenty of character to them with interesting sounds thrown into the mix like sweep effects and perc. All the elements have a decent amount of eq applied and thankfully haven’t been overcompressed or limited.

Full Loops
12 full construction kits for you to do as you please. You get drums, Bass, synths, Perc etc, oh and a full mix file as well so you can preview the kit.
The kits are quality plus. I have personally made a couple of tracks with the construction kits to test them out and they impressed the pants off me for the time I put into them. I have NO DOUBT that if you spend a few hours picking a choosing a few quality from this pack you would be well on your way to making a great dnb tune. (I have started to make some practice tunes using construction kits but more about this at another time.)
Some of these construction kits with a bit of work could have been released the quality is that good. So I must hand it to DJ Fracture for coming up and delivering the goods!
Lexicon and Cookies is definitely the stand out construction kits. QUALITY.

Music Loops
The music loops folder consists of 4 folders. Guitars, Pads, Rhodes and Synths. Each folder has about 12 samples inside.
The samples are interesting music loops ranging from FX sounding loops, weird/dark chord progressions or Arps and Atmospheres.
They sound great. Have loads of character and are very usuable.

Bass Sounds
20 Bass sounds that you can bung into the sampler and go crazy with. Most have a bit of motion to them and are well EQ’d and overdriven just perfectly.
You get the standard Hoover,808, Wobble bass and more so finding something that works shouldn’t be a problem.

Drum Hits
Bass Drums
20 kicks from boomy to clicky. Analog to synthetic. There is a few gems in there that i’ve added to my owen personal collection.
Hi Hats
A great collection of 20 single hit hats. Some real sounding hats to more synthetic hats.
Snares
21 really nice sounding snares. You get a nice mix of punchy snares to the more toppy minimal snares that people are using today. Some of the snares do have a bit of reverb but nothing too crazy.

FX and Atmospheres and Synth and Pad Sounds
I love FX and Atmos samples because they can really set or give your track a vibe and the collection of samples here do just that. If you’re after a darker vibe or a making a moodier number then there is some gems to get you going here.
The 40 samples here might not be to everyone’s taste but you should be able to find a good sample or five.

Final Thoughts
The Dj Fracture Sample pack is quality all the way and gets my thumbs up! The ONLY dissapointing thing to me was if you were expecting more drum funk break samples you would be very dissapointed. On saying that though you could indeed make them yourself with the quality of breaks you get so its a small gripe.All the other samples are Fracture through and through and thats a testimony to Fracture and his music.

Click Here For More Info and Free Samples

I don’t know whats going on over at Loopmasters but the quality of sample packs just continues to amaze me! Total Science blew my mind and the BHK packs always deliver but this pack from DJ Fracture is a real jem.
I have personally learned a lot from this pack by reverse engineering some stuff and taking apart the construction kits so have NO PROBLEMS recommending this to anybody serious about making drum and bass.

Okay, over the last couple of months I’ve been formulating some cool new drum and bass production techniques and song writing techniques. Some haven’t worked as well as I wanted but some have proved to be “outstanding!” This one technique below is absolutely smashing my productivity meter through the roof!

SET A TIME LIMIT

Yep, I’ll say it again… “set a time limit”. This one killer technique has improved productivity a million% and I’ve written more stuff in the last month than I have all year!

Here’s the steps I go through:

1. 2 hour time limit. (yep, 2 hours is all you/I get! )

2. Find your samples, drums, bass, atmos, vocals, etc…

3. Fire up Ableton Live 8

4. Put down the atmos to get a vibe.

5. Work out the Bass line.

6. Drums go next.

7. Fx goes in about now.

8. Arrange the thing out to about 240 bars.

9. Freak out about the lack of time!

10. Allow 15 minutes for quick mixdown.

11. Done.

Now, before people freak out about the 2 hour time limit. DONT! Its only a time limit. I just made the damn thing up. It helps me work quickly. Which is the point. Also it ain’t going to be no Noisia, Current Value mega production standard tune. No, its just a technique to fire up the tune making juices and get some finished tracks under your belt!

Now, I don’t go back and do the tune when the 2 hours is up. I MOVE onto the next track. I’ll revisit the tune in a few days. This lets me be critical and judgmental later. Which is when you want to be, not when you’re trying to be creative!

So to sum every thing up.  SET A TIME LIMIT! I can’t say that enough. Oh and be really strict with it as well, no distractions, no emails, no Facebook etc. When 2 hours is up, your done! Put down the mouse. Take a break. Have a coffee. Go for a walk blah blah blah. You get the point.

Most importantly. Give it a whirl. See how you go. Even if you write a tune in 4 hours 19 minutes 34 secs you ain’t doing too badly are you?

Anyways, enough yacking from me.

If you have a bunch of questions about this technique or any others just write them below or shoot me an email.

Speak to you soon.

Dauntless

Howdy, just a quick post about what’s been going on around the studio. Well, er… not that much. I’ve unfortunately been sucked into that thing called life/JOB and so I’ve had very little time in the studio. This doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking and dreaming about it. Oh no… I’m always doing that, much to the dislike of my wife! lol

You know how I normally go on and on about reducing the amount of Plugins, Soft Synths, DAWs etc that you might be using in the studio? Well, this applies to your actuall studio to,  so in the next few weeks/months I’m going to slim down the studio gear into a few choice components.

What the hell does all this mean? Access Virus TI Polar.

Access Virus Ti Polar

I’ve got the Ti Snow and I love it but I definitely am missing the extras knobs available on the Ti Desktop and Polar. Having that extra tweakability in a synth is crucial and I’m missing it dearly. Also, getting rid of the Mackie MCU PRO and the Novation SL Remote because the Polar has a keyboard and the Mackie doesn’t get used that much anyway. So, if you’re planning on buying some gear have a good think about what or how its going to fit in the studio and what role the unit is going to play. You might just find that you DONT need it.

For the peeps that managed to read down this far I have a treat/tip. Voxengo Gliss EQ2.0. If you don’t have this badbwoy yet then get it into your VST Plugins Folder pronto! That means find it and install NOW! My homeboys Phace and Mayhem have given me the big green light that this EQ is serious bizness! So super hot tip for you there! The Voxengo Gliss EQ2 is great for adding character. So it’s not really supposed to be for surgical EQ strikes okay? Leave that job for the Sonnex or  UAD Cambridge.

Voxengo Gliss EQ 2 VST Plugin

Another wicked VST Plugin that Is now an essential must is the BX Control. This plugin helps with the stereo image of your tracks giving you the option to go really wide in the mix with out effecting the low end. Nice.

Brainworx BX Control 2

Also Drumnbass Videos don’t come around every day so check this one out  by Blame – On My Own Feat Ruff Squad.

See you on the dancefloor

Dauntless

Okay, I know for some people these drum & bass production videos have been out for a while but just in case you missed them or was living on the moon or something here they are. I actually just recently watched the all the videos again because I loved them so much. I really love the Alix and Sabre videos because of the level of detail they go into.

Big Tip: Come back and watch the videos every now and again. As you get better and better you pick up things you missed the first time through and so on. Enjoy.

Mad Rabbit and Prime Sess:

Xample and Lomax LOADSTAR

Hey if your keen on picking up a microphone so that you can add that special element to your tunes like Alix check out my review of the Blue Snowball USB or the Audio-Technica AT2020 USB.

**** Unfortunately FM Mag took the videos of Alix Perez and Sabre down. Try to pick up a copy of special FM video mag with all the producers in it. Its well worth it! In the mean time I really love the LOADSTAR DnB tutorial and the Mad Rabbit one is pretty good as well****

Howdy, well I know Its been a while since I’ve last spoke to you but I assure you that a lot has gone on! In and out of the studio! I suppose the most important bit of news to report to you is the addition of a new member to my studio family in the shape of a TC Powercore X8! This powered plugin dream box has been on the top of my “want” list for so long now that I almost can’t believe my eyes its in the studio! As you can see from the photos its a sexy all black beast which emits a techy blue light when its on. Very Cool INDEED!

What’s even sexier is the included plugins what come bundled with the Powercore (PoCo or short). 14 of them! YES, you heard that right, 14! I was in plugin heaven and the best news was that I had a further $500 squid to spend on plugins as well! Absolutely brilliant I say! Believe me when I say I felt like a kid in a candy store! However I won’t be going into full detail about the TC Powercore here. I’ll give you the full review in a few weeks. That way I can try some of the plugins out and give you an honest and informative review. So stay tuned!

Moving on then…

Well, it seems that everywhere I turn there is a drum n bass remix competition going on. First up you have the Sabre & Critical – One Hundred Teeth Remix Comp over at our good friends Kmag.com. Then you have the Panic Girl – Midnight Remix Comp over at ShadyBrain.net and then two competitions at Back 2 you . 1.  Breeze – We Can Rise Remix & 2. EZ Rollers – Crowd Rocker Remix. To round things up you have the Bachelors of Science – Lost inside Remix competition as well presented by IDJ and Horizons Music.

I love getting involved in Remix competitions because you get to see the individual audio samples of a certain tune and you can learn a lot from these bits. Its like peering into their minds a little and experiencing producing from their artistic point of view. I’ll be honest with you though. Even though I’ve downloaded quite a few Remix sample packs I’ve had ZERO success in finishing them. Yes, that’s right ZERO. I will now hang my head in shame for 5 minutes…

Okay, I had full intentions of finishing everyone of the remix tunes I started but somewhere along the way I lost focus. This happens quite frequently I have noticed but this time I’ll be prepared. I’ve discovered that If one doesn’t have a goal or a plan of attack you’re going to end up starting and never finishing anything. When attempting to finish a remix competition you need to set yourself some very specific goals, for instance:

1. What tempo?
2. What style? Jump up? Neuro? Liquid?
3. Another Genre perhaps? Dubstep? Trance?
4. How much of the original do you want to get in there?
5. Is there a certain sound you want to try? An Artist you want to emulate?
6. What bits of kit do you want to use?
7. … and so on and so…..

Questions like these will help you focus your goals and ideas together and hopefully assist you in finishing remixes and tunes in general. Fingers crossed!

Another big change to the studio or should I say Production flow is the use of Ableton Live. I’ve dabbled in Live for many years now but only ever so briefly and each time I walked away shaking my head in confusion! I’ve never quite “figured” Live out and how to “work” it into my Production method but thanks to Nymfo I have now. Thank you good Sir!

Live’s main strengths are obviously the way it handles loops on the fly and this is primarily how I use it. I use Live 8 to quickly audition all the loops I want to use in my tunes super quick so right now I mainly use it for layering breaks up fast. I use it in Sequencer View and lay out the tune as I go along applying EQ and Limiting as well but only moderately.

The whole Idea behind using Ableton Live 8 is to get the main ideas and loops of the song together and then export the tracks into Cubase 5 where I can go in really deep with EQ and Compression and Limiting etc. I’m still not 100% sure about Ableton Live’s summing engine but hey that’s just me. I know a tonne of producers out there getting great results JUST using Ableton Live but me, I know Cubase extremely well so I’m sticking with it for mixdowns, plus it still handles VST Plugins one million times better than Ableton Live does and this is hell important!

Another big change in the studio has been the plugin folder clean out! I’ve decided to clean out or should I say “limit” myself to only a handful of plugins again. I know I know this sound weird after just getting the PoCo but I’m going to treat those plugins like rewards.

So its probably going to be the Virus TI Snow (pictured at top of page), Spectrasonics Omnisphere, UAD Plugins and Sonnox plugins for now. Stay tuned for a VIRUS SAMPLEPACK coming soon! Also, I’ll be making a drum sample pack available to download for FREE soon as well. It won’t be massive or anything like that but I promise you it’ll be full of 100% brilliant drum hits and loops for you to use in your tunes. Perfect for adding weight and groove to your breaks.

Phew, thats a fair bit of writing then? I better get back in the studio I got a tonne of work to do!

See you on the dancefloor.

Dauntless