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.

The Loopmasters Ray Keith Sample CD Challenge

Here’s the story: I’ve had a couple of weeks to test out the Loopmasters Ray Keith Drum & Bass Vol.1 Sample Pack and you know what? It’s KILLER!

This time around I didn’t just want to add the samples to my existing tunes to check them out, I wanted a new challenge.

If I could get a track or two up and running using JUST the samples from the Ray Keith Sample Pack I could work out the depth of the pack and its ability to smash up the DANCE FLOOR!

==>>GRAB RAY KEITH ORIGINAL DRUM & BASS  VOL.1 HERE<<==

The Evil Plan Is Hatched!

The quickest,easiest and nastiest way to check out how phat Loopmasters Ray Keith was, is to use Ableton Live 8. As you may be aware I’ve been using Live 8 more and more and more for this type of thing because its a perfect fit. I fired up Ableton Live,  set the BPM to 172 and BOOM away I went.

The Bass

First stop was the BASS. I normally start with drums but I’ve found that if I start with a  music element first I don’t get bogged down so much with the technical mumbo jumbo of building beats.

Well, how was the Bass then? All 100% quality. There is quite a wide selection of Bass Loops so if you’re after something gritty or smooth or dark or jungle sounding or what ever Ray got you fully covered. There is also a nice selection of Bass one shots for all you peeps out there that want to get down and write your own b-line, in the future I’ll be using one of those sounds but for now I just wanted to get up and running. I quickly selected a bass loop that had a nice steppy riff to it and moved on the beats.

The Beats

I won’t lie to you. The beats in Loopmasters Ray Keith are awesome! Once again you get wide selection of loops to choose from and every one of them has a vibe and sonic flavour. The only downside here was not enough Percussion loops to my liking but hey nothings perfect right?  Whilst i had the Bassline rolling I was able to audition a few drum loops. It was a hard choice but I managed to pick a drum loop that had a nice shuffle rhythm to it that worked with the bass line.

The single  drum shots are all gold. You get solid Kicks, Snares and Hats to play with. Whilst the numbers may be small the quality more then makes up for it.

What does this mean for you?  Your beats should never sound weak on the dance floor again!

The Rest…

Continuing on I moved onto the more musical side of things, like Pads, Atmos, Blips and then FX sounds. Here, the same thing again. A fine selection of loops to choose from in a variety of styles but I really could have  done with more FX sounds like swooshes and risers etc I know from experience people on the dance love these sounds. The FX sounds that are there, are 100% Classic Ray Keith sounds so if your after instant Jungle badness (who doesn’t?) you’re sorted.

And Finally…

Listen, I think  the Loopmasters Ray Keith Original Drum & Bass Vol.1 Sample Pack is a definite must have in your studio. You can use the loops to phatten up your own breaks, bass, fx or whatever or you can use the loops to help kick start your creative juices. Once you got a tune up and running you can pull the loop out and go from there. Click the link below to grab your copy of Loopmasters Ray Keith today.

==>>GRAB LOOPMASTERS RAY KEITH ORIGINAL DRUM & BASS  VOL.1 HERE<<==

GRAB DRUM & BASS CONNECTIONS VOL.3 HERE

The kind people over at Loopmasters have released Vol.3 of the BHK Drum & Bass Connections series. This time Drum & Bass Connections Vol.3 – Essentials concentrates itself entirely on the ever so difficult Drum & Bass “drums” side of things.

So if you’ve ever suffered from some of these problems:

1. Weak or Thin drum breaks.
2. Drums that have no energy.
3. Crappy Drum hits.
4. Boring drum Breaks.
5. Spent hours looking for some usable breaks but been disappointed.
6. Spent hours looking for that something “extra” to toughen up your breaks and hits but with no luck.

Then look no more. Drum & Bass Connections Vol.3 is full of tough, punchy, ballsy breaks with a superb collection of drum hits to back up any of your own Drum Breaks that you might have lying around. Just this weekend alone Sci Phi and myself managed to get some of the drum breaks and hits into a tune we’re working on  and I also managed to use some of the breaks to help me get some new ideas rolling in Ableton. Yep that’s right, I’ve been getting into Ableton a lot more lately because I managed to find a suitable way to integrate Ableton into my workflow.

What Do You Get?

• 148 x Kicks
• 142 x Snares
• 105 x Hihats
• 25 x cymbals
• 40 x Percussions
• 31 x Ghost Snares
• 13 x Shakers
• 27 x Shuffles

Plus:

• 16 x Reason Redrum Kits
• 4 x Battery 3 Kits Each with 4 Combo drum Kits
• 14 x D’n'B Drumloops ( ACID WAV & Appleloops)
• 14 x Rex.2

Who Should You Use it?

Anybody who wants to produce tough gritty Drum & Bass with punchy weighty drum breaks that will destroy the dancefloor and work the crowd up into a frenzy! Drum & Bass Producers who make Neuro-funk, Techy rollers or Tech Step should NOT hesitate to get the pack but let’s not forget the Dubstep massive. This is perfect for the Dubstep lovers out there and the drum breaks/hits should find there way into some heavy tunes.

What I’m NOT So Crash Hot ABout?

Well, don’t get me wrong, I think Vol.3 is a really great pack but there are a few things I would like to have improved for Vol.4.

1. I think there should be more breaks. 14 Breaks is just not enough.
2. There is a lot of high content in the breaks around the 20hkz range and higher, which is too much.
3. A lot of the drum hits sound a bit “samey”.

Loopmasters Official Blurb:

BHK  provides a new exciting set of drum sounds and loops to add to your ever growing sample collection.

Essentials Volume 3 contains new loops layered drum hits all re-worked from Special Edition Volume 3 Dub Step , Rough Connection  Volume 3 and Special Edition Volume 2 DnB.

A cool collection of new 24 Bit  drum loops were also created specially for this pack.  The BHK loops are in Acid wav, Rex.2  and Apple Loops for drop and rock performance in any Daw. The drum hits are in both 16 Bit Wav & Aiff.  formats.

The pack contains a staggering 531 drum hits great for Drum and Bass, Dub Step  Break Beat, Hip Hop, and pretty much any electronic music style you which to create.

Native Instruments users will be pleased to know we have included 4 Battery 3 kits from Rough Connections Volume 3. Each Battery 3 Drum Kit has 4 usable Combo kits so your ready to start programing patterns directly after loading it  into your DAW. 16 ReDrum Kits are also included for Reason users.

BHK provides some really raw and layered drum hits so you can create your own new snares layers with ease. Each hit is pumped just enough so you can effect each sample without running into head room issues.

This flexible Industrial Strength drum pack has more then enough license free content to make Essentials Volume 3 your go to source for modern synthetic drums.

BHK Essentials Volume 3 has everything you need to create authentic sounding drum tracks and loops all in one pack.

Do yourself a favour and grab Loopmasters BHK Drum & Bass Rough Connections Vol. 3 and put an end to your weak thin breaks for good. You deserve phat driving punchy breaks and so do your fans on the dancefloor.

GRAB DRUM & BASS CONNECTIONS VOL.3 HERE

Dauntless

Well, its 2010 and I tell you what, Drum n Bass Production isn’t getting any easier! Sure you get better in the studio and slowly but surely you start to develop the networking skills you need to get ahead in the music genre but its only just the beginning. Let me explain to you what I mean.

In the Beginning…

I got into electronic music because I was sick and tired of relying on so called “band members” to get there act together. Do it all “myself” was my motto and it seemed like the best solution at the time. I could definitely rely on me to do the hard work I needed to get the tracks done and this felt good. Plus, having NOT to deal with my drummers bullshit excuses for NOT practicing was a good enough reason alone to go solo.

I quickly learnt that drums were pretty hard to program. The bass in Drum & Bass was near impossible to make and the Mixdown in Drum & Bass was UNF*#KING-Believable!

Was this the correct decision?…. YES!

The Different Job Roles of a Drum n Bass Producer

Let me see, to start with you have to be a Producer, Artist, DJ, Engineer, Label Owner, Marketing Guru, Graphic Artist… and so on and so on and to be honest the list could go on and on.

How on Earth was I going to manage all of that? Well, strangely enough, people do?

Keeping it Real!

Many artists are all of the above and more and are doing well to their credit and let’s be honest they deserve it. The key to achieving anything in life is commitment, perseverance and an iron will to succeed.  Try not to be all things at once because that’s a very hard road to travel.

If your just starting out concentrate on just one thing at a time like engineering or just making tunes then after you have them down, think about improving your DJing and so on.

However, most of all, keep your chin up and stay focused.

Good things come to those that have patience.

See you on the dancefloor.

Dauntless

P.S. Mayhem plays for No Frills Drum n Bass on the 19th of March 2010@Phoenix Bar. Its going to be wild.

We also have Lomax and Xample playing 13th of March@LOFT Bar UTS and that promises to be a deadly night of

dancefloor madness.

P.S.S  If you get a chance check out my review of Mixing Audio: Concepts Practices and Tools

Let’s get 2010 started of in a smashing old way and the only way I know how to do that is get more drum n bass production done! Period! On bringing up this point that is exactly what I’ve been doing! Well, up until the point that I had to go up north to my sister-in-laws wedding! Doh!
I hope you had a great Christmas and New Years Celebration, I certainly did. Not too much, but just enough to keep my head and body happy! Anyways, whats been going down in studio I can hear you ask?
Well, a few things have been happening in drum n bass production land. A name that you should definitely be hearing more of in the future is Dj Sci Phi. Dave (as his mother knows him) is over on holidays in Sydney with his lovely wife for a while and I managed to get some quality production time with him. ( Honestly we spent the most part of the session with him showing me how he gets down! What an eye opener!) Mucho respect to the big Sci Phi because he didn’t hold back on the styles and secrets. For those that don’t know what style of drum n bass Sci Phi makes check out his Soundcloud. Its the really new deep, minimal style that’s blowing up big time all over drum n bass land. Big hitters like Loxy are playing his cuts in mixes etc. Def check my boy out! I’ve managed to get a little video tutorial/Q&A with him so be sure to come back at check it out.
Another big player to come through in December and play for No Frills Drum n Bass was Chook. Neuro-Funk producer extraordinaire and all round good guy. Phillipe (Chook – FullForce Recs) came and played Sydney Phoenix Bar and crushed the helpless crowd into dance submission. Chook producers on Logic 9 and I use 99.9% of the time Cubase5 so there wasn’t much production time going down. However, I did manage to corner him a few times to get some mixdown secrets and sound engineering tips. Chook has agreed to a Q&A for dnbbeats.com which I’ll be bringing to you shortly. We’ll go over how he uses Logic to produce those funky grooves for drum n bass and get his favorite vstplugins etc. In the mean time his Album “Cocoon” is dropping shortly and the single “Optimus Prime” is already out. Grab it here.
Finally, 2010 promises to be a big year for not only dnbbeats.com but hopefully me as well. I’ll definitely keep you posted on how my tunes are coming along and all the rest. Hey, if you have any tunes being released or just want me to have a listen to some please send me a megaupload/rapidshare etc. I’ll be more than happy to check them out. Anyways, back to the beats then. All the best in the studio.
See you on the dancefloor.
Dauntless