Gear Review: March 2011

 
The title is a touch misleading; I was expecting a pack full of jacking, shuffling, old skool house loops, but this pack is much more on the European tech side on the whole, with lots of minimal mischief amongst the bouncy, wiggling loops. There's a decent amount with more of a US influence, but if you're after those chattering old sampled loops that everyone's rehashing right now,  you might be better off elsewhere.
 
Largely an synthesised affair with plenty of punch, this pack gives you over 400 loops for your money, things get most interesting in the loops where there's more of a tribal lilt or and old skool techno feel. There's lots of taut, punchy kicks, a section that remind us of the stuff Daft Punk used to play in their DJ sets in the mid-'90s, and just a smattering of that dusty old house feel. Each loop is handily also split up into loops of its constituent parts, giving you as much flexibility as you need.
 
There's a fair bit of dead wood in here for me but that doesn't stop this from being a decent pack. Best for producers wishing to get some retro techno jack or some nouveau tech groove going on. If you're looking to emulate DJ Sneak or his ilk, perhaps look elsewhere.
 
Loops Of Ibiza 2 – Tribal, House to Tech House
Type: Sample Pack
Price: £21.16
Publisher: TheWebTape

 
This second pack from TheWebTape celebrates all things housey and Ibizan, reflecting the sound of big room grooves from across the house and tech board.
 
In drums, there are some really cool tribal loops with inventive rhythms and some bouncy big room grooves, and all loops provided with or without kicks. The Music section gives us old skool house and rave stabs galore, classy Latin guitars and trumpets, and a satisfying array of material across the board. Alas the majority of the lovely sounds in this section come with delays slapped on them already, which is rather annoying. FX & Voice Loops is probably the most solid section, with plenty of hypnotic, colourful vocal loops and one-shots, sprightly fills and breaks, sleek white noise builds and fades. The Bonus One-Shots aren't so solid, with most of the hits layered with other elements or sounds from the loops, meaning there are few 'clean' sounds to use. But these layered sounds can have their own charms too I guess. To top off the package, there's quite a few phat Construction Kit loops too, with plenty of punch and cool rhythm going on.
 
These loops aren't shy; instead they are ones to use boldly and confidently. A cool, varied package with plenty of oomph and colour.
 
Complex Indian Rhythms
Type: Sample Pack
Price: £34.95
Publisher: Loopmasters

 
It's like my prayers have been answered. Just when I was looking for some rolling tabla samples and the like, along comes this pack from legendary Indian percussionist KV Bala. It's not extensive, with 16 different loop packs broken down into constituent parts and variations, but there's enough to get you on your way and introduce you to the rhythm and metre of Indian percussion – and it’s more quality over quantity.
 
Thereafter, the REX files give you all the sounds to rearrange to your heart's content, which is more exciting for me. As well as the crisply recorded, taut and wet sounds of the tabla, the pack contains Bass Dolak hits (like a more exotic, mysterious kettle drum), regular Dolaks (conga-like), Dukki Tarangs (hollow, wooden chime sounds), Ghatas (wet, pitch-bending droplet sounds), and higher pitched percussion like tambourines, salangais and sharp shakers. There's plenty more too, with spooky sounds like the Urumi, the wooden rhythm of the Tavil, the tight hand drum the Nagara, finger cymbals...
 
With the mood of the loops ranging from hypnotic to manic and spread across 8 tempos, it's reasonably flexible despite not being of an overwhelming size (possibly a good thing anyway). A good 'store cupboard' ingredient to get your mitts on.
 
 
House & Techno
Type: Sample Pack
Price: £19.95
Publisher: Loopmasters

 
It’s rare that you’ll find a sample pack that’s all killer, no filler – so good on Loopmasters for compiling this pack that takes the best bits of some of their most acclaimed releases from the last few years and puts them all together in one bundle. Now That’s What I Call Samples, if you will.
 
Unsurprisingly, 2020Vision’s pack offers some of the highlights, with seriously groovy drum loops and electro coolness in their bass and melodies, Dom Kane serves up some immensely punchy kick and snare patterns, there’s lots of earthy goodness in Marshall Jefferson’s section (an old favourite of ours), unfathomably cool shimmying drum loops from Fidget House, and gorgeous melodies and colourful basslines from Way Out West chap Jody Wisternoff. There’s no skimping here, and no impression given that the producers involved are giving you their second best or cast-offs. They are of the quality you’d expect in their tracks. Besides the aforementioned, there is plenty more on offer across a range of styles, from sheer deepness to big room peak time sounds, and all split over Music, Drums and Bass loops.
 
This is probably the best pack in terms of value for money out of the 4 we’ve covered in this piece. Just going through the pack once I discovered numerous loops that are begging for me to come back and build a track around them.