MASTER DRUMS 3 ••••
AUDIO CD

With so many computer-generated rhythms about, however well programmed they may be, a real player with real drums can always inject that certain something extra. If nothing else, the sound of a real kit captured in stereo will exhibit the resonances and interaction that is always missing from a collection of individual sampled sounds. Charlie Morgan's Master Drums 3 follows in the footsteps of its predecessors by providing just this -- a real drummer playing a real kit. This third volume is inspired by world music, but still using Charlie's favoured Premier drums and Paiste cymbals. Rhythms are attributed to Nigeria, Jamaica, South Africa, India and Pakistan, Morocco, Zimbabwe, and Senegal, as well as a couple from the USA (military press rolls and Texas country!). Some of the descriptions are somewhat imaginative (pattern 5 is described as 'Walking tall though the Serengeti. Giraffe pace.'), but music is meant to be fun, isn't it?

The sounds themselves are eminently useable, with all of the 33 main patterns presented as complete performances: one bar of intro, five bars of groove, a one-bar fill, two bars of alternate groove, a second fill, two bars of groove, third fill, two bars of groove and an end bar. Each of these performances is followed by a couple of edited one-bar grooves from the pattern. Given the amount of variation that occurs within each performance, the inventive samplist ought to be able to extract additional loops by starting at other points within a bar. The tracks are grouped into tempos from 70bpm, through 80, 85, 90, 100, 105, 110, and 115, to 120bpm, with generally three or four performances at each tempo. Each of the 33 main patterns is recorded dry (tracks 1 to 33) but ambient versions are included as tracks 39 to 71. These do not have gratuitous reverb slapped on, but incorporate more room ambience by mixing in more distant mics. Both the dry and ambient versions are very clean recordings -- although a tiny bit of hum and hiss can be heard if you listen on cans, I would defy anyone to hear it in the context of a mix. The ambient versions have enough of the room included to allow them to be used on tracks as they are, without any further effects, and I'm sure that this is the intention.

If you intend to plunder this CD for a wide variety of rock-based world rhythms, the only thing that I feel duty-bound to remind you is that although these loops are inspired by world music, they're all played on a standard rock kit -- if you need the sound of ethnic log drums then look elsewhere. As an extra, tracks 34 to 38 are the 'Mongo Loops', and these provide a selection of dry recorded pre-edited loops (29 in total) which range from 90 to 138bpm. Again, these are of good quality, but are unashamedly rock-based, and they are certainly worth having as useful extras. This CD almost slipped through the net, with so many arriving in the SOS offices on such a regular basis, but sounds such as these don't suffer from a short shelf life. It may have been out for some months, but a classic like this doesn't date that easily. Martin Walker

£ £59.99 including VAT & UK p&p.

A Bridge Recording Company, 7 Riverbank, Hampton Court, Surrey KT8 9BH.

T 0181 979 0218.

F 0181 783 0614.

E Click here to email

W http://www.bridge-recordings.co.uk

 

SAMPLING SOUND SYSTEM VOL 4: BRUSHED ••
(MIXED MODE CD/AKAI CD-ROM)

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album cost nearly seven million dollars to make and they still manage to sell copies of that for 12 quid, so why, you may ask, are sample CDs so expensive? Good question, and one that East West and Sounds Good are hoping to answer with their new budget range of mixed-mode sample CDs.

The Sampling Sound System (see other reviews in June and July's Sample Shop) has been put together with the idea of providing less sample material on a single disc, but for roughly a third of the price of conventional audio sampling CDs. All of the discs in the series come as either mixed-mode CDs (featuring Audio, WAV and AIFF files) or as dedicated Akai CD-ROMS.

Volume three, Brushed, is very much along the same sort of lines as volume 1, Popped (reviewed back in July), and is part of the 'Drum Tools' section of the library. As the name suggests, the brushed drum kit is the primary instrument throughout the performance of all the drum loops; there's also a small collection of single drum samples at the end of the disc. The 24 audio tracks are split into two main categories: 'Beat Components' are the familiar full drum kit loops, usually lasting between one and four bars; 'Snare Grooves' is an interesting idea where each loop contains only a bass drum or the snare playing the groove, or both, with each instrument panned hard left and right respectively. This enables you to add your own levels of effect, EQ or compression. Of course, you'll also have to add any other percussive elements you need, such as hi-hats, but it does allow you a little more freedom with regard to the overall sound of the bass and snare.

This is actually a good thing, because you may find you need to work quite hard with some of the samples -- unfortunately, the overall quality of the sounds is not as high as you might have heard on other drumming CDs. Admittedly, there is a really gritty feel to many of the samples, and Portishead fans will no doubt revel in the sometimes wonderfully grungy drum sounds, but during some of the jazzy shuffle loops and pop-funk drumming (which are all very accurately performed), I found myself wishing the sound quality was cleaner and better defined.

There are a good number of rhythmic variations including fills and rolls, and the general layout of the loops within the disc is logical enough; the tempo sets start at 70bpm and move up in 10bpm chunks to 120.

Okay, at this price (a snip at only £19.95) maybe we shouldn't expect too much variety or too many samples. I'll award an extra star for the low cost and logical layout, but in such a crowded area of the marketplace, any drumming CD really should try to stick its neck out creatively to stand up to the massive competition. While Brushed offers good playing, a fair range of sounds and a very attractive price tag, the occasionally 'boxy' sound quality and low number of loops might, unfortunately, consign this otherwise worthwhile release to the 'Cheap' pile. Paul Farrer

 

 

SAMPLING SOUND SYSTEM VOL 6:COUNTRY•••
(MIXED MODE CD/AKAI CD-ROM)

Volume six of the Sampling Sound System, Country, is the same as the other CDs in the series in that it comes with about half an hour of audio material sharing the disc space with PC-readable WAV files and AIFF format samples for the Mac.

Banjo, pedal steel, mandolin, bass, acoustic and electric guitars and acoustic drum loops are the principal instruments featured on this release. The CD is split up into five main sections according to tempo. The first section is at 70bpm and begins with 12 acoustic guitar riffs and licks of between one and two bars in length in the keys of A, C, D and G. Next come the electric guitars, and the phrases and licks fit nicely over the acoustic parts, played in the same order as on the track before. After that it's the turn of the pedal steel to perform its 12 riffs in the same order, so mixing and matching the constituent parts together is not as big a chore as it might at first seem. This pattern is repeated for all the other instruments on the disc, so you could say that this release has 12 'virtual songs' featuring all the instruments in one form or another. Each song has four chordal parts presented at 70, 80, 90, 100 and 120bpm.

Stylistically, the disc covers a good number of familiar country music genres, heavily influenced by twangy bluegrass but also with more folksy and country ballad textures. The playing is of a good standard, but occasionally I had to battle with some of the brighter instruments (particularly the pedal steel) when sampling them, as the top end tended to distort very easily at even the lower monitoring levels. The drumming is very authentic and appropriate to the country music setting, but, to my ears, the kit didn't sound quite as bright or as crisp as I have come to expect from most sample CDs these days. One of the best things about this release for me, however, has to be the interesting and unusual tones of the banjo and mandolin; instruments often neglected by sample CD producers. These days, it's good to hear a set of excitingly performed and produced samples that will doubtless be cropping up in jingles for processed Southern-fried chicken products before the year is out!

In conclusion, at only £20 each, all the discs in the library are quite good value for money and Country is no exception. There's a definite slant towards the entry-level user, and the layout of the CD is logical enough to encourage first-time samplists to delve further into the world of sample CDs. Despite niggles about audio quality in places and the relatively small number of samples you actually get, this is a flexible and, perhaps more importantly, fun CD to work with. Paul Farrer

£ Sampling Sound System audio CDs £19.95 each; Akai CD-ROMs £39.95 each. Prices include VAT; add £3 for delivery.

A East West, Suite 1A, 25 Meeting House Lane, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1HB.

T Orders: Freephone 0800 393027. Enquiries: 01273 736733.

F 01273 328881.

 

 

FIELDS OF MOTION

AUDIO CD ••••
CD-ROM •••••

Continuing their excellent series of sample CDs with a distinct air of sonic weirdness, Time & Space have added to the likes of Cuckooland and Ghost In The Machine with Fields Of Motion, volume four in their 'Altered States' series. Setting aside any pretence of polite-sounding pads or gentle funky loops, producer Mark Pickup (his real name, apparently) has clearly been spending hours and hours trapped down a very deep mine shaft, or stuck in the bowels of a large iron works, with his DAT machine, sampling and recording all manner of bangs, clonks, mechanical fizzes and clicks. To say that this CD has a hard-edged industrial feel to it would be a bit like saying that Ferrari have made a couple of OK cars over the years. The real beauty of this release, however, is not the fantastic range or depth of the recorded material (although that in itself would probably make a fine SFX CD), but the innovative and unusual way that this disc takes these raw building blocks and stretches, mutilates and morphs the sounds into new and exciting sonic sculptures.

Using the sound of a nail gun, or a steam-driven turbine as a bass drum, or what sounds like a bag of spanners being thrown into a concrete mixer for hi-hats might not be everyone's first choice, but Fields Of Motion offers all of these kinds of sounds and then has the audacity to make it sound as if the industrial-sized water boiler has been an established part of the studio percussion section for years. Fused with all this mechanical madness is a rich seam of dancefloor and jungle influence, giving you a scorching collection of happening dance loops ranging from 60-208bpm.

This release comes in both audio and CD-ROM formats, and unlike some other sample CDs gives you exactly the same amount of recorded sample data on both. Also thrown into the deal is a disc containing all the loops as MIDI files. The layout of both the discs and the sleeve notes couldn't be more logical: you get a complete loop (lasting anything between 15 and 30 seconds) followed by all the constituent samples presented on their own, without any unnecessary effects. Of course, in the toss-up between audio and CD-ROM formats, the same old arguments for both still apply, but using the MIDI file disc with the ROM version of Fields Of Motion is an absolute doddle, and gives the whole thing a good feeling of interactivity -- if I was forced to sample every single noise beforehand, edit them and assign them to the correct keys, it would all have been considerably less fun. Time & Space are, of course, aware of this and are offering the CD-ROM version for the slightly lower price of £119 (which also includes a free copy of the audio CD version for auditioning purposes); the audio version on its own still retails at the familiar price of £59.95.

Whichever format you choose, several things are clear. Firstly, this is a truly unique product which takes a brave (and wholly successful) step towards providing a good fusion of dance and industrial styles of music. Secondly, the selection of useable sample material, although extremely specialised, will keep even the sampling diehards busy until Christmas. Finally, with a vast resource of 'technical' sounds such as these at your fingertips, you won't have the bother of hiring a gas-powered pump-action wire-brushed garden strimmer to give that elusive sparkle to your percussion tracks in the future. In short; pure metallic steam-driven wonderment. Paul Farrer

£ CD-ROM plus audio CD £119; audio CD £59.95, both including VAT.

A Time & Space, Owlsfoot Business Centre, Sticklepath, Near Okehampton, Devon EX20 2PA.

T 01837 841100.

F 01837 840080.

E sales@timespace.com

W http://www.timespace.com

 

 

TERMINALHEAD: UNDERFIRE VOLUME 1 ••
AUDIO CD

Never buy a used car from a friend, goes the perceived wisdom. Well, I did, and it has served me well. But what do you do when your house sound engineer and producer comes up with a product of his own and requests a release? How can you turn him down?

Lee Groves has appeared on the credits of many AMG sample CDs, including (most pertinently to this product) a co-production with Keith Le Blanc on Kickin' Lunatic Beats. Now he has persuaded Matt at AMG to take a chance with his own band, a post-Tackhead hard-as-nails live-plus-technology outfit who have yet to prove themselves. Terminalhead, Tackhead... even the names are ringers -- just how deep does this influence go?

Volume 1 opens with a demo -- well, more of an album track really. A 303-esque bass line playing busy sixteenths sets the tone for some pretty decent hip-hop beats played live and probably then sampled. Overlays of junglist and techno ornamentation and fills help build the beat. After a decent interval come space chords which provide light relief from the busy and incessant rhythm. Then more bass and drums, more chords, more bass and drums -- this tune is beginning to run out of ideas.

Tracks 2-10 contain live drumming samples by 'Pete'. Hip-hop, lively, sometimes distorted, mono, often with heavy use of EQ sweep. Put bluntly, the playing is fine, but it's not magical, and it's not Keith Le Blanc.

From track 11 onwards we are first regaled with rhythmically gated sounds including, but not limited to, found dialogue and music, guitar chops, short-wave radio, vocals and synth. Rhythmic gating is such an old-hat effect that it's easy to overlook when you're twiddling about with the latest morphing and modelling synths. However, this is one basic dance trick you should never forget.

The Synth Riff section includes crunch and power, rhythm and effect, and atmosphere, but never much in the way of melody, making for pretty useable samples. Greg's compact guitar section comprises distorted funky rhythms, chops and fills. Quite noisy, tons of energy, heavy on the wah-wah, and probably good value in the right tune.

The Dub section left me cold. I'm afraid the application of echo is not the only element in a genre that is as elusive as it is exquisite. Stick to what you know, boys.

The Pascal Banadjaoud percussion sections include studio-mashed patterns as well as straight bongos (dry as well as horribly wet), and darbuka (again, EQ-swept, with gated reverb, and dubbed up and straight) -- for the uninitiated, a darbuka sounds like someone playing timbales with their hands. Swept and straight shakers and tambourine, half-speed stuff, clean bongos, more congas and darbuka complete this section. Next up comes a short-wave section with radio interference, coded signals and barely audible foreign stations. Then there are more synth and guitar effects, before the CD plays out with analogue pads and sweeps.

It's not fair to dismiss Terminalhead as a Tackhead clone, but with a name like that, and wearing their influence so heavily on their sleeve, it's tempting. Sample-wise, the drums were, for me, the least impressive part of this CD, and I wasn't too impressed with the dub element either. However, the guitars, non-dub effects (especially gates), some of the percussion, and the short-wave stuff were all creditable. In fact, marry these sections with the drumming of Keith Le Blanc from another AMG title and you might have something. Incidentally, Volume 2 is also available, and its format is like Volume 1's, with drums, effects, guitars, radio section and so on. I haven't heard it, but expect more of the same. Wilf Smarties

£ £59.95 including VAT.

A Time & Space, Owlsfoot Business Centre, Sticklepath, near Okehampton, Devon EX20 2PA.

T 01837 841100.

F 01837 840080.

E Click here to email

W http://www.timespace.com