Yamaha Powersound Series Vol. 1

On offer are 128 new general-purpose 'electronic' Programs, using a modest 32Mb of source samples. But in that collection you'll find a strong assortment of basses, electronic textures, hits, electronic pianos, electro drum kits, pads, synth leads, and more. The care that's gone into tailoring the finished Programs for performance is admirable, with much use of (undocumented) real-time control, layering, effects, and so on. And you wouldn't know that Groovestyle had been careful with RAM: their claim to have used "elaborate optimisation techniques to obtain the biggest sound with small memory requirements" holds water. There's barely a duff Program in the set, and the handful of Programs that aren't to my taste are nevertheless well programmed.

The overall vibe of Powersound Series Volume 1 is 'up front', with potential applications in any electronic-oriented music. It's an inspiring collection that had me writing with it as soon as it was loaded. With it, you could pretend to have a modular analogue synth (if only the A5000 had an arpeggiator!), or that your sampler has spent time accumulating material in Trent Reznor's rack; equally, junglists will find as much worthwhile material as those beavering away in R&B. Everyone who buys this disc will use it differently, and the raw samples could, of course, form the basis of custom sounds. I found the darker, more aggressive Programs the most attractive — especially the basses, which offer a strong bottom end (start with BasseZone), mixed with dirt and cutting precision. Move to KillBass and ZidBass, for Programs with great velocitysensitive filters. Most of the pads have something to offer,too, many being lush and haunting. ElPiano, derived from Fender Rhodes samples, is a retro pleasure to play (despite some weird artifacts introduced at high velocities), and 'M1 Piano' is more dynamic than I recall the original being, moving from a muted 'thunk' at low velocities to cutting brilliance when played hard.

My one problem with this collection is its documentation, hence the half-star rating deduction. The disc's contents are fully listed, but upper-case listings, cryptic sample names, incomprehensible abbreviations, and an eye-unfriendly font let the package down. And given that the CD booklet is 24 pages long, some descriptive text — regarding sample sources, techniques and performance hints — would have been welcome.

Still, this issue aside, Groovestyle's collection is great quality, great fun and very inspiring. The price might seem a little steep for 32Mb of samples, but consider it as the equivalent of installing a completely new synth in your sampler. No A-series owner should be without it. Derek Johnson

	£ 826FF (approx £78) including postage (order by credit card direct from the Groovestyle web site).
	www.groovestyle.com

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