Symphonic Adventures

Sample CD Buyer's Guide

Published in SOS January 2000
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Reviews : Sample/Sound/Song Library

Comments: Same kind of idea as Scoring Tools above, but darker in tone. Where Tools is lyrical and romantic, Symphonic Adventures tends towards the suspenseful and mysterious. The first dozen or so volumes feature tense, rhythmic 'chase' music, quite entertaining on first listen, but ultimately too samey. The best material comes later; some great Hammer Horror-style creepy evolving cues, and lots of interesting orchestral stings and effects with all sorts of applications, both serious and humorous.

Standouts: I liked the atonal, non-rhythmic mini-pieces the best, especially the so-called 'Film Orchestra FX'.

Quibbles: Though there is a decent amount of material here, the same samples reappear in differently-named volumes. Once again, someone has lazily omitted to name the volumes on the CD-ROM, requiring us to squint at the booklet whenever we need to locate a title. The English translation of the sleeve notes is also a little hazy.

Contact: Time & Space.

Akai/Nemesys Gigasampler CD-ROMs £149; Audio CD £69.95.