SonicCouture Tremors

I’ve been impressed by SonicCouture’s previous Abstrakt Breaks loop libraries, so was interested to hear how things had progressed in this recent new release. Tremors comprises more than 50 mini loop-construction kits, totalling 550MB in size and duplicated across WAV, REX, and Apple Loop formats. Each kit contains a fully mixed rhythm loop plus further loops breaking down its composite sonic layers. For browsing purposes, this setup is great, because you can use the full loops to audition lots of sounds quickly, but you can still mix and match to your heart’s content, especially if you can use the REX format in your music system.

At the low end. there’s a good deal of variety, with enough 808/909-style action to please the Roland die-hards but also a range of tight, punchy, and sub-less kicks for situations where you’re already hefting a Manhattan-munching bassline. There’s a definite electro bias (as you’d expect from the ‘dubstep drums’ subtitle), which, despite a certain amount of creative distortion, gives the low-end delivery a direct and sinewy character that always feels like it means business.

Above this foundation, you get all sorts of more or less processed electronic percussion, with a good deal of ripping, glitching and skittering in evidence, and although there’s a good deal of variety, there’s also definitely a kind of family sound that holds it all together, which is important if you want to mix and match between loops.

The textures manage to remain clear and detailed despite inventive use of crunchy, granular effects and various modulation, delay and reverb treatments, which is something that a number of other libraries I’ve heard struggle with. If there’s too much going on in a sampled loop it can be difficult to fit anything of your own convincingly around it, but there’s lots of space to manoeuvre here, and you can always drop out any layers you don’t want, given the construction-kit format. The spaces in the rhythm arrangement also allow the carefully applied effects to shine through, and this contributes to an unusually deep and characterful soundfield, which I found very atmospheric.

What really makes or breaks an electronic beat library, though, is the sensitivity of the musicians doing the programming, and I’m pleased to report that my high hopes in this department (based on my experience of the Abstrakt Breaks libraries) proved entirely justified. There’s a real art to bringing together drum machines, edited breaks and glitchy sound-design into something that coherently drives a piece of music forward, but SonicCouture make it look simple. Thoroughly worth the outlay. Mike Senior

DVD £42; Download £39. Prices include VAT.

SonicCouture +44(0)1837 55400.

www.soniccouture.com

Published in SOS October 2009

In this article: SOS Readers Ads GRAB A BARGAIN £693,847 of Second-User Gear for sale now — don't miss out!	SonicCouture Tremors WAV, REX & Apple Loops Published in SOS October 2009 Printer-friendly version Reviews : Sample / Sound / Song Library I’ve been impressed by SonicCouture’s previous Abstrakt Breaks loop libraries, so was interested to hear how things had progressed in this recent new release. Tremors comprises more than 50 mini loop-construction kits, totalling 550MB in size and duplicated across WAV, REX, and Apple Loop formats. Each kit contains a fully mixed rhythm loop plus further loops breaking down its composite sonic layers. For browsing purposes, this setup is great, because you can use the full loops to audition lots of sounds quickly, but you can still mix and match to your heart’s content, especially if you can use the REX format in your music system. 5 At the low end. there’s a good deal of variety, with enough 808/909-style action to please the Roland die-hards but also a range of tight, punchy, and sub-less kicks for situations where you’re already hefting a Manhattan-munching bassline. There’s a definite electro bias (as you’d expect from the ‘dubstep drums’ subtitle), which, despite a certain amount of creative distortion, gives the low-end delivery a direct and sinewy character that always feels like it means business. Above this foundation, you get all sorts of more or less processed electronic percussion, with a good deal of ripping, glitching and skittering in evidence, and although there’s a good deal of variety, there’s also definitely a kind of family sound that holds it all together, which is important if you want to mix and match between loops. The textures manage to remain clear and detailed despite inventive use of crunchy, granular effects and various modulation, delay and reverb treatments, which is something that a number of other libraries I’ve heard struggle with. If there’s too much going on in a sampled loop it can be difficult to fit anything of your own convincingly around it, but there’s lots of space to manoeuvre here, and you can always drop out any layers you don’t want, given the construction-kit format. The spaces in the rhythm arrangement also allow the carefully applied effects to shine through, and this contributes to an unusually deep and characterful soundfield, which I found very atmospheric. What really makes or breaks an electronic beat library, though, is the sensitivity of the musicians doing the programming, and I’m pleased to report that my high hopes in this department (based on my experience of the Abstrakt Breaks libraries) proved entirely justified. There’s a real art to bringing together drum machines, edited breaks and glitchy sound-design into something that coherently drives a piece of music forward, but SonicCouture make it look simple. Thoroughly worth the outlay. Mike Senior DVD £42; Download £39. Prices include VAT. SonicCouture +44(0)1837 55400. www.soniccouture.com 0 Published in SOS October 2009 Home \| Search \| News \| Current Issue \| Digital Editions \| Articles \| Forum \| Subscribe \| Shop \| Readers Ads Advertise \| Information \| Links \| Privacy Policy \| Support	Monday 6th September 2010 Login or Register here Sub PIN or Email Password Remember me Stay logged in Lost password? Request a reminder Not registered? Register Now for FREE No https access? Login here September 2010 On sale now at main newsagents and bookstores (or buy direct from the SOS Web Shop) Click image for September 2010 Other recent issues: August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 >> Access All Issues GLOSSARY: technical terms explained SOS News Headlines Ian Boddy: 30-year retrospective of Electronic Music Feeltune Rhizome TL Audio M1 F8 competition Muse Research announce major price cuts Rappin Da Hood More... WIN Great Prizes in SOS Competitions! WIN Mackie Onyx 1640i mixer worth over 1600 GBP Gear Reviews Technique Classic Tracks Secrets of the Mix Engineers Keyboards+Synths Ableton LIVE techniques Apple LOGIC techniques Cakewalk SONAR techniques Digidesign PRO TOOLS techniques MOTU DIGITAL PERFORMER techniques Propellerhead REASON techniques Steinberg CUBASE techniques Microphones Mastering Sound Advice People SOS Podcasts Video Media

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SonicCouture Tremors

WAV, REX & Apple Loops