Sample Libraries

• Solo Brass **** • Solo Woodwinds ***** • Solo Strings ***

****** 6/5 stars! Dave Stewart is a skilled musician and composer who's been reviewing sample libraries in SOS for years. With so much experience in this area, Dave has produced a library of his own, and rather than sampling conventional instruments, he's focused on a collection of unique instruments built up over many years.

Steinberg and Wizoo's latest collaboration aims to provide high-quality string sounds at an affordable price, with a software interface to make string arranging so easy that even drummers can manage it. Have they succeeded?

PMI's second Grandioso library takes a thorough approach to capturing every nuance of a Bösendorfer Imperial 290 concert grand piano.

5***** We check out the mighty Fender Rhodes 73 Stage Piano, brought to you in a new 3GB sampled version by the Danish company Scarbee.

An awful lot of blowing went into Dan Dean's new orchestral release - but is this the wind of change, or just a great deal of hot air?

Score = ***** 5/5 stars. Garritan has released GOS Lite, a three-CD version of GOS available in either Akai or Giga formats using samples from the full library.

Score = **** 4/5 stars. Named after Waldorf's Microwave synth of the same colour, Orange consists of 216 NN19 presets, 12 Redrum kits and 65 REX2 loops on a single CD-ROM.

**** Score = 4/5. Many libraries offer a French horn ensemble within their menu of brass sections, but this is the first horns-only release we've come across.

**** Score = 4 stars. AMG add to their growing Catalyst series of sample libraries with this two CD collection.

**** 4/5. Bardstown Audio has collected together nine classic accordions in this two-CD Giga-format collection, and all are sampled from instruments made in the 1950s, when they were hand-made to high standards.

***** 5/5. Zero-G have reworked the entire contents of their extensive library into a single, three-CD Refill package for use with Reason, providing over 9000 individual samples.

**** 4/5. Da Nu Hiphop Era is a two-CD set (both audio) made up of 27 construction kits.

Score = **** 4/5 stars. Cool Vibes consists of a single GIG file containing 80 patches organised into 16 instruments, each with five stereo placements.

**** Score = 4/5 stars. These 350 rhythmic stereo loops, at tempos between 40 and 180bpm, are designed to be layered behind your own drum programming to add greater depth and ambient interest.

**** Score = 4/5 stars. A combination of melody lines and chordal riffs which evoke the golden age of soul.

**** 4/5 stars. We check out this pair of sampled bass guitar titles from respected German developers Yellow Tools.

3/5 stars. Zero-G continues its range of lower-priced 'Pure' titles with this collection of hip-hop samples of drum loops, scratch loops and turntable tricks...

***** 5/5 stars. What does a talented bass player do after developing wrist problems? If you're Thomas Skarbye, you use the capabilities of GigaStudio to develop the ultimate bass sample library.

Following on from the success of their Xtreme Analog library, Emagic have followed up with two more discs of EXS24 sonic ammunition in the form of Xtreme Digital and Xtreme Hip-Hop.

The sampling world, still reeling from the impact of Garritan Orchestral Strings, faces a full-scale onslaught from a fresh challenger.