Let’s get into it!

Today I’m taking a look at something that will excite those that tend to venture out into video game, media, film, trailer, and other forms of epic style music.

Sometimes you just need BIG DRUMS….

Thankfully Cinesamples felt the same way, so they decided to create Drums of War!

What is Drums of War?

Exactly what is sounds like, a library dedicated to HUGE, epic, booming drum/percussion.

It is a small, laser focused collection dedicated entirely to cinematic drum sound.

It’s not a “general use” drum library, it is a sample library made for very specific reasons.

If you’re the type that like to use big drums for battle scenes, chase scenes, monster steps, alien warship invasions, or the terrible twos of a toddler then it’s worth a look.

Quick Specs

• Content: 14 dedicated drum patches in 48k/24 bit or 96k/24 bit
• Format: kontakt and exs
• Price: $99 (48k/24 bit) and $129 (48k/24 bit)

How does it sound?

That’s the whole reason to look into a library like this, for the sound.

I really like the tone of the preset patches, they definitely deliver on the “huge” drum sound.

But what I really like is the simple eq/dynamic controls on the front panel that allow you to customize your sounds quickly.

If something isn’t “big” enough for you, it’s easy to tweak it to get exactly what you want.

I also like that it doesn’t really have that “orchestral percussion” feel that seems to come with most “cinematic” percussion libraries.

The fact that I’m free to use my own reverbs and such, and that the initial tone and quality of the drums are so up front is a plus.

I’m sure this has a lot to do with my personal preference, as I love these types of sounds, epic, and emotional.

So what is the bottom line?

The bottom line for me personally is, I find it hard to find any faults in the library.

Reason being, it’s very specific in it’s scope as well as it’s target user base.

Looking at it in light of it’s intention, I say it lives up to it’s purpose quite easily.

I give this a 5 out of 5 subs, I just really like how simple, straight forward, and great sounding this library is.

You don’t have to dig through thousands of patches to find what you need, and no matter how much you use it, this sound will never become “old” , it could quite literally be the main “big drum” library you use any time you need that sound.

Checkout the demos, (drums of war at  big fish audio) and see what else is coming out of Cinesamples, if this library is any indication, then you owe it to yourself to see what else they have in their product line.

let me know what ya think!

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Today I’m reviewing one of the new products from the “Beat Warrior” series that Nova Loops created exclusively for Big Fish

This one is all about the melodies, so let’s check it out

What is Platinum Synth Melodies?

It’s a collection of construction sets made up of nothing be melodies.

No drums in site.

These are specifically…synth melodies.

You get a nice collection of bass, strings, pads, leads, etc…

produced in styles useful for pop, rnb, hip hop, and other urban music.

Quick Specs

• content: 428 MB
• format: apple loops, wav, acid
• price: $49.99

How does it sound?

I’ve been a fan of Nova Loops for a little while now, I’ve always loved their melody lines, to me they were always a step above the rest, especially in RnB.

This library surprised me in the fact that they showed versatility by mixing in a lot more of the synth/pop side of things and not just rnb/rap.

They do pop very well, but this one especially had a very light euro feel mixed into it.

The styles of the loops were done right as well as the recordings, I absolutely loved some of the pads, very ambient.

They deep bass lines show what I mean about their melodies, it’s always so smooth, very good sound and good production.

There is a good variety of club, rap, pop, euro, smooth and rnb style melodies to mix, match and chop.

What’s the bottom line?

Bottom line is I really like the idea of getting nothing but melodies from the Nova Loops label and I’m glad Big Fish is exploring these types of libraries.

Perfect for those that may not be the best at certain styles, or just want variety, or maybe you just like DOPE SOUNDS.

This is a synth collection, and I can’t really find anything missing, maybe a few more west coast style leads since these guys live out in Cali

I give this a 4 out of 5 subs, it’s very useful with a great quality and a nice price.

The price is even better when you use the promo code: NOVSS1 to get $7 bucks off any Nova Loops product at Big Fish until 6/30/2010

So go on over and check them out, and add some dope melodies to your collection: www.bigfishaudio.com/novaloops

Checkout These Other Related Articles

• Big Fish Audio Rotation Hip Hop samples
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today I’m reviewing some urban hip hop samples

this one is called “Rotation Hip Hop”

let’s check it out

What is Rotation Hip Hop?

The idea of this library is to provide you with a collection of “radio ready” sounds and samples.

Not just one style but any and everything you’d be likely to hear on any popular urban radio station.

The crunk club smashers, the urban rnb vibes…

the chopped/pop sample style music, synth based euro gangsta lol…

you get the idea.

This is just a large collection of popular and contemporary sounding samples

Quick Specs

• Content: 2gb 24 bit wav files (4.68gb all together across formats)
• Format: wav, rex, acid, rmx, apple
• Price: $99.95

How does it sound?

It sounds like urban music…period.

I won’t lie, I was expecting some corny attempt to capture the current “trendy” style of music, I expected it to be one-sided.

This library has a lot of various styles from east to west, north to south, club to street, it’s all covered.

The production style is on point, the sounds especially keys and strings are organic, the drums bang, the synths are nice.

Everything is recorded and produced with a certain “sheen” on it, but yet still captures everything you’d expect from the particular genre it’s going after.

There are even some random vocal and other samples to give you that chopped, vocal, sample vibe yet still keeping it radio ready.

What’s the bottom line?

Bottom line is I was very surprised by this one.

I was really expecting another cliche’ “urban” library that wasn’t really a true representation of what urban music sounds like.

Especially with words like “radio ready” being used, but this was a nice, thorough collection of  various sounds.

The keys were very organic, and I really loved the clean punchiness of the drums.

I give this library a 4 out of 5 subs, it’s really good…I can definitely see this getting quite a bit of use, from the drums to the various samples.

Go on over to Big Fish and check out their demos of rotation hip hop

this just let’s me know not to overlook a library because I think it will be corny, you just never know.

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This week I’m checkin out the old school flavors of Vintage RnB

Let’s check it out!

So what is Vintage R&B?

It’s a library that captures the sounds of that old school Motown and Stax Records.

It brings that live, raw, authentic sound from the 60′s and 70′s right into your sampler.

No need to dig in the crates and pay huge royalties.

You can just throw some of these loops together, slice, dice, and create.

Live drums, horns, guitar, keys, bass, etc…

all recorded in that old school style.

Quick Specs

• content: 1.9gb wav, 1.9gb apple, 1gb rex, 2.15gb multi track drum files
• format: apple loops, rex, wav, rmx
• price: $99.95

How does it sound?

This is another superbly recorded and performed collection from Big Fish

It’s funky, it’s live, and it’s got that “groove” you would expect from a collection of vintage records.

Everything is recorded tight and “in the pocket” ready to add instant feel to your music.

The drums are nice, and fun to chop up, of course there are some funky brass riffs in here that many will love.

Good quality, good production, and true to it’s intentions.

What’s the bottom line?

I like this collection, I’d use the loops together to make custom samples that I could then chop up.

I was expecting a lot more vintage keyboard sounds.  There aren’t very many rhodes, wurly, or clavi sounds.

Plenty of organ and piano, but I expected more keyboards…and some more strings.

All in all, it sounds like you’d expect, and is definitely a good library.

I give it 4 out of 5 subs, good solid collection that fills a specific need.

I’m definitely looking to more in this style from Big Fish, as they were able to capture the feel dead on.

The inclusion of multi track drums adds to the value and allows you total control over the drum tracks without losing the groove.

You can download a free demo kit from the pack here: Vintage R&B demo kit

You can also checkout the product page: Big Fish Audio Vintage R&B library

let me know what you think

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Today I am checking out something a little different.

It’s a construction kit type of product, but with a twist….NO DRUMS

let’s check it out

What is Urban Inspiration?

It is a deep collection of urban/hip hop melodies and loops, no beats, no drums, just the sauce.

It’s for those that don’t or rarely ever use drumloops, or those that have an extensive collection of drumloops and just need some stuff to lay over them.

It’s got keys, bass, synths, strings, brass, flutes, guitars, and fx….but no drums, no percussion, and no drumloops.

It’s pretty much what I do to any library I get, I take them out of construction kits, put them in folders according to their kind, and most times delete the drum loops.

Sometimes I keep a few and make a drum kit, but you know what I mean.  This is nothing but the melodies, ready to loop, slice, chop, or splice into your next track

Quick Specs

• Content: 50 construction kits, over 1.03gb of wav files (smaller sizes for rex and apple)
• Format: apple loops, rex, wav
• Price: $59.95

How does it sound?

It’s sounds pretty good, pretty much like what you’d expect.

It’s well produced with a lot of variety. Honestly, it sounds like a construction kit library wit the drums missing.

Not that you’ll actually miss them, but it’s put together just like any other construction kit library, 3-5 loops or more in a kit, various parts of the track.

There’s enough here to please pretty much anyone, from the experimental edgy synth lovers, to the mellow minor chord lovin hip hop producers.

They even through a bunch of hits and stabs in there, for those that like that choppy east coast style.

This collection is made up of pristinely recorded audio with enough variety in there for it not to get old fast.

So what’s the bottom line?

It’s a decent library, pretty much on par with most of the other libraries available from Big Fish.

It’s not the cream of the crop, top of the heap, but it’s a good collection of very usable sounds and fresh production

One thing I didn’t like is the fact that, like construction kits, the loops don’t always start on the first measure of a bar.

No problem really, but since it’s all melodies, I would have preferred it to be a bunch of loops that start on the 1, however that’s easy to work around, especially when you’re chopping them up.

I give this library 4 out of 5 subs, I like the fact that they made a library just for the melodies, many of us prefer it this way as we have our own library of drums.

Definitely check it out if your looking for some riffs and loops to add to your collection, the price proves you don’t have to break the bank to get a large collection of usable loops.

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Today I’m checking out a single instrument from Big Fish Audio.

The Prosonus Grand Piano.

My reason for doing so is because it comes in akai format, and since Native Instruments Maschine now imports akai format, I wanted to test it out on a native akai library.

So let’s check it out.

What is the Prosonus Grand Piano?

It is a sample Steinway grand piano, optimized for use in digital samplers.  This library comes from the days when a piano wasn’t multiple gigabytes in size.

The largest patch in this library is 128mb, may not sound large, but don’t let that fool you.

Remember many keyboard workstations don’t even come with a gig of sample rom.

So size isn’t always equal to quality

In addition to the 128mb patch, you get the same piano in 64mb, 32mb, and 16mb, each size comes with more/less detail, with 128 being the most detailed.

How does it sound?

It actually sounds pretty good, in a day and age when physically modeled and extensively samples pianos are the norm, this well sampled, well programmed library can stand with the best of them.

You get more detailed instruments depending on which program you load.

The 16mb is sampled in major thirds and 1 velocity level, the 32mb patch is major thirds in 2 velocities, 64mb patch comes in with whole steps in 2 velocities, while the 128mb patch is sampled in half steps in 2 velocities.

I know what you’re thinking…only two velocity levels?  Trust me, it still sounds great.

The tone is clean, ready for your own reverb or other processing.  This is an example of the great sampling and programming companies had to do when memory was more of a luxury than a commodity.

What’s the bottom line?

The bottom line is it’s a solid, good sounding piano.  My main goal was to test the akai format in Native Instruments Maschine, so anyone looking for a plug and play way to expand the stock piano sounds in Maschine should definitely check this out.

The price is right, the size is right, and the sound is nice.

I gave this a 4 out of 5 subs.

I think it stands it’s own ground in a world of gigantic multilayer piano libraries.

If you don’t feel like loading up a 2 gig piano patch, check out the Prosonus Grand Piano over at Big Fish: Prosonus Grand Piano

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I got word from Donald Johnson over at Novaloops, they just sent their first two products to Big Fish, which is only the beginning of their new EXCLUSIVE line of sample libraries to be distributed through Big Fish Audio.

Hustla Anthems Dirty South Edition and ATL Dirty South Music are just the first of many new exclusive libraries that will be flooding the Big Fish Audio distribution channel.

I know these guys personally, I know how hard they’ve been working to make this a reality, and I KNOW the quality they put out.

So get ready, I’ll let you know the second they are available on Big Fish’s website!

in the meantime, make sure you go checkout all the new goodies they have over at novaloops.com

******UPDATE******

The products are available for purchase at big fish right now: Novaloops at Big Fish Audio

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Today I am reviewing another library from Big Fish and eQuipped Music.

Yes, eQuipped, the same  ones that made smoker’s delight, smoker’s relight and breakbeat jazz…all high quality libraries.

Premier Beats and Hip Hop Instrumentals is another entry into the realm of laid back, turntable, breaks and bits based music.

let’s check it out!

What is Premier Beats and Hip Hop Instrumentals?

It’s a great big dose of raw and rugged hip hop sounds, complete with the vinyl dirt present.

It’s two dvds full of mpc style breaks, chords, instrumentals, drums, fx, and other sounds.

It has that feel of taking hits and stabs from various records or other musical pieces, performing audio heart transplants….

and creating something totally new from the gumbo of sounds you’ve gathered.

In the eQuipped style, everything is raw, authentic, high quality, and inspiring.

From smooth ep chords to bouncin bass and random stabs….

enough to satisfy even the most dedicated crate digger.

Quick Specs

• Content: 2 dvds 8gb total (multiple formats)
• Format: apple loops, rex, refill, wav
• Price: $199 for the physical dvd package, you can also get it in 3 download volumes for $49.99 each

How does it sound?

Really, you shouldn’t have to wonder about this.  eQuipped Music ALWAYS brings the heat!

How they manage to keep things raw, grimy, and dirty yet pristine in quality is beyond me, but they do it.

You get small bits and pieces, chords and riffs as one-shot samples to throw into your favorite sampler and just go to work.

They also have these same chords and riffs constructed into full loops, if you prefer the sound and randomness you get from chopping samples.

As if that isn’t enough, they also have these “instrumental loops” which are the chord and riff loops, mixed with bass, ep, and fx for a full sample chopping feel.

Recording is pristine, just enough “sauce”  on their sounds to keep them unique. I really don’t know what they do to their libraries, but I love it, it has a “smokey” feeling almost, airy, light, hard, smooth, silky….just all around goodness.

Kinda like your favorite fresh warm pie!

What’s the final verdict on Premier Beats?

A+ all the way.

This is an inspiring library, even the packaging is amazing, the dvds look like little vinyl records!

I like how they packaged the sounds in a way that everyone can use no matter how you like to work.  If you like to chop up samples, you can do that, if you just want to chop specific parts like the chords you can do that.  Even if you want to take the various chords from throughout the library and put them together yourself (I think it’s somewhere over 1000 different sounds and riffs just in the chords section) you can do that.

You get bass, drums, ep, and fx sounds too!  The drums alone are top notch and ready to go, so it’s like getting multiple libraries in one. Each section lives up to the quality and feel I’ve come to expect from eQuipped.

This is a 5 out of 5 subs library, all the way no questions asked. Something you will use for a very long time, their libraries are timeless.

If you want something that you can use, abuse, and not worry about it getting old, checkout Premier Beats and Hip Hop Instrumentals

or any of the other libraries from eQupped available at Big Fish: eQuipped Music at Big Fish

leave a comment below, let me know what you think!

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This is an electro, urban, experimental, minimal styled instrument… so let’s check it out

What is Rhythm Objekt?

This is a Kontakt Player instrument that contains 4gb of sounds created for use in electro, urban, rnb styled music.

The sounds were all created by Jimmy Edgar, a master when it comes to this hybrid style of soulful electro and urban rnb sounds.

You get sounds in 4 categories, Loops, Chords, Experimental, and Drum Kits.

Now these are not just traditional sounds…

they are  more on the electro side, a lot of chords and hits, as well as some nice stabs and pads.

Quick Specs

• Content: 4gb of loops, drums, synths and other instruments
• Format: Kontakt/Kontakt Player
• Price: $199.99

How does it sound?

Electronic.

Pretty much what you’d expect from an electro/urban focused library.

The sounds are very synth based but also smooth and silky.

I wouldn’t call this an “edgy” instrument, as most of the sounds are more lush but you can definitely find some aggressive sounds in the bunch.

As far as the quality, it’s very well recorded and programmed. Again, the sounds are exactly what you’d expect, smooth chords, weird stabs and hits, with a few processed drums thrown into the mix.

So what’s the bottom line?

I liked it, it wasn’t ground breaking in my mind but it was a good solid collection.

I gave this one a 3.5 out of 5 subs, it’s above average for sure, but I don’t feel it’s ground breaking or standard setting.  It’s  good solid library for the specific style it’s made for, but there are plenty of instruments and libraries that cover this style as well.

The thing that sets it apart from being average is probably the sound quality, they really did some good recording on this.  I wasn’t too excited about the actual graphics on the interface but that’s a minor thing.

I could see myself using this as “hot sauce” on productions….more for the extra hits and layers than as a main compositional tool.

I like the fact that you get the similar style of instruments that you would find in electro/urban loop libraries, but you get the play them yourself instead of chop the loops.

All in all, it’s a good instrument, and if you like these types of sounds you won’t be let down.

check it out over at big fish: fixed noise rhythm objekt

share your thoughts below

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I had a house full last week so I had to skip big fish friday, but I’m back with something dope for ya

If you like that chopped up, jazzy, breakbeat style of music, then you’ll be interested in this review

of Breakbeat Jazz.

What is Breakbeat Jazz?

Breakbeat Jazz is a raw collection of jazzy turntable style breakbeats and vinyl sweetness.

Laid back jazzy rhodes, flutes, guitars, bass and random musical chords all molten together into a sweet beat casserole.

Oh yeah, and just in case you may wonder if it’s really capturing the breakbeat/lounge hip hop vibe…

it’s made by eQuipped Music.

Yeah, the same ones behind Smoker’s Delight and Smoker’s Relight Deux!

You know it’s gonna sound sweet!

Quick Specs

• Contents: 4gb of drums, rhodes, bass, guitars, percussions, and fx
• Format: REX, WAV, RMX
• Price: $99 for the dvd or $49 for each of the two download pak versions.

How does it sound?

It sounds raw and jazzy.

The drums are thick and crusty, the samples have a vinyl/dusty feel to them and the samples are ready to be sliced.

There aren’t many long loops in this one, the music loops folder provides a nice collection of samples to chop.

The rest of the sounds are mostly bits and pieces, perfect for molding together those spontaneous moments of pure funk!

The keys and bass notes are very useful, when used together or spread out across your keys/pads to form the basis of your track.

Well record, this one definitely has some imperfections in some of the samples, but it’s a good imperfection, which goes in line perfectly with the turntable them.

The sounds don’t force you to go in a certain direction, but simply give you the building blocks for your next musical skyscraper.

So what’s the bottom line?

I loved this library, I thought I would miss the longer loops more but I actually loved the chords and short hits quite a bit, felt exactly like the type of small snippets you’d grab off of a vinyl and build around.

I give this library a 4.5 out of 5 subs, very solid and the drums are sick!  The kicks, hats, and snares come in two versions…lo fi and phat!

I also like the fact that they break it down into two parts and allow you to pay a little less to download half of the library at a time, good move.

So check it out and let me know what you think. Breakbeat Jazz at Big Fish Audio

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