It’s friday, it’s Big Fish time!

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.

Native Instruments Maschine KILLS my MPC 4000, period.

Okay, so you’ve seen me using it in a lot of my videos and such, and I’ve had it for a few months ever since NI sent it to me back in August or so to review, with the official 1.1 update out I’m finally giving you my personal review on the overall product.

It’s a killer!

Here’s why I love Maschine:

• It’s hands on, but no limits like hardware with memory and drive space
• I can access ALL of my sounds in the same environment, I can’t do that with my mpc, not enough space
• The sound browser makes navigating through tons of sounds very easy and customizable
• It has the same sequencer resolution as my mpc 4000, therefore I can turn off quantize and get the same “feel”
• Each of the 8 groups has 16 “sounds” that’s like 8 mini 16 track sequencers
• Each sound can be a single wave or a multi sampled instrument like pianos, strings, synths, etc
• Each of my sounds has 2 insert fx, each group has 2 insert fx, and there are two master insert fx
• I can change the pitch of my samples on the fly, no need to process and wait for it, just turn the knob
• It has swing and note repeat if you like that sorta thing
• I can change the bit rate of my samples on the fly, plus I have normal filters on each sound
• It’s easy to chop samples, I can copy and paste them by hitting a pad, then duplicate, then pressing another pad, very quick
• Easy to set the start end points on samples for old school style chopping, or you can use auto chop…I rarely do
• Song mode is different from the mpc, but now that I understand it, it’s very quick
• I don’t have to look at my screen for anything if I don’t want to, just the maschine controller
• I can use it to sequence other vsts and devices if I wish…
• NI is updating it and listening to the community
• The real time pattern sequencer is the exact way I’m used to working
• There is a step sequencer that I never use, but some do…it works lol
• Has easy tap tempo, perfect for how I work
• there is a “pad” mode that is pretty much like 16 levels on the mpc
• easy to turn on full velocity

Yeah I could keep going, but you seen the video, I think it’s the illest product to drop in a long time and don’t see anyone taking the crown from NI if they keep developing it to it’s full potential.

Some of my other videos showing maschine in use:

• First day with maschine, opening the box.
• Making a west coast beat on maschine
• Using maschine as a workstaton
• Making a beat on maschine with no samples
• Importing your samples into maschine
• Browsing sounds from Maschine hardware
• Using maschine to sequence vst instruments

Some things I’d like to see in Maschine:

VSTi/NI Plugin support PLEASE!!!!

• Without a doubt, some sort of integration with other NI plugs WITHIN the Maschine environment is a must lol. I’m always on the forums talking about this, I really think it will take it to the next level.  I don’t think NI realized how many of us would want to use JUST maschine…but they made the workflow so good that it’s what many of us have been waiting for in software music production.
• Please NI, give us something. Let us have a lil “rack” in maschine, for NI plugs. Even allowing kore/kontakt player slots would be a nice step…that opens it up to a bunch of sounds and possibilities. I’ll come to Germany, I’ll wear my tie, we can chat about it… I have ideas

Sampler improvements:

• Mainly on the sample editing, not so much for me, but for my homies!  Being able to truncate, normalize, and adjust your slice markers manually is a much desired feature.  Good for us they stated it’s in the coming update, on the forum, so that will be here in the near future.
• MPC format import for those of us coming from that side of things.  Maybe even battery/kontakt import would be dope too…then you wouldn’t need as much support for vst if you could browse/play kontakt instruments.
• Time-stretching that is pretty transparent, but that you can turn on and off and adjust in-case you want to induce some artifacts into your samples
• vintage sample mode, to mimic the sound of the ancient 12bit samplers, always a desire for beat makers wanting a specific “crunch” (coming in next update)

General improvements:

• Possible way to double the number of groups from 8 to 16? Maybe a button? Many use the groups as “tracks” since you can separate stuff easier, or give us a way to have patterns for each sound in the current groups… so we can sequence multiple sounds in a group “separately”.  This is mainly important when creating songs/scenes, it would be easier but may get too complex in the screen…not sure, but would be nice to have more flexibility with the separation of sounds in groups.
• If no vst support, a dedicated synth engine to help get some synth sounds going. Maybe even a dedicated drum synth.
• Some expansion packs, adding more sounds to the workstation.  The sounds are good, but we need more instrument sounds in there.
• Easier way to sequence the scenes/patterns. Let us drag and drop patterns in scene arrange, drag the length of the scene to make verse/chorus/breaks
• Let us rename the groups without having to save them as a kit, just so we can keep track of what’s in a group when putting scense together.

Overall thoughts

Maschine is a dream come true, especially for folks like me that held off on software production because it just wasn’t “hands on” enough. The way most software sequencers work is linear, this is not how I am used to working.

I grew up on hardware drum machines and sequencers, creating loops and patterns, then putting them into songs is how I roll, as do many millions of others.

I always wished I could have access to all my sounds when using my mpc, but I only have access to 512 mb of sounds, that’s not a lot, I have a lot of sounds. Not only that, but being able to browse my sounds as I’m making the tracks is killer.

I really don’t see anyone being able to stop the progress of NI if they continue to listen to users and enlist hardcore hardware and software producers as beta testers, product specialists and product consultants ( i’m open!)

It took a software company to see that people want a hybrid, and to do it in a way that will set the standard for all hardware and software production stations to come.

Maschine is now the standard by which I measure the workflow of a product, it used to be the mpc, but no longer.

If you still have a room full of gear, then Maschine will not replace your mpc in that respect, which has 4 midi outputs.  I no longer work that way, and my whole setup is centered around the computer now.

I can’t wait until I can use ONLY maschine for production, with a few additions and changes, I think that dream is very close to reality.

Maschine for the win… 5 out of 5, 10 out of 5 actually!

If you’re ready, check native-instruments.com or on the easy payment plan at zzounds.com

let me know what you think, agree or disagree, leave a comment below.

It’s time for another native experience, taking a look at some dope software from native instruments.

Today I’m taking a look at Kontakt, their flagship sampler they sent over for me to review.

You can’t be around software instruments, sampling, and production for long before you come in contact with Kontakt.

Whether it’s because some sample company says they support the kontakt format, or a sample library comes as a kontakt player instrument, you’ll see it everywhere.

And for good reason.

Kontakt has become pretty much the standard cross platform sampler for everyone from sound designers and composers to electronic musicians and producers.

It’s a replacement for that huge rackmount sampler you have sitting there… you know, the akai s whatever or z whatever…the emus, all that.

Some may argue it won’t sound the same, that’s fine…at times it may not. But as far as functionality, features, and universal compatibility is concerned, Kontakt is a dream come true.

Why I love Kontakt

Coming from hardware, I was looking for a big replacement.  I needed something to replace the sampling functions of my mpc 4000. It is a full sampler, meaning I had collections of samples in various akai, roland, and other formats.

I need to be able to use all the instruments and kits from my mpc, which are in akai format.

I also want something that I can easily expand, well into the future. Basically something that is both backwards compatible with my hardware sample library, as well as future proof by being able to be constantly expanded.

Kontakt covers both. It not only reads my akai format samples and programs with ease, it is also expandable by the thousands of sound design companies providing samples and libraries in native kontakt format.

This allows you to put together your own custom sound workstation. If you just need better guitars, you can find the best for your music, and bring those in, if you need pianos, strings, bass, whatever…it’s out there and ready to load into kontakt.

The sounds and content

The sound library is good, I like it, it’s extensive, but again, it’s open.

With my fantom, or a motif, triton, etc…you can only expand so much.

After you fill all the card slots, that’s it, no more expanding.

With kontakt, that’s not the case, you can just keep expanding it well into the future.

Of course there are tons of sound design tools inside, but as I said, for me…it’s more used as a huge sound module, and it fills this job easily and effortlessly.

The user interface

With a sampler this powerful, you may expect to get lost, and many are intimidated and never give it a chance.  Let me tell you, this thing is as easy as it can be.

Open it up, load a sound, and play. Each sound you load after that will automatically be set to the next midi channel, making it easy for multitimbral playback.

There are a few features that make it easy to browse your sounds, including the “library view” which gives you a graphical box representing all the kontakt libraries you have installed.

Not all kontakt sounds are actually a library, libraries are made by companies that license the kontakt player. So if an instrument or sample collection says “powered by kontakt, or kontakt player” then Kontakt will see it, and give you a box that shows your library.

From there, you can browse the sounds easily by clicking the browse button on the box, and you get a normal file structure that has your sounds. It’s very quick, and I loved this addition in the 3.5 update, it wasn’t there in Kontakt 3.

But, even with sounds that aren’t actually Kontakt libraries, you can scan them into the database, which then allows you to browse for them easily via a drop down menu.

I just love it, period.

Bottom line is that I’m in love with this sampler. It does everything I need it to, it let’s me use all my sounds from my hardware gear, and let’s me customize the sound library to fit exactly what I want to do.

The fact that so many companies support the format is huge, just like the akai format was in years past, kontakt format is the universal language that many sound and sample providers speak.

That’s great news.

They have recently released version 4 of Kontakt, it has more enhancements, includes a kore style sound browser, some new sounds, including all the presets from their electrik piano instrument.

It also has a new choir, some more strings, and other little goodies. As soon as I upgrade, I’ll do a follow up and show you what’s there in version 4.

If you’re like me and you need a good replacement for a hardware sampler that can use what you have as well as expand well into the future, checkout Kontakt.

Why you should NOT buy Kontakt…

Usually right here I’d tell you to go pick it up, but I gotta be real with ya.

With the recent price changes over at NI, you’d be better to pick up komplete 6 instead of just getting kontakt 4.

Kontakt 4 by itself is 399, well worth it, but when you can get komplete 6 for 499, which includes kontakt 4, it just makes more sense.

Over at zzounds.com you can get komplete 6 for 4 payments of 124.75 no credit apps or anything.

I love these payment plans and once again zzounds.com comes through with the best price for it.

Being able to get Kontakt, the best software sampler around, plus 6 other dope plugins like absynth, fm8, reaktor, massive, battery, and guitar rig, it just makes more economical AND creative sense.

So if you’re looking for an all around sampler/sound module like I was, then Kontakt is what you want. Check it out at zzounds.com

let me know what you think, or if you have any questions.

leave me a comment below.

Aight, got a new company for ya today.

Today we are checking out the first pack I’ve used from novaloops.com

The co owner Don used to be the ceo/pres at p5audio and also brought out a lot of that library while there.

That don’t really matter though, what matters is if these sounds are dope or not.

They sent this one over for review…Let’s check em out.

NYC Hood Anthems chopped loop set…

Making beats that are street certified for NYC? Then you need Hood Anthems NYC Chopped Set Edition. Packed with 414 sample sounds, chops, licks, and riffs in the style of 50 Cent, Jay Z, and other NYC Supastars! The package includes 40 blazin kits that have been spread across the keyboard for ease of use. Mix and match chops to create thousands of new melody combinations.  Hood Anthems NYC Chpped Set Edition is one of those must-have products. Download it today!.  All Chopped Sets products come ready to auto-load into NNXT, BATTERY, HALION, KONTAKT, EXS-24, MACH FIVE, and any hardware or software sampler that accepts WAV files!

What the heck is a chopped loop set?

The first kit I wanted to review was something they do called “chopped loop sets”

Basically, this is a new take on a traditional construction pack.

The various sounds are already chopped up into pieces so you can load them in your favorite sampler.

They even come in popular software sampler formats like kontakt, battery, exs, and reason.

Since I’m always chopping stuff, I figured this would be a great one to checkout.

What is in it though?

It’s got everything you would expect in a construction pack….

You get guitars, strings, synths, bass, keys, etc…it really depends on the pack.

This one is geared towards NY style hip hop so you get a nice collection of funky deep basses, some slick guitars, dope strings, keys, and rough synths.

Some bells, organs and stuff too, all chopped up. They aren’t multisamples chopped up, you get the individual instruments chopped up, tons of riffs and licks in various tempos, very quick to work with and easy to put together.

But how do they sound?

Sound quality is on point, well produced, no junk here. Everything has proper levels, it’s not too loud, too much fx, or anything.

These are definitely very usable sounds, they don’t clash, don’t click, don’t pop, and the riffs are short enough that you can easily come up with your own sounds and patterns.

So what’s the verdict? Are they worth it?

I like this company, the sounds are dope, and so far the customer services is ill. They are doing some great things and I am looking forward to checking out more from them.

I gave this chopped set a 4 out of 5 subs. It’s really good, but I definitely want to see them grow and continue to prove themselves in the sound game, even though the individuals running it have been in the music game for years.

go on over and check em out, they got some dope stuff going on over there, including a vip members club which I plan to cover more in depth in another article.

You can click on the button below and it will take you directly to the purchase page for this product.

NYC Hood Anthems chopped loops set  

let me know what you think about the samples, the video, or the company.

leave me a comment below.

It’s no denying it, we’re in a recession. This is true…but we still gotta make beats and we constantly want to get new stuff.

Many of you may remember Kicksandsnares.com they were one of the ILLEST drum providers online. Do to sound pirating and sharing, they shut that site down.

But the drum fiends wouldn’t let them leave lol. So many kept buggin  them, that they started DrumClub500.com a 500 members only drum and sound sample site.

for only 29.99/month you can get new sounds and drums, exclusives…. multiple times a week.

Great idea, definitely a dope service.

But then…..

They wen’t on and made the equivalent of legally selling crack online…. 10 packs.

They broke some of their dope kits into small bite sized packs of 10…. and they are selling them for 2 bucks.

No lie…and they are the same high quality, insane bangin sounds as before… but only 2 bucks.

Need some new snares? Grab 10 for 1.99 real quick…maybe you need a new kick?

Go through the demos and see what you want, it’s only 2 bucks.

I told PJ, the owner…he is going to create addicts and fiends, told him he was crazy for putting stuff out at that price that pretty much is CRUSHING the competition when it comes to drum sounds.

His reply?

“We in a recession dog!” hahaha

He’s cool peeps, you def need to go check them out, bookmark them, and build up your drum library on a budget.

There’s NOTHING budget about these sounds…I still think he crazy, but as a sound hound myself, I absolutely LOVE IT.

10packsonline.com

I know I know…what up wit Scott Storch?

He blazed the charts for a while, then….I dunno, last I heard it was some money issues.

It’s all good, things happen, what you can’t front on is that dude is NASTY when it comes to the keys.

So today we looking at some Storchy style piano samples sent in for review from p5audio.

Just what is the Scorchin Piano collection?

from the site….

Scorchin Piano Producers Pack contains the both the Loops and the Licks from the Scorchin series!  We are talkin 152 Piano Loops in the style of Dr. Dre and Scott Storch,  nearly 900 licks cut from both our Scorchin Loops and from tons of bonus tracks in the session!  These loops and licks are recorded on a Beautiful Grand Piano through class A microphones, Apogee converters and an Avalon Preamp.   From the haunting dark piano riffs of Dre, to the edgy sounds of Scott Storch this product is chronically smokin!!!

Scrochin Piano Licks contains 152 Piano Loops, and nearly 900 Piano Licks in ten popular hip hop tempos.  They are mapped across the keyboard for easy use in your favorite sampler.

Scorchin Piano Producers Pack contains the both the Loops and the Licks from the Scorchin series!  We are talkin 152 Piano Loops in the style of Dr. Dre and Scott Storch,  nearly 900 licks cut from both our Scorchin Loops and from tons of bonus tracks in the session!  These loops and licks are recorded on a Beautiful Grand Piano through class A microphones, Apogee converters and an Avalon Preamp.   From the haunting dark piano riffs of Dre, to the edgy sounds of Scott Storch this product is chronically smokin!!!
Scrochin Piano Licks contains 152 Piano Loops, and nearly 900 Piano Licks in ten popular hip hop tempos.  They are mapped across the keyboard for easy use in your favorite sampler.

Do I have to sound like the Pianoman man?

You know how I feel about “producer” kits and samples.

I don’t really want to sound like a specific producer, I more like to have generally good samples, not specific producer kits.

So when I broke these open I wasn’t sure what I’d have to do…would I have to run over to p5audio and smack someone around?

Hmmmm….I’m not all into smackin folks unless they deserve it!

What do they sound like? Are they quality?

Like all of p5audio samples we’ve looked at, the quality is top notch.

They never put out anything less than awesome when it comes to the quality of the recording.

No distortion, no clipping, no drowning out the sound in effects.

Good, clean, crisp piano samples.

What about the variety? Will I sound like a “Still Dre” clone?

Nope! I’ll admit, I was worried about this too.

But the riffs and loops in this collection are all over the place, various styles are covered.

Of course Storch didn’t have just one style, so that’s good that they didn’t focus only on “Dre” style pianos.

There’s stuff in here for those mobb deep bangers, them slim shady salutes, and many more types of piano styles.

Yes, there is that classic Storch/Dre magic in there ready to feed your favorite sampler.

What’s the verdict man? Do they get the approval?

Good quality, tons of loops and samples, and a great variety.

This makes for a good collection, a very good collection.

It was much more versatile than I expected, I thought I was going to have to hand out an average score for this one.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5 subs.

Very solid product from a proven leader in sound sample production.

I suggest you go on over and checkout the scorchin piano samples. You can get loops, or licks, or like me…both.

Let me know what you think below. And I also want to know what you think about “producer” sample collecitons.

Lets discuss it, leave me a comment below.

So, I’ve been learning and playing with Maschine from Native Instruments…I must say it’s awesome.

I’m currently using the beta update so as soon as the full update is released I’ll give you my review.

But I’m still going to show you little tips, tricks, and some of the workflow.

In this video I just want to show you how easy it is to import your samples for use in maschine.

When you do it this way, you can browse through your own sounds right from the hardware controller, just like internal native instrument sounds.

This is important for me, as I use maschine without having the monitor on or the software is minimized. I do EVERYTHING from the controller.

Maschine is dope, straight up, probably my favorite released product so far this year. Serious.

What do you think?

It’s that time for another review, soundhounds unite!

Today I’m checking out a company that is new to me, gotta love social media.

I found out about them on twitter, their name is Fatloud.com

When I first went to the site I was impressed with the look, then I heard the demos, had to get my hands on them!

We are checking out their “Club Synth” collection that they sent me to review today…so let’s get into it.

What’s up with ANOTHER Club Synth sample kit?

Well, I feel you can never have too many synths!

And like I said, the design on their site was sexy so I had to check it out, the demos seemed to be pretty good as well.

In this one you get over 100 royalty-free sounds, and they come in wav and rex format.

Upon first listen, I notice the quality of the sounds, always a good thing, especially for my first experience with a company.

How does it sound?

Sexy!

Real talk man, I’m a sucker for a well produced sound library and this one is up there.

There is no hint of distortion anywhere to be found, unless of course, it’s a distorted synth!

The production isn’t stale or robotic and it actually sounds like something a producer would be making for their own tracks.

Meaning they have feeling and not just a bunch of arpeggiated notes stuck together.

What about the variety?

The variety is just as good as the sound quality.

There are tons of different styles that will work for pretty much everyone.

They are long enough to chop up, but dope enough to loop as is.

Of course you know I love to chop so that’s what I did.

There are skinny piercing leads, fluffy lush pads, and dirty club drones all mixed in this lil package.

This is definitely a keeper.

So what’s the final verdict? Should You get it?

I say, if you’re a soundhound like me, and I think you are, you’ll want to checkout the noise going on over at fatloud.com

The sounds are quality, the variety is top-notch and I’m expecting big things from them.

I gave them a 4.5/5 subs on this collection, I really think it’s a great one to have in your arsenal.

I love to have a choice, and I love options.

For a while, it seemed like there were only two or three companies to get sounds from, but as I continue to explore, I continue to find folks like fatloud out there.

There are some gems to be had out here folks, audio fanatics rejoice with me!

And while you’re in a good mood go on over and checkout fatloud.com