Aight today I got something a lil different for ya, but my fellow crate diggers out there will be feeling this one.
Sometimes you just need a “lil something” to throw into your tracks, not a full chorus or verse, but some random sound bites that add to the situation.
We’ve all dug in records, vhs tapes, 8 tracks, tv programs, etc…to find those random vocal samples…
Well know…you can just go to a folder .
Let’s checkout Cylinder Vocals
What is Cylinder Vocals?
Basically, it’s a bunch of vocal samples from an old school recording device.
Before records, before tape, before the gramophone lol…yeah…OOOOOOOLLLLLLLLD School!
The Crate Diggers label worked with the UC Santa Barbra Cylinder Preservation Society and Digitization Project….heck yeah that’s a long name.
Basically what this means is these are from original recordings between 1890 and 1929.
They were digitized, mastered, all that good stuff…but they still sound old, crusty and funky.
Quick Specs
content: 465 24bit wavs
format: one shot wav samples
price: $23.95
How does it sound?
Old lol, it’s just a bunch of old sounding vocal snippets, sentences, phrases, words, etc.
They broke them down into categories including city life, love and women, technology, sentences, words, music, geography, money, etc.
They sound like some old vinyl honestly, very crusty and crackly…maybe even an old radio sound to them.
They are useful, if you like to spice up tracks with vocals, a lot of classic hip hop would use snips and vocals like this.
The right phrase or vocal can sometimes fill in a track way better than an instrument.
You won’t just make beats with this library, it’s more of that “extra” that we sometimes look for
So what’s the bottom line?
I find these useful, like many of you, sometimes I like to mess around with random vocals in my tracks.
Good for making instrumental tracks/projects, or adding some variety to your own songs.
I’m sure you can find tons of creative use for these.
I give this library a 3.5 out of 5 subs. It’s good and usable, but more of an “extra” than anything else.
Those that love digging and chopping will see the use for them immediately.
They sound old, as they should, and they add character…as they should.
Yep, it’s Friday…so get you a big ole plate and get ready for some Big Fish!
Today I’m dipping back into some of that laid back, ambient, on the cloud funk!
Downtempo/Ambient is one of my favorite types of music…there are no rules…you don’t need a super complex beat.
It’s all about the sound and the emotion.
So you know I love to explore these types of libraries…
So let’s see whatsup with Ambient Skylines
What is Ambient Skylines?
A huge, deep, fluffy collections of chilled out, refrigerated…ice cold loops and samples.
This is definitely one that leans more towards the cinematic, emotional….mood setting side of chillout and downtempo music.
Tons of space and ambiance in this library.
You get loops and then a collection of “non-looped” sounds…
which brings a lot of flexibility.
This one gives you all those freezer burned, reverbed out, smooth as butter riffs and loops that you love if this is your type of stuff.
Unlike many downtempo libraries, this one has stuff that is not only good for making music, but great for sound design and sound fx work as well.
Quick Specs
content: 10.88gb total in all formats, 5 gb of 24bit wav files
format: apple, rex, wav, rmx, acid
price: $129.95
How does it sound though?
Well I’m glad you asked, as that’s what where here for.
As with anything from Big Fish, the recording is top quality with no undesired artifacts or glitches.
The thing I noticed about this library, comparing to some of my other favorite downtempo/ambient, is it’s more about the sound and the mood.
The sounds are very light, as well as heavy in ambience and reverb.
I like this, it gives it a different vibe compared to most, which makes it perfect for background music, sound fx, movie scores, games, media, documentaries, etc, in addition to straight up beat-making madness.
Everything in the library meshes together very well, from the electric bass to the airy sax samples. They all have this “cloud” over them…which you have to hear to understand. It’s not a muffled, cloaked sound….but it’s almost something like a “mist” which was sprayed across the entire collection.
One thing I did miss was a folder of dedicated drum hits, I mean there are some kick/hi-hat combinations, and a folder of percussions, but I would have liked to see some straight up ambient kicks, drums, snares. Or even a folder of drumloops ready to be chopped.
Overall the sound captures the feel and mood you would expect when you think of Ambient, not just airy, but also including some nice city/urban soundscapes as well.
What’s the final verdict on this joint?
I like it, I am a fan of downtempo/ambient music, I love to hear it and I love to make it.
This one takes on a different vibe and leans more towards the cinematic/film side of things in my opinion, as opposed to being straight up beat making material.
That’s not a bad thing, as most of the time we like to sample from things that are from film, movies, media, etc…so it gives a different vibe to the music for sure.
I give this library a 4 out of 5 subs, it’s very solid and has a lot of content.
I definitely would have liked to see some more drumloops or drum samples, but there’s enough in the kick/hi-hat loops and the percussion folder to keep you satisfied. I have no problem pulling in a snare or two to mix with the library.
Sometimes leaving the snare out gives you an even more chilled vibe
It’s definitely something to look into if you’re into this type of music and sound.
I got my update for BPM yesterday so I got it installed last night and today I just messed around with setting up the custom mapping.
It’s really deep, you can map pretty much anything, makes it very hands on now.
They also added the Beatbox Anthology expansion, which is basically a library full of tons of classic drum machines.
They added note repeat, with various rates, and undo button (no redo), aux fx in each bank, etc.
They even added midi pad select, so if you hit the pad on your controller, it will take you to that pad in the software…
Yeah…it may seem small but when building/editing kits and samples, this is very useful, because if you forget to use your mouse to go to the next pad….yeah…you just replaced your custom drum sound lol.
Overall some good stuff added, mainly on the workflow side of things. Of course there is quite a bit more kits and patterns included now, still along the lines of dance/urban and electronic styles of music.
They also updated a lot of the content from the previous version, removed some ground noise/hiss that was on some of the samples, and overall just cleaned it up even more.
So this is just a quick vid showing what’s in it, showing some of the content folders, and the various things you can now map to any controller.
I’ll probably do some videos on each part, maybe show how to map stuff quickly, run through some of the patterns/kits for those interested, etc…we’ll see.
Back again with another UVI expansion for Motu’s BPM, as well as the free UVI workstation.
Since BPM is really geared towards urban/dance production, I wanted to checkout the Hip Hop library from UVI
Like the other UVI libraries, this one loads up seamlessly in the BPM environment….
as I mentioned before, I really like how modular the BPM enviroment can be, because you can customize it to how you work, with sounds you want.
Anyway, so let’s see if they get the “hip hop sound” and if it’s useful.
What is Hip Hop Planet?
It’s a hip hop/urban sound library with some very specific features that allow it to integrate well with BPM.
Basically, like many libraries, it’s made up of construction kits, 87 to be exact.
But, where it differs from most, is the way in which you interact with it.
You get data specifically for Motu BPM which includes kits+patterns, kits, patterns, the construction loops, individual sounds, and instruments made up from the melodic elements of each construction kit.
It also works in the free uvi workstation, allowing you to work with the sliced loops and phrases, kits, sounds, and instruments without owning BPM.
Quick Specs
Content: 3.6gb of samples
Format: Uvi soundcard for BPM, UVI Workstation, Mach 5
Price: $149
How does it sound?
Pristine….
Like the factory BPM library, these sounds have that quality and edge that urban music producers will enjoy.
It’s probably because they had it mastered by Chris Gehringer at Sterling Sound Studios in New York…he specializes in mastering hip hop, urban, and rnb music.
I will say this, like the factory sounds in BPM, there is a punch and clarity in the drums that you can’t deny.
And while I love the sound, I am not a huge fan of the drum kit layout.
Personally, I found that the kits were a tad bit redundant, as a lot of the percussive sounds were used over and over in each kit, the rim shots, some 808 style claps, toms, claves, etc…
The reason I mention this is because I think it could throw you off a bit if you don’t look deeper, there are tons of single hit drums and percussion under the sounds folder, which in my opinion, aren’t fully represented in the factory kits.
What I found to work best for me, is I just create my own kits from the single hits. But the kits work well for quick access and you can always customize them with the single hits.
The instruments sound well, but I would have liked them to be full multi instruments instead of the special “x-sample” instruments.
Basically what these are, in BPM land, is the chopped melodic instruments from the construction kits, spread across keys into an instrument. They are for most situations, but they don’t span across all the keys all the time, so sometimes you find a sound you like but want to play it up or down a couple of octaves and it just doesn’t extend that far.
Not a deal breaker, but I would definitely like to see full instruments in addition to the x-sample style of instruments they use in BPM. Think of x-samples as something you’d make if you take a few notes from a record/song, and spread them out on your keys to play.
This is a very common way of creating instruments in urban/hip hop music, it would just be nice to have it expanded a bit into full keyrange instruments that are looped, etc.
There are some very nice bass sounds, as well as synths and even some vocal/fx. They also include the drum kits in instrument format so if you’re using the uvi workstation you’ll be able to pull up the kits, and if you’re using BPM you can pull up the kits in the bank or rack areas.
What’s the bottom line?
Bottom line for me always comes down to sound as you know, and the sound of this library is very nice.
When I first got it, I was a little put off by the arrangement of the kits and felt underwhelmed, until I decided to explore the single hits and then I found quite a bit of usable stuff.
Honestly I think the way the kits are laid out could make folks feel less excited, especially after reading the info and hearing the demos. Just be sure you explore the single hits because there’s much there to be played with that may not be as evident when going through the premade kits.
The synths and other instruments are useful and have a “chopped sample” feel, as if you were to take a note from a record and spread it across a few keys/pads for playing.
They work well and sound good, it would have been even better if they took the source instruments used and made multi sampled instruments in addition to the x-sample, being able to play a looped version of the synths and pads that span across the entire keyboard would allow it to be even more flexible.
At the end of the day, I loved the sound, and once I started making my own kits with the single hits I really saw the beauty of it.
I give Hip Hop Planet 4 out of 5 subs, if they do a part 2, or another urban focused kit, taking into consideration some of my suggestions on the kit layout and instrument creations, they could easily knock it out of the park.
That said, I do see room for improvement, not on the sound itself, which is awesome, but on the overall organization of the kits and the creation of the instruments.
This is definitely worth checking out, especially if you are a BPM user, but also users of Mach 5 or the UVI Workstation will enjoy it, because like I said, the sound quality is just top notch all the way around.
Back with another soundhound, today we checking out some orchestra samples.
This is the first pack I’ve reviewed from Diginoiz, but I’m not new to them, they are a spinn-off label of fatloud, run by one of the producers for fatloud.
So though this is the first official Diginoiz review, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard form this producer.
I decided to check out Urban Avenue…..
So what is Urban Avenue?
It’s basically a collection of diverse orchestra loops geared specifically towards raw/urban music.
Not just strings, it includes horns, flutes, strings, etc…
all are played in various keys, tempos, and melodies..
very useful in urban music production.
These aren’t construction kits ( you know I like that!)
It’s just a big’ole folder of urban styled orchestra riffs and loops.
Quick Specs
content: 100 24 bit loops
format: wav, acid, aiff, apple, rex2, refill
price: $30
How do they sound?
The first thing I noticed about these loops is that most of them have a dark, street vibe to them.
This is in line with the title as well as the description on the website.
What you may not realize from the title, is that it’s a pretty diverse collection, not just strings. There’s horns, xylophones, flutes, and I even thought I heard some piano in there.
Basically it covers various instruments you would find in an orchestra, and gives you a urban slant to it.
The production itself is on point, and it doesn’t get repetitive. That is one thing I’ve always like about Fatloud, and I’m glad to see they continued it in the Diginoiz label.
Where most companies will give you thousands of loops that sound pretty identical, this collection gives you 100 very diverse loops, the styles, the sounds, the processing, everything about them keeps it diverse and thus fresh to use in your music.
Some stuff is slow and melodic, others are big and powerful, while some yet remain small and simple.
Overall you can really tell they take their time to make the most unique collections possible, by giving you as many styles of playing and production they can in one collection.
What’s the bottom line?
The bottom line is that I expect to see great things from the Diginoiz brand, since it is from the same production house as fatloud.
This is a nice, small collection of urban orchestra loops that don’t have the cliche orchestra loop sound.
Not just strings, but including various instruments gives you a well rounded collection, and since all they do is urban/pop music, it has the styles you’d like to incorporate into your music.
Sure if you want realistic orchestra loops, that sound like an orchestral arrangement, there are other options.
But if you want some unique riffs and loops, with a dark and edgy sound, then this is something to consider.
I give it a 4 out of 5 subs, I liked it, it’s useful, so much so that I wish there were more than 100 loops
But I do see the work put into each loop, so, I’ll give them a pass.
Definitely check them out over at fatloud, and don’t forget about the summer sale going on
You all know I’ve been using Maschine for a while, and one question I get quite a bit is how to lay out a song using scenes.
It’s a little different than traditional song mode in a beat machine…
where you just put a pattern in a list and tell it how many times to loop.
But once you understand it…
you’ll be making songs very quickly.
Here are some things to remember about scenes, patterns, and tracks in Maschine:
a scene is pretty much a “snapshot” that holds the state of the current pattern for each group
There are 8 groups, each can have 64 different patterns
Each scene can only hold up to 8 patterns, 1 for each group
Each pattern in a group can hold 16 tracks or “sounds”
a scene will play as long as the longest pattern in the scene, smaller patterns will repeat to match the lenght of the longest pattern
patterns are linked across scenes, if you change a pattern in one scene, it changes in others, it’s best to use different patterns to make changes
renaming the scenes can help you keep track and have a nice overview of your song
I hope this helps you out, if you have any questions feel free to ask as usual. Maschine is very powerful and capable of full productions, sometimes it just takes a little help to understand the best workflow for doing so.
This is by no means the only way to use Maschine, I’ve just found that this way works for a lot of folks used to building songs with patterns, and working on sections.
With all the scenes and patterns it’s definitely very flexible for live use and performance, but that’s not something I do so I wouldn’t be the best person to show you how to set that up lol.
Bought it from someone that wasn’t using it, hadn’t even been registered yet.
I had to check it out for myself.
I plan to have a full review of it, but just like I did with Maschine, I want to spend some more time learning it.
I just wanted to show a few quick tracks and some features I liked about it so far.
Of course you know there will be more reviews, tips, and videos on BPM. Also some comparisons between Maschine and BPM will be coming so keep an eye out.
Basically, it’s a bunch of vocal samples from an old school recording device.
Old lol, it’s just a bunch of old sounding vocal snippets, sentences, phrases, words, etc.
I give this library a 3.5 out of 5 subs. It’s good and usable, but more of an “extra” than anything else.
A huge, deep, fluffy collections of chilled out, refrigerated…ice cold loops and samples.
I give this library a 4 out of 5 subs, it’s very solid and has a lot of content.
What is Hip Hop Planet?
So what is Urban Avenue?
