back again with some more authentic samples from platinumloops

this time we taking it south of the border! And no I don’t mean taco bell….

What is Latin Breaks Volume 1?

It’s a full authentic collection of rhythms and loops straight from Latin America.

Percussions, horns, vocals…

all the various sounds you would expect in an exotic latin musical excursion.

Not just a bunch of bongos, but these sound like full breaks

chopped from complete latin records or performances

Real Latin music played live by real Latin musicians

Quick Specs

• Content: 144 loops and 7 one shot samples
• Format: WAV, AIF, REX2
• Price: $69.95

So how do they sound?

Authentic…and spicy!

One thing I’ve come to notice about platinumloops is when they say Latin, they mean it.  Just like their Arabian breaks product, this product captures the authentic sound and vibe of real Latin music.

The playing and recording is the type of stuff you spend hours getting dusty fingers looking through old thrift store records, cds, and 8 tracks.

These samples fit easily in a movie or tv soundtrack, as well as they next hip hop, pop, or dance tune.

There is a bit of “air” about the samples, that gives it that live feel, maybe because it was actually recorded live.

I found myself just listening to the grooves, not knowing how or where I would use them.

Production is high quality, and there is tons of different elements to mix, mash, and mangle

So what’s the bottom line?

I was really surprised in this library, when I first got it in for review I thought I couldn’t do anything with it.

I knew it was recorded well, but it felt more like something I would use in a movie score and not for making my next production.

Either way, movie score or music production, these sounds can be very useful and inspiring.

I give this collection a solid 4.5 out of 5 subs.

Well produced and well put together, I would have liked to have more of the musical elements, even though there is quite a bit, I felt I could have traded a few of the percussion loops and breaks for some good latin horn/guitar grooves.

But all in all, a great product.

check out the demos on their site, they even have a few loops/breaks for download: Latin Breaks V1

leave a comment below and let me know what you think

Yo, I know I’m always reviewing dope sounds and software, but I want to provide a resource for everyone form the professional producer to the bedroom hobbyist, or the person just getting started with little to invest.

When I first started, I was always looking for free sounds, and there are plenty. I soon found out some where plain illegal!! So in order to keep you away from the illegal stuff, and still allow you to find some good sounds, I put together my list of the best place I PERSONALLY think you should download sounds from.

Sure there are others…but I posted what I’ve found to be quality sites.  Some are all free, some have free and paid stuff, it’s all good. Just check em out.

Who doesn’t like to get free stuff?

Novaloops – http://www.novaloops.com/

Its gotta be Nova baby! Go get over 500mb of free sounds, just join their newsletter…be on the lookout for lots more nova coverage on this site, they are working on some amazing stuff

motinsamples – http://www.motionsamples.com/free_sounds.php

Of course you know we love motion samples around here, so I had to put them on the list. Anything you can get free from them is dope, just like their paid products.

loopgalaxy- http://www.loopgalaxy.com/user.php?op=register

loopgalaxy has been proving free samples for producers for years. This site is run by the same folks that run platinumloops, so you get a nice

collection of free stuff, like most, you have to join their newsletter. So go join it.

p5audio – http://www.p5audio.com/

You know what it is man…p5audio, what else can I say? Go join the list, get ya free stuff, and make sure you’re own the soundsandgear.com mailing list so you can get some exclusive free samples from them…not available any where else

platinumloops – http://platinumloops.com/free_loops.shtml

When I first started looking for samples online years ago, platinumloops was there…and they had free demos in all of their categories. I downloaded all the freebies, I suggest you do the same.

Primeloops – http://primeloops.com/free-loops/prime-updates/

More free samples, primeloops has quality products

so getting freebies from them is a good look in my book

Downlod my drums - http://downloadmydrums.com/

I love this site, it’s just a guy like us…finding all the free sounds he can, getting his friends to give him sounds, and sharing his own sample archive with ya, go support him.

Blazin Kits – http://www.blazinkits.com/soundkits.html

Some of the ILLEST up to date/commercial drums around…

and the free joints are ill too. Support this man!

soundstosample – http://www.soundstosample.com/freeSamples

How about a sample buffet! Tons of free samples across multiple genres for your slicing, dicing, and looping pleasure…tell em Joe sent ya

soundsandgear.com – http://soundsandgear.com/free-sounds-and-samples/

so, this dude is crazy right…he be giving out a bunch of free stuff and even goes to other companies and gets them to give you free stuff, you should definitely check it out

share this list, enjoy it, and make music!

Back at you today with another sample collection sent to me from platinumloops.com

Today I’m checking out their cinematic guitars collection.

I know there are tons of guitar sample collections, but if you’re like me you can never have too many guitars, especially if they have a different sound than the rest.

Trust me, these guitars sound VERY different from anything I’ve messed with before.

let’s check it out

What are “Cinematic Guitars” anyway?

Well, to me, they set a specific mood, they don’t sound like straight guitar riffs but more like little soundtrack or movie score type guitars.

But hey, lets see what the site says:

Create a real essence of the movies with these spectacularly atmospheric guitar loops.

These ambient guitar textures are almost hypnotic, with melodic layers of harmony and extensive use of heavy digital delay and lush reverb’s.

From dark and moody to light and positive, the one thing these guitar loops have in common is that true “soundtrack” quality that will inspire your productions.

We’ve included mixed layers as well as each individual guitar part so that you can remix the intricate layers to suite your needs. Use the flash player below to hear some of the layered up loops in their full cinematic glory.

Tempos range from 70 to 140 bpm.

What is the variety like?

The variety is pretty good. You get a few main loops at various tempos and each includes the separate guitar parts for more flexibility.

The thing that stands out to me in this collection is the sound, it’s totally different from the normal hip hop/urban guitar packs I come across.

It’s even different from the general acoustic guitar samples I hear.

They have a totally different “vibe” to them, which I think gives it tons of variety.

There aren’t hundreds of riffs here though, just a little over 60 highly produced guitar loops.

Variety is good, I would definitely had liked to see the loop count hit around 100 or so, but the style is so awesome that I can overlook that.

What is the sound and quality like?

Perfect. I’ve never heard a guitar library like this before. It really sounds like a movie or soundtrack guitar going on.

They can set a certain mood, they are emotional, and best of all they are recorded very well. I have no complaints at all

They are very ambient and have some heavy reverb on them, but that’s what gives them their character, I wouldn’t trade that at all.

What about the value?

This collection comes in right at 69 bucks, a little more than the normal 50 or so for a sample pack yet still under the 99 bucks you’d spend on a sample cd.

I think for the uniqueness of this collection the price is okay, bottom line is that I haven’t come across any guitar samples that sound like this and that are produced in such a way.

I’ve been around samples and sample companies for a while, so the pricing to me for most companies is pretty justifiable, however, if you’re not looking for this particular type of guitar sound, then you probably would want to look for something more “general” in approach.

This is specific, and I think the quality you get for what you pay is fair.

So how many subs? What is the rating?

Since this was such a unique collection, I had to give it a 4.5 out of 5 subs.

I really liked it, I like the mood you can set with these samples.

Chopping them up gives a dope movie soundtrack feel to your tracks, or you may just want to use the various loop parts as the foundation for your track.

Whatever it is, this is the second collection I have reviewed from platinumloops and I have been pleasantly surprised with the uniqueness of their samples so far.

It’s a good collection, but you must know what you’re getting.

It’s not a general all purpose guitar pack, these samples are very unique and specific to the style they were intended to produce.

If that sounds like what you want, go on over and checkout Cinematic Guitars at platinumloops.com

Lemme know what you think by leaving a comment below.

So you ready for another set of samples to be reviewed?

This time I’m on some Arab music….I love ethnic samples.

Problem is, I don’t like clearing samples from records, and I don’t feel right not clearing them.

So I stay on the lookout for royalty free sample food.

Arabian Breaks, inspiration all day and all night

When I looked on the platinumloops website, I saw TONS of content.

But the new arabian breaks product looked very interesting.

The demo on the site proved they sounded pretty good, so I had to review them on the site. They kindly sent it over for review.

So what’s in the collection?

You get some loops, fully produced loops too. Not just single sitar loops, or single arabian drumloops.

These loops are full and authentic sounding, just like all those middle eastern records in your crates…only they don’t have the dust.

We can fix that with fx though

They also put various one shot samples in here.

Hits, stabs, short riffs, and single notes…so you can get your own creation even more unique.

How do they sound?

They are very good.

I really like how well produced they are, even down to the smallest detail, it’s like they came straight from the source.

The strings, the drums, the voices, all mix together perfectly to give you an authentic middle eastern flavor.

They are not distorted in any way, not overly effected, they are just right.

What’s the bottom line?

The bottom line is this is one of my favorite sample packs this year!

The variety of the various produced loops gives you tons of music to samples.

The fact they are fully produced and not just single instruments also gives you a more authentic sound.

I’m giving this collection 5/5 subs because it’s just a must have for anyone that likes to have some world sounds in their music.

Go over to platinumloops.com and checkout arabian breaks….

tell em Joe sent ya, maybe they’ll gimme some samples or something

So what do you think about these arabian sounds?

Let me know below by leaving me a comment, I want to hear your opinion.