Review: AudioWarp BOCS (Boards Of Canada Synthesis) Volume 1

Hey what’s good fam!

Hope your week is off to a good start!

I came across a new sound developer over the weekend and felt like it was a good library to start the week with.

The company is AudioWarp and the product is BOCS….

So let’s check it out!

So what is BOCS?

This is a library of 10 pads dedicated to replicating the Boards of Canada sound.

It runs in Kontakt and has a very simple interface, as the focus was put on the sounds themselves.

They used the same methods of sound design as the group themselves, including analog synths, valve amps, 4-tracks,  and VHS recorders.

The goal was to provide some dusty, crusty, airy, dreamy pad sounds that lovers of the group, or even lovers of pads in general would enjoy.

The fact that they labeled it Volume 1 gets me excited for more sounds in the series for sure.

Quick Specs

• content: 698.9MB,  10nki files
• format: Kontakt 5.3 or higher
• price: £4.99 ( about $8 usd)
• product page: http://www.sampleism.com/audiowarpc

How does it sound?

I love pads, if you’ve been following me for any amount of time you know this.

These sounds have a very organic, authentic, dusty vibe to them.

There’s some cool subtle movement going on and in general the sounds just have a very usable quality to them.

These are the type of pad sounds I love, they are very lush but not too pristine, they have some grit, which gives them great character.

The grit isn’t overdone though, not to the point of crazy distortion…just enough to add a little bit of something extra.

These sounds are instantly separated from the pack in terms of their texture, and there’s such a familiarity to the sound, not just in terms of the group they are modeled after, but just the overall character.

I will admit, I don’t know much about Boards of Canada, however, due to the type of sounds I like and tend to showcase, their name has come up quite often in various comments, with people encouraging me to check them out or mentioning that a library has a “Boards of Canada” sound.

After I checked this out and enjoyed the sounds so much, I had to look them up, and they definitely nailed the sound style in my opinion…but for me, it was more about the sounds themselves as I didn’t have a point of reference before.

Without having any expectations, I was already pleased, after looking up the group I appreciated the attention to detail and authenticity even more.

So what’s the bottom line?

If you like pads, go get this, bottom line, nothing else needs to be said.

I give BOCS 4 out of 5 subs, it’s an instantly usable library with a distinct character and tonal quality that is truly fun to play

I’m looking forward to what else AudioWarp comes up with for sure.

The only thing I’d like to see in the future, is maybe a filter assigned to modhweel and maybe some basic eq control.

Honestly though, I didn’t really miss that stuff too much, it’s just a natural habit for me to want to sweep a filter, especially on a pad.

The sounds in the library were designed in a way that makes them very easy to use, and makes you actually WANT to use them.

Go on over and check them out, keep and eye on their page over at Sampleism as well: http://www.sampleism.com/audiowarpc

Leave a comment below, and let me know what yout hink.