You know I gotta smooth it out sometimes, well…my preferred style of music is a mixture of ambient/chillout with some jazzy urban twists, throw in a bit of electronic funk and top it off with some cinematic goodness.
I’m very diverse in my style, but I really love anything that’s just musical, organic, and chilled…
Of course, when it comes to these types of sounds Sample Magic is one of my favorites.
Today I’m checking out their released named Soundtrack and Chill…sounds smooth huh?
let’s check it out
So what is Soundtrack & Chill?
It’s a library dedicated to the smooth, ambient, mellow sounds that can be found in everything from downtempo chillout music to cinematic scores and ambient masterpieces.
It is a collection of keys, music beds, rhythms, pianos and more…all hovering around a smooth tempo between 60 and 80 bpm
If you dig chill, downtempo, ambient, cinematic sounds with an organic pedigree, this is definitely your type of library.
You know I love these types of sounds, so I was anxious to have a chance to play around with it.
Quick Specs
- content: 1.58GB in multi formats including
- format: 24bit WAV, RMX, Apple, Rex, as well as ESX24, Kontakt, HALion and NNXT patches
- price: 49.95 British Pounds (about $80 usd)
How does it sound though?
Organic…smooth…fluffy!!
Seriously, this is really chilled out stuff here, not so much the stuff that you immediately think “beats” or “tracks” but the kinda stuff that atmospheres and backgrounds are made of.
Most certainly myself and many others will turn these into music, but they are not your traditional “musical” loops. Everything here is much more evolving and much of it can stand on it’s own.
The music beds are intricate with various textures and I love how throughout the library you get this pristine warm sound mixed with dirty and gritty samples to give quite the perfect contrast.
If you are looking for a general “construction loop” or typical sample library this probably isn’t for you. But if you like to experiment with verb soaked keys, tweaked out guitars, random noise and percussion turned into rhythms, and things of this nature, then definitely take a look.
The meshing of natural/acoustic sounds with the lush synth and electronic instruments really make for a great library. The recordings themselves are superb, as we’ve come to expect nothing less from Sample Magic.
What’s the bottom line?
Well, you know I only show you stuff I personally like, and if you’ve been around here for a while you know I love these types of sounds.
The fact that you can open them in your sample via patches as well as directly access the loops makes it very flexible, because it’s fun to play some of the beds and evolving loops as short instrument parts.
There’s just a real organic and warm sound in this library, the use of fx and reverb as well as the addition of lofi elements really gives this library some character.
Bottom line is, I love it, I give it 4.5 out of 5 subs, I have yet to be disappointed by a library from Sample Magic.
I know they are more well known for their contributions to the electronic, house, and tech genres, but man they have some really dope stuff that’s perfect for ambient, downtempo, and chilled out urban music as well.
I suggest you go download the free goodies they have over there as well as take a listen to their demos, you’ll notice that the consistent quality of their products doesn’t drop off no matter what genre it is, warm and organic are two words that immediately come to mind anytime I hear one of their libraries.
Check them out: samplemagic.com/products/prod_s17_soundtrack-and-chill.html
also don’t forget they have tons of freebies too! samplemagic.com/downloads.html
leave a comment below, let me know what you think!
No video for this one?
@Soma, Yessir
Forget my last comment, i was with my head into my ass…
@Soma, it’s all good 🙂
Hey SaintJoe,
How about a review of OmniSphere. Been thinkn about getting it for awhile now.
Thx.
@Milton Gans, it’s on the list sir 🙂
@saintjoe,
Curious to see how it stacks up vs. Komplete (which I already bought).
Thx.
@Milton Gans, two different products really, not a comparison, one has multiple instruments and one is a large single workstation. Komplete should be compared to products like IK Ultimate Bundle, etc.
Hey Joe!
I love the stuff this company are doing, great sounds, personally not sure where I would use these sounds within my productions, unless a media company would offer me a placement so I can bring out some of those incredible sounds.
Great Bruh!
@everythingbutthegirl, yeah, when I make music, I’m usually on the more chilled out side of things, I love to incorporate these types of sounds and mix it with my own. So for me, I love this stuff and use it all the time, but I feel you, it’s really a specific sort of library, I just happen to love this type of thing 🙂
thanks for the feedback as always…and hey, now you know where to go to get sounds for that media placement!
@saintjoe@ that’s a def. I like David F
@everythingbutthegirl, no doubt, he’s good people!
I can predict getting a lot of mileage out this one! The organic nature of the textures are sweet. This should definitely be fun when paired up w/Maschine 1.6 to be mangled in an f/x chain especially if a product like Reaktor or Artillary is involved. I wouldn’t mind putting out the $80 on this…I don’t see experiencing the (wtf?!) factor when you thought it was going be hot but it’s not.
SampleMagic is a good add to one’s sound collection especially if you’re into house/ambient/downtempo. I’m hope they continue to produce books like “Secrets of House Music Production”, perhaps develop it into a genre specific series (i.e. DubStep, Downtempo, NY/CHI House,etc.). I’ve had it early on and keep finding myself referring to it time and time again. A very insightful read.
@jamari, I agree with everything you said, you know my thoughts on this type of stuff, and they are right up there at the top when it comes to organic textures. I’m going to have to checkout some of their other stuff because I can see them taking over my library for real when it comes to loops and samples lol, I love this type of stuff!
Sounds are pretty good
@Jesse, thanks for checking it out and thanks for the comment!
They sound Ok but I guess you have to play it for your to get the true sound but thanks for the review
@Mehdo, word like anything else, it’s all depending on what type of sounds you like, folks that like these types of sounds will love it, those that don’t really use this style of sound will not be interested 🙂
thanks for the insightful review…:)
@James, no problem, thanks for the comment.