Product reviews

Native Instruments has teamed up with DJ and music producer Steve Lawler and the sound designers of Loopmasters to bring us Dark Pressure, an expansion sound library for the Maschine platform.

Huge sub-heavy kicks, chunky toms, sharp hi-hats, crisp percussion, warm bass tones and crystallized lead synth sounds – all processed with analog gear and MASCHINE’s internal FX – provide the building blocks for muscular techno, tech-house, and minimal tracks worthy of the world’s most respected clubs.

DARK PRESSURE focuses on percussive one-shot samples and a wealth of exclusive pre-programmed patterns – many created by Steve Lawler himself. Fine-tuned for powerful club sound systems, DARK PRESSURE puts an impressive array of four-on-the-floor rhythms at your fingertips – from full-on energy to hypnotic groove and triplet-driven swing.

The expansion includes five full Maschine projects, 40+ individual kits, some pre-sliced loops, 20+ instruments, and some fx chains.

The Maschine projects are basically full tracks with intros/outros/drops/etc. Not something I would consider using in my productions but they do a good job showcasing the type of tunes you can create with Dark Pressure. And perhaps you can learn some new composition/production skills from checking the way these projects are done.

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Early 2010, Dmitry Sches released Ambient Voices, a soundset for the Zebra software synthesizer by u-he.

I was quite taken by Dmitry’s sounds, which I would describe as deep, rich, moving and edgy. Digital sweetness. With such a stunning debut I was kind of expecting there would be more soundsets in the near future, but… almost a year and a half passed without anything new. And then, I find Dmitry announcing something new over at KVR.

Hello! I’m Dmitry Sches and I proud to introduce new software synth – Diversion.

To be honest I didn’t even notice the first line in Dmitry’s announcement, as my eyes were all over the screenshot posted directly below it.

Diversion screenshot taken from the initial release in August, 2010.

I know a good looking GUI doesn’t mean good sound, but a nice interface definitely helps spark my interest. Turns out the feature set is pretty impressive as well.

Diversion has 4 oscillators with waveforms that are done on the fly, in real-time. The idea here is that these generated waveforms (so not wavetables) allow for output with smooth two-dimensional morphing capabilities and clean high frequencies. Sure enough, Diversion sounds clean and crisp to my ears.

Various waveform shapes are available, grouped in basic, fatty, resonant, synthetic, harmonic and noise categories. The X/Y pad lets you play with the timbre of the sound source, usually with brightness and tone parameters (depending on the selected waveform).
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As someone who prefers to work “inside the box” I was pleased to see FXpansion introduce its DCAM: Discrete Component Analogue Modelling sound generation technology with the release of Synth Squad. The modelling of individual circuit components enabled FXpansion to put some of that vintage analog flavor in its digital products.

Much in the same way, Tremor takes drum synthesis to a new level.

Tremor is a software drum machine with powerful synthesis, effects, modulation and step-sequencing. DCAM circuit-modelled sound generation is fused with new ideas to produce original sounds with the punch and extreme sound pressure of old-school analogue.

Tremor’s dance drums, funky beatscapes, abstract machines and undiscovered sonic terrain are suited to all kinds of electronic, urban and experimental music.

Just to make sure we’re on the same page, Tremor is all about drum synthesis. There are NO samples. FXpansion’s drum sampler instrument Geist (the successor to Guru) already covers this base. Who knows, in the future FXpansion might combine the two into something new or provide some add-on type thing, but for now these are totally separate products.

Tremor’s main screen with the step sequencer in the top part, mixer slots and the synth fx panel for the selected synth module in the bottom. Lovely workflow and ditto looks!

As the above screenshot hints, Tremor is a full-featured drum synthesizer instrument. Its main features include:

• DCAM-modelled synthesis and FX
• Specialised oscillator with drumskin vibration partials
• Filtering and drive with multiple responses
• Deep, intuitive TransMod modulation system
• Polyrhythmic pattern step-sequencer

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Precisionsound has recently released Exosphere, a collection of soundscapes.

Featuring corrosive textures, unstable machines, electronic ambiences, and twisted voices, Exosphere is a creative toolkit for film, game, and multimedia sound design, as well as for producers of electronic music.

Exosphere features

• 50 stereo 48khz 24-bit WAV files.
• Over 55 minutes of audio.
• 1 program for all versions of Steinberg HALion.
• 1 program for NI Kontakt 1 and 2.
• 1 program with scripted GUI for NI Kontakt 3 and above.

While 50 samples might not seem like a lot, they’re over 1 minute each so you still get a total of 55 minutes of audio.

The sounds were designed to inspire music composers and sound designers by delivering lengthy loops with a wide dynamic range. To help identify sounds, the files have descriptive names like “Malfunctioning robot” and “Contamination zone”.

Static glitches, radiation crackles, chilling space winds, robotic bleeps, warbled voices, dark pad-like background ambiences… Exosphere!

The included patches map all sounds across the keyboard for easy auditioning. The Kontakt 3 patch also has some controls for Hi- and Lo-pass filters and stereo width.

Listen to Precisionsound’s demos below to get an idea of what Exosphere sounds like.

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So what do I think?

Exosphere is exactly what is says on the tin, a bunch of glitchy, threatening, and abstract soundscape loops. The atmosphere is seriously creepy, with a constant feeling that something is about to go horribly wrong.

The sounds are well designed with lots of movement and variations, without getting too complicated or being overly processed. The vibe and quality is consistent across the library. Organic, mechanical, unsettling, yet intriguing.

Well recommended!

More information: Precisionsound / Exosphere

I count Soundiron among some of the most interesting sound library developers I know.

Whether it’s the 30-voice male chorus of epic choir library Mars, M1 Garand’s rifle sound fx, a tear-jerking Emotional Piano, or the Bronze Bin percussive sounds made with a trash can, Soundiron seems to be able to take any sound source for a proper deep sampling session and turn it into something beautiful and useful.

So how about a bunch of glass pebbles on a beach? Enter Glass Beach.

Glass pebbles at “Glass Beach”, MacKerricher State Park (Fort Bragg, CA)

For this sample library Mike Peaslee went on a trip to record sounds at a place that was once used to dump refuse.

From the City of Fort Bragg website:

Beginning in 1949, the area around Glass Beach became a public dump. It is hard to imagine this happening today, but back then people dumped all kinds of refuse straight into the ocean, including old cars, and their household garbage, which of course included lots of glass.

By the early sixties, some attempts were made to control what was dumped, and dumping of any toxic items was banned. Finally in 1967, the North Coast Water Quality Board realized what a mistake it was and plans were begun for a new dump away from the ocean.

Now, over 30 years later, Mother Nature has reclaimed this beach. Years of pounding wave action have deposited tons of polished glass onto the beach. You’ll still see the occasional reminder of its earlier life, such as a rusted spark plug, but for the most part what you’ll see is millions of pieces of glass sparkling in the sun.

In 50 years we’ll probably be saying the same thing about some of the things we do in this day and age, but… what were they thinking?!
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I never really quite know what to expect when something is labeled ambient. Closest to my personal musical preference, I think of the sounds of Aphex Twin, Biosphere, System 7, The Orb, Boards of Canada. That kind of thing.

For creating Ambient Illusions, Dmitry Vasilyev took inspiration from Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre, as well as the easy listening sound of chill-out collections such as Café Del Mar and Buddah Bar.

Kick back and relax! Prime Loops are extremely proud to announce this ultimate collection of mind-bending ambient & chill-out instrumental loops – prepare yourself for “Ambient Illusions”!

Inside this extraordinary sample pack you will find an addictive blend of over 120 unreal ambient textures, hypnotic arpeggio patterns, mesmerizing chord progressions, intricately crafted sound effects and beautifully sculptured wall-of-sound atmospheres, ranging between 65 and 140 BPM.

The loops have indicative titles, with type classification (synth, seq, music, etc.), tempo and key information included. The samples are quite lengthy (up to 49 seconds!) with an average of ~20 seconds, allowing for progressions and plenty of movement of sounds.

Dmitry steers clear of useless repetition so you won’t find the exact same 4 bar melody being repeated 8 times. Instead you get well thought out evolving sounds that still loop well.

The overall vibe of the sounds is quite positive/light, relaxing, sometimes deep and spacey, never very dark or disturbing.

Have a listen to the official demo track below, which is a good representation of the sounds included in Ambient Illusions.

So what do I think?

I hold Dmitry Vasilyev in high regard. Ever since I came across his work as Cyberworm – offering free samples on his Rhythm-Lab blog, I have been impressed with pretty much everything he does.

Ambient Illusions is no exception. This library is a stunning collection of ambient textures / atmospheres / sounds. Well produced, wonderfully creative, unique and inspiring, there isn’t a single dud to be found really.

This sample pack is perfect for adding an ambient, chill-out vibe to your work.

More information: Prime Loops / Ambient Illusions