10 of the best new sample and soundware packs (April 2017)
Splice Stööki Sound Sample Pack
Stööki is the multifaceted sound and vision collective from London, made up of DJ/producers, Lukey and Jelacee. They rock a UK bass vibe mixed with upfront hip-hop and trap stylings to murder dancefloors in their own inimitable way.
Fans of their recent banger, My G’s, will know what to expect on the duo’s first sample pack for online subscription service Splice - lolloping bass moves, crisp and playful percussion, epic rising FX, and sparse but heavy melodies.
Besides nods to their latest beats, this pack picks through Stööki’s extensive back catalogue of material to present a library of samples taken from favourite tracks. It’s quite the haul, and a joy to poke through. Yet, as with all Splice content, you can pick and choose the choicest bits from this or any pack if you’re a subscriber.
4 out of 5
Loopmasters Drums of Sparta
Despite the name, Drums of Sparta’s 2GB of percussion ensemble loops and fills are in no way ‘Greek’. Indeed, the regions seemingly most represented are Japan and the Middle East, via an arsenal of tubs and metals including taiko, daiko, doumbek, chang, frame drums and bells.
Naming aside, what we have here are 62 sets of ‘cinematic’ stemmed loops/beds (315 samples), at between 70 and 180bpm, most of them four bars long, plus 30 stemmed fills (117 samples). The performances are superb, and the production unfussy yet epic, making for a compelling pack.
4.5 out of 5
SoundDust Untopia
Pendle Poucher’s fabulously outré patch bank for Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere 2 synth consists of 200 presets and 80 sampled sources, and is influenced by a host of equally outré artists, including composer John Hassell, Factory Records legend Martin Hannett and soundtrack composer Christobal Tapia de Veer.
There’s a bit of everything here, from basses, keys and sequences to pads, textures and ‘Electronic Mayhem’, all with a dark, menacing air, and Poucher’s trademark distortion and dirt worked in. The mod wheel is gainfully employed throughout, too. Magnificent.
5 out of 5
Sample Magic Deep Melodic House
Sample Magic once again demonstrates its infallible knack for accurately encapsulating dance music styles without descending into cliché - Deep Melodic House is straightforward in its presentation and sonically on-point.
The 25 stemmed drum loops (165 samples), 37 basslines, 11 stemmed music loops (60 samples) and 26 spacey FX are the headlines, but our favourite bit is actually the Synth Loops folder (63 samples), which is full of lovely, varied lines. With MIDI files included where relevant and a solid array of one-shot drums bringing up the rear, this is a fantastic genre pack.
4.5 out of 5
Puremagnetik ConsoleX
Released in 1997, Ensoniq’s ASR-X sequencing synth-and-sampler workstation was a self-contained production powerhouse, and while Puremagnetik’s multisampled emulation for Live, Logic and Kontakt doesn’t bring you anything like the full experience, for eight bucks you do get 32 of its presets and drum kits.
The Kontakt version is the most basic, its scripted interface offering the same eight controls across the board, while the Live and Logic ones adapt their Macros, Smart Controls and onboard effects to suit the sound at hand.
4.5 out of 5
Sample Tools by Cr2 This is Tech House 2
The follow-up to - you guessed it - This is Tech House brings us a further 500MB of loops, hits and MIDI files in the eponymous genre, as well as 22 presets for NI’s Massive synth.
The 20 stemmed drum loops (100 samples) are bouncy and infectious, the 26 bass loops are appropriately minimal, the 20 synth loops provide a small but well formed selection of top lines, and the 21 risers and crashes are searing and impactful. The majority of your time, however, might well be spent with the six superb ‘Songstarter’ construction kits.
4.5 out of 5
Native Instruments Prismatic Bliss
A veritable giant by NI Maschine Expansion standards, Prismatic Bliss (developed in collaboration with ModeAudio) weighs in at 1.63GB, the reason being that it focuses on far ‘longer’ sounds than any of its stablemates.
Yes, this one’s all about languid ambience, haunting pads, textural melodics and roomy beats. The samples at its core combine synthesis and field recordings to great effect, and as you’d expect, Reaktor Prism and Massive are very much in play, too, with 16 presets for the former and 31 for the latter. Pretty yet powerful.
4.5 out of 5
Loopmasters Urban Stories
Ably performed by UK hip-hop MC Mr Montigue, this excellent library of rap vocals includes ten full acapellas, 90 short phrases with 26 effects-processed variations (“Lyrical incision”, “Back pon da track”, “Push the dubs”, etc), and 33 scratched loops.
The lyrics in the full tracks are of the braggadocious, aggressive kind, and Mr M’s flow is redoubtable. The dry phrases and scratches will probably prove the more useful elements for most, although some of the more stuttery ‘wet’ phrases are well worth experimenting with.
5 out of 5
Origin Sound Eastern Trap
Looking to give your latest trap workout a little more gravitas and musicality? Then check out this serious new bank of Eastern-inspired loops and melodies.
Drawing on traditional jazz chord progressions and (beyond) old-school Egyptian grooves, the peerless Origin Sounds sound designers have crafted a fine collection of exotic sounds to play with. The 379MB of sample content includes a wealth of rich pads, inspired synth lines and some bang up-to-date basslines. Also included are full stems and bounces of some live drum loops, to counterbalance the digital heaviness, and some great world music rhythm percussion files to help you find your timing.
A ten pack of Massive presents only sweetens the deal, and brings home a unique sample set that is sure to bring some variety to your trap productions.
4 out of 5
ModeAudio Disintegrate
Grouped into 12 construction kits (you get Ableton Live projects for each, but they’re very rudimentary), Disintegrate’s 144 loops, 110 tail samples, 47 drum one-shots and 95 MIDI files have a decidedly retro cinematic theme. Drawing on synths and processed field recordings, it’s a tour de force of overdriven basses, wobbly pads, sinuous drones, ambient FX and synthy percussion.
Disintegrate may not be Mode’s most broad-ranging release to date, but its usual sonic craftsmanship and emotive production style is fully evident.
4 out of 5
I’m the Group Content Manager for MusicRadar, specialising in all things tech. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 20 of which I’ve also spent writing about music technology.