Elemental Studio Percussion – Music Tech – June 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Whether it’s a single player grooving on a set of bongos or a full-blown percussion section, there’s something intoxicating about live drums and percussion. Sometimes a simple beat you just can’t seem to get grooving can be brought to life simply by adding some live shakers or congas. Elemental Studio Percussion, then, is the latest library from Big Fish Audio, which aims to be the weapon of choice for quick-and-easy percussion parts.
The 3.25Gb of 24-bit audio comes on two DVDs in order to accommodate the Acid Wav, Apple Loops, Rex2 and RMX formats. There are a whopping 1,563 loops and samples in total, which are divided into eight folders from 80-240BPM, three of which offer alternative time signatures. There are also two folders for non-rhythmic instruments such as the rainstick, plus a host of one-shot samples. From congas, bongos, maracas and shakers to slightly more exotic timbales and djembe, there’s more than enough here to meet your every percussion need.
In a world in which grooves are often quantized, the looseness and live feel of each loop featured here makes a refreshing change. If, however, you feel that some of the rhythms are a little too loose, you can easily load up the REX versions and tighten them up a little. You can also mix and match loops to build up a very fluid, live-sounding performance. The one-shot samples also deserve a mention, as each instrument has been recorded at three velocities to give a deeper sound.
The only downside to these loops is that you’ll have to map them out to your favourite sampler yourself. Overall, however, this is an extremely useful collection of percussive loops that you’ll find yourself coming back to time and time again.
Verdict: A massive collection of useful grooves that can help to bring alive feel to your tracks.
Rating: 9/10
Click here for more information about Elemental Studio Percussion
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