Hadeeth 2 – Music Tech Magazine – March 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
For this new samples library, Big Fish Audio and producer Ara Antranik have gone back to the Middle East to bring us more of the region’s incredible rhythmic diversity.
Hadeeth 2 comprises 66 construction kits, each containing a wide selection of instruments, which, when brought together, can be used to create some fascinating rhythms and polyrhythms.
The loops are provided in three formats: .WAV, Apple Loops and REX, with an additional installer for Stylux RMX. The replication of the audio files means that although there is 2.1 GB of physical material on the disc, there is actually less than 900MB of individual 24-bit .WAV content.
The construction kits have Arabic names such as Felahy, Shafta and Wahda, so unless you have good knowledge of Arabic culture, you are unlikely to find these particularly descriptive, making the task of finding a particular loop a little more difficult.
On the plus side, though, every folder is labelled with its content’s tempo (ranging from 80 up to 170BPM), which at least gives you a rough indication of where to start looking.
The loops themselves – like everything we’ve come to expect from Big Fish Audio – are of excellent quality and include samples of exotic instruments such as the duff, mazhar, rak, tabla, sakat, tar, and duhulla.
Given the consistently high quality and variety of this content, it’s easy to see how Hadeeth 2 could easily make its way into a variety of western production styles as well as anything requiring even the slightest hint of Middle-Eastern flavour.
Verdict
A unique and interesting selection of loops from the Middle East. Well-produced and played. 8/10.
Click here for more information on Hadeeth 2
|
