Sample Magic Funky House Grooves (2006) part 1 + 2

[supernova777]

https://www.samplemagic.com/details/1/funky-house-grooves

While there are a few great House sample libraries, there are also numerous collections with fewer infectious grooves than a copy of Wisden. It was, therefore, with mixed feelings that I opened up this library from new developers Sample Magic. My misgivings were soon crushed under some enormously chunky drum grooves, which surged forward with a predatory determination I've seldom heard elsewhere. The all-important kick drums are fine specimens, ranging from rich and resonant to taut and funky, and they meld with the other percussive loop elements to give the sound that usually elusive 'smack'.

The drum loops are in three tempo groups (125bpm, 127bpm and 130bpm), and are accompanied by various folders of upper percussion layers, some of which are performances by individual instruments, such as congas, maracas and tambourine. Most have nice, expressive performance touches. However, the mixed-percussion 'tops' tracks are even better — nothing too busy, but with great momentum and a fullness that really shines when you drop the main beat into your arrangement.
sample funky.s

Bass tones are a strong point. A good selection of frisky-thumbed bass-guitar workouts is balanced with a handful of restrained but gargantuan synth loops. Some of the sounds have obviously been designed to stay out of the way of the more subby kick drums, but there is plenty here that could single-handedly tear your subwoofer cone from its surround! Just as importantly, the developers have included enough well-focused mid-frequency content, so even the porkiest of these offerings will punch through on your iPod headphones.

The most inspirational material, though, resides elsewhere: the beautifully programmed Music Loops folder shows an undeniable flair for creative effects processing, while Rhodes and Wurlitzer folders schmooze you with rounded, often pleasantly grainy, timbres, and a folder of lyric-less vocoded loops swish and sparkle magnificently.

To turn to brass, there are too few of the perky section riffs, the trombone recordings mostly lack presence, and the trumpet often comes over as unpalatably piercing, though the sax is nice and punchy. The guitar loops can fill out the texture of a track in a workmanlike fashion, but I wouldn't really look to them for inspiration. The usual token section of orgasmic spoken/sung female vocal snippets is more comic than anything else.

No library is perfect, but the good bits of Funky House Grooves are so good you'll want to charge straight into the studio with them and get working!

Mike Senior

Audio CD, Acidised WAV CD-ROM and Halion, NNXT, REX and EXS24 3 CD-ROM set, £59.95 including VAT. EXS24 and Gigastudio DVD-ROM, £189 including VAT.
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https://www.samplemagic.com/details/14/funky-house-grooves-2