Sample Magic Tech-Funk Breaks [Sample Pack]

Audio toys and tawdry noise for breaks, electro and dubstep

April 4, 2009, 12:42 AM

Views: 784   Comments: 0

Tech Funk Breaks is the new Sample Disc by Sample Magic. This CD and DVD double disc combo is produced by Simon Carter (Crystal Distortion) and Steve Young (Hedflux). Coming packaged in a nice looking two disc set there are A LOT of loops, hits and samples crammed onto one DVD. Under the hood you have the ability to play with the sounds in the following formats:

• Audio
• Acid
• EXS24
• HALion
• Refill
• Rex
• Wav

Setting Up
I just stuck with simplicity for this review and used the raw WAV samples which are all 24-bit 44.1khz WAV quality. It seems to me this is the best way anyway as there are more WAV samples on the disk than anything else. What I did find with the 24 bit format however, is that Windows Media Player by default does not play 24bit WAV files and as such I had to make a change to my Windows system to be able to listen to the samples before choosing the ones I wanted to use. It wasn't a major deal though and was found easily by searching Google.


Under the Hood
There is a lot of technical and a lot of funk on this disk so the title is uber apt. A lot of it is tailored to the more electro break sound and the samples are produced very well. Add one of the drum loops to your song to instantly turn it into a masterpiece! The sounds are also very now, so if you're looking for the commercial, popular, more pop oriented electro sounds, this will be the disk for you to buy.

What is really great is the sheer range contained on the disks that all fall within the electro, tech break sub genre. Often you find that some of these sample disks feel like they are cutting room floor stuff [left overs] the artists didn't want to use themselves. This is not the case here, with each sample and hit sounding so great that it feels like the guys approached the recording session as if they were writing songs for their newest album, and then sampled them to allow bedroom producers the world over to collaborate with some of the best producers in the business without having to pay the hundreds / thousands in studio time it would normally cost you to work with these guys. What I really found fun was the detail involved in the booklet. A full equipment list including classics such as Korg ESX1 and Korg MS20 amongst many others there are even some Production tips for people to learn a little from. I found I took some stuff away from their tips so they were defo worthwhile!

The samples are broken down on the disk into the following categories:


Within those categories you will find samples from Dubstep, to straight up house grooves, all the way forward to acid electro and everywhere in between. What's blatant here though is that these samples were put together with the aim of appealing to the clubbing, more dance oriented producers as the tempos all fall within the stereotypical dance music tempo range (125-140 bpm). Bear this in mind when purchasing the disk as if you're looking for more Old Skool breaks this won't be your disk.

Buy this disk if your looking for glitches, vox mashups, razor tight bass lines or more particularly hard hitting electro beats. The beats are what tips this pack over the edge and will make all electronic music producers happy. The only down side is the price tag which is 20 pounds or so more per sample pack than other sample manufacturers. However, if like me you prefer quality over price that won't matter an iota.

Where to Buy?
Tech-Funk Breaks - Time+Space | Virtual Instruments, Sample CDs, DVDs, Hardware and Software

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