Drumsound & Bassline Smith: Studio Technique [Sample DVD]

Eclectic samples from DnB pioneers Drumsound & Bassline Smith

April 4, 2009, 01:14 AM

Drum and Bass is an odd genre. When used in a unique way it can be amazing but A LOT of it seems to sound quite similar. Everyone these days just tries to make it faster and when I hear Drum and Bass I just imagine a plethora of kids in the clubs popping their heads off on pills whereas I find it hard to imagine someone sitting in their house chilling out to it. Kind of a crap example but the point was to demonstrate the sheer limitations of it as a genre and I found this to be exactly the same with the Studio Technique sample DVD.

Putting together a new song using these samples I did my usual and patiently sat through the hundreds of WAV samples, carefully putting aside the ones I liked and knew would work well with what I was doing that day. The problem I found was that I had enough samples to use in one song but after that I was about done. A DVD full of samples and for me the disks usage was over after I had crafted just one song which when spending 40 quid is highly disappointing. I am sure that specific Drum and Bass Producers might have a bit more use out of this sample disk than I or other chameleon producers but a lot of the samples on this disk seem like repetitions of something already past and they all seem to kind of blend into each other a little. My personal favourites were the heavier synth sounds a la The Prodigy and some of the beats and glitches. My biggest let down on the entire sample disk was the basses that just didn't feel bassy enough for me. That's what was most disappointing. Imagine it being like an 11 track album. 3 of the tracks are mind blowing and the rest just sound the same and that's about where you are with this disk, it just falls shy of greatness even though there are moments of brilliance.

Tech Specs:

• Over 600Mb of Original Content
• 385 total samples
• 150 Loops available in multiple formats such as Refill, Apple Loops, Acidised Wav, Rex2.
• 18 Bassline Loops
• 63 Drum Breaks
• 10 Pad Loops
• 18 Phantasm Loops
• 39 Music Loops
• 96 Bass Sounds
• 8 Drones
• 32 Drum Hits
• 52 SFX Samples
• 27 Hard Leads
• 17 Pad Sounds,
• 130 Ready to play patches for NNXT, Halion, Kontakt, SFZ, EXS24, and compatible soft samplers.

Genres: Drum and Bass, Breakbeat, Breaks and Artist Series

Formats: Wav, Acid, Rex2, Reason Refill, Live Pack, Apple Loops, Halion, Kontakt, EXS, SFZ, Stylus RMX, Live Presets and NNXT.

This disk is an ideal buy for anyone looking to work with BPM's greater than 160. If you never raise your tracks that high from a techno perspective then this might not be for you. Top quality stuff from Loopmasters as always just very niche in it's purpose and usage.

Where to Buy?
Drumsound & Bassline Smith: Studio Technique - Time+Space | Virtual Instruments, Sample CDs, DVDs, Hardware and Software