Samplephonics are a new  sound design company producing loops & samples featuring the composition, musicianship & production skills of:  Ivan Shopov – George Baldwin & Ray Russell.  Their mission statement is to create fresh and unique sounds which inspire and push the boundaries of music & sound.  So, as I was presented with the opportunity to work with the Samplephonics ‘Organic Loop Elements’ sample collection I found myself asking – do these self described ‘Audio Nerds’ at Samplephonics have something to shout about? The answer is a big YES!

Straight out of the box this sample pack – ‘Organic Loop Elements’, the first sample pack from Samplephonics composer George Baldwin – is very impressive.  There are 4 tempo catagories which reflect a bpm range of: 100 – 125 – 140 – 170bpm  and inside each of these are the many sub-folders of loops waiting to be explored.  This refreshing pack provides a cool collection of audio stems produced as musical periods rather than the usual 2 – 4 bar loops common to most loop bundles.  The extended lengths of each audio track can vary from 12 – 17 – 25 bars and longer, which, when considering the nature of the musical content of each stem, is  the right approach.

From the very first audition of the sounds in Samplephonics ‘Organic Loop Elements’ you are launched on a musical journey. The samples are very riff based and superbly produced.  Immediately I was thinking in terms of: Cinematic – Atmospheric – Ambient especially after recovering from the sublime vocal massages of  the sample ‘Freescape’ having returned from the eerie passages of  ‘They’re Here’.  What I also found refreshing in the sound designer’s musical expression was the variety of sound colour used both sonically and by way of musical texture.  Tracks such as: ‘Mechanalia’ would sit so well in any Philip Glass modeled work, and ‘Go To Church’ curiously conjured memories of Floyd’s ‘Thin Ice’ opening.

Although the instrumentation of the ‘Organic Loop Elements’ sample pack is safe, meaning not experimental, it is processed in such an innovative way as to infuse polyrhythmic interest and a sense of the progressive, as discovered in the ‘Waves’ full mix audio stem.  The sound pallette of guitar, bass, vocals & synths lends a timbral consistency and balance to the sample pack which would fit in with a range of genres, including soundtrack, chillout, house, techno, dubstep and drum and bass.

The music content, strong as it is, is produced as a ‘Full’ mix audio track plus seperate stem parts which are labelled with part numbers,  relative bpm and sample key.  Having the seperate stems as well as a ‘Full’ mix track is a cool inclusion from an arrangement perspective because it allows for the layering of the individual parts, variations in musical gesture and textural density.  Also, all the stems are rendered fully intact with the natural fade out ‘tail’ which is a very thoughtful inclusion from a production point of view.

One small negative: I was a little disappointed not to find multiple formats for software samplers like NN-XT, Kontakt & EXS24 etc. bundled in the sample pack.  As a multi DAW user I find it very convenient for the banks to be made available ‘hands on’.  However, these multi formats are available at the point of sale as an end-user option before download of the sample pack.

Needless to say, over the next few months Samplephonics will be unveiling many more sample packs, sampler instruments and synth patches.  I believe that Samplephonics have a talented set of creative minds in their production stable.  A creative collective with enough industry experience to continue producing works of excellence for the many, like me, sample hungry producers & composers out there.  Highly recommended.

www.samplephonics.com

Brought to you courtesy of Soundwrx Digital