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Wave Alchemy: SFX Collection Vol 1 |
Press Reviews |
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Author: Music Tech Magazine (9/10)
"When it comes to 'doing what it says on the tin', its hard to fault SFX Collection 01 – it is, after all, the first in a new series of collections of FX sounds. The DVD features 1.5GB of 24-bit/44.1kHz WAV audio, with a total of 782 individual effect samples divided into folders of textures, Impacts, Stabs and Acid Hits, Sweeps & Drones, Short FX & Hits, Cymbal FX, Downlifters and Uplifters, plus sampler patches for EXS24, HALion, Kontakt, NN-XT and SFZ.
The sounds range from simple noise sweeps, echoed kick drums and in-your-face hits to more complicated LFO filter workouts and deeper reverbed pads, making this pack relevant to both jump-up and progressive dance styles.
Each sound has been crafted using the finest selection of both vintage and new-age electronic equipment – including the Moog Voyager, Waldorf Microwave, TB-303, Sherman Filterbank and Eventide H3000 to name a few – and the quality is consistently excellent!
Although the majority of the sounds are quite brash – and therefore probably better suited to club music than to most film score work – the Textures folder does contain a superb array of evolving pads and atmospheres that would make a good underscore.
All told, then, this is a great-value toolkit for any club music producer who wants to add an extra sparkle to their track. It could also find a home in a multimedia or film composer’s arsenal. There’s also enough variety to make it useful for most modern music genres, plus a good mix of simple and more detailed sounds.
An extensive collection of world-class, club ready FX sounds
Rating 9/10"
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Author: Future Music (9/10)
"Wave Alchemy are a young company but they've already put out a couple of really impressive packages including Funky House Grooves 2 from the excellent Sample Magic series.
This collection of individual hits, sound effects, stabs, sweeps and textures maintains the high standard we've come to expect. Everything's in .WAV format and there are sampler patches for all the major software samplers (EXS24, HALion, NI Kontakt, SFZ and Reason NN-XT) so you can get going quickly.
Overall it's a great package suitable for producing a wide range of dance music and even working into other genres
Rating 9/10"
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Author: Computer Music Magazine (9/10)
"A 1.5GB selection of FX, stabs, drones, textures and pads, SFX Collection Volume 1 is a polished affair. There are plenty of ear-catching samples that are ideal for dance music production, where big, dynamic sounds are required. A superb collection and great value
Rating 9/10"
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Author: Waveformless Blog Review
"At the heart of it, dance music is all about the manipulation of energy. Effective dance tracks use different musical techniques to tease the listener with various builds and breakdowns, slowly upping the ante until the pedal hits the metal and the energy levels peak and much booty-shaking ensues. Learning to transition between these various energy levels takes time and skill, and these days, it usually involves some clever sound design as well. Much like a crash cymbal can act like the 'tape' joining two musical sections smoothly, in dance music rising synth tones, a gigantic sub drop, white noise sweeps, robotic time stretches, and the like can serve much the same function. They're great for lending a sense of atmosphere to stripped down breakdowns and drops, too. The problem is, however, it can sometimes be difficult to come up with new ideas for these creative musical FX, and even if you have an idea, what if you don't have the equipment or skill to make it sound as slick and professional? Have no fear, Wave Alchemy has your back.
Wave Alchemy SFX Collection Vol. 1 is a 1.5 GB collection of 24-bit sweeps, swishes, impacts, stabs, textures, and transitional FX specially tailored for use in dance music. All FX are sorted into categories such as Cymbal FX, Downlifters, Impacts, Short FX & Hits, Stabs & Acid Hits, Sweeps & Drones, Textures, and Uplifters. These are arranged into 9 ready-to-play sampler instruments for Kontakt, EXS-24, NNXT, and SFZ with a different sample on each key. This is great for auditioning different sounds quickly while you're working on an arrangement which otherwise can be a bit of a laborious process.
Various high tech tools were used in creating the sounds including the Eventide H3000 and the Sheman Filterbank, and it really shows. As with previous Wave Alchemy releases, the sound quality is unrivaled. There is a presence and clarity to these sounds that all but clobbers you over the head with how professional they sound. Obviously, you need to have a good track to begin with, but it is easy to hear how judicious use of these samples could definitely take your productions to that elusive next level. This isn't one of those collections where you get dozens of slight tweaks on a single ho-hum sound. There's plenty of variety and there are really no clunkers to be found, so it shouldn't take you long to find the perfect element to add to that remix you're working on. Just in that time-saving aspect alone, this is worth a look for professionals on a deadline who might not have an extra couple hours to muck around with convoluted chains of plug-ins trying to come up with something truly stunning to make that breakdown gel.
I'm not going to bother trying to describe the sounds themselves, as that can be difficult to transfer into words effectively, but it's safe to say that Wave Alchemy has covered all the bases for just about any type of musical FX the average dance musician might need. The unexpected additions like the stabs and acid sounds are really nice too and the quality and attention to detail on even these minor sounds is stellar. Even the most minor sounds still have a really IMPRESSIVE quality to them, and nothing seems like a phoned-in, lazy sound just to fill out the library. If you create dance music or remixes of any kind, you should consider this an essential purchase. And if Wave Alchemy continues to keep the standards as high in the future releases, they're a company you ought to be keeping your eye on."
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