Planet Of The Breaks: Reason Refill

"RATED 10 out of 10"

LIKE:...

by www.reasonfreaks.com

"RATED 10 out of 10"

LIKE:
Great breaks, diverse sounds.

DISLIKE:
Drumkits not optimally patched.

CONTENT:
This new collection from Zero-G is a really cool one. The whole series of Planet Of The Breaks, collected into one refill product. A lot of very groovy and highly funky breaks and beats. A lot of live played beats with all the rawness which belongs to this genre. And everything is in the very good quality which we are used to hearing from Zero-G collections. You get an amazing 850 Mb in total, with over 650 REX2 beats, 42 Redrum kits, resulting in over 2000 samples.

CONTENT:
650+ REX2/WAV BreakBeats;
42 Redrum Kits (plus seperate drum samples).

THE BREAKBEATS:
The breakbeats included in Planet Of The Breaks are of course what it's all about and these breaks are definitely very tasty and useful. It's the groove that's the boss here. Forget about sonic clarity and start groovin. This is one hell of a funky breaks collection! You will find all sorts of breaks, either with extreme processing or with more clarity. What I like is that these breaks have not been made with high fidelity sound quality in mind, but with the groove in mind. These days the so called high quality collections are usually just that, high quality. The groove is often missed and that's exactly what this collection contains. Groovy, energetic rhythms which add spice to your sound palette. As Recycle users already know, not all loops can be Recycled succesfully. If a loop has too many sustained sounds then it can't be Recycled nicely. Zero-G has included all the loops which were a problem while Recycling, into a folder as WAV files in the refill, so you can still use these files. The loops which could be Recycled succesfully are also added as WAV files by the way. This enables you to load them in the samplers and use the loops in a different way than the Dr.Rex player allows. These breaks are indeed first class and very diverse and you will find all sorts of cool breaks.

THE REDRUM KITS:
The drum sounds are very diverse and usable. The only thing I don't really like is the patching. This is done in a rather strange way. The hihats aren't on channel 8 & 9 but you will find a hihat often on channel 3.

CONCLUSION:
A great refill filled with great sounds. The groove is the boss as it should be. These loops are really very groovy and funky and can add life to any composition which calls for these sounds. I wouldn't go so far as saying that these sounds are suited for any kind of music genre, but for any genre which calls for groovy, funky beats with a live feel this is the one to go for. The price certainly is nice for such a big collection of breaks and drum sounds. It might not be everybodys bag of potatoes, but it is mine for sure.

Rated: 9/10

Another...

by Future Music Magazine, UK

Rated: 9/10

Another collection of four 'vintage' sample CDs re-packaged into one refill, this time covering the heady world of breakbeat. Readers with a keen sense of marketing might see this wholesale plundering of the archives as a great way of re-inventing sample collections that have slipped from the public's consciousness, others might view it as an exercise in cadaverous equine flagellation, but either way at least this one's genre specific, so anyone wanting a quick way to amass a huge collection of breaks, mostly with that 'vintage' played edge to it should look no further. As well as somewhere approaching 700 .rex files, expect to find 42 Redrum kits, around 650 .wav loops and a good couple of hundred single hits for getting right back to basics. The originals were great, and now all four can be yours for a smidge under a ton. Bargain!

Pros: Loops are presented as REX and WAV...

by Keyboard Magazine, USA

Pros: Loops are presented as REX and WAV files, and organized by tempo. Tons of useful grooves. Creative recording and processing techniques.

Cons: REX files are contained within the ReFill, not available in a separate folder for use with other software.

Bottom Line: This jam-packed loop ReFill could easily springboard song ideas for years to come.

When Zero-G first released Planet of the Breaks, who knew it would spawn such a successful string of sequels? Of course, rabid beatmakers are always in search of fresh breakbeat material, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising to anyone that Zero-G kept going with a good thing. The UK soundware company has consistently raised the bar with each new addition to the Planet series, and the latest addition to this fat and funky loop line-up brings everything together in one package.

The Planet of the Breaks ReFill is a compilation of all four titles - Planet of the Breaks, Beneath the Planet of the Breaks, Return to the Planet of the Breaks and Escape from the Planet. But more than simply repackaging the existing material, the producers whent through the tedious work of recycling each and every loop, meticulously slicing and dicing the beats for use with Reason's Dr. REX player. Loops and individual hits and harmonic one-shots are also presented as WAV files. In addition, many of the hits have been organized into 42 Redrum kits. In total, there are more than 650 loops and 2,000 samples.

Stylistically, 'Planet' is full of mostly live breakbeats oozing with vibe, thanks to the heavy handed processing and creative recording techniques used to capture drummers Shawn Lee, Shawn Pelton, and Emre Ramazanoglu. There's no shortage of '70s-style grooves, both rocking and funky, and in many cases several variations (close-mic, room-mic, distorted compression etc.) are provided for each pattern.

A fair number of loops have a programmed quality the likes of which you'd expect to hear from the Crystal Method, Paul Oakenfold, and other ace programmers. Nothing ever ventures into mechanical territory; it's a nice balance between synthetic and organic. My only complaint is that the REX files are wrapped up inside the ReFill, not available separately within a folder for use with other REX-compatible programs. Some other ReFill titles let you get at the recycled loops, which adds more bang for the buck, not to mention it lets the user fix any bad slice points by importing the loops into ReCycle.

9/10, MTM RECOMMENDED Award

by Music Tech magazine, UK

9/10, MTM RECOMMENDED Award

"Rated: 9 out of 10, and awarded the Music Tech RECOMMENDED AWARD. Zero-G's Planet Of The Breaks series was originally released as a series of four CDs between 1998 and 2001 to considerable critical acclaim. Embracing all the major dance styles (new and old school) with a little psychedelia, trip hop and jazz thrown in, the series seemed to pick up where Zero-G's original Datafile series left off back in the 90s and proved to be another success for this most prolific of British sample production companies. And now it's back; repackaged in Reason Refill format, and at a bargain price. For just under £100 you get all four titles: Planet Of The Breaks, Beneath The Planet Of The Breaks, Return The Planet Of The Breaks and, yes, Escape From The Planet Of The Breaks, totalling over 2000 samples with over 650 loops. As for content, the Zero-G name is your best guarantee of quality. There at the start of the sampling revolution, the company always conveys the sense that its samples are produced by people who are themselves sample users. A timely reissue of a classic series for Reason users - at a bargain price."