Sample Magic - sample dvd's and downloads for house, dance, electro and trance music

"While there are a few great house sample libraries, there are also numerous collections with fewer infectious grooves than a copy of Wisden. It was therefore with mixed feelings that I opened up this library from new developers Sample Magic. My misgivings were soon crushed under some enormously chunky drum grooves, which surged forward with a predatory determination I've seldom heard elsewhere. The all-important kick drums are fine specimens, ranging from rich and resonant to taut and funky and they meld with the other percussive loop elements to give the sound that usually elusive 'smack'.

The drum loops are in three tempo groups (125, 127 and 130bpm) and are accompanied by various folders of upper percussive layers, some of which are performances by individual instruments, such as congas, maracas and tambourine. Most have nice, expressive performance touches. However, the mixed percussion 'tops' tracks are even better - nothing too busy, but with great momentum and a fullness that really shines when you drop the main beat into your arrangement.

Bass tones are a strong point. A good selection of frisk-thumbed bass guitar workouts is balanced with a handful of restrained but gargantuan synth loops. Some of the sounds have obviously been designed to stay out of the way of the more subby kick drums, but there is plenty here that could single-handedly tear your subwoofer from its surround! "The most inspirational material, though, resides elsewhere: the beautifully programmed Music Loops folder shows an undeniable flair for creative effects processing, while the Rhodes and Wurlitzer folders schmooze you with rounded, often pleasantly grainy, timbres. A folder of lyric-less vocoded loops swish and sparkle magnificently."

5 STAR, Sound On Sound, Mike Senior

"Rather than force-feeding you thematic or contrived-sounding construction kits, newcomers Sample Magic opted to provide the more than 1,450 24-bit loops, licks and one-shots for wide open cross-matching. Tempos are calibrated to only three groups (125, 127 and 130 bpm), and all melodic material is key-referenced in the file name.

The 124 drum loops combine acoustic and electronic elements with evocative results, ranging from deeply resonant house and hard-disco grooves that thunder through your soul to enchanting tribal, African and Latin rhythms. These funky pile drivers feature truly interesting kick tones sculptured such that they captivate the leading charge of a great house track and not once wane over the course of an arrangement, yet they fold effortlessly into any one of the nearly 300 percussion and top-end loops with exhilarating, trancelike results.

Bass, brass (trumpet, trombone, sax and section), guitar and electric-piano loop folders provide ample licks, phrases and hits.

The Music loops folder holds gorgeous effected and filtered program material that sounds lifted from vinyl and suits dramatic intros, transitions, turnarounds or just a battle with writers block.

Some purposely unintelligible, shimmering vocoded vocals provide the most inspirational human elements of this library.

Two additional folders of clearly spoken and sung vocal phrases provide scorching shout-outs that border on erotica, as well as soulful scats and diva licks that will leave the crowd sweating.

This is one incredibly powerful, sexy and real-sounding house library with no filler or repetition."