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

"Transmission-X has been produced for Sample Magic by Ian Boddy, who is well known for his work with analogue synths. He has produced several other sample libraries (such as Zero-g’s Morphology) and has been interviewed by SOS in the past.

It’s difficult to classify the content of Transmission X musically other than to say it is most definitely a little leftfield. Essentially, this is a collection of loops and one shot samples based around analogue synth sounds, but with some percussive and other sound sources thrown in. Many of these are heavily processed, with delays, filters and distortion all liberally applied. The result is a collection of weird and wonderful and occasionally scary samples that could be made to work in music styles such as techno or electronica but that would also provide good material for music and/or sound design in a film or TV context.

I explored the 400+ samples (about 670MB) using Acidised WAVs. The percussive loops, Synth Loops and Transmission X folders contain loops organised into 100, 120 and 140 bpm groups. The percussive loops are close to drums as transmission X gets and they are certainly rhythmic, but they don’t feature standard drum or percussion loops – at least, they don’t sound like standard drum and percussion loops, given the processing that has been applied to the. The synth loops, while definitely having an analogue vibe, are perhaps a little more conventional. There are some nice, rhythmic arpeggios and chord sequences that would work in the musical styles mentioned above and, in a media context - I could easily imagine constructing a musical bed to sit under a trendy science show from these.

My only real criticism might be the relatively modest number of samples included in the collection, but this comment is countered somewhat by both the quality, which is excellent, and the range of formats supplied.

You might not want to build a complete track from this sort of collection, but adding two or three loops would certainly give a twist to a more conventional arrangement. Transmission X might not be to everyone’s taste, but if you do like the occasional bit of electronic sonic oddity, this collection is well worth auditioning."

Sound on Sound magazine, September 2007 - 4/5 Stars