Synth Bass Loops

"Some of the "bass heavy" material on this disc...

by Keyboard, USA

"Some of the "bass heavy" material on this disc really rattles the rafters. Sources included the Korg Prophecy, Waldorf Pulse, and Novation BassStation. Although all of its patterns are electronically generated, Synth Bass Loops covers a wide variety of rhythms and moods: slow walking bass lines, frenetic electronica patterns, outlandish arpeggiated FM and pink-noise riffs, eerie echoed synth-bass stabs, even chicken heartbeats. Within the first few tracks, a bass pattern is followed by at least one companion part that can be layered on top, although the parts may not immediately seem complementary.

For instance, in track 2 there are four separate components: a two-bar, smooth-as-glass bass line that goes from D to Bm; a plucky, rhythmically repeated P along with an incessant reverb drone (transpose it up for a delightful carnival organ); percussive trash can and cowbell hits with sea gull cries; and phased synthy chord pads. Interactively trigger and mix all four parts together and the results are quite entertaining. The longest cut (track 7, second pattern) runs for 44 seconds and takes up a whopping 7Mb of RAM. The fast, poppy arpeggio switches between the keys of 6# and F#, but the notes are too quiet.

Jim Aikin found a couple selections that tickled his fancy: "The ring-modulated 'Street Parade' percussion loops are exciting, and the ambient 'Atmos Groove' loops have a real tribal urgency." There's a lot of inspirational material on this disc, whether you use its tracks as a starting point for your own synthetic realizations or in combo with samples from this disc or others. "These sounds aren't the most stunning creative material I've ever heard," Jim observed, "but there's way more than enough good stuff to justify the price." In any case, Synth Bass loops has found a welcome home in my sampling CD library."