Review of Discovery's "8 Bit Family" by Laymansreviews.com.
Add some retro crunch to your productions with Discovery's classic sample collection
Considering the amount of work synth and plugin developers put into producing powerful, dynamic new sound rendering engines capable of all manner of vibrant, pristine tones, it seems a little odd that we then put so much effort into making them sound... well... a bit rubbish.
If we're not crushing bits or downsampling, we're layering all manner of distortion and saturation effects in a bid to dirty things up a little. This is particularly prevalent in current electro and house music, with the latest crop of uber-hip producers just as likely to break out a SID emulator as anything else in a bid to give their tracks that extra chip-sound crunch.
Of course, sometimes emulation doesn't quite cut it. In which case you're left with the option of reaching for the old Gameboy and a soldering iron, or investing in a sample CD such as those in Discovery Sound's 8-bit Family range. Volume one was originally released in 2003, but the sounds contained in this (now very reasonably priced) collection are arguably more relevant today than they were six years ago.
The library consists of a broad collection of sound loops, effects and sequences culled from original video game sources for the last word in authenticity. The 8-bit chipsets may have been restricted to little more than basic triangular and rectangular waveforms and a noise generator, but the sound designers of the day saw this more as a challenge than a limitation, fashioning a distinctive and familiar palette of drums, bass, leads and warbling "chords", all of which are present and correct in Discovery's collection.
The CD contains the expected selection of ACID wav
and REX2 files, with EXS24 and HALion maps provided for good measure,
while the breakdown of sounds available is comprehensive:
Arpeggios: 31 files
Bass-loop: 11 files
Construction-kit: 38 types/186 files
Drum-loops: 31 files
Drum-hit: 32 files
Misc.loop: 43 files
Soundeffects: 37 files
EXS24/HALion: 27 programs/216 samples
SummaryIt's hard to find any real fault with the 8Bit Family sample CD, as this is one of those products that does pretty much exactly as it promises on the tin. The samples are plentiful and well-captured, including chunky grooves, bleeping beats and some satisfyingly crunchy construction kits for building your own chip-tastic rhythm tracks. Loops are cleanly structured and neatly chopped.
The CD layout is logical and consistent with many other sample CD libraries, although we'd have appreciated slightly more descriptive naming of files to help in finding the right sound when scanning through. And of course, the very nature of sample CDs mean they're inherently limited in their variety and flexibility.
Minor quibbles aside, this is a well-considered
collection of chipset sounds, and at the current price, well worth
considering as an addition to the arsenal of anyone looking to add that
touch of retro authenticity to their productions.
Most of you producers most likely already know that Loopmasters went digital and you can now get your music and sounds as quick as your internet connection allows. I Love Tibet is now one of those samples you won't have to wait to get the CD in the mail to start mixing your productions.
