Welcome to... / 3 /SM 47 samplemagic.com Synth pop, retro-electro and 80s computer-funk Much like fashion, music moves in cycles. And right now it feels like we re in the midst of an 80s resurgence. Films like Drive and artists like Com Truise have sharpened the focus on emotive synth-heavy electronica laced with infectious pop sensibilities. Even synth manufacturers like Roland and Korg have updated or re-issued classic hardware to meet the demand for this en vogue sound. taps into this sonic nostalgia with over 1GB of sounds that fuse the best of 80s pop, lo-fi electronica, retro electro and chillwave. Crafted from stacks of authentic hardware gear from icons like the MPC1000 through to overlooked gems such as the Yamaha RX21, via discarded VHS tape machines this collection is indebted to the 80s technologies which spawned it. Taut drum machine grooves underpin the collection. Dry and driving rhythms from the Linn Drum LM-1, Roland TR-808, 909 and 707, Oberheim DMX ooze that authentic 80s flavour. As always, there s up to five stripped variant mixes for complete arrangement ease. To beef things up there s also a choice selection of fat tom rolls and slamming snare fills served both wet and dry so they ll always fit the mix. In the synth and bass folders we ve reached for more classic hardware in the shape of the Jupiter-8 and Virus TI 2 to craft a range of soaring leads, lush pads, anthemic arps and brazen basslines. The raw associated MIDI is also included for supreme control over the sound and melodics. It s the same story in the inspiration loops folder. Each of the 40 folders is an instant songstarter, served with a full melodic mix plus the stripped out stems leads, chords, bass, pads and arps again with the associated MIDI files bundled in. As always, there s a prime selection of finely-sculpted FX and stacks of layered drum machine one-shots to round off the collection all lovingly resampled through the MPC60 and MPC1000 for extra analogue crunch. Enjoy the ride! John Kunkel The Producer
Kit list MPC60 MPC1000 Sennheiser HD 25-1 II Focal Twin6 Be API Lunchbox Universal Audio Apollo 16 Neve 1073 Preamp 500 Access Virus TI 2 SSL Duende Classic Roland Jupiter-8 Roland TR-505 Roland TR-707 Roland TR-909 Linn Drum LM-1 Oberheim DMX Yamaha RX21 Akai APC40 Evolution U-Control UC-33 / 4 Producer tips / 5 Chorus With the proliferation of digital synths packed with a once unimaginable array of processing effects, the humble chorus has been somewhat forgotten in contemporary electronic music. But this often overlooked effect was a key ingredient in scores of 80s synth hits. Simply sending your sounds through even a budget hardware module can add warmth and width. Alternatively, try sending your synth signal through a guitar pedal chorus or even a tube ampilifer for a similar sound. Wow and flutter Back in the 80s tracks were recorded and bounced to tape. Wow and flutter are two classic audio effects associated with the use of tape machines which give sounds that classic cracked analogue vibe. tracks can benefit from this type of tape processing. Try using cassettes, VHS tapes and old recorders at different speeds to achieve this jittery and distorted sound. If you don t have access to these technological relics then a combination of 8-bit bit-crushing and a tape saturation emulation should do the trick. Synth-plicity artist Com Truise once said, A lot of the sounds in my songs are not extremely complex... Turning on a two-oscillator synth and initialising a patch and just detuning one oscillator and doing a nice filter and envelope and going with that. The key to many great and 80s tracks is the basic principle of simplicity offered by the more affordable hardware synths of the day. If you are using multiple synth patches and complex processing chains then you re probably working too hard. Take a creative approach to the tools which, on the face of it, appear to be more limited you might surprise yourself with the unique results. Analogue signals A common technique that can add analogue warmth your tracks is the use of overdrive to inject subtle additional harmonics on key tracks. Once again, guitar pedals processed through tube amplifiers are a great choice for those with access to the hardware but digital emulations, bit-crushers or distortion plugins will also work well for a scuzzy lo-fi vibe. LFO The LFO is crucial to many great sounds that are essential to creating classic leads. Depending on your synth setup, you may be able to route your oscillator s phase, pitch or other modulation sources to your LFO at low-rate speeds and medium gain LFO volumes. The best waveforms to create the slow fluttery leads are sine, triangle and lorenz wave forms.
Folder setup Accessing the files / 6 Credits created by / 7 Drum Loops Drum Fills Inspiration Loops (wet & dry) (wet & dry) (wet & dry) Collection created by John Kunkel Sample Magic online Free sounds, special offers, newsletter, downloads and our online store at: samplemagic.com Sample Magic network > twitter.com/samplemagic > facebook.com/samplemagic > youtube.com/user/samplemagic Artwork by IWANT Design Limited Produced by: John Kunkel Executive produciton: Barry McManus Demos by: The producer Audio formatting by: Henry Brown & Lukas Lyrestam Other Sample Magic releases you might like: Chillwave 2 Sylenth Lo-Fi Electronica Patches Ambient & Chill MIDI Elements: Future Melodics French House Downtempo Electronica Bass Loops Synth Loop FX kicks hats claps Drum Hits snares toms percussion