Neck Brace Inducer Kit Vol. 1 Review

            Grinding, produced by The Neptunes and performed by Clipse, is easily one track that comes to mind when thinking of tracks with smacking drums. There’s something about the simplicity of those simple kicks and snares that makes us look like Miller Park bobble heads. I’ve reviewed many kits for Maschine Masters, and this is kit I will already proclaim as one of my favorites. Illeagle Productions presents Volume 1 of the soon to be series of drum kits entitled Neck Brace Inducer (NBI). Packed with hard hitting kicks, crunchy claps, and crispy snares, this kit will find its way to the forefront of your productions.

            As with just about every kit I receive, I head to the kicks. All I can say is “dirty.” The kicks packed into NBI are one of kind with plenty of punch and little air on most. These kicks will without question cut through the mix, without taking up much space, and knock any and all woofers. We can tell just by listening to the texture of the samples, these were layered not only with acoustic kicks, but sampled breaks as well with lots of EQ and filtering. There are 15 kits total in NBI. Well done!

When previewing the snares and claps, I found myself turning my upper lip upwards and doing The People’s Eyebrow. Very impressed with the snare and clap collection. The snares are again break based with lots of EQ, few of which will require another layer on top, while others might. There’s no complaining there, since most of us usually always go for a second layer. The claps on the other hand are very “airy.” The have a bit more breathing room and will without question need another punchy layer of some sort just to give them a bit more impact on your track.  There are a total of 16 claps and snares in NBI.

NBI also provides us with 28 hats and percussion sounds to complete the kit. While the hats and percs are good, I don’t see them in the same lights as the kicks and snares. The kicks and snares in this kick are very demanding, they are here to stay. The hats do a great job at that, very crispy, clear, with the right amount of sizzle. The percussion on the other hand, very average, nothing to grab your attention to be like “DAAAAAAAMN” but nothing to make you hang your head in disgust. However I will say, if the tambourines are snuck in at just the right moment, they could be the icing on the cake in your drum track.

To wrap up, NBI is a great kit that I do not think will disappoint any and all who grab it. The only thing I would personally like to see is this kit offered in Maschine format. On a scale of 1-16 pads (1 being weak as hell and 16 being Hova) NBI comes in at a Pete Rock solid (admit it, you laughed real, real, real hard) 12. Head over to Illeagles site and grab your copy today.

James Jaxin (@jaxin414)

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Product Review Specialist MaschineMasters.com