“The Soulful Stems” by MSXII Sound Design
What’s up MM Heads! It’s your dude BROADWAY here to review a very soulful beauty of a kit called “The Soulful Stems” brought to you by the good dudes at MSXII Sound Design.
In past reviews I may have mentioned my passion for 60’s and 70’s soul music. Anything from Motown, to Stax, to southern gospel and more. Well, I’m here to overstate and emphasize that. I’m a critical listener to soul music, as it is my favorite genre, so when I received the Soul Stems kit from MSXII I was both enthused as well as apprehensive. So many times soul beats done now seem either over-saturated or cliché. So it was quite a more than pleasant surprise to find that the Soul Stems was quite impressive.
What makes this kit really dope is the organic union of a live drum player playing in pocket to each specific piece of music, music of which includes nice basses, GREAT key work on piano, and lush accompaniment of classic instruments like a Rhodes or a Yamaha DX7.
Unlike many other “sample kits”, they really went IN on the drum tracks on this. This is what really separates this kit from the other sample kits that have thus far dropped this year. The inclusion of the live drummer (who is a DOPE drummer) gives you such an option on the production side as whether to include that live feel with your track, or to drop the drum track out completely and go fresh on your own drumming or programming (thus the beauty of having stems).
Peep the Kev Brown Demo vid below
There are definitely certain tracks on this that I am SUPREMELY fond of and must work on, while there are a couple that I’d see someone with a different flavor or style undertaking. This point leads me to another positive about this kit. It’s diverse while remaining themed, if that makes sense. They give you uptempo soul, deep epic soul, and R&B smooth-out soul. It’s a great blend which offers you a variety of choices to dig in to if you’re in a soulful mood.
All in all, this is a definite recommendation. BROADWAY Seal of Approval. If you are a fan of soul samples and want 70 style samples that are clearance issue free, invest in this kit. It’s a good look.
Until next time, 100!