Any drum heads out there?  Producers who are particular on their drums? Well I have some news for all of you. The Maschine Warehouse has just released a new VST called “Koncreete” and it looks tasty. I have never had the opportunity to review any content from Machine Warehouse, so I’m looking forward to jumping right in.

 

Koncreete?

So when most of y’all hear Koncreete the 1^st thing that comes to mind is a compound mixture that you stand on, or something that gives another structural support. Well that’s kind of what this kit is suppose to do. It’s designed to give the producer a whole load of sounds that can create the structure of our track and we all know that drums are the mainframe of our beats. So there is some logic to the name Koncreete.

 

This past year the folks over at TMW have been developing a way to squeeze a large collection of fresh sounds into 1 tiny container that will create the opportunity to inspire many. After 12 months Koncreete was born. A 12 channel, dual layered beast that allows fast layering and cohesive drum kits to be quickly applied and layered into any DAW on Earth.

 

TMW have put emphasis on Koncreete being large library with a huge mixture of sounds including analog drum machines, modular synthesizers, leading digital synthesizers, acoustic kits, garage kits and a whole lot more. All of the sounds were selected and sculpted to give inspiration and add definition in your projects. Each channel has 2 layers allowing you too blend and create tones of your own between the provided sounds in each layer. Total control can be achieved by using the individual envelopes on each channel. Using the dirt layering you are given the ability to add character to your sound with 12 layers of grit! (Something you would only hear from Wu-Tang).

 

Koncreete isn’t just aimed at the BOOM Bap crowd, which it does well, it can also be used to create Trap. These are the main 2 genres, but you are creating your own sounds so you could manipulate the library to your liking. You may just be limited to what you use as some stock sounds are clearly aimed at the BOOM Bap /TRAP producer. The blending option between layer does let you steer the direction you choose to go, however.

 

 

Interface

One thing I hate about VST’s is cheap looking interfaces. Especially when they cost so much. A little effort on the interface goes along way and TMW clearly appreciate this. The visual display looks professional and sleek although I would have liked to see the ability to change the color of the text from red to say, blue, white, or something other than just red. The response on the knobs are stable albeit small in some cases, giving you the ability to really control any parameter, and everything is right in front of your face. Its as if TMW chucked you off a building, head first into Koncreete. We have ADSR, Velocity, Pan, Volume and a bunch of effects including Hum, Grime, Vinyl, Noise, Hiss and Crackle.

 

 

Another feature I really like is in the ability to browse thru the kits. It’s quick and very easy. If you click the current kit name on the display “IK ARM AND HAMMER”, it pulls up a list of all the kits. You can then simply select the next kit you want to upload. You also have the option to use the back and forward arrows on either side of “Expansion slot”. This interface is very similar to DopeVST’s Beat Machine. If I’m honest, they are so similar; I wouldn’t be surprised if they have been created by the same personnel, or perhaps utilize the same plugin shell.

 

Koncreete is rooted to your C3 note and is easily mapped to your keyboards or drum controllers. The note is clearly labeled for each sound, which makes it quick and easy to locate the sound you want on your hardware. Reverb, Tune and Volume global controls have also been added to the top right of the interface to round off this complete package. The reverb came off a bit generic to me, with anything more than just a tad becoming fairly unusable. However, a very slight turn of the provided Reverb knob while tailoring one of the kits to your liking is surely convenient to have prior to inserting your own effects, etc.

 

To sum everything up I have detailed the key features for Koncreete below:

 

• 160 Drum kits with 24+ samples each spanning a range of production styles
• Each drum kit has 12 channels each with 2 layers of samples for layering and blending
• Each kit has 6 more channels of dual layer samples that add spice to the kit
• Option of stereo plugin or more flexible sub-mix output plugin
• Separate channels for each sample that include volume and panning, for easy mixing
• Each channel also comes with attack, decay, sustain and release controls
• Expansion slots for accessing future drum expansions

 

 

Verdict

Koncreete is great fun and has a whole load of sounds to play with. On most of the kits I listened to the kicks were booming and the snares were seriously crunchy. However, there were other kits where sounds seemed to be mismatched, and while some sounds were great, others came off as sounding “plastic” or “cheap” in nature, somewhat reminiscent of drum sounds in old Keyboard workstations from the 90’s. There is however, an endless amount of sounds that can be created, given the sheer volume and dual layer blending. The interface is relatively straightforward and easy to understand, although it would have been more ideal to allow users to mix and match sounds from different kits, rather than being stuck using the main & secondary sounds each patch loads with by default.

 

Overall, The Maschine Warehouse have put a lot of effort into creating this kit and it shows. This is a nice addition to my arsenal and hence, it would be to yours. Koncreete can be purchased from TheMaschineWarehouse for $149, but for June ONLY, you can have it for $99. I would suggest that if you are thinking about this kit, grab it in June and get that huge discounted price, since in my opinion, $149 would be a bit steep to pay for a drum only plugin of this caliber. But for $99 bucks, you are sure to get some usage out of this plugin. Its available in 32 & 64 bit VST(Pc) or VST/AU(Mac). Until next time, be sure to catch me at @UKAntSmith and be sure to stay tuned to MaschineMasters for reviews on all the latest sound libraries and drum kits. Peace!

 

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