THE INTRO
Presented by Loopmasters, Adventures In Hip Hop (AIHH), is a giant collection of over 1900 samples created by the guys at Push Button Bang to imitate the classic sound of original hip hop, blended with modern day drums. With a taste of both east and west influences AIHH offers a nice variety for a wide range of producers. Available in Maschine, Ableton and WAV. Format’s I will be rolling with the Maschine kit today, which comes packed to the brim with a 120 pre made kits, and over 400 midi files! But enough with the details, lets load this bad boy up and start our own adventure into hip-hop. Given the size of the kit I’m going to keep things simple and break down my thoughts and feeling on each section, then in the end I will weigh in on the kit as a whole.
THE FULL KITS
The first Folder I hopped into once opening, was “the full kits”, with 75 total, these kits are designed to venture into many different styles of hip-hop, from boom bap to drill music AIHH covers it all. Overall I feel as if the kits are kind of hit or miss. Some come fully equipped with banging drums and dope samples, then there are others that sounds kind of thin or dated. As a whole I would say the good out weighs the bad by far but , I do feel as if some of the one shots could have been paired better into different kits. The processing on the samples have a great analog feel and posses a nice crunch, that really shines on the kicks. The only other quirk I have is that even though its suppose to be “Adventures in Hip Hop” the samples have a real EDM /pop feel to them, and almost seem geared more towards hybrid genres such as down tempo, and chill wave. This doesn’t mean the samples are bad, (trust me they bump) I just feel that if someone who produced strictly American hip-hop were to purchase this, they may have a harder time working some of these samples into their production.
THE FX KITS
The next folder I checked out was “the Fx kits”. Equipped with 8 kits total, these bad boys are they perfect accent to any production. With everything from crazy retro synth swells, to abstract nature recordings, The Fx kits are perfect for breaking the monotony of a repetitive track. My personal favorite Fx kit in AIHH would be the Arcade Fx. These retro synth bleeps and blips take me right back to good ol 8 bit days, and are certain to give your track that certain feel that any old school gamer can relate to. Overall I would say the Fx are processed nicely and could easily work their way into a modern production. If I had one beef with them it would be the same as above, and that is that they almost have more of an Electronic feel to them vs. Hip- Hop.
THE INSTRUMENT KITS
After the Fx I rolled right into the next folder “the instrument kits” These kits are the go to after you lay down a banging drum pattern and need a memorable Melody to lay down. Including bass, piano, and synth samples these killer samples have a really fat sound too them and feel like they came right off a floppy disk on a MPC 2000. My personal favorite in this folder would be the Lotus Piano kit. This sample pays major homage to flying lotus with the super dusty Grand piano sound. I also love that it is mapped to the piano roll so you can play it like a real piano. Overall I would say these kits are my favorite in AIHH and all sound good.
THE PERCUSSION KITS
Last but not least I checked out the “Perc kits” folder. These kits come in handy when the producer is looking to add some swing to his or her production. Including everything from stomps, to calves and shakers, these kits are like the final seasoning on a 5 star entree. My personal favorite kit in this folder would be the stomps. These samples are great because they add a lot of presence to whatever they are layered with, but don’t add a lot of mud to the lower end like most stomps do. In conclusion I would say that these samples are a perfect compliment to the “full kits” and are sure to give any production that extra coat of polish.
THE MIDI
The final portion of AIHH that I checked out was the 400 midi files included. These midi files are linked to a “full Kit” and offer the buyer an instant example of how these kits are used by the creator to make swinging, hard hitting, patterns. This Midi data can then be altered or left alone to be incorporated in your productions, giving them a whole new feel.
THE CONCLUSION
In conclusion ,overall I would say Adventures in Hip Hop offers a huge variety of sounds, with a good amount of processing to captivate that analog feel. As far as target audience, I feel as if AIHH would fit best with younger producers who are able to merge modern day electronic music with the classic feel of golden era hip-hop drums and samples. If I had to have one issue with the Kit as a whole It would be that, I feel the one shots in the kits could have been grouped together a little better, I had trouble making good patterns with just one kit, but this is definitely a subjective opinion, and could be just me. With over 1900 samples for the low price of $32.52 you cant really go wrong, so make sure you head over to loopmasters.com today and pick up your copy of Adventures In Hip-Hop. This kit is sure to get the inspiration raging. Until Next time yall be safe and keep making hits!
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