Soniccouture

SOUND ON SOUND, SEPTEMBER 2006

"..As you've probably guessed, there are no conventional drum samples featured here, so the kits don't stick to any traditional or formal mapping. The samples start on C1 with the kicks first, followed by snares, hats, and percussion, and that's about it. In addition, as the percussive hits are entirely based around one-shot samples, there are no velocity layers used within any of the kits. Given the experimental nature of the content, these omissions seem pretty irrelevant and certainly don't compromise the usability.

The kits themselves are all very well done and are loosely based around a theme, a recording process, or a sonic idea. These themes range from the heavily distorted and bit-reduced Crunch Kit and the two hard-hitting and industrial Earache Kits, to the glitchy Mesh Kit or the Human Kit with its various voice sounds miked through a digeridoo. Personal favourites include the Klang Kit metallic sounds, which have the ambience of a miked-up washing-machine drum blended in, and the resonant clatters of the Static Kit.

The overall sound quality is high, with each kit's samples sitting together nicely within its theme, however unusual that may be. The majority of the sounds are highly original, and nothing, however weirdly created, seems completely unusable. I admit to liking sample collections that inspire ideas from the user rather than delivering the finished goods polished, produced, and served up on a plate. Konkrete is certainly an ideas collection, and it's also very entertaining to spend a few minutes throwing random kits at a simple pre-programmed pattern to see what sticks; a good thing in my book.

I think it's pretty much a given that this collection will appeal to anyone making experimental, glitch, or IDM tracks, but I think its appeal is much wider. Producers of techno, drum and bass, and even more left-field hip-hop, as well as anyone with a passing interest in rhythm programming, will find plenty here to create more original beats or just to add those finishing sonic flourishes to their drum tracks.."