Just to prove that I'm not fully dead at the present, here is another review: a '90s drumloop sample library.
This happens to be one of the first sample CD's made by Best Service, now one of the big soundware developers along East West and Zero G.
The background regarding this library is rather strange, however. Earlier I had contacted Best Service for a license of the library, and they responded by saying that they were only the distributor of this product. They went further by saying that they failed to find current contact information for the creator of this library. Whether this means the library is now public domain for reason of abandoned copyright or not remains in question.
Nonetheless, this library, as implied by the title, has a rather large selection. I feel this is better than the Zero-G Datafiles' drumloops for several reasons.
1) All Datafile samples were in mono, whereas more than half of the samples in XXLarge are in stereo.
2) Unlike the Datafiles, I failed to find a sample in poor quality (i.e. vinyl cracks).
3) XXLarge's samples are organized by a defined tempo, while the Datafiles were largely a matter of trial and error for the user to find the tempo.
4) Legally, the Datafiles consist of uncleared samples. While they are present in this library (some seem to even be from the Datafiles), it does not appear to be all the material; there's even a section dedicated solely to programmed drumloops from a Roland CR78.
My only gripe: I only found one or two loops that were longer than one bar, though some of the loops do have variations.
Despite the pros, the XXLarge remains a relative oddity in electronic music. I haven't heard many songs and tracks that use them beyond Gary Numan's "Exile" album.
The background regarding this library is rather strange, however. Earlier I had contacted Best Service for a license of the library, and they responded by saying that they were only the distributor of this product. They went further by saying that they failed to find current contact information for the creator of this library. Whether this means the library is now public domain for reason of abandoned copyright or not remains in question.
Nonetheless, this library, as implied by the title, has a rather large selection. I feel this is better than the Zero-G Datafiles' drumloops for several reasons.
1) All Datafile samples were in mono, whereas more than half of the samples in XXLarge are in stereo.
2) Unlike the Datafiles, I failed to find a sample in poor quality (i.e. vinyl cracks).
3) XXLarge's samples are organized by a defined tempo, while the Datafiles were largely a matter of trial and error for the user to find the tempo.
4) Legally, the Datafiles consist of uncleared samples. While they are present in this library (some seem to even be from the Datafiles), it does not appear to be all the material; there's even a section dedicated solely to programmed drumloops from a Roland CR78.
My only gripe: I only found one or two loops that were longer than one bar, though some of the loops do have variations.
Despite the pros, the XXLarge remains a relative oddity in electronic music. I haven't heard many songs and tracks that use them beyond Gary Numan's "Exile" album.
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