If you’re an audio producer, go download the FREE Live Pack (the pack also contains some exclusive beat loops and WAV samples of all the hits), and also partake in our 20% off sale!

I’m creating drum kits in Ableton Live that follow the source hardware, but remain useful in a DAW. I’m not a gear slut, so I’m seriously not attached to any usability quirks the old hardware has. In full disclosure, I never have actually used any of the old hardware, so this project involves a fair amount of research on my part. At first it may seem ridiculous that I’m emulating hardware I’ve never used, but I understand the need for sound generation and usability above nostalgia. Think of it like running the hardware through a Beatserv filter. Each of the kits has useful dials for compression, reverb, EQ scale, more extensive ADSR and other settings that the original units often didn’t (Don’t worry, I’m retaining as much vintage character as I can stomach, with controls like “Snappy” and “Accent”). I’m also adding a “motion” dial to each kit, which is a chain of effects unique to each rack that adds a little extra Beatserv spice.

Part of the fun is that the whole project is currently in Ableton Live, and only uses Live effects and features. In the past, our kits have started in NI Battery and moved to Live. Those massive kits don’t quite follow the agile model that I find most useful about Live’s Drum Rack. So these new retro kits will be small and interchangable. Want a 909 kick in your DR55? Just drag and drop it. Want to switch out the whole kit on the fly? Just select a different preset.

So whether or not the kits are translatable to Battery is an unknown at this point, which could certainly affect the saleability of the set. But Live users will love them.  Also, the whole thing doesn’t necessarily follow the whole Beatserv mission of new creativity, although the added features in each kit are pretty slick. Perhaps we’ll have an addition to the Beatserv free series? Well, it’s a lot of work, so we’ll see.

Dark Downtempo 3 was composed using all original samples by drummer/percussionist Matt Cordier recorded with Lavry conversion, AEA Ribbon mics, and the Placid Audio Copperphone for a distinctly intimate and vintage sound.”

www.beatserv.com

Based on the Iron Chef concept, the Clash beats were played and recorded by Beatserv’s own Corey McCafferty before we sliced, diced, re-sampled and reassembled them into entirely new loops.

Both the original live loops and at least three interpretations of each are included as 42 distinct beat sets, a total of over 300 loops including multiple variations and breaks.

All loops are available as digital downloads in 24-bit WAV and Apple Loops format. Also included are three kits of processed individual hits (244 total) in Native Instruments Battery 3 and Live 8 drum rack formats.

Visit www.beatserv.com to investigate

All my wandering around downtown Detroit finally came to fruition with Beatserv’s Detroit Sound Pack.

The first in a series of urban soundscapes gone idm, Detroit turns the clamor of a city into an essential percussion library. Our city series includes both raw unprocessed samples as well as bits and glitches created entirely from these original samples. Detroit includes 105 samples within two kits — clean and procedural — in Battery 3 and Live Pack formats. 24 bit WAV files are also included.

You can listen to audio samples and get the pack at the Beatserv site.

December is a busy month for Beatserv. We just released our first sound library, called Bombs and Bits:

Bombs and Bits is a meticulously designed sample library of epic low end blasts and warped, yet elemental, percussion. The first of many forthcoming Beatserv sound packs, Bombs and Bits includes 50 original samples and comes in Battery 3 and Live Pack formats. 24 bit WAV files are also included.

We priced it at just $9.95. So with the 20% off sale  it’s only $7.96, which is ridiculously low for such a unique collection of sounds.

But we also added something completely free to the site, a collection of original hip hop loops. We also put together and included a rather unique MIDI-controllable turntable scratching kit. It’s free, so why not check it out?

I spent an afternoon in downtown Detroit this weekend, banging and kicking everything that wasn’t moving, and chasing down the things that were, recording all as source material for Beatserv. It’s surprising what things resonate upon impact and what things respond with a dead thud. Metal garbage cans were the best resonators, and I’d say plastic garbage cans were consistently the worst. The coolest thing was what can only be described as a metal bikerack/hanging ashtray that sounded like a whole set of cymbals. Also surprising was that background noise was more of a problem inside buildings than outside on the street. And the monorail makes almost no noise, so it wasn’t very interesting. I have yet to go through all the recordings, but initially it sounds like some good material.

I’ve been on last.fm and Pandora in the last few days, and keyed in DJ Shadow. I ended up listening to a nonstop variety of instrumental hip-hop and true trip-hop productions for 4 days straight. Does this hint at something in the future for Beatserv? Quite possibly. Maybe something to promote in the wake of DJ Hero’s release later this month.

I encountered lots of old gems that I haven’t heard in a long time, and learned about many artists I hadn’t known about. It all reminds me that the likes of Shadow, UNKLE, Mixmaster Mike, Q-Bert, RJD2, Cut Chemist, and their associated MCs, really blow away the hip-hop we hear on the radio and teletube.

With over 340 loops, more than 180 original samples, plus 4 NI Battery kits, you get an arsenal of beats, and our best value.

Series 2 was built from the ground up, starting with the best drum microphones and Lavry converters. From there, we compressed, recompressed, synthesized, and tricked-out the samples until they became our own. In Series 2, you’ll find everything from solid, fundamental drum hits to the most warped styles.

Check it all out at www.beatserv.com.

9.5/10 beats done for the next, as yet un-named Beatserv pack. Then I have to break it all down into loops and parts, and see how the rest of the boys are doing on their packs. We have a couple guest artists making packs for this next series.

I met with Alan Ruffin this weekend, and through our conversations about music, I took inventory of the Bounte tracks. I have 8 songs that I’m happy with, and an equal number that I’ve thrown out. I’d like to write 2 more good ones, then finish my mixes.