Today’s review is to help answer a question we received from one of our members in our Facebook Community:
...I'm not a big fan of loops, however - I'm still on the fence. What do you guys think [of Synthetic Soundtracks Bundle by UEBERSCHALL]?
Let’s find out!
(If you’re also on the fence about a product, let us know so we can review it!)
Today’s Quickie takes a look at the Synthetic Soundtracks Bundle by veteran developer UEBERSCHALL. This bundle weighs in at nearly 20GB in size with 30 construction kits and over 3,500 samples and loops. While it doesn’t contain any playable instruments like a traditional sample library would, you can mangle up the included samples using the free Elastik 3 engine. You can also export the WAV files for each instrument set if you prefer to use your DAW’s built-in sampler or a commercial sampler like Kontakt.
This was my first time using the Elastik 3 engine, which has a mild learning curve if you’re not accustomed to its advanced editing and pitch-shifting/correcting capabilities. While the Elastik 3 engine is quite novel in its design and functionality, I much prefer to work with the samples outside of it. In fact, I tested this bundle outside of Elastik 3 because I prefer to use external FX and samplers. Exporting the samples can be mildly time-consuming considering you have to manually export each product. It’s also worth noting that the file named “03 Industrial Rythms” is completely empty, which I’m not sure if that was intentional or an error with the “Export WAV” feature.
The samples and loops themselves are pretty much the typical run-of-the-mill sounds you’d hear in a cinematic trailer or soundtrack. You can easily find inspiration with both the stems from the construction kits and the various one-hit samples. They're not game-changing sounds by any means, but they’re a great addition to any composer or producer’s arsenal. If you don’t have any cinematic tools in your arsenal, then this bundle is a great entry-level sample pack, especially for its one-shots and atmospheric textures.
Overall, this is a fantastic starter pack for those wanting to explore the cinematic soundscape. While there are no playable instruments, per se, the loops still and one-shots are still very inspirational and usable for most genres of contemporary music. If you’re using the Elastik 3 engine, you’ll have even more fun messing around with its advanced editing and pitch-shifting/correcting capabilities. It’s worth checking out!