AMG Sonic Data Vol1 [REFILL]

Sonic Data: Volume 1 is another recent release from the synth-doctorsat AMG. This CD contains over 700mbs worth of pads and instruments, atrue collection indeed. The CD, designed by Marc Van Bork of Bitword[[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] truly brings out the pleasures of working with padsand electronic sounds, and for all of you who've been paying attentionto

AMG's latest releases goes hand in hand with the Prototype Drum &Bass refill, a match made in heaven. According to the people at AMG,Mark does plenty of audio/visual web work such as bitword andwww.sounds2picture.com which was designed for AMG. Impressiverepertoire Mr. Van Bork, let's see how the sounds rate.

202 Synth Instruments for the NN19
48 Textured sounds for the NN19
228 Layered Patches for the NN-XT

That all break down into about 700 individual samples, so youprofessionals out there can map your sounds out on your own. That winsyou points Mr. Van Bork, versatility and DIY expandability? I like theway you think.


NN-19
Ok, let¹s talk about instruments first ­ I've been playing around withthis section of the refill and so far some pretty interesting resultshave come about. Firstly, clean ­ the sounds don¹t distort and arepretty receptive to having effects chugged on them. My particularfavorite out of these would have to be Blow, which has this hollowHitchcock movie-esque type sound to it. So as you can see, Marc's putallot of effort into making his instruments sounding unique and cleanat the same time. The textures are lovely, they almost seem alive. Onegreat example would be Admire the Aliens, which has an out of thisworld feel that makes the listener gasp for breath. The most excellentthing about these synth sounds is that they're all mod wheelcontrollable ­ for that human touch, and for perfect beat matchingambience, has all their LFO¹s synched.


NN-XTs
Well ­ I hope you're happy, the NNXT sample, Growth and Development mayhave just blown out my headphones ­ which is a good thing. Itdemonstrates the amount of power that goes through the samples.Definitely a very strong set of NNXTs which a nice mix of bass sounds,pads, and even at higher pitches, lead instruments.
Since the release of Reason 2.0 and the implementation of the NNXTsampler system, few producers have come close to utilizing the truepower of this machine.

-Note to Mr. Van Bork: You are so cool in my books now, you have NO idea. -Note to readers: NORMALISE YOUR MONITORS!

Back to the review, there are over 228 lovely patches to sink yourteeth into ­ and because they are multilayered ­ you can actuallyreassemble your own cool Marc Van Bork type sound patches! My hero!


Conclusion
This is a perfect accompaniment to any musician looking for theversatility of synth sounds in a sampler setting. This CD is definitelyup there in my rankings. According to our friends over at AMG, Marc istalking about making another CD with them ­ a sequel? We might soonfind out. So go pick this up ­ it rocks the house. And when you decideyou too want Marc to be your Hero ­ drop him a line at amguk.co.uk andask him when volume 2 is out!


EQ Magazine (review)
Quote: "If fresh synth sounds are what you're looking for in a ReFill, I haven't heard a better source than this."

I¹ve played with a bunch of refills for Reason, and nothing offers upso many great sampler patches as Sonic Data Vol. 1. Over a gigabyte ofwaveform data (uncompressed) makes up the raw material that Sonic'sdevelopers used to craft these patches, which range from utilitarian tootherworldly. There are a total of 202 NN-19 instruments, 48 NN-19textures, and 228 layered patches for the NN-19/-XT. It's all here:Atmospheres, thick, dramatic basses, buzzing, bit-reduced blips, hugepads, and FX are all at the party.

The programming is very musical; all patches take advantage of themodulation possibilities in Reason, such as using mod wheel for filtersweeps and introducing multisample layers. Syncable parameters werecalled into service, too; this is key - rhythms, undulating effects, orwhatever will stay in sync with your song.

'Alien Wedding', for example, blends a D-50ish bell pad with a wideWaldorf-like sweep with one of the LFOs modulating pan. The result is apatch that could work as the foundation of a track. There's no shortageof one-note jams, either. 'Bask In the Machine' is indicative of thekind of rhythmic sounds you¹ll find. This particular patch reliesheavily on the syncable parameters of the NN-XT to create a kind ofhybrid metallic and modular-sounding bed.

If fresh synth sounds are what you're looking for in a ReFill, I haven't heard a better source than this. EQ

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