Ambient Pads Review

Prime Loops latest pack delves right into the electronic side of things, comprising 49 loops of pure bliss….

Details
Manufacturer Prime Loops
Price £14.95
Contact info@primeloops.com
Web www.primeloops.com

The sound of the synth is certainly right back up there again, both in terms of the popular new genres and those that have been with us for years. Ambient purists will tell you, of course, that ambience is more about found sound – even a state of mind (man) – rather than electronic music, but the synthesizer was always going to take over the genre ever since the likes of Tangerine Dream put out their minimal opuses in the 70s.

This collection delves right into the electronic side of things, comprising 49 loops of pure bliss taken from unspecified synths and mixed into glorious, rich textures that evolve into almost full-on tunes as they loop around. Indeed, just leave each rolling, sit back and relax as each loops around. So if you prefer someone else to do all the work, here’s a collection just for you, although others might prefer to take a single chord from each and manipulate it into our own progressions rather than use those on offer (just so we can at least pretend to be a bit more creative).

As to the sounds themselves, just think ‘out-there’. The Psychedalia and Dreamer loops are Ulrich Schnauss at his phattest, while others evoke a little late-80s Enya. Add some blistering beats over the top of some and you’ll have instant Jon Hopkins; other progressions would also make great intros to big trance tracks.

So we’re not just talking chilled, here – although that is the focus, obviously – as these can be used as the backdrop – or even backbone – to many a genre. The recordings are well made, making great use of the stereo field, but one or two exhibit the odd click at the loop point, something more noticeable in this field but also something pretty easy to deal with once you get the audio in.