SM32 Progressive House 2 Review

The latest library from Sample Magic sees producers Sami Liuski and Stedd stacking up the saw waves for Progressive House 2. A fair bit has changed in club land since the first Progressive House pack three years ago, with the sound of the genre moving from deep, tribal grooves to something altogether harder and more electro/dubstep-influenced.

Manufacturer: Sample Magic
Price: £34.90
Contact: Via Website
Web: www.samplemagic.com





The pack follows the usual SM format, with folders of bass, synth and top loops, plus broken-down drum and musical loops that can be quickly laid down to arrange your basic track ideas. You also get a load of FX, synth and drum hits, with accompanying sampler instruments in all major formats. As always, the library includes a PDF booklet that gives an insight into the making of the pack, although this time they seemed to have left out the useful section of genre-related tech tips. The booklet reliably informs us that a large selection of juicy hardware synths and effects were used to create the pack, including a Korg MS-20, Sherman Filterbank 2 to name but a few.

The synths are put to best use in the beefy bass lines folder, with impressively programmed complextro edits and warm, resonant wobbles. The same is true of the music loops folder, which features an array of plucked melodies and layered, throbbing chords. However, we were less enamoured with the synth loops, where the euphoric, reverb-drenched super-saws start to sound a little samey.

Drum-wise, you’ll find a fair bit of variation and originality, with tight, polished production and well thought-out alternative versions, plus some simple but effective top loops to thicken your grooves. You’ll also find a decent array of stocky kicks, aggressive snares and hats, and short, clicky percussion, plus 31 slightly disappointing chord stabs that aren’t bad, but lack variety.

As with all Sample Magic packs, the production is exceptional. However, although there are some superb drum and bass loops – and moments of melodic genius – this pack doesn’t quite reach the highs of originality seen in previous releases.

Verdict

Excellent prog-electro production and heavyweight bass/drum loops, but slightly let down by predictable super-saw synth melodies.

8/10