To me, a MIDI song block’s functions should be twofold: First, it should provide lots of useful starting points for your own work. The MIDI song blocks included with Dream Pop are the only things that left me underwhelmed. Every other kit is interesting and, of course, you can customise them to your liking. Another kit of particular note is Stomp… If you’re looking to make the next folk pop hit, this kit is for you. My favorite kit is called Happy and it certainly made me feel happy. The three Gretsch kits (Muted, Open, Regular) are good, although a bit darker than I would have thought. I found myself creating several beats (just by experimenting with the sounds) that I don’t believe I’d typically have come up with using anything else. I’ll admit I haven’t heard everything Toontrack has released, but this title is definitely a top-quality release with loads of interesting sounds that can lead you down the creative rabbit hole and into unexpected territory. I’ll admit that some of these foley bits need a bit of volume and pitch tweaking before they’re really useable, but once that’s done, they’re very good, and all the sounds are of the quality you’d expect. Is it Really a Dream?Īt first inspection, I couldn’t imagine using sounds like Hull Perc or Nut Percb in any kind of real production however, after playing through these sounds and experimenting a bit, I found them more useful than I at first thought. It makes it very easy to created tuned percussion. Of course, each assignable pad allows you to change the pitch and volume of the sound assigned to it. All told, there are 32 areas of the screen that provide assignable percussive ‘pads’ for your percussive pleasure. Both of these can be assigned to whatever you choose. To the left of the kit are two other percussive elements – a tambourine and what looks like a small leafless plant in a planter. There are quite a few percussive samples of foot stomping, hands clapping, things being smacked against drum hardware – there’s even the sound of someone knocking on the hull of a boat and more. This is where the foley elements come into play. Even this is a percussive element with many options to choose from. To the right of the synth image is a stool (the kind you’re meant to sit on).
#TOONTRACK EZX2 DREAM POP PATCH#
There’s even a plucky mute guitar and a patch called ‘Sigur’, eveidently named in honour of a certain ethereal Icelandic band. Many of the percussive FX consist of electronic or foley sounds that have been processed through analogue synths to give them unique sound and interest.īelow the hex-pad wall is a bass-pedal synth with options like pads, chromatic percussion, and other synth elements. In addition to the trap setup, there’s also a wall to the right which features several hex pads that can each be freely assigned to any of the sounds on offer. When you first open Dream Pop, you’re presented with a hybrid drum kit – acoustic kit and snare, cymbals and the like – as well as electronic pads.
I was very surprised to see just how much is offered in this new collection, and each kit is unique unto itself. Pandora’s Boxįirst off – Dream Pop EZX adds a whopping 29 new kits. Now, it has released something altogether different called Dream Pop, which promises a mixture of acoustic drums and drum machines – as well as foley sounds and hybrid percussion samples that should give you an unusual arsenal of sounds and colours to work with. “Too Hard” written and produced by Patrik Persson.Since then, I’ve checked out several more of Toontrack’s EZX expansion packs, with mixed reactions. Performed by Andreas Moe ( “Lost For Words” written and produced by Patrik Persson and Daniel Persson. Written by Hiten Bharadia, Niclas Lundin and Andreas Moe. “Concrete Heart” produced by Niclas Lundin. Written by Niclas Lundin and Marlene Strand. “Someone Like Me” produced by Niclas Lundin. Mixed at: Toontrack Studio (Umeå, Sweden) Recorded at: Dugout Studio (Uppsala, Sweden), Avatar Studio (New York City, NY), 2Khz Studio (London, England), Hit Factory (New York City, NY), Blackbird Studio (Nashville, TN), Oceanway Studio (Nashville, TN), Allaire Studios (Shokan, NY), Atlantis (Stockholm, Sweden), Ballerina Audio (Umeå, Sweden), Musikanten (Umeå, Sweden), Dreamhill Studios (Stockholm, Sweden), New Polyphony Studio (Nashville, TN)Ĭredits for original recordings: Daniel Bergstrand, Neil Dorfsman, Pat Thrall, Peter Henderson, Chris Grainger, Fredrik Thordendal, Mattias Eklund, Niklas Flyckt, Brad Bowden, Richard Devine, Nir Z, Tomas Haake, Chris Whitten, Morgan Ågren, Roy “Futureman” Wooten, Tom Larson & Mikael Emsing