Unusual Percussion Samples Review

In this review, we take a look at Prime Loops’ Unusual Percussion Samples.

Manufacturer: Prime Loops
Price: £14.95 (download)
Contact: via website
Web: www.primeloops.com

With such a large amount of music around, it can be difficult to stand out with original tracks. One solution is to ditch or supplement traditional drums with more esoteric sound effects to craft unique grooves. Unusual Percussion Samples from Prime Loops serves up a library of over 200 found sound loops and hits, with over 200MB worth of audio.

Everything is played in live, with the percussion loops divided into folders of box, bucket, computer case, flower pot, keys, lamp, shoes, stapler, suitcase, and other.

Most of the grooves themselves are fairly short and simple, but there are generally several variations on each ‘instrument’ so you’ll probably end up chopping things up and combining patterns. You can expect to find conga style grooves played on the bucket, box and suitcase; pitched sounds on flower pots and lamps; and some superb alternatives to your standard shaker or tambourine played using a set of keys and a stapler!

There are also some great industrial-sounding rhythms pounded out on a computer case, which could be good for composers looking for something a little different for an action scene cue.

As mentioned you may have to get creative if you want to extend the short loops out into full tracks. Most have been recorded with a little ambience for a live feel, although you could remove this with a transient/envelope plug-in.

The playing is slightly sloppy in places, which again adds to the organic feel, but you may want to use quantise if you’re writing tighter-sounding tracks.

You’ll also find a small handful of heavily-effected versions, but this isn’t really explored in any real depth. Finally, there’s a folder of excellent one-shots to play in your own unique rhythms.

This is a simple but excellent value pack that could be used to spice up a variety of genres. If your tracks are sounding a little too obvious, then this could be just the ticket to inject some subtle originality.