Distant Echo by Medway Studios
ModeAudio have just released another of their quality sample packs.
Titled Distant Echo', it comprises of a smart collection of musical beds and atmospheres perfect for post production or any musical style requiring complex and emotive sound effects.
Weighing in at around 1.4GB, the pack is divided into seven sections:
- Inharmonic
- Noise
- Tonal
- Additive
- Bass
- Contour
- Granular
Some of these will be self-explanatory but let's take a look at each one in detail.
Part One
There are 25 Inharmonic samples that are about 30 seconds to a minute long each. This gives plenty of scope for modulations and evolving textures to do their thing.
As they don't adhere to any particular note or key these are probably best used in sections of songs without much melody.
Then again they could be just the thing to add a little dissonance to create tension at the right points.
Film and audio for visual composers will find these very useful as well when looking for complex beds to lay in post work.
Another folder of Noise samples is as the name implies.
These are no simplistic white noise sweeps but carefully constructed sweeps and drones that can be used as transition effects or other applications that require more non-tonal high frequency content.
The Tonal section includes 22 samples, again at a similar length to the Inharmonic folder, but this time the mood becomes more emotional and musically defined.
Everything from uplifting to brooding atmospheres are present which cover pretty much any setting you could think of.
I would have liked to see some key information for this section to make including to existing productions a little quicker, however.
Part Two
Moving on to the next folder we start off with Additive.
I can only assume these have been constructed using additive synthesis as they mainly have a crystalline texture reminiscent of the Prophet VS for instance.
The mood here is plaintive but also uplifting with a nice emotional depth to many of them.
Next up is the Bass section.
With names such as 'Book of The Dead' and 'Proper Dark' you can guess the type of mood offered here, deep, dark textures perfect for adding low end warmth to your mixes.
The Contour folder includes some nice spacey, trippy samples, again with plenty of movement and depth.
Finally, we end on the Granular section.
Things get even more experimental here with stuttering vocal like samples and delicate but gritty pads.
These would make great center points to any production that will grab the listeners attention.
Conclusion
ModeAudio have yet to fail with delivering sample packs that are both thoughtful and useful across a wide variety of styles.
Once again, there's something for everyone and the production levels remain high within Distant Echo'.