House Generator by AskAudio
If you want to recharge your Ableton Live sets and inject them with a house vibe? ModeAudio's House Generator for Ableton racks include beat, bass & lead lines with MIDI & audio. How does it perform?
If your Ableton Live sets, or home sets, are feeling a little tired due to lame drum kits and chintzy patches, then ModeAudio may have a little something to bring the kick back into your step. And, if you're an old fan of House Music, but new to computer music, then the new House Generator package may just be what you're looking for. There are many examples of the drum beats, bass and lead lines are available as MIDI, along with some patches royalty free, for a really nice price. Let's take a peak inside!Lots to Choose From...
Within House Generator there are several thoughtful inclusions, almost like a tasty audio picnic basket, if you'll indulge me the imagery. Let's first start with the patches, as they are always a nice appetizer. Drum-wise, you'll rarely find kits like these at the price that these are going with. The samples are nice, and cut through wonderfully. Snares, and basses included really do pair well together, and suit the genre quite well. And yet, can be filtered into other genres, should you have an expanded palette of music creation.
And, though the drums are nice, I found the patches, themselves a little irritating, opting to use included samples in Drum Racks of my own. ModeAudio is true to their wordThis is a House Generator, and the patches follow the same mindset. Therefore, many, many samples are loaded within each of the included Drum Racks, that have selector knobs to change out drum samples on the fly. As a result, the load times are a little longer than I'm willing to wait, merely to have the luxury of being able to toggle between different kick, snare, hi-hats, and percussion samples. The load times also seriously affect the preview times, in Ableton, when auditioning clips.
The bass synth patches are probably my favorite section of House Generator, as they are thick, and really hit the sweet spot for a tight house mix. These are all sample-based patches, as well, so you don't need to worry about owning some specific Live Instrument, and the samples themselves are very well done. It really does sound like they used some real, vintage synths in there, and the filter settings aren't just there for show. The sampled instruments are relying on realtime effects, it's not just burned into the audio.
MIDI?
House Generator sports a small, but decent selection of MIDI clips for Live. Drum clips thoughtfully match each of the included kits. But again, the load times may be a dissuader for some. Of additional frustration, the Drum Racks are mapped outside of the usual General MIDI drum mappings. So, these drum loops will really only work with the included kits. This seems like a missed opportunity, as I really like it when I can use MIDI Clips from other kits, too. The drum patterns are legit, however. They will work a dance floor, and have the right groove.
The Chord Synths, along with the bass and drum clips were a lot of fun. You can quickly get that sound without having to spend the time to learn the timing, chords and cadence of modern house music. And, the most important part, they really sit well in the mix.
Conclusion
ModeAudio took some dings from me on this set. But, aside from some frustrations in the programming department, the samples themselves are awesome. Especially where the drum and bass samples are concerned. There are some really nice patches in there, especially in the Chord Synth department.
Pros: Solid Bass and Chord synth patches, along with some killer drum samples.
Cons: Drum racks and included session file carry some seriously long load times. Mappings within Drum Racks may not work with other MIDI Clips.
Price: $50
