Big Fish Audio | Recording Magazine John Rossi III | Nu Metal City Product Review
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Nu Metal City | Recording Magazine

Reviewer: John Rossi III Back to Nu Metal City product details

Nu Metal CIty is collection of loop constructin kits that cover a wide gamut of Metal sub-genres including Nu Metal, Metalcore, Death Metal, and Industrial Rock, written and produced by Funk/Soul Productions for Big Fish Audio.

Delivery/Format/Compatibility and Installation

The Nu Metal City (NMC) collection is delivered on on DVD-ROM compatible with Mac and PC computer platforms. NMC contains no autoloader program so, unless your computer is configured to automatically display the contents of the disk, it will await your maually opening, browsing and selecting the content you want to use.
All loops are provided in WAV, Apple Loops and REX formats, in corresponding folders located in the root directory of the DVD. No loop playback software is included, so you are required to supply an application that can work with sounds to their fullest potential. SUch applications include most moders Digital Audio Workstation hosts, and specialty programs such as Sony ACID, Apple Garageband, or Propellerhead Reason.

Organization/Licensing

NMC is organized as 30 separate constructin sets organized on the DVD in three folders (Apple Loops, REX, WAV). Within each folder, separate construction kits are organized as subfolders numbered from 1 to 30 with tempo (in beats per minute) and root key signature appended to the folder name. For example, would represent construction kit #9, with a tempo of 95 BPM and a root key signature of B.
Inside each construction kit, the loops are organized as loops of bass guitars, drums, guitars, scratches, atmosphere and synths. Each construction kit contains a generous complement of loops for each instrument to allow substantial variation on the theme. Additionally, a main mix file is provided as an example of one way the inluded loops can be assembled into a finished track. (Note: For users of ACID, the loops are not ACIDized, and will not support auto-transposition of pitched instruments between kits with different key signatures.
There are no legal restrictions placed upon the use of these loops in any musical arrangement.

In Use

I found NMC incredibly easy to use. Using ACID I was able to compose convincing Metal tunes ina surprisingly short amount of time. For each loop in each construction kit, the start beat and end measure duratin are very precisely timed so the loops assemble without any need for editing. Even mixing non-pitched loops (e.g. drums) between construction kits of the same tempo worked flawlessly.
The 30 construction kits provide an ample varitey of Metal motifs and a sufficient number of loops to allow relatively sophisticated arrangements. In additon, Iwas able to derive even more flexibility. in ACID by ACIDizing loops in diffenet key signatures with Sony's Sound Forge before importing the in the ACID mix.
What surprised me most about this package is how seductive it is. The fun factor for this set, on a scale of 1 to 10, goes up to 11 (not a surprise, considering the genre). The quality of the musicianship in the recorded loops in outstanding. The drum kits are well mixed, and the guitar strums and leads are very precise. Most of the basses generated that knid of driving power associated with genre. I found it quite satisfying to assemble tracks in the vein of Nine Inch Nails, Korn, System Of A Down, and Incubus, on a whim. I found it even more entertaining to play with the temmpos and chord structures to create masterpieces worthy of the heavy metal bands of the '80s and '90s.

Summary

If you are into modern Metal music, this collection of construction sets will blow you away. Even if you aren't (or think you aren't) this set be a whole lot of fun. I can honestly say that this is the most entertaining music contruction set I have ever played with.

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