Big Fish Audio | Music Tech | Bollyhood Beats Product Review
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Bollyhood Beats | Music Tech

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The fusion of fast Indian percussion rhythms with slower hip hop/R'n'B beats is a sound we've all become accustomed to. However, traditional Indian rhythms can sometimes prove a little too complex and unruly to sit comfortably with a more rigid kick/snare groove. This monster percussion pack, therefore, provides masses of stripped-down live rhythm loops played by Sanket Athale, one of India's top percussion players.

The library features 4GB of 24-bit content spread across two DVDs to accommodate the ACID WAV, Apple Loops, REX2 and RMX formats and divides into a massive 92 construction kits with a total of 930 loops. Each folder contains six percussive loops and a drumbeat, plus preview audio files. The kits range from 57 to 110BPM and most are 16 bars long, which leaves space for subtle variations.

All of the rhythms are played with an almost quantized tightness, with each shaker, tabla, duff and dholak rhythm intentionally left fairly simple so they will slot straight into contemporary productions. This is simultaneously the pack's greatest strength and weakness: the tight, dry production means the loops can be instantly added to your tracks, but because of this simplicity, many of the grooves are very similar to each other and despite having a massive 92 construction kits, there isn't a great deal of variation.

This is certainly an expertly played and recorded collection of grooves, but even given its large size, it may be worthwhile only if you use a lot of Indian percussion in your productions.

Verdict
Tight, usable grooves and lots of loops, but not as much variation as we'd have like to hear.

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