Technocore | Remix Magazine

Through the same sample shop responsible for last year's hit Hip Hop Exotica and Reggaeton libraries, French producer/writer/programmer Fabien Renoult unleashes a collection of 25 hard-techono construction kits done up the way the Europeans like it - hard and fast. Tempos on this 2 GB DVD range from a slow-mo 120 bpm stroll through the chill-down room to a 180 bpm sweat fest, with an average around 145 bpm. At 631 WAV/AIFF samples and 408 REX files, each kit offers a key-designated full mix, seven or more drum variations, a bass loop or two, several synth phrases and sometimes a vocal or effects loops for flourish. Each kit also contains a folder of individual drum hits, as well as a drums folder with multitracked beats, allowing you to arrange and mix the drum elements to taste.

Formulaically four-on-the-floor, all kits are four bars in length and lend well to subractive-style arrangements; throwing all construction components at the proverbial wall and muting parts here and there works best. Aiding this process are well-reasoned inclusions of effects-onlyu versions of drum breaks; strangely processed "thin" loops such as flanged hi-hats; and secondary snare loops and percussion rolls for building transitions, intros and outros. Programming is tight and inventive for a musical style that's been accused of being stuck in a rut. The ethnicbend to several of the kits is inspiring. Even typically stale ideas such as siren drops, detuned kicks and backward cymbal rolls don't predate the progressive edge this library forges from beginning to end. Whether festival tents or rave halls are your venues, Technocore should please the massive.