The Hybridizer | Keyboard Magazine

This collection of 40 construction kits dishes up a healthy dose of distortion and sonic devastation from guitars, synths, bass, and drums, paired up with smart chord progressions and lead lines that are tasteful and will complement many a song or music cue.

Native tempos range from 61-148 BPM and all points in-between. As these are Acid-ready loops, Sonar and Live users will find that the majority can be used comfortably within widely varying tempos.

Perhaps the greatest feature of this collection is its pristine mixing of the elements and exceptional stereo imaging. I was extremely impressed with the clarity and punch of the separate drumming elements, as well as the biting guitar and synth textures. While some of these loops sound over-aggressive and similar to each other, producers Bunker 8 masterfully change the mood on a dime by offering up construction kits like "Darkness Falls" and "Reptecons." Second-listener Ken Hughes said, "There is some repetition of feel, but the material is just crushing. Excellent stuff."

I loaded the sets into several remixing programs. Using them with Acid, Project5, and Live was fun, but the real magic of these beauties shone through clearly when I put them to the test in Making Waves [Stay tuned for a reviewof this cool British sequencer app. -Ed.]. While I thought the provided guitar textures sounded great, I tended to lean more towards the drum and bass loops in order to write out progressions and lead ideas of my own. Within an hour I considered myself a "Hybridized" soul.

Big Fish should consider making this outstanding collection available in other popular formats, such as REX. A ReFill collection would reach an even wider audience.

I think we'll be hearing these very useable "Hybridized Elements" on film and television soundtracks in the near future, to say nothing of their many uses for popular music in general.