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BIZARRE GUITAR
"Do aural images of
surreal alien landscapes filled with swirling ambient colors make
you a happy camper? If so, then Spectrasonics' new Bizarre Guitar
sample collection might be just what you need for the old audio
toolbox. A cousin of the legendary Distorted Reality series, this
new release from producer Eric Persing and guitar wizard Peter Maunu
has been more than two years in the making, and it's well worth
the wait...not your average distortion-based metal riffs.This other-worldly
collection really stands out from what I've heard before...I put
a number of these samples to work in both ambient and hip-hop tracks,
and they proved to be quite effective. Yet after more than a month
of listening, it's still hard to believe that some of them are guitar-based.
For me this is saying a lot, since I've been mutating and twisting
the sound of the guitar in every imaginable way since the mid-'60s...The
list of processors used to create this collection is immense...these
samples worked well as the basis for ambient beds...Useful filter
modulation routings and easy access to combinations of samples mapped
in quick menu programs, plus programs in which individual samples
are mapped across the entire keyboard, made it a breeze to get around...I
also appreciated having the audio CD included in the package with
the CD-ROM; this made it simple to quickly import samples into my
Pro Tools rig for further DSP mutation...The range of sonic ideas
is vast...a rather mind-altering vibe. All of the Ambient sounds
are worth investigating; many have an accent on the melancholic,
and they're full of great bed textures for instant composition ideas...brings
to mind the dreamlike soundscapes recorded by Fripp and Eno in the
late '70s. The edgy and gritty Stabs, X-Poser FX, Slash and Burn
FX, and Atonal Loops groups offer plenty of industrial grunge inspiration.
If you want to trip out completely (and check out the goods), put
the audio CD on and close your eyes for an almost 70-minute journey.
Overall, I found this collection an aural addict's dream come true,
with plenty of creative stimulation in almost every track. If you're
into ambient landscapes full of angelic textures and pulsing sonic
displays of modulated ecstasy from another universe, then this is
the collection for you."
-Mikail Graham, Keyboard magazine
review
"...not a guitar sample CD as we know it. Often the samples
are processed to such an extent that you'd have no idea a guitar
was involved. Bizarre Guitar is more like a guitar-based Distorted
Reality, full of drones, backgrounds, loops and pads, all created
and recorded with meticulous attention to detail. There are heavily
treated guitars with ring modulators and other processors to make
them sound extremely electronic while others are processed to make
them sound almost like synth strings, ethereal pianos or electronic
marimbas...edgy techno sounds, some almost like guitar flavoured
white noise, while the smoother pads are perfectly suited to ambient
and film music...because the guitar is the sound source, the samples
have more of an organic feel than most electronically generated
sounds...there is a section of useful multisamples, including a
very nice bowed guitar. Bizarre Guitar will appeal to those who
like Distorted Reality, providing a wealth of strange and beautiful
sounds that should stimulate your songwriting buds."
-Sound on Sound magazine review
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