I've been lucky enough to collaborate with Steve Howell (the mind behind Hollow Sun.com) on several occasions during the last year, so when he recently decided to launch his own line of sample cds, I had the pleasure to help him with beta-testing the sounds.

As an already very satisfied user of Hollow Sun’s free samples I kind of knew what kind of quality level to expect from this guy, but I have to admit that Steve's latest offerings just totally blew away my expectations!

I'm not exagerating here and please note that I'm not exactly a novice in the sample-ware industry either: I've been working professionally as a sound-designer for several years now, recording, creating and editing sounds for Sony Pictures Digital, Sonic Foundry, AMG, Power FX and Akai, among others.

In other words, I've gone through LOTS of sample CDs, of any kind and nature.

The first CD I received (and the one I’m gonna review here) was the Yamaha FS1r Collection. If you don't know anything about this synth, well, first have a look here --- http://www.hollowsun.com/cds/fs1r_page.html --- to get an idea of what kind of sound device we're talking about.

Definitely not your average "rompler" with a typical subractive architecture, the Fs1r was unanimously considered one of the nicest sounding and most expressive electronic instruments introduced on the market during the last few years.

Obviously sampling such a complex beast is not something that the faint of heart would want to do: evolving sounds, complex modulations and a high degree of real-time controls make re-creating those peculiar Fs1r sounds in a sampler a REALLY hard task for anyone to accomplish.

After these few premises let's start giving a look to the material contained in the CD.

The collection is divided in different folders, each one devoted to a particular class of instruments: a great approach to categorize sounds and for sure the fastest way to have access to the right program when you need it.

For each category I'll try to offer a quick general overview, plus a selection of the sounds that I liked the most, obviously according to my very personal musical taste.

- Basses:

As you might expect, here you find a really good selection of solid synthetic basses (no acoustic emulations of any kind), ranging from the more subtle to the more aggressive timbres.

My favourite ones here comprise 'Bass Line 1' and 'Bass Line 2', two squealchy sounds inspired by the famous Roland TB-303, offered in sawtooth and square variations. Not too realistic (no 303 purism, please...) but highly usable anyway.

The 'Compusaw Bass' program offers a huge sounding bass timbre with a nice top end, making it able to cut through a mix really easily.

The more conventional 'Drysyn Bass' represents instead a good take on the "analog style" bass sound, a tone that you can easily adapt to basically any modern genre with just a few filter tweaks, while 'Fundabass' covers the ultra-low frequencies department with a nice FM sound, deep and hollow at the same time.

For drum&bass production 'Jungle Bass' is a must: it's not that easy to find a good sub-bass synth able to mantain crystal clear pitch even at its lowest frequencies, plus showing an aggressive, sligthly distorted personality.

'Matzec Bass' immediately reminded me of a sound Squarepusher could easily use in his own productions: deep and heavy, FM-ish with a glassy top end. Watch out for his next release!

Playing the 'Plastic Bass' program made me remember of those old "Phase Distortion" synths (if I still had that Casio little synth...), while 'Rave Bass'... well, the name already says it all.

The last bass sound I'd like to mention here is the one found in the 'Technic' program: a detuned, filtered bass-synth that could really make a difference in any style of electronic music production.

- Bells:

If you, like me, have always thought that you're too cool to use bell sounds in your music, please, do yourself a favour and give a quick listen to these sounds.

'Furry Bells' is a totally ethereal program, probably sampled with some reverb/ambience processing to make it even more evocative: a great choice for creating dreamy (or even nightmarish) sonic landscapes.

'Legend Vibe' offers instead a rich sounding, delicate but present solo sound, with a generous sustain well suited for atmospheric chords as well.

Same thing with 'Suiki Bell', an evocative, rich of harmonics program that shows its full potential over the whole velocity range. And for new age and ambient fans, please don't miss 'Tubular 1' and 'Tubular 2' programs.

- Clavinets:

In this folder you’ll find a generous selection of clavinet programs, from the more realistic to the more synthetic ones.

While 'Brite Clav' and 'Thin Clav' can cut through even the most dense mixes thanks to their extremely "skinny" character, 'Reso Clavi' shows a fuller body and a nice filter movement developing over time.

'VelSW Clavi' stands more on the realistic side instead, with some meticulously programmed velocity switching.

- E.Pianos:

Considering the deep FM nature of the Fs1r, it's not a surprise to find several variations of the classic DX electric piano sound in this folder, mixed with a good variety of more modern tones as well.

Personally, I liked 'Velvet EP' (sweet and round) and' Wurli Piano' (mellow and slightly nasal sound) a lot, mostly for background comping, while 'DynaRhodes' suit my needs for a more "featured" instrument, thanks to its extremely dynamic behaviour at different velocities.

- Guitar:

Again, the programs you'll find here are not really intented to offer ultra-realistic guitar sounds, even if some of these patches can get pretty close to the real thing. If any, the common factor could be considered the extremely present and tonally rich nature of these sounds.

My more mellow side liked the 'Dulcimer' program a lot, handy for ambient tracks with its simple but quite evocative sound, although if I need to get a little bit nastier, I know I can count on the 'Hyper Fuzz Guitar' program and its distorted, aggressive sound.

Worth a mention is the 'Mute Guitar' program, almost resembling an organ tone, but with a very "liquid" tail, thanks to its slightly resonant nature and some reverb processing.

- Leadlines:

Among my first calls in the Leads area you can find 'Acid King' (interesting worm-style synth, great for legato playing for both dance and "urban" genres), 'Earth Lead' (a very synthetic tone with vibrato that could also be useful as a rock lead) and Retronic (simple "vintage" sound with components sounding on two different octaves).

I also liked 'Sync Sweep', with its very bright tone and that effective sweep on the upper end, and 'Teck Hook', an interesting mix between the hoover sound and more modern techno leads.

- Organs:

This folder offers most of the classic organ sounds you could need in your production work, offering several variations to better cover various musical contexts.

If the programs '70s Organ', 'B3 Jazz' and 'Perc 3rd' represent three different takes on the more realistic organ timbre,' B3 Rotary' gets almost ethereal, while 'Perc Organ' is THE choice for 2step and Garage's bass lines.

A mention for 'LS Night' too, a really warm and subtle organ program, with plenty of rotary movement.

- Pads:

For sure one of the collection's highest points. 'Breath Swell' and 'Celebration' are two excellent interpretations of the classic vocal/choir style, both offering incredibly rich timbres and plenty of playing expression.

'Cinema Sweep' and 'Dark Pad' bring us back on the analog ground, with some slow filter movement and a really "classy" tone, while 'Ob Pad' is a direct tribute to the vintage Oberheim sound.

If you like dark and creepy patches, no better choice than 'Mysteria' (really ethereal and athmospheric), 'Nebulous' (a "foggy" , distant sound, which in my opinion could have been used as the perfect alternative lead for the X-Files theme!) and 'Space Winds' (a deep and complex timbre with components doubled on different octaves).

'Thermal' and 'Wind Pad' are definitely more "reassuring" programs, with their warm and surrounding timbres, great for thickening an arrangement without drawing too much attention to themselves.

- Percussive:

Inside this folder we can find a mix of percussive and plucked synth sounds. Personally I really had fun using this type of sounds to create complex arpeggio’s sequences: these short tones really shine for this kind of application, without the risk of cluttering your arrangement.

Like in the case of 'DaComp' for example, or 'FatLine', a program with a hard attack and a noise component in the sound that makes it ideal for cutting-through, modern lead lines.

Thanks to its quick filter envelope, 'Funk' could be a really good choice for pentatonic lines and riffing, while I liked 'Hard Pull' for more techno/hard house oriented applications, as an effective synth stab.

- SFX:

Only three sounds offered here, but really high quality ones. Indeed, 'Glass Echo', 'Nightmare' and 'Metal' are for sure among the richest and most complex sounds of the whole collection. Worth mentioning is that these sounds are not just static SFX: they're totally playable patches, even for melodic lines.

- Strings:

This folder contains five different programs covering some very effective synth strings patches. 'Obie Strings' takes us back to the excellent Obie sound, while 'J-Michel' is a direct tribute to another classic analogue string timbre, with plenty of modulation and a slightly phased tone.

And I found myself using the 'Spacious' program a lot recently: with its really wide, open sound and the right choice of chords it can really help creating some very dramatic moods in your music.

- Conclusions:

A great sample cd from one the most experienced Akai programmers available. Let's not forget that Steve is the man behind many of the hardware samplers and sounds Akai has developed during the last 15 years: this experience is evident in every single sound present in this collection.

As a programming freak myself, I've found myself studying for hours his perfectly crafted loop points, the velocity switching and the efficacy of the mapping that you find in this collection.

Even if Fs1r's sounds are not exactly your cup of tea, it’s unquestionable that the programming quality involved is top-notch: you don't see this kind of attention to detail very often, not even in other commercial cds costing way, way more $$.

Simply put, this cd is a really great value for the money. In my personal case I know I'll go back to these sounds quite often, even for my own music. Plus, the programs give you so much space for customization (when needed) that creating dozens of variations from this set of sounds is really a breeze.

Leo Cavallo, Groundloops - 2.2.05

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