here's some reviews of this thus far:
Andrew Duke's Chain Reaction: Sonic Atmospheres 1--a samplepack featuring 606 exclusive royalty-free FX as 24bit 48kHz WAV and Apple Loops--is available for download now on Audiobase.com; direct link:
http://audiobase.com/product/SACR
This downloadable samplepack includes 450 FX loops and 156 FX hits. Description: With sounds and themes as diverse as traffic, industrial, buzz, helicopter, haunting, alien landscape, and many, many others, the variety in this pack is simply huge. Master producer Andrew Duke's music and sound design have been heard on many TV networks including BBC Channel 4, Discovery, CBC, CTV and Much Music to name a few. With over a gigabyte of loops, the sounds in this pack will add flair to any producton.
Here's what some of those who have downloaded have to say about the pack
(all gave the download 5 stars out of 5):
Testimonial from Dave O Mahony (producer;
http://www.fizznchips.com):
Since downloading this Sample Pack I've been playing with the sounds Non-Stop! This is a wonderfully inspirational set. Loads of musically usable loops and almost all of them lead to a jumping off point for new tunes! The quality is outstanding - anyone that has used your free loop packs would be highly advised to check these out... there are so many run of the mill samplesets about that finding a collection like this is like striking gold!
I'm a HUGE fan af Andrew's work and this set has just confirmed in my mind the mans talent... I cant wait to get back to play with these...
It's a shame there isnt a higher rating than 5
Testimonial from Nick Dundas (DJ/Producer;
http://www.nickdundas.com):
Chain Reaction by Andrew Duke is another top notch sample pack which proves useful for all kinds of production. The samples are original, organic and sit across the spectrum from minimal to heavy. Personally I've never found a sample pack which offers so much variety and complexity while still staying in context. The sheer size of Duke's sample pack makes it an irresistible deal. If you are looking for a large, solid addition to your sample collection Chain Reaction is for you. I'm looking forward to new, quality releases from Duke which I would buy in a second.
Testimonial from Blake Jarrell (DJ/producer;
http://www.myspace.com/blakejarrell):
wow what a great sample collection! anyone into to minimal and idm or anyone who just wants to add some techy complex and sometimes plain nasty sounds to their work, this collection is a great pool to draw from. these sounds also work great in live improv jams.
Testimonial from Mr. Tunes (Composer & Sound Designer for Film):
At $30, Andrew Duke's Chain Reaction is quite the steal. There's A LOT of content in here to pick from and most of it's very usable to me. This pack would be ideal for anyone making IDM/Tech music as Blake mentions but it's good to point out that these sounds would be just as useful to sound designers for film and video games. I've worked on a few different indie projects in the past and sometimes the deadlines are too tight to design all the sounds from scratch. Sonic Atmospheres Vol. 1 makes for the ideal starting point in these situations when the pressure to deliver quality sounding tracks is on.
My critique is that i'd like to see some longer sustained soundscapes here. The ones in this library are loopable but my guess is that Andrew will release a 2nd volume eventually that will fill in the gaps in this one. My other critique is that when working on 'lighter' projects it's hard to find calmer sounds that have a nice musical quality. There are softer tones but you just have to search more for them. The sounds in this library can be quite abrasive at times (hence the title Chain Reaction). In general I think having this sort of edge to the library is great and gives it a unique character.
I love the different types of sounds here, and the range of having sounds from the real world vs. the bizarre synthesis techniques that Duke employs. My favourite are the ones that are really staticy and clicky, subdued textures. There's also a nice dose of obnoxious synth effects that will wake you up. The one-shots could be fun to load into a sampler and play them with a keyboard.
All in all this library is a fantastic starting point for people looking for a palette of bizarre and far-out sounds to start painting with. With a price this low you can't go wrong. Much respect to Andrew for releasing his gems for us to use.