Whats up fellow Masters! D-Nast here, with my thoughts and feelings on an epic kit from our good friends over at Loopmasters. Majestic is one of the latest installment’s in the Rawcutz series. This super dope series features authentic samples from real musicians, this particular volume features SP12Hundred. Majestic is a collection of short stabby musical sounds processed with the beautiful “crunch” of an classic sp1200 sampler, epitomizing the golden era of hip-hop. But enough with the details lets open this bad boy up, and see how raw these “cutz” really are.
RAWCUTS (stab samples)- The first section I checked out in Majestic were the cuts themselves and one thing is certain, they are definitely raw! With 288 options these folders sound as if I was actually handed a floppy disk from an sp1200, they are seriously super “grimy”. With such a vast amount of options available ranging from simple pad chops to complex chops of a saxophone this kit posses the “cutz” to easily resurrect the Golden era sound and shape it into a modern day production. One particular sample that jumped to me in this folder was Rawcut65. This sample is a chop from a xylophone sitting on a heavy vinyl crackle, that launched me into that classic Boom Bap feeling. The very sound that inspired my love for hip-hop a long time ago.
Breaks- The second folder I hopped into was the break beats, to find some drum inspiration for the killer stab loop I laid down earlier. With 10 total options the feature I enjoy most about this folder is the fact that each break comes in several different versions, Including a “kick-less” version as well as one with no hats. This feature is super dope to me because it grants the user the ability to chop up what he wants versus having just one loop. The only flaw I see with this kit is the lack of breaks. When producing boom bap style hip-hop I tend to lean towards breaks to chop up for my drums. With over 288 stabs I expected a slightly longer list of break, but don’t be discouraged, the drum “one hits” certainly make up for it.
Kicks- After the breaks I decided to check out the kicks folder to see what Majestic had in store. With 34 kicks available these samples are the perfect supporting cast to the lead role ( The samples). With the unmatchable filth that the SP1200 adds to a kick drum, these samples hit hard and posses the “crunch” that every producer is looking for when creating an east coast banger. One kick that really hit me in the chest was RAWKIK30. With a deep crunch layed over a open hat, this kick reminds me of something that J Dilla would use on a track, certain to create ton’s of inspiration.
Snares and hats- After finding some dope kicks to lay out in a pattern it was time to fill the void with some hats and snares to get this track pumping! With 22 Snare’s and 13 Hats to chose from, Majestic is truly a boom bappers delight. Also processed on the SP1200, each one of these samples offers the “Golden era” sound without having to posses costly“Golden era” tools. One sample in this folder that will certainly be a “go to” from now on would be RAWSNR04. This Sample is a super tight snare layered with a quick hitting vocal chop, that really stands out when layered into a track.
In conclusion, as I stated before Majestic is truly a Boom bappers delight. With a huge list of samples to get you started, and a superb collection of drum chops, this kit contains everything needed to produce a boom bap joint so hard you’ll think you had a real SP1200 sitting in front of you. Although I personally believe that this kit is geared to hip hop heads I could see it working its way into multiple genres including House, Drum and Bass and even some Cinematic scores. For the low price of $16.00 this is certainly a steal! So make sure you head over to www.loopmasters.com today and pick up your copy of Majestic, for one low price you gain a lot of potent material. Until next time y’all, its your boy D-Nast; over and out.