Product Reviews

No sooner had Apple announced Soundtrack as a standalone application than AMG, the company behind countless sample CDs over the past decade, set to work recompiling some of its most popular titles to take advantage of the new Apple Loops format. We lent an ear to the first fruits of this enterprise.

Ultra Magnetic Beats is billed as 'fresh from LA's Latin Gangsta hood'. As you might expect, this means lots of head-nodding drum loops and snaking basslines, but you also get

More than 75 collections are featured on the CD. Inside each is the looped pattern with all tracks played in full, plus separated drum, bass and melody patterns. In this way, you can arrange the constituent parts in any sequence you like, as well as use one part with a loop from an entirely different source.

It's not all about hip-hop, either: this might have been the inspiration for the overall vibe of the CD, but these loops sound pretty fabulous wherever you use them.

All AMG's Apple Loops titles are licensed for use in Soundtrack or any 'AV-synchronised musical compositions' only. The loops will work as AIFF files, but buy the audio version of the title if you want to use them in standard songs. All three CDs are solid collections of professional-sounding loops collected by genre, although mixing and matching loops across genres is a rewarding exercise. The quality of the samples is excellent, and which one you go for depends on your tastes.