Presented in 1978, the Roland Compu Rhythm CR-78 is by far one of the most revered rythm machines. It came with 34 built in preset rhythm patterns (Rock, Disco, Waltz, Shuffle, Slow Rock, Swing, etc…)
Even if its program capabilities were poor and rudimentary, the groove of its included rhythms and the pure rawness of its sound made it a classic used by iconic musicians from very different genres (think of Phill Collins, Fatboy Slim, Blondie, etc…)
Sounds
The Roland CR-78 sound is beautiful. That’s why we have maintained our “raw” philosophy by carefully sampling the drum machine through top class preamps (Neve 1073 to UA2192 converters) with no further compression or processing.
But… Since this machine is slightly limited in sound design possibilities we decided to also include layered, re-pitched, filtered and tape saturated versions of the original samples to offer a more diverse and playable sound pack staying true to the original.
Loops
Besides the one shot samples we decided to also include the precious built-in rhythm loops. We first recorded all the loops at 124bpm.
But carefully listening to the original machine playing at 90bpm gave us a different feeling than playing it at 124bpm. Things were walking a lil bit funkier…
So, we decided to sample it again at 90bpm, ending with loops for fast (electronic) and slow (funky) songs.
Not happy with that extra care we decided to re-sample all the loops adding some filtering and tape saturation.
An homage to a classic, with a twist that oozes the HelloSamples savoir-faire!
CREATOR’S THOUGHTS
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT DYNAMIC RANGE IN SAMPLE PACKS?
“For a start, compression and normalization are a process that is almost impossible to counter. Of course you can use expanders to regain some dynamic range, but the negative artifacts of compression and volume normalization will still be there.
If you think twice, most serious producers have their own set of preferred tools and dynamic processors So if you want to use dynamic sounds in say, a more “laid back” production, you just can’t do it with regular libraries.
When dealing with synthetic analog sounds, dynamics are key. Unlike real drum and instrument samples, synthetic sounds are already very undynamic, so having the option to “let them breathe” a bit is certainly a good idea.
It’s as close as having the machine yourself. The “real deal” doesn’t sound compressed, it breathes and it sounds RAW!”
– BORJA RUIZ & PEPE COCA