TechRadar Verdict
If you're looking for dance loops to expand your music studio library, look no further than this massive collection
Pros
- +
Loads of loops!
- +
Easy to use
- +
Reasonable quality
- +
Good value for money
- +
A limited number of styles
Cons
- -
Sample only 16-bit
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Hot on the heels of its massive Pro Pack For GarageBand, Zero-G's first Dance Pack boasts more than 11,000 samples ready for use in GarageBand, Soundtrack, Logic 7 and Final Cut Pro.
The pack consists of thousands of drum loops, percussion grooves, breakbeats, bass lines, synth loops, construction kits (singlehit drum sounds) and brass riffs aimed at musicians working with electronic dance styles.
Installation is a doddle; drag and drop a file, folder or group of folders from the DVD containing the loops over to your GarageBand loop browser and the sounds will be added to your Apple Loops library and index. Unsurprisingly, this package covers a narrower range of styles than the Pro Pack. While the other collection includes styles as diverse as reggae, trip-hop, techno, rock and pop, the Dance Pack focuses mainly on drum and bass, hip-hop, house and funk.
The 9,000 loops are provided as standard 16-bit (CD-quality) audio files and are accompanied by more than 2,000 single-hit samples of the same resolution. All of these are compatible with other software applications that can read AIFF audio files. The overall quality is good, but not exceptional.
Dance Pack 1 For GarageBand isn't the cheapest loops collection, but the sheer quantity of samples on offer - nearly 7GB - makes it good value for money. It is an ideal package for dance musicians looking to expand their loop libraries, and others who would like to add a selection of modern dance grooves to their existing sample collections.
You won't find anything groundbreaking here, but if you want to make authentic dance music, Dance Pack 1 will do. However, if you're more interested in musical variety, consider Zero-G's Pro Pack or Steinberg's Groove Agent 2. Cliff Douse
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