EASTWEST

Oct 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Dan Phillips

           
 

Brian Transeau, better known as BT, has been making a lot of noise (literally) as an electronica artist and film composer double-trouble wonder boy. With Twisted Textures, he opens up a goodly portion of his private sample library to the world. The collection is available from EastWest as two audio CDs ($129.95), three CDs in Akai S3000 format ($299.95), or two CD-ROMs in Gigasampler format ($299.95). I reviewed the audio-CD set.

Twisted Textures is a collection of pads, ambient beds, and drones, organized into 13 groups. With the exception of the Ethnical group, the sounds and groups aren't described in musical terms. Instead, each is categorized by its intended emotional or dramatic effect, in the manner of a music supervisor communicating with a film composer.

Mini Moods

The group names serve as helpful guides to the sounds: Disturbed/Frantic, Ethnical, Fear/Terror, Happiness/Accomplishment, Hate/Anger/Rage, Hope/Beauty, Impending/Lurking, Nostalgia, Peaceful/Meditative, Space/Earth/Technology, Strength, Supernatural/Cosmic Presence, and Wonderment.

Some of the individual sound descriptions are simple and straightforward, such as “anxious and afraid” and “hopeful, very secure in outcome.” Others are more florid and poetic, often describing very particular scenes or turns of plot; examples include “fear while meditating,” “first time experiencing ego death transformation,” and “being reminded of a dark hour similar to present situation.” The descriptions may seem overly specific, but I think they would be helpful to a film composer or sound designer who needs a quick inspirational jolt.

The sounds are fantastic and varied: low, throbbing drones; peaceful, heavenly chords; distant distortion and deep, hollow pads; glassy ambiences; ominous breathing; East Indian — flavored sonic beds; and so on. Some of my favorites are Heaven Fits Sky, a 21st-century update of the final chord from the Beatles' “A Day in the Life”; the hollow, spacious drone of Spiritual; and the ominous, sinking buzzing of The Fuzzy Falls.

Frontier combines pure temple bells, rain, and several insect calls with a peaceful pad — a self-contained background for any Asian-tinged mystical scene. Bow Star uses excessive delays and reverb to transform abstract distorted guitar riffs into a disturbing, shadowy atmosphere. Cyanide Rumbler creates a bumpy horror-movie texture from gritty distortion and from swirling white noise through resonant filters.

Darkstar offers a low, pulsing noise with higher whistles, reminiscent of a large and barren space. The Baby in Space is simple but classic, with a combination of high, breathy noise and deep, subsonic sounds, with a mild burbling underneath. A Moment in Trust features glassy, chorused reversed guitars over a full, mellow pad, creating a beautifully warm effect. There are many variations on extended but fairly static drones — either uplifting, as in Octipi II, or with ominous overtones, as in Pliable Space.

Twisted Peer

Twisted Textures definitely owes a stylistic debt to Spectrasonics' Distorted Reality, one of the pioneers of the ambient/drone sample-CD genre. That's a good thing — the sounds here are certainly worthy of that legacy.

The audio CD helpfully includes start, end, and loop-point information for all samples. Because most of these sounds have prominent center frequencies, I wish that they'd included pitch or key information as well.

Film and multimedia composers as well as sound designers are clearly the prime targets of Twisted Textures, and they'll find it to be an audio gold mine. Don't assume, however, that the collection is aimed only at the Hollywood set; anyone who uses drones and ambient beds will find lots of material that they can put to immediate use.

Overall EM Rating (1 through 5): 4

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