E-MU TWEAKHEADZ LAB: Ice Kold Tekno & Mystik Garage Sample sets Akai

This is the cream of the crop to those die-hard E-MU performers and musicians who already know how rare these two are and how good they both sound too, no introduction needed. Also, you know how "Tweak” was during his sound sculpting, sound-crafting and editing processes, he put in a ton of effort, time, creativity and diversity into his sound-sets and you can hear it in every stitch of audio he ever produced.

Note: I found 3 sets of these in a filled cardboard box at a music studio estate sale in Sausalito, CA. and now they are for sale as I don't need 3. i'll list the additional ones after they sell.

What we have presented today are (lots of verbiage here so please bear with me):

(1.) CD-ROM: Ice Kold Tekno Teckno/Industrial Sounds 475 Hand crafted analog samples from the Korg MS20 Synthesizer, digitally processed and professionally looped in a bank of 256 Presets carefully programmed and mapped to controllers, wheels and velocity. Ready for your sequencing pleasure. This is far more than a typical "vintage" collection of MS20 sounds I can tell you that! The sounds have are tailored for the following genre's of music: Tekno, Ambient, Dance, Sci-Fi, Industrial, World, Space, Classical, Vintage Emulations.

Tweak writes: The banks can be seen as a programmers toolkit for exploring the new synthesis qualities of your sampler. It has everything you need to make any analog sound you want. That's why I made up the "Drum & Bass Bank". All your basics are there, you just do the "Load Preset thing" to add to the bank as your song takes form.

With these banks in your sampler, your sound will be unique, hip, different, retro, lo-fi and on the cutting edge. It really blends nicely with tamer synths and modules. The distorted, grungy and cheesy, wheezy filtery dirt in these banks will be a stark contrast to anything else you have running, Dirt recorded at 44.1? Yep!

There are a tremendous variety of sound effects for video and film projects. Particularly suited for "futuristic" and sci-fi flicks.

Then there's Synth Drum Kits you have never heard before, FX Kits, Noiz Kits. The kits are defined by the Roland standard (Kiks at B0, C1, Snare at D1, Rim shot at C#1, Toms at F1, G1, A1, Hats at F#, G# and A#, etc), so you can use your standard sequencer grids to make your grooves. Transpose an octave or two can you get another kit, just like they are set in popular modules like the Phatt and Orbit.  Big Fat Filter Basses, leads, synthy voxy things, syncing things, vowel tones, pads, drones.

All the standards you expect in analog and everything you didn't know analog could do, like machinery, factory whistles, freight elevators, engine noises, giant pistons, computer blerps, sonar, whip cracks, Morse code, interstellar radiation, screaming theremins, even a guy falling off a platform into a vat of bubbling acid. This is ICE KOLD, gentlemen and ladies, and for those with an authentic INDUSTRIAL imagination.  

Oh Yeah, and I don't just define 48 or 61 keys like some  "pros" do in a key map. (heh, there is one CDROM I've heard that defines only ONE NOTE in a preset making your dial wear out trying to find sounds, forcing you to reprogram everything and it costs 5 times what my disk costs!) I give you a full 88 keys in my kits and presets.

When my samples get thin around the edges, I slap another one down to maximize your MIDI channel economy. When you want a kit, you don't want to hunt through presets to find that right group of sounds. You want them THERE. In mine you will find 88 sounds ready to blast together, the way it should be, and the way it IS on Ice Kold T.

You simply must hear these analog waves run through state of the art filters and stacked with 32-128 note polyphony.  The combination of old technology and new will out-color any sonic palette out there. You haven't heard sounds like these before. 

You won't find some waveforms as I've included in your standard midi module and even your analog modeling synth will not be able to reproduce the grittyness, the warmth, the richness and texture that Ice Kold Tekno provides Ha Ha!

[Review] A renown experimental synthesist writes: :It's absolutely thee coolest sample CD that I own, and I have about 15,000 megs of sample cd's for my EIII. I have the entire Emu library of cd- roms, tons of Northstar cd- roms, and dozens of others, and Rich's Ice Kold Techno is the most unique, and far-and-away the coolest, and most "different" one I have ever purchased. If you want a unique approach to ambient and techno, this is for you!

(2.) CD The Mystik Garage is a combination of the Elements The Mystik Bank of Sound Effects and Samples that are LoFi, and done with the express purpose of obtaining the contrast we want in our art. It is aimed to provide these two things, which you don't find in plentitude on any synth modules. I attempted to show with Ice Kold that the MS20 is far from a "vintage" museum piece, but when sampled it can give you an edge in your stuff that $2000 synths can't do, including the modern virtual analog synths. The Mystik Garage furthers that tradition. You will hear sounds you never have heard before, but when you break them down you will find the samples that made them are common items you hear every day.. Best of all, you can use these elements and experiment. That's what the folks leading the pack in sampling fame are doing, and thats what you can do in "my garage"!

My desire has been to make a disk you/I will find tremendously useful in your/my sonic explorations. So, your music is about to get interesting, if not strange and macabre with it's 432 samples! My desire has been to make a disk you/I will find tremendously useful in your/my sonic explorations.

 What the heck is a Mystical garage?  Let me tell you...

Some things you will hear are the metal drops, box Kiks, screw pings, drill motors, vacuum cleaners, car ignitions and other motors, hack saw scrapes, power saw, fast food bags thrown from my car towards the trash, my gas can tabla, various tool drops, pots and pans played with drum sticks, cloth tears, tennis shoes snares, and more. More?  Yes.  How about some ambient noise, like conversations overheard at Airports, the Captain speaking, Noises from The Street, and  in addition to the Faucet squeaks, various water spills, even my leaking roof in a rainstorm. I'll even throw in a the Toilet. It was tricky lowering the mic into the whirlpool. Of course you can use these sounds at there natural pitch, and yes they all go in various drum kits so you can play allot if them together.  But the real fun comes with the different pitches you get on your keyboard. They sound rather Industrial.  

Speaking of drums, I've made a killer set for you.  I took my Sharp 702 minidisk up to the Austin Rehearsal Hall--an incredible place where all the Austin musicians go to practice.  Lo an behold, there was James Welch of the Orange Mothers (and other bands).  James arranged for me to record local drummer Tim Audi who gave me some powerful raw drum samples.  My drum kit is going to make anything else you have sound "old". OK, I don't know how peerless your kits are so that might be hype, but  each drum hit is enhanced using every trick I know.  Its will move you.  And gosh, just cause I'm so generous, I'll give you the raw kit in another bank in mono and stereo versions.  But in the main bank you get processed real drums. (Did I mention what Acoustic Modeler software can do for drums? 

You will think you died and were in sample heaven.) Add to that 5 select hits from my MS-20 collection, modified for the garage, and some very Kold films and flams from my Old Dr. Rhythm edited to the extreme of cheesy-ness and some great drum rolls.  My Tom Roll will deliver you to Africa.  Oh while i was getting these drums sampled, I met an African percussionist who generously gave me conga samples and a great berimbau.

Industrialists:  Note that this set is a natural follow-up to Ice Kold Tekno.  Where Ice Kold was totally synthetic, this is more "natural", as most of the sounds have their source in the nature of things, rather than in pure electronics.   I even went out to some real workplaces and brought home the stuff. So I was thinking, if i could sample everything in my garage, which by the way has a most beautiful ambiance, add my usual bizarre tweaks on things, I would have one Fantastic and Strange Ensemble in my sampler. Then let me add some real home sampled instruments. 

Like a stereo multi-sampled Piano.(33 Stereo samples) (in its own bank--there is a 5 sample version in my 32 meg bank)  Its funky and cool! No it won't rival a Steinway Grand, but it will make your MIDI tracks come alive with feel. Then put my creativity to task with the programming of all the above. 

How about a half dozen prepared pianos, totally avante gard key maps,  and some sounds that defy all conventional studio wisdom with a freshness all its own. This isn't enough for you?  OK then, let me also mention I am running these through Sonic Foundry's Acoustic Modeler Software.  Oh my God!  That's what I said when i said "OH!" in a train tunnel with an onrushing locomotive. 

Want to hear some virtual instruments you have never heard before?  I have some pipes that are so big it would take a 50 foot person to blow them. Did you know the best Sex sounds are made by straws?  They are all here and the work is done for you. In addition to getting some very unique acoustic environments, you will get common sounds as if they were recorded in great concert halls with some of the world's greatest microphones. 

What's a garage without a Garage Band(not Apple's). I've sampled an authentic Garage band, The Factory, which i used to be the guitarist for  in Chicago Illinois.  You'll get garage band hits from real gig environments, complete with audience applause, count-offs, and a very addicting drum loop. (Just one drum loop, guys, you can handle it.).

[Review] "Rich, multi-textured, incredibly imaginative samples. What a pleasure to get real sounds with real teeth compared to all the slick, sterile, bland, toothless bits of sonic tofu that are offered elsewhere. For Emu EOS owners, this may be the best sound dollar you will ever spend"

Both titles are being sold together as a set and are compatible with the following E-MU Emulator Samplers: E III, ESI 4000, ESI 2000, E64, E6400, E-Synth, E4, E4K, E5000, E4XT and All Ultra series Samplers. 

Things read like this: The E-MU reads Akai, Akai reads E-MU, Logic reads Akai (ESX34), Kontakt reads Akai, Ableton Live reads Akai (Simpler/Sampler), other options include software for conversion: CD eXtract (older), Chicken Systems Translator Pro to Akai, Roland, Logic, Ableton, Kontakt, etc. You could also convert them over to WAV and use them in Elektron Octatrack like I have done [badass].

These 2 sample CDROM sets are the REAL DEAL!  So many times in our lives, we see something and think "What if?"  The sad part of that is that we think "What if" but then do nothing. The fact is that I have three sets of these CDs and when they're gone they're gone.  Sometimes we just sit and watch as all the possibilities slip through our fingers.  Well, it will be a 2024 a new year soon.   It will be time for a rebirth.  You don't have to be shackled by all the possibilities and opportunities you've let go of in the past.  What you can do-- is take advantage of those possibilities now.   Remember-- the other part of it being a new year is that while we have a clean slate, so to speak, it is also another year.  We are one year older.  Let 2024 be your year!  You won't be sorry-- especially for a find as wonderful as these!

What you'll get are these two rare "Ice Kold Tekno" and "Mystic Garage" CDRs in jewel cases with packaging signed by the "Tweakmister" as he didn't believe in printed, silk screened CD labeling so he could keep the cost down to his consumers. Actually, its kind of cool to get something that didn't go through some marketing committee. It's the difference between having a home cooked meal and running to McDonalds. Does the clown on the bag make the food taste better? Ok, real craft, rare these days, has value!

I'll also provide, a link where to get supporting materials, manuals, track list, sample list, program list, tips & tricks & how to install on your E-MU if your going that route.

So Who Is This "TweakMeister" Guy Anyway? 

A little more about him, from his own words. First, I've done professional level programming for years. My credits include work done one the Alesis QS7/8, and the Q-cards for those machines. I've also am a beta tester for Emagic's Logic Audio; I've been involved in the testing of the leading editor/librarian softwares, and a tester for professional digital audio products and synths. I do custom sounds on demand for multi-media developers, professional composers and hobbyists. I am into strange and unusual sounds. I've heard them all, and I am looking for gold. I crammed these CDs with everything I need to break the boundaries of sound creation. Every programmer has biases. This is what you should really be asking before you buy any CD ROM or sample collection. My biases are for sounds that work with what is called Ambient and Techno-Trance and Dance. I have an unusual need to create all kinds of environmental sounds, as well as worldly drones, teknospheres, as well as drums and basses that cut through the mix.