Apple Jam Pack: Voices

I’m a big house and disco fan, so I dove into the gospel loops first. These have tons of character and would be equally appropriate for either an old-school house jam or mid-tempo Moby joint. Speaking of which, though the Clyde loops have that rootsy, Southern vibe, their categorization as country is mystifying, since they have little to do with either classic or contemporary country styles.

On the other side of the globe, Yasmin and Bollywood cover a tiny corner of the world-music genre. However, since they’re essentially the only non-Western inclusions, it just whets the appetite for additional exotic content. On the urban tip, there’s almost too much material. Every one of the 37 human beatbox loops is outstanding. As for lead and background vocals, the more than 300 urban vocals lean strongly toward a Top-40 rap and R&B feel. If that glossy, major-label L.A. sound floats your boat, get ready to set sail. I would love to have seen a bit more Spinners and a lot less Boyz II Men, but that’s my bag. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of some sassy female rappers. Nice touch.

Rounding out the loops are 98 classical MIDI and audio loops. The audio loops are great to have, since these are vocals after all. There’s a balance between choral and solo material, with enough Gregorian chants to re-launch Enigma’s career. MIDI loops rely on this Jam Pack’s array of multi-sampled voice instruments, which include male, female, Gregorian, gospel, and boys’ choirs. This material has a bit of a keyboard workstation-y feel, but it’s gorgeously recorded.

In all honesty, I would have preferred a collection that wasn’t so obviously tilted toward this season’s R&B and hip-hop flavors, as they’re so trendy as to amount to an inevitable expiration date. On the other hand, the beatbox, classical, gospel, and country material is timeless, and the multisampled choirs are terrific for pads, especially when used in Logic’s EXS24 instrument.

Sampled vocal phrase and instrument library for Apple GarageBand and Logic.

PROS
Top-notch recording quality. Effective beatbox and choir instruments.

CONS
Emphasis on current “top 40 urban” trends may limit shelf life.

$99
Apple, Inc.www.apple.com