Posted on May 13, 2016

Producer Loops recently debuted, Cinematic Series Vol 2: Hacked Society, a new sample set with construction kits for composers looking to capture the essence of hacking culture, contemporary cyber-punk and sci-fi. If you’re looking for a solid foundation to create brooding, moody, and yes, cinematic music beds for your mixes, productions and films, there is a lot to love about this stellar sample set from Producer Loops.

What makes Cinematic Series Vol 2: Hacked Society a standout in the crowded sample set market? The eight excellent Construction Kits. Each one is expertly put together to create the quintessential underbelly of hacker culture. Think The Matrix, the rain drenched scenes in Blade Runner, and other dark and paranoid sci-fi worlds.

The package includes the aforementioned construction kits, 19 individual atmospheric one-shots, 30 glitchy computer, industrial and mechanical noises and 11 Vocal Phrases. The samples work well to add to Construction Kits, or to create your own creations, but the Vocal Phrases came up slightly short according to our reviewers. The existential spoken word vocals, exploring themes of human identity, technology and free will, are provocative enough, but the timbre and qualities of the actual voice “didn’t stand up on its own for me,” according to one evaluator. That said, “with just the right touch of vocal processing, these ominous phrases of paranoia and despair, can easily be utilized in your productions, if the messages appeal to the user,” determined another tester.
 

 
Cinematic Series Vol 2: Hacked Society was put together by Lhasa Mencur, a composer and sound designer for interactive/visual media with a particular passion for games and virtual environments. Mencur utilized several of his industrial and urban field recordings, as well as isolated samples of computer key presses and mouse clicks.

“With this pack I was inspired by both the series Mr. Robot, and the larger, real world contexts of global cyber warfare, the rise of corporations to power, whistleblowing and the hacking culture in which they sit,” reveals Mencur. “Musically I tried to reflect a wide spectrum of emotions with subtle undertones throughout the eight construction kits. I then placed each one in a physical space, much like a filmic scene – recording and designing unique location soundscapes for each one, ranging from Times Square traffic to the chatter of a Chinatown coffee shop or the subterranean whooshes of the subway system.”

Cinematic Series Vol 2: Hacked Society features subtle rhythmic pulses, futuristic pads and ambient recordings of bustling urban and industrial environments. If you’re interested in dropping your listeners off a cinematic cliff into the abyss of an X-Files episode gone horribly wrong for an otherworldly breakdown, or even using these outstanding construction kits as the bedrock for your next soundtrack, Cinematic Series Vol 2: Hacked Society will serve you well. Highly Recommended.