Skippy's Big Bad Beats might sound like an oxymoron, but a closer inspection of these booty-shaking beats will give you more than a taste of hip-hop, R&B, pop and straight-shooting dance grooves for your production palette. And just who is this Skippy anyway? You already know him. Producer John “Skippy” Lehmkuhl (aka Skippysan in Japan) has designed more than a few Korg M1, Trinity and Triton keyboard samples. Other Skippy sonic offspring are the Korg T series, 01W series, Wavestation, rare Wavedrum and popular clan of Electribe dance boxes. In addition, Skippy's beat artistry has been exploited by the likes of artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and even jazz outfits such as the Yellow Jackets. But Skippy's Big Bad Beats doesn't resemble the music of the aforementioned three; rather, it is a hi-fi hip-hop and contemporary dance-groove collection of more than 300 carefully selected loops and closely scrutinized dance vibes.
One of my favorite groups of loops, Jack Attack is dominated by a dark, electronic sonarlike ping driving alongside a huge acoustic kick and electronic snare foundation, decorated with popping vinyl noise. Another standout, Java, provides caffeine-free beats with a natural wood-sounding kick drum pulsing beneath filter-swept shakers, dirty hi-hats and a ringing electronic snare. In Java are four small mix breakdowns, three full mix arrangements and two breakdowns on the audio compact disc alone. If you're looking to get basic, grooves such as “Booty Bounce” give you that boom-bop house-party feel with a consistently cool blend of electronic and acoustic instruments.
Most of the grooves contain stripped-down variations of the full and busier groove. For example, a full band mix may contain shakers, toms and a tambourine along with the kick, snare and hi-hat. Because you are less apt to need everything at once, Skippy has done well to provide plenty of subpatterns or breakdowns with kick and snare only, or a hi-hat and snare mix, a hi-hat and kick mix and so on. He has also included several effect and panning options, which help to point similar grooves in completely different directions.
The beat titles, as outlined in typical Ilio thoroughness, specify the groove contents on the audio or sampler-ready CD. You will see “NoK” for no kick drum, “NoS” for no snare drum and “Bdn” for the various breakdown patterns. Although some of the beat breakdowns are tame, save for the tribal tom riffs in the Future Zone loops section, Skippy suggests combining similar or opposing variations of his beats to create your own loop breakdowns and remixes. For example, you might combine the “SMx” (small mix) loop with the pitched up “FX” (special effects) loop. For more remix ideas, Ilio's sampler-specific CDs (made for Akai compatibles, Kurzweil and Roland) contain corresponding MIDI loops along with extra pitch and performance options. Imagine loading patterns from tempos spanning 66 to 145 bpm in an instant to create an original groove. That can be done thanks to Ilio's patented Groove Control technology, in which each groove's corresponding software and hardware MIDI sequence is included to create better-sounding pitch and tempo modulation — a strategy that leaves creative power in the hands of the producer.
This is not to say that the beats are incomplete. In fact, Skippy's Big Bad Beats consistently delivers large and low kicks complemented by cutting electronic snare combos and acoustic hi-hat and percussion flutters. The sounds are hi-fi-sounding for the most part, with a few sections devoted to sample deconstruction; a live and funky drum set track usually sits at the center of Skippy's looped rhythms. Still, electronic percussion remains ever present and, at the same time, rhythmically inspired. Like the pro-level price ($99 for audio; $199 for Akai compatibles, Kurzweil and Roland), the professional sonic quality of Skippy's sound design is as good as it is original. These grooves could work equally well in a film, a dance club or a video-game soundtrack. The current sample market is inundated with products targeted towards specific styles, and these loops may suggest hip-hop or R&B, but they never run away with the concept and succeed in delivering a sound of their own.
Overall Rating (out of 5): 4.5
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