2022 24-bit royalty-free prog rock sounds!
All the sounds you need to build your own progressive rock opus or just add some musical pyrotechnics to projects in any style
It’s been odd time signatures and pompous riffery all the way this month as our crack team of sample producers put together the definitive collection of progressive rock sounds, exclusively for cm readers. Here’s what you’ll find in their respective directories…
Cognition Audioworks
Our Canadian samplist, Andrew Duke, of Cognition Audioworks, rounded up friends Chris Lannetti and Reese Nearing for some progressive rock madness. The meltdown resulted in 685 blazing basslines and 325 grandiose guitar bits, for a total of 1010 samples, all bursting with pomp, circumstance and plenty of gusto.
There are dirty riffs, clean chorus chords; material in the usual 4/4, plus stuff in 5/8, 6/8, and 7/8 for those looking to get mathematical. Whether you’re into old school proggers like Yes, the still-going Rush and Queensr˙che, or newer bands like Tool, there’s something here for you.
Gear-wise, Lannetti played a Paul Reed Smith CE22 guitar, and IK Multimedia Amplitube was put through its paces to create those progressive tones. Nearing played an Ibanez Sound Gear six-string bass with EMG pickups. Both used D’addario strings and were tracked direct to disk through an Avalon VT737sp preamp.
www.cognitionaudioworks.com
Cyclick
Prepare for relentless time and key signature changes as Cyclick present their take on the sound of prog rock. In preparation, they went on a prog ‘ear-diet’ of pure, uncut Yes, King Crimson, Rush, Dream Theater and even Spock’s Beard. Armed with the requisite inspiration, they wheeled out a mountain of guitar amps, stuck knives in the organ, warmed up those soloing fingers and got to work.
Cyclick have kept their elements relatively simple (just a couple of kits in 6/8 and 5/8 – pretty straightforward for prog, really, where a round of 17/8 broken up with a bar of 7/8 would be considered positively pedestrian!), comprising drum, bass, guitar and keyboard loops as well as drums hits and a few multisampled instruments.
PROG ROCK – 6 loop kits and 17 multisampled instruments
Ok, it’s time to get on your crushed velvet flares, a silver cape, let your hair down and prepare for ceaseless time and key signature changes – it’s progressive ROCK! To prepare I went on a Prog ear-diet of Yes, King Crimson, Rush, Dream Theater and even Spock’s Beard! Armed with the requisite inspiration I wheeled out the guitar amps and got to work.
The loop kits are all in 4/4 except kit 3, which is in 6/8, and kit 5, which is 5/8 (I resisted doing something totally Prog, such as 13/8 with 7/8 solo sections!). All the drums are included with the hits used. The multisampled instruments are made over 2 to 4 octaves with 4 notes per octave (at tone and a half intervals). Some of the kits have mixed versions of the doubled rhythm and lead guitars, which have then been buss compressed and treated to some classic rock reverbs and stereo panning.
As usual all the samples contain their key, tempo and/or pitch in the filename.
Email Cyclick directly by clicking here.
| Instruments/Amps/Pedals Used: | ||
| Musicman Stingray bass (1977) | Switchdoctor Germanium Fuzz (AC128) | |
| Musicman Stingray bass (1979) | Switchdoctor Germanium Fuzz (NKT214) | |
| Ibanez E335 copy | Dunlop Crybaby Wah | |
| Fender Stratocaster (early 70s hardtail) | MXR MicroAmp | |
| Fender Stratocaster (90s with trem) | Rhodes Mark I Stage Piano | |
| Takemine acoustic guitar | Roland XP-30 | |
| Kurzweil K2600r | Framus Ruby Riot valve combo | |
| Electro-Harmonix Poly Phase | Marshall JCM900 & 2x12” cab | |
| Mutron III+ envelope filter | Laney TT50 valve combo | |
| Outboard Used: | ||
| Focusrite ISA828 8 channel preamp | Focusrite LiquidMix | |
| Homemade Gyraf G9 dual valve mic preamp | Homemade GSSL buss compressor | |
| Trident-MTA Signature 2 dual preamp/eq | Beyerdynamic M201N(C) | |
| Beyerdynamic M260N | Reslo RBT ribbon mic | |
| Shure SM7B | Shure SM57 | |
| Groove Tubes GT5 | ||
Groove Criminals
It’s amazing how many otherwise normal people have hidden prog leanings. Take the Groove Criminals, for example: within minutes of receiving this month’s commission they took to wearing silver capes and attempted to buy a jumbo jet to ferry them to and from their studio.
Once they had that (and the inevitable supergroup squabbling) out of their system, they put together a 25-bunk tour bus full of prog-style guitar, synth and organ chords, some very ‘pink’ guitar riffs and a ton of keyboard noodlings. All of it was created, for the most part, on vintage hardware, including analogue synths, spring reverbs, tape delays and rotary speaker units.
The Groove Criminals now plan to spit, slag each other off in the press and never be seen again (apart from any lucrative reunion gigs that may pop up, obviously).
www.myspace.com/groovecriminals