It’s February, and as it’s been cold up here in the United States so let’s heat it up a bit with a couple of products just begging to be used in your next chart topping track.  This month I’ll be looking over a couple of Hip Hop products that provide you with live instruments that normally wouldn’t be accessable to most people.

Nothing sets apart a track more than the use of live strings.  Live string players are expensive and it takes a lot of experience to record and capture the nuances of these instruments.  Big Fish Audio has made it a bit easier to include live strings in your Hip Hop, Pop, or R&B tracks with Urban String Sessions. Urban String Sessions provides and excellent assortment of live string loops recorded in a mid-size studio setting.  Each loop includes various parts and sections broken out to allow for further arrangement and custom mixing.  Any way you slice it I think you’ll love how quickly and easily these loops will fit with your music.

My second selection for the month contains live played Indian percussion played along with hip hop beats.  Hip Hop India was played by master percussionist Sanket Athale.  What truly makes this library stand out from ordinary ethnic percussion libraries is Sanket’s ability to incorporate expertly played Indian percussion with a modern approach. Take a listen to the demos and you’ll hear what I mean.  Every instrument was recorded in complete isolation allowing you to select and choose the exact group of instruments of your choosing.  No sample library one-shots will ever replace the nuance and feel of a live player and Hip Hop India is truly no exception.