ILIO Sample CD: Analog Meltdown (Akai)

The Analog Meltdown CD-ROM in Akai format is not the average synthesizer library. Designed, engineered, blown-up and re-animated by programmer Kevin Wakefield, the sounds on the disc are designed to be featured and loud, having been designed for cutting through a mix with clarity and depth. Not innocuous pads awash in reverb, nor attempts to sound like a string orchestra or brass section, but wild and freakish, clamorous and whimsical.

Using an array of modulation wheels, faders, breath controllers and pedals to manipulate each program, Kevin Wakefield has managed to make Analog Meltdown a very "playable" library. Sounds include stunning leads, power pads, FM sounds, plucky sounds, sweeps, bubbly effects, electro-shock treatments, sci-fi weapons and transporters, stingers and resonators. Unpretentious and in-your-face.