Rated 9 out of 10



Although there are many Afro Cuban sample libraries to choose from at present, Beats Working in Cuba is the first authentic Latin percussion album to be recorded entirely in Havana. Renowned Latin music producers Barry Sage and Gonzalo Lasheras Garcia booked a week at the Studio Abdala (a state-of-the-art studio built by international songwriter Silvio Rodrigues) and using the finest Cuban musicians available, set out to capture the 12 major Afro-Hispanic rhythms of the Cuban culture. And what a brilliant job they've made of it.



The result of their efforts is a huge library (more than 8GB) of diverse grooves and hit samples, arranged into thousands of patches. Quite where and how these loops will end up is anybody's guess (the bundled version of NI's Intakt sampler provides endless sound-shaping possibilities), but the raw source material has been meticulously recorded in 24-bit multitrack format. Each instrument playing in each groove was mic'd separately and each mic output sampled to provide multitrack loops. Afterwards, every track was sliced to provide access to the individual instruments and hits within the loops and easy synchronisation to MIDI tempos.



Cubans are warm, friendly people on the whole and the vibrant, highly infectious rhythms presented here are a genuine reflection of their rich musical heritage and multi-racial background. The musicianship is truly superb (Osmani Sanchez Barzaga in particular is outstanding on drums and timbale) and if you're serious about Latin percussion, this set will prove a worthy - albeit expensive - addition to your samples library collection.



Verdict: A fine, authentic Cuban percussion samples library provided as a virtual sound module.