Review: Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits by Big Fish Audio

Emulating modern EDM and pop stylings of electronic hitmakers like Zedd, Diplo, Kygo and The Chainsmokers, Kandiland 2, serves up mostly up-tempo, themes. With occasional wisps of trap and hip-hop influences, the overall feel is positive EDM. Tempos range from 80 to 149 BPM. A couple of slower tempo kits round out the mix.

Jump to the Videos of Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits by Big Fish Audio

Jump to the Demos of Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits by Big Fish Audio

Review: Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits by Big Fish Audio

Developing high quality loops and samples is a hallmark of Big Fish Audio’s offerings. Kandiland was so well received, the team came together to produce a sequel with Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits.

With hundreds of titles aimed at dozens of genres, moods and mindsets, Big Fish Audio has established itself turning out top quality, time-sensitive titles for producers at every level of experience.

Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits is available now from Big Fish Audio for $129.95.

Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits sells for $129.95 from Big Fish Audio

Thoughts

Imagine you’re producing a popular reality TV series. Your quest for modern music themes is insatiable. You know the drill; Swap out music beds every 30 seconds or so to keep the show moving. Themes should be current sounding, while fitting the mood or action on screen. Sounds simple enough but you’re burning through music libraries faster than the flames that destroyed Notre Dame. Finding fresh modern themes has become a challenge. Maybe Kandiland 2 can rescue you from the doldrums of over-used cues.

Emulating modern EDM and pop stylings of electronic hitmakers like Zedd, Diplo, Kygo and The Chainsmokers, Kandiland 2, serves up mostly up-tempo, themes. With occasional wisps of trap and hip-hop influences, the overall feel is positive EDM. Tempos range from 80 to 149 BPM. A couple of slower tempo kits round out the mix. The variety here is good – not too top heavy or repetitive. Play the demos in their numerical order and the entire collection works like a DJ’s play list. Pump up the crowd, ease off the gas, drop the next hit!

Each kit is meticulously constructed with instrumentation that allows for tight mix integration, strong hooks, good variation, making for fast work for busy producers. You can craft your own variations to meet specific needs such as timed cues for commercial cuts, extended beds for broad application or just pull the demo tracks for instant music bed success.

This royalty free loop product is available in two different packages, making it attractive for producers at any level of experience working with construction kits. The KLI version, which requires a full, paid version of Kontakt 5.8.0 or greater offers access to Big Fish Audio’s highly acclaimed KLI Kontakt instrument for those who preferer the tactile experience of working through a midi controller. The Multi-Format version allows purchasers to receive the kits as Acidized Wav files, Apple Loops, REX or RMX versions.

MIDI files are also included with both versions of the product but accessing the midi files in the KLI version requires a bit of detective work. Here’s a hint: You’ll find them located in the SAMPLES Folder.

BFA KANDILAND2 DEMO SCREEN 1

For those using traditional wav file or Apple Loops, you’ll find navigation a breeze as each of the folders are labeled by Kit number, tempo and key signature. Once inside the folders, it’s easy to identify individual instruments and each includes tags for kit number, tempo and key.

And if you’re not familiar with Big Fish Audio’s KLI versions, I highly recommend watching their excellent tutorials and videos found on the product page for Kandiland 2. I’ll zip through the KLI layout to give you a general feel for this if you’re just getting started working this way. There’s nothing wrong with either method of working – Loop vs KLI. It all comes down to time and efficiency vs your comfort level with each method. KLI does have some advantages, if your skill level allows you to employ them.

Each KLI series is set up the same way. Open the Kontakt file browser, navigate to the Kandiland 2 folder, double click and you’ll see a DEMO.nki – this is where all the fully mixed versions reside. From this menu, you can preview each track as well as preview track information like key signature and tempo. You can also see (in parenthesis) which key on your keyboard, the demo kit is mapped to.

BFA KANDILAND2 KIT SCREEN 2

Navigating to the KITS folder, you’ll see that each kit contains two instrument “.nki ” files and a folder named SLICED. Navigating to the instrument ending with BPM.nki, you will find drum and rhythmic elements for each kit. The instrument labeled with the key signature of the kit contains all the instrument parts, such as synths, guitars, keys and bass. Once you are used to seeing the naming conventions used here, you’ll never be lost while navigating through these folders. As you can see, from the screenshot, the interface provides access to parameters like FX, Pan, Level, Mute and Solo controls as well controls for assigning midi channels, Reverb and more. Red keys allow pitch shifting while the green indicates current position. Blues keys correspond to loops for each instrument set.

BFA KANDILAND2 DRUM SCREEN 3

The BPM.nki contains all the drum tracks and rhythmic elements, allowing you to add your own drum variations for each construction kit.
Though the main construction kit does offer access to a basic drum loop set, the BPM.ki set is purely for those wanting the most options in creating rhythmic bliss. Limited pitch shifting up or down is possible, allowing you to transpose elements easily. This area is also where you can access FX like reverbs, dynamics and other processing to further customize the mix.

BFA KANDILAND2 SLICED SCREEN 4

Moving on to the Sliced loops folder, you can really define your own sound with these kits, simply by using some of the built-in features that sliced loops afford – such as changing loop trigger points, playback speed and reverse or forward playback of loops and effects.

The SLICED folder contains all of the loops for each kit, sliced up so you can manipulate them far beyond what they were originally intended to do.
Finally, those midi files are great for changing instruments, or building completely independent themes using bass lines or other instrument loops from these kits.

Curious how Wav or Apple Loops compare to the KLI version? Think of it this way: Dragging wav or Apple Loops into place may be faster than recording and arranging the loops in your DAW. However, Apple and Wav file loops do not allow key shift and transposition as easily or without artifacts, like the KLI version will do. Unless that’s something you plan to be doing often, the difference boils down to personal choice.

BFA KANDILAND2 SCREEN 5

The final screenshot reveals the hiding place of those midi files should you decide you want to use them.

Only you can decide if you’ll actually use these loops and kits in your productions. The folks at Big Fish Audio have provided a vast amount of demos, samples and tutorials to help you get the most from this library and I strongly encourage you to explore all the demos to determine if this is money well spent.

Not surprisingly, I found Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits to be a well-crafted loop set. The kits are strong and there are 20 of them. Each kit reminds me that I’m indoors, writing reviews when I could be at Coachella. If that’s what you’re into, Kandiland 2 is a fine assortment tasty treats.

Facts

There are no doughnuts in our breakroom. Heck, we don’t even have a breakroom. We’re just a bunch of hardworking composers and producers who are reviewing products for your benefit. If that’s meaningful to you, why not drop a dollar or three in our tip jar? Your support will go a long way towards helping us to keep this effort going. Find us at Patreon.com/SLR to make your donation today.
If you plan to use the KLI version of this product, you must have the FULL version of Kontakt (version 5.8.0 or greater.) The KLI version of Kandiland 2, downloads as a compressed file weighted at 1.98GB. Fully expanded, this version blooms to occupy 2.87GB of space on your hard drive and offers up 674 Kontakt patches.

For the Multi-Format version, you’ll receive access to four file formats: REX, RMX, Apple Loops and Acidized Wav files. REX comes in at just 1.07GB with a total of 665 files. RMX is 2.4 GB. Apple and Wav versions are the same size with Apple downloading at 1.89GB and expanding to 2.69GB and 681 individual files and Wav downloading at 1.89GB and expanding into 2.69GB and 681 files.

Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits sells for $129.95 from Big Fish Audio

Demos of Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits by Big Fish Audio

Videos of Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits by Big Fish Audio

Contributor Steve Blizin reviews Kandiland 2 EDM Construction Kits by Big Fish Audio
“Emulating modern EDM and pop stylings of electronic hitmakers like Zedd, Diplo, Kygo and The Chainsmokers, Kandiland 2, serves up mostly up-tempo, themes. With occasional wisps of trap and hip-hop influences, the overall feel is positive EDM. Tempos range from 80 to 149 BPM. A couple of slower tempo kits round out the mix.”