I have a whole bunch of the MIDI packs and when I am writing songs in standard 4/4, they’re a lifesaver. But when it comes to other time signatures… they are supremely frustrating, because trying to separate out ‘triplet feel’ or compound time beats from 4/4-with-swing is more difficult than it should be.
The Monster Midi Pack by Peter Fredlander seems accurate enough (although a lot of Song 3 seems closer to a standard 12/8 really).
But in Library of the Extreme I and II, ‘Swing 4/4’ is entirely 12/8 (or 4/4 triplets if you prefer). There is no swing feel at all. Great for me, as personally I never want swing, but this should be labelled properly so the people who do want swing don’t waste their time looking at this. (Maybe the overlap between people who want swing beats and blast beats is small, but still…)
In Metal Machinery, the Swing 4/4 beats are again almost entirely 12/8 feel, 3 hits per beat.
In the Ez Player Pro MIDI, there are separate Swing and 6/8 sections… but the 6/8 groove has a swing feel too! No use to me.
In Rock Warehouse, there is a Swing 4/4 section and a Straight 6/8 section. Great! These seem accurate.
In EZX Metal Machine, the Swing 4/4 section has 2 songs – the 130bpm has a clear swing to it, the 150bpm is another plain 12/8 beat.
So, a humble request – if it’s 4/4 clearly divided into triplets… label it as 12/8. They’re distinct from 4/4 swing, and although there is some scope for crossover in writing songs using beats from both, if you’re explicitly looking for swing you probably don’t want 12/8 and vice versa. And if it’s got swing in it… label it as such. Otherwise you just disappoint people like me who search hard for straight 6/8 beats only to find they have a swing feel to them.
(Oh, and maybe consider throwing in more 6/8 beats in future? Those are a little sparse! I don’t want to buy a pack full of 5/8, 7/8, 9/8, 11/8, just to get my hands on some 6/8 🙂 )
