First of all...this set should be called 'Way Beyond The Frame...drum"!
...one could get lost for days in the derivations from initial percussive sounds centered around (but not limited to) a uniquely approached framedrum. This is some deep stuff...exponential multiplied by the skill of Patchpool programming to make each and every 'morph pad' a completely unique and useful variation WHILE maintaining a pleasing aural pathway to all it's neighbor pads. That's eight times of ear-grabbing, interesting, and creative narratives on a theme-per-patch - very nice.
Playing through many of the 'pads', the balance of spectral manipulations and granular textures is nicely achieved. Just the right amount of performance variation, as expected from a player of Simon's caliber, make these soundsets a joy to explore via external controllers without ending up in any overcooked digital extremes.
In my book, all of Patchpool's sets benefit and draw from an unusual combination of bona-fide modern compositional pedigree, meticulous sound sampling conception and production, master-crafted sound design, and just plain musicality and playability despite the extreme pushing of envelopes in many of the sets.
All users of Alchemy owe themselves the treat of this and other Patchpool soundsets for Alchemy, highly recommended!
- Faithful truthsayer and born again Framedrummer evangelist