Boom Library’s Magic Bundle hones in on the most important and interesting type of sound in the fantasy genre, offering over 12gb of conjuring, spell-casting, and wizardry.
Content
The Magic Bundle is divided into two parts: the ‘Construction Kit’, consisting of a versatile variety of sounds meant to be manipulated into custom SFX, and the ‘Designed’ part of the bundle, sounds which have already been manipulated and are ready-to-use in a project. Unlike some of Boom’s previous genre-oriented libraries, such as the Sci-Fi pack, this library is more narrowly focused and does not try to provide every sound that might be needed in a fantasy project. Rather, this library is a comprehensive collection of sounds suitable for various types of spell casting and related magical actions. The designed part of the pack, for example, is comprised of spell-casting sounds which are categorized by various useful criteria such as the element (water, fire, ice, etc.), size (small to large), and character (evil, neutral, or positive).
The descriptive criteria are extremely well chosen, and vastly speed up the process of navigating through the library. In addition, these sounds are both intricate and impactful, and a real inspiration as to what can be accomplished using the sounds in the Construction Kit part of the pack. Some of the designed sounds are so complex, however, that they will in most cases have to be tweaked in order to fit a particular onscreen action or animation. The Construction Kit, on the other hand, has a much wider selection of sounds, and is perfect for designing custom SFX.
These sounds come from a diverse range of sources- from chemical reactions to ethereal choir pads to synthesized laser shots. Some of these sounds, such as the set of bass impacts, are fairly conventional and might be found in a number of other libraries. Nonetheless, these are of a high quality and are suitable for a range of projects and genres. Other sounds, however, are quite unique and would be difficult for most sound designers to record themselves. One of the best parts of pack is the creativity with which many of the sounds were selected and recorded. For example, bizarre sounds such as the bubbling impact of ‘ammonia and oxygen burning with platinum wire’, or the strange sucking sound created by heated potassium chlorate reacting with a gummi bear are a sound designer’s dream.
Sound Quality
All of the sounds included in the pack are delivered at 96kHz/24bit. Most of the files contain multiple takes- a vital addition which many other libraries tend to overlook. Along with the well written metadata, it’s these crucial details which show that Boom has a strong connection to the needs of professional sound designers.
Value
As with Boom’s other libraries, the entire bundle sells for €199. Considering the high standard to which Boom crafts all of their libraries, along with uniqueness of many of the sounds included in this pack, the Magic library is worth the price. Although a fair number of the sounds can be used in other contexts, this pack is very much geared towards a specific usage in a particular genre. Sound designers who plan on doing serious amounts of wizard-related projects will certainly get the most out of this pack.
Conclusion
Boom Library’s Magic Bundle is another excellent collection with the same high level of quality that Boom has become known for. This library offers both designed sounds for those in need of a quick and easy option, as well as a plethora of unusual and fascinating material suitable for hours of sonic exploration and invention. Although it is fairly specialized towards a specific genre-based category of sounds, the Magic Bundle is a great choice for those in need of enchanting and otherworldly sonorities.
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