Recording January 2022 - 36

-Review by Paul Vnuk Jr.
Boz Digital Labs
Claps, Stomps
and Snaps Bundle
Clap, snap and stomp to your heart's
content, all without breaking a sweat
Handclaps, clomping-stomping feet, and the snip-snap
of furious fingers have long been fun elements to impart a
sense of drama or whimsey to a song. However, in execution,
they can be a colossal time-suck to record well and edit to
perfection. For this reason, many people turn to sampled
solutions, but those can sound static and noticeably fake.
What if there was a better way? Let me introduce my new
friends, El Clapo, Le Snappet and Das Boot.
Clapping, snapping and stomping for joy
Boz Digital Labs is typically known for coding unique gates,
doors, walls and transgression plugins. This new crowdstomping
trio is the company's first collection of sample-based
virtual instruments. Each one is available separately or bundled
together, in all the popular Win/Mac formats.
El Clapo is hand claps, Le Snappet is finger snaps, and Das
Boot is the sound of boots on the ground. Each instrument can
trigger single or group hits up to a crowd of 150. These impacts
can be tightly on the beat or painfully uncoordinated,
loose and sloppy. The instrument's delay compensation is expertly
reported to your DAW to ensure you even get beat-accurate
sloppy timing.
Uniform design
Each instrument uses the same GUI with matching controls
and features; only the color scheme and sample sets are different.
Across the top are the preset browser, voice indicator and
small gear to open the advanced menu with MIDI velocity (static,
sensitive), voice (panning, timing, tuning), sample playback
options (round robins and layers), max voice count and delay
compensation controls.
In the main window, a pair of dials selects the number of
simultaneous snaps, claps and stomps along with the slop
percentage described above. Sounds can be auditioned via a
simple trigger button that is velocity sensitive based on where
you tap it, getting louder the higher you click. Next to this is are
a pair of sequencer controls that we will explore momentarily.
36 RECORDING January 2022
Near or far
Each strike has been recorded at close, mid, and room mic
positions, and these are user adjustable by a pair of knobs
labeled Close (a blend of close and mid) and Room (stereo
room samples). Below each is a solo button and an FX button
that calls up an adjustable compressor, a width control, and a
four-band parametric EQ to dial in the tone you need. There is
also a master gain control.
Across the keys
The percussive hits can be played alone or in groups across
a built-in virtual keyboard, or triggered from an external MIDI
controller. Yellow notes above middle C are single hits, and
twelve red keys below middle C play group hits based on your
selected voice count. The lowest register of keys (in green) triggers
an onboard, velocity-adjustable step sequencer. A play
button starts the sequence running and is linked to your DAWs
transport controls. Clicking the small sequencer gear calls up
the sequencer editor with a dedicated, individual 16-step sequencer
available per key, allowing for a creative range of
rhythmic variations. Interestingly, there is no standalone mode,
and your DAW must be playing to hear the sequences. Finally,
there is an animated waveform display that shows each triggered
sample.
Body language
Even with each instrument's high level of customization, it is
quick and easy to add these percussive textures to your tracks.
However, it is precisely this tweaky customization that is central
to crafting performances that sit believably in your mix.
If you have ever tried to record and layer snaps, stomps and
claps, maybe even by multi-tracking them yourself, you know
that it can sound sterile and wooden if it's too tight. If you
choose to track a group of folks at once, no one ever claps perfectly
together on the same beat (good), but there is always that
one friend who has no sense of rhythm at all (not good). Either
scenario can lead to hours of slicing, sliding and retakes. The
beauty of El Clapo, Le Snappet and Das Boot is, it's almost effortless
to choose how big the ensemble is and what rhythm(s)
they will play. From there, you can expertly determine how they
fit in the mix via the timing accuracy and mic positions.
Behind the curtain
Aside from the reasonably realistic sounds (I blew my family's
mind with a down and dirty stomp/clap session of the intro to
'We Will Rock You'), these virtual instruments succeed by way of
what Boz has programmed under the hood. Samples this short
do not take up much hard drive real estate, but rather than a
single set of repeating group samples, 150 individual claps
a-clapping can place a strain on your CPU; Boz uses a system
of generated sample layers and round-robin hits to create the
illusion of realism. You can control each of these parameters
based on your available horsepower in the Advanced window.
Recording January 2022

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