Recording - July 2010 - 47

Epic Drums And then there’s Epic Drums. Oh... brother. This 2-DVD library has about 2.7 GB of WAV data, organized into 40 construction kit subfolders, each labeled with tempo and meter (if not 4/4)—seven of the 40 kits are in meters like 3/4, 6/8, 5/4, and 7/4. If you’ve ever seen the movie 300, you’ll have a visual idea of what these kits sound like—muscled, sweating behemoths full of angst and roaring energy, music for films with clashing swords, yelling, and buckets of CGI bloodshed. Played by an orchestral percussion session in Athens, Greece, plus nine soloists, the instrument list includes orchestral, ethnic, and treated percussion with an emphasis on big, booming, crashing timbres, like massed military marching snares, gran cassa drums, and gigantic toms. When there are quieter instruments, like djembes or frame drums, they’re either played at a ferocious clip to drive up the tension level, or they’re amplified and reverbed until they rattle your eyeballs. Cymbals and struck metals abound, not only as straight hits and rolls but as bizarre swooshing effects to build and release tension. And the timpani... well, you get the idea. Using this library, I recommend you not start with the short demos that appear in each subfolder. They try to feature one of everything—up to 40 samples/loops per

kit—and they’ll give you a nosebleed in under 30 seconds. Instead, sample the individual drum and percussion elements and build your cues slowly and carefully. Almost every instrument will have multiple interchangeable lines, with an “end” hit or lick for finales and several single hits for accents. With all those parts, there’s lots of flexibility here, but don’t go looking for subtlety. The most subtle sound on this library is its one lonely piano sample... a sample, that is, of a piano whose soundboard is apparently being bashed repeatedly with a Buick. A whole Buick. The individual loops and elements are impeccably played, although the biggest drums and hits are soaked in reverb that may not match that of the rest of your composition. Everything’s tightly edited to tempo, which means that many of the long cymbal decays don’t go all the way to silence. My guess is that by the time Epic Drums is through with you, you’ll be too shellshocked to notice.

Did I mention that I love this library? I love this library. I’m going to handle it like it’s radioactive... but I love it. Epic Drums sets a new standard for “over the top”, and that’s fine with me. Conclusions There’s a lot of useful material for all genres of music in Elemental Studio Percussion, and film and TV soundtrack artists will love the breadth and flexibility of Cinematic Percussion. Epic Drums is much more a matter of taste—I think most users will challenge themselves to find ways to use it that won’t overwhelm their other material—but truthfully, it was the most sheer fun of any sound library I’ve auditioned in a long while. These three libraries represent very different approaches to the subject of percussion loops, and I strongly recommend you audition the examples at the Big Fish Audio website to find which of them will work its magic on your next session.

Delivery: One or two DVDs Formats: ACIDized WAV, Apple Loops, REX2, RMX License: User licenses but doesn’t own/can’t resell content; use in music composition is royalty-free. No reuse within sample libraries, even altered. Documentation: Paper insert and PDF Read Me file Prices: $99.95 each More from: Big Fish Audio, www.bigfishaudio.com.


http://www.bigfishaudio.com http://www.mojaveaudio.com http://www.mojaveaudio.com

Recording - July 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2010

Recording - July 2010
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
Earthworks SR40
A Drum Miking Primer
Mojave Audio MA-101fet
The Fine Art of Drum Replacement
FXpansion BFD Eco
DAW Details
Create Your Songs With Drum Loops
Grace Design m501 Preamp
MXL Drum Cube and A55-Kicker
Readers’ Tapes
Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Toontrack Superior Drummer 2.0— A Walking Tour
PreSonus FireStudio Mobile
It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 4: The Business End, Part 1
Once Over—Reviews in Brief
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - July 2010 - Recording - July 2010
Recording - July 2010 - Cover2
Recording - July 2010 - 1
Recording - July 2010 - Fade In
Recording - July 2010 - 3
Recording - July 2010 - Contents
Recording - July 2010 - 5
Recording - July 2010 - Talkback
Recording - July 2010 - 7
Recording - July 2010 - Fast Forward
Recording - July 2010 - 9
Recording - July 2010 - Earthworks SR40
Recording - July 2010 - 11
Recording - July 2010 - 12
Recording - July 2010 - 13
Recording - July 2010 - A Drum Miking Primer
Recording - July 2010 - 15
Recording - July 2010 - Mojave Audio MA-101fet
Recording - July 2010 - 17
Recording - July 2010 - The Fine Art of Drum Replacement
Recording - July 2010 - 19
Recording - July 2010 - 20
Recording - July 2010 - 21
Recording - July 2010 - 22
Recording - July 2010 - 23
Recording - July 2010 - 24
Recording - July 2010 - 25
Recording - July 2010 - 26
Recording - July 2010 - 27
Recording - July 2010 - 28
Recording - July 2010 - 29
Recording - July 2010 - FXpansion BFD Eco
Recording - July 2010 - 31
Recording - July 2010 - DAW Details
Recording - July 2010 - 33
Recording - July 2010 - Create Your Songs With Drum Loops
Recording - July 2010 - 35
Recording - July 2010 - Grace Design m501 Preamp
Recording - July 2010 - 37
Recording - July 2010 - MXL Drum Cube and A55-Kicker
Recording - July 2010 - 39
Recording - July 2010 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - July 2010 - 41
Recording - July 2010 - 42
Recording - July 2010 - 43
Recording - July 2010 - 44
Recording - July 2010 - 45
Recording - July 2010 - Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Recording - July 2010 - 47
Recording - July 2010 - 48
Recording - July 2010 - 49
Recording - July 2010 - Toontrack Superior Drummer 2.0— A Walking Tour
Recording - July 2010 - 51
Recording - July 2010 - PreSonus FireStudio Mobile
Recording - July 2010 - 53
Recording - July 2010 - It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 4: The Business End, Part 1
Recording - July 2010 - 55
Recording - July 2010 - Once Over—Reviews in Brief
Recording - July 2010 - Advertiser Index
Recording - July 2010 - 58
Recording - July 2010 - 59
Recording - July 2010 - 60
Recording - July 2010 - 61
Recording - July 2010 - 62
Recording - July 2010 - 63
Recording - July 2010 - Fade Out
Recording - July 2010 - Cover3
Recording - July 2010 - Cover4
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