In the recent past we had already dealt with these pages of an Analogue Drums title; it was a Free Drum Kits, and the impressions had been fairly discreet. But now it's time to do the test by fire: when there is money to be spent, expectations with respect to the sample library (rightly) rise significantly, especially for products dedicated to one of the most critical components of a musical production, the drums. . Let's see in this test if the Analogue Drums team managed to hit the mark again.
Deadbeat is the new Drum Sample Library of Analogue Drums, a developer active in the sector since 1999. The team is made up of sound designers Dylan Lee, Nathan Koretz e Mike Taylor. The library interfaces perfectly with the Contact Sampler, but the samples are also available in the classic format WAV, giving up the mapping option.
As usual for paid titles, Deadbeat is not compatible with the FreeKontakt Player. A Kontakt version is required 4 or higher.
The title is available in digital download at the price of dollars 29 at the manufacturer's website, and occupies 1.8 GB, which become 2.4 GB once extracted.
KIND OF THE LIBRARY
DeadBeat samples an Acoustic Drum Kit. The intent of the developers was to reproduce the iconic "Abbey Road Sound", using high quality components focused on a Ludwig Kit years 70' with dishes zildjian vintage and snare drums Ludwig e Prime minister.
CONTENT OVERVIEW
In 2,4 GB dedicated exclusively to the sampling of Drum Samples, there is really a lot of material. In detail:
- Files for the Sampler Mapping Instrument, available for Kontakt, Trigger and also in WAV format
- 1 Kontakt Instrument AD43 Deadbeat MULTI V.1.04
- 1 Kontakt Instrument AD43 Deadbeat STEREO V.1.04
- 3456 Samples, with 24 bit / 44.1 KHz sampling depth
- The Manual for a correct and complete use of the title, available in .pdf format
TECHNICAL AND AESTHETIC ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENTS
When dealing with a Drum Samples Librarymore than in other contexts, the aspect of the quality of the shooting technique and of the sound bill of the samples is absolutely crucial.
The title must be able to restore the naturalness and feeling that characterize all good grooves.
Deadbeat has a solid foundation in this direction: the instruments supplied have three variations for the kick drum, two for the Toms and again three for the snare drums. Each sample is then provided with 7 levels di Layers for dynamic variation and well six randomizations of Round Robin. The microphone arrays compartment is also quite convincing: we have six individually controllable microphone positions:
- Close Mics
- Mono Overhead
- Two environmental Mics
- Kick Sub
- Snare Bottom
These characteristics are very receptive and well calibrated: by setting them correctly it is possible to obtain sounds with expressive details and rich in naturalness.
Even the sector of controls available on the GUI is really very rich and refined. Here we have:
- A 15-track mixer
- Individual Tune and Pan controls
- 6 Impulse responses that generate very realistic and evocative convolution reverbs (Ring On, Vacuum Packed, Au Naturel, Yesteryear, Mush Room, Faders Down)
- 3 bass drum settings (Punchy, Dry, Vintage)
- 3 snare drum settings (Brit, Hazy, Lazy)
- 2 Tom settings (Buried, Dead)
- 4 settings for adjusting the dynamic range (Dynamic, Detailed, Light, Heavy). Special mention should be made for this feature because it truly allows you to generate state-of-the-art sound nuances: by selecting Detailed e Light it is possible to give origins to very delicate and expressive performances; while setting the controller to Dynamic o Heavy the DrumKit unleashes all its dynamic power.
- 2 settings for Input commands (Keyboard or eKit, usable only if you have a Roland V-DrumKit)
The highlight of the title are the countless possible combinations between the various joints available for each component of the acoustic kit and the various adjustment possibilities of the controls just described. The powerful technical engine of the interface and the refined stylistic design of the Sample Library originate a title capable of generating very realistic rhythmic lines and equipped with a more than decent dose of groove and feeling.
Similarly, the various individual settings and six reverb environments make it almost superfluous to carry out further audio processing actions.
Here in detail the several joints available and the model of the component used. You will be able to listen to the dynamic and expressive variety guaranteed by the samples in the Audio Demo that accompanies, as always, the reviews of Age Of Audio.
RECOMMENDED USES AND DESTINATIONS
Deadbeat is certainly a very versatile Drum Kit. Clearly, the preferred destination tends towards productions with a Retro style and a Vintage flavor. However, due to the eclectic nature of the sounds that can be generated, it also lends itself perfectly to contemporary productions, especially if orbiting in the sound galaxies of Funk, R&B, Folk, Indy and Pop.
PROJECTED IMPACT
In the introduction, we were wondering if with this title Analogue Drums she had managed to hit the mark again, as in the case of the Free Library Big Mono.
Well, the answer is quite simple: yes.
The Kit offers extreme versatility and longevity, features further enhanced by truly state-of-the-art sample sound quality. Due to their high stylistic caliber, they will emerge even in the most demanding mixes.
The articulations are multiple and very accurate, each sample will sound realistic and natural, whether the hit is carried on the skins, on the wood, on the cymbals or on the crashes. Usually I have no difficulty in identifying even the defects of the titles I review, but in this case I have nothing to report.
Seeing is believing, after all you will have access to this huge and qualitatively remarkable amount of content at the price of only 29 dollars.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Producer: analogous drums
Distributor: Online
Title: Deadbeat
Price: 29 + VAT $
Peter Fraccavento
