ONE-SHOTS
Dec 1, 2004 12:00 PM, By Jason Scott Alexander and Robert Hanson
APULSOFT APTRIGGA 2
SAMPLE-TRIGGERING PLUG-IN
One of the best tricks that professional engineers employ is the ability to augment drum performances with sampled sounds. Often, the original recorded sound of a snare or kick drum no longer works with a production and thus needs to be replaced or beefed up with a sample. For some time now, audio-sample-triggering plug-ins have been a part of many high-end workstations, but here to level the playing field is apulSoft apTrigga2. Available as a VST plug-in for both Mac and Windows, as well as an Audio Units version for Mac, apTrigga2 is an elegant and easy-to-use sound-replacement tool.
To use the plug-in, simply insert it on a percussive-sounding file (drums are an obvious choice, but any file with hard transients can work) and load as many as four different one-shot samples into the plug-in. The plug-in includes controls for filtering/EQ, trigger sensitivity, sample level, pitch, pan, crossfade control, wet/dry and more, making it a breeze to not only zero in on exactly the transient that you want to trigger the sample but also employ velocity switching. There is no noticeable latency between the original file and the triggered sound. I used the plug extensively inside Apple Logic 7 on some multitrack drum performances, and it worked flawlessly. Using some sampled hits, I was easily able to fatten up some of the close-miked elements in the drum kit, and the ability to tweak the wet/dry ratio made it easy to preserve the original character of the performance while adding some much-needed punch. And at less than $40, what's not to love?
Product Summary
APULSOFT
APTRIGGA2 > $39 (DOWNLOAD ONLY)
At a glance: Sound-replacement-style plug-in for VST and Audio Units. Requires Mac OS 10.2.6 or later or Windows 98 SE or later.
Contact:
www.apulsoft.ch
PROPELLERHEAD REASON DRUM KITS
REASON REFILL
The quest for realistic-sounding sampled drums is unrelenting. For standard workstations, numerous sound collections boast multisampled kits and true-to-life dynamic feel, and, now, the Reason crowd can get in on the fun. The new Reason Drum Kits adds an entirely new dimension to the program. The library ships on a single DVD and includes much more than a simple collection of sounds. The sounds themselves are derived from actual recordings made at Atlantis Studio in Stockholm, Sweden. The microphone collection ranges from Neumann to Shure to AKG, and the drum kits consist of choice selections from Yamaha, Ludwig, Pearl, Gretch and numerous others.
Users are presented with a collection of different genre-specific kits in which each element is sampled at numerous velocity levels and playing styles. Each kit loads into the NN-XT Advanced Sampler and is available in different miking configurations (with and without room mics, all mics open and so forth). Furthermore, there are Redrum, RV7000 and Scream patches included, allowing users to quickly use and process the sounds in this extensive library. And if that isn't enough, there are also session files with preloaded sequences and prebuilt kits with effect chains — all you have to do is play. The Refill is available in both 16- and 24-bit versions. The size of each instrument will bring lesser machines to their knees; therefore, the company recommends at least a Mac G4/550MHz or a Pentium III/1GHz for basic performance. But, overall, if you need a top-tier acoustic drum library for Reason, this is your Holy Grail.
Product Summary
PROPELLERHEAD
REASON DRUM KITS > $ 129
At a glance: Multisampled acoustic drum library for Reason.
Contact:
www.propellerheads.se
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS FM7 SOUNDS, VOL. 2
SUPPLEMENTAL FM7 SOUND SET
Owners of Native Instruments' popular FM7 soft synth will be pleased to learn that the company has finally released an official second factory sound library to breathe new life into their beloved carriers and operators. And breathe new life it does. Requiring version 1.1 or later of FM7 to run, the collection of 256 presets comes on an automatic installer CD split into two banks. Bank 1 contains roughly equal quantities of synths, pads and atmospheres whereas the second bank provides a wider assortment of keys, bells, effects, tempo-synchronizable loops, rhythmic patterns and bass sounds. In fact, there are times when listening to this impeccably programmed and contemporary-sounding library that you'll be amazed the sounds you're hearing are the results of FM synthesis — or digital synthesis at all, for that matter.
Aimed at electroclash, trip-hop, hip-hop, techno and trance stylings, there are plenty of favorable tributes (I won't call them emulations) to classic analog gear that benefit from the distinctly aggressive bite that FM provides. Alternatively, patches such as the mystical Far East, plucky Dreams Tring, Fairlite-esque Samtpfote, stargazing Lorelei and Ray of Light, Monomachine-rivaling Day After Day and Groovematic, and the floor-filling Beam Cracker bass all prove that FM is alive, well and sounding bigger than ever. Most patches respond to mod wheel or aftertouch, and loops can be synched to MIDI Clock. It took a veteran team of seven hot-shot sound designers and record producers with more than just a tweaker's approach to FM to come up with such a definitive-sounding collection. Together, they've managed to create a collection that picks up where the original factory presets left off and that not only complements but rather typifies what the FM7 and its enhanced form of FM synthesis are truly capable of.
Product Summary
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS
FM7 SOUNDS, VOL. 2 > $59
At a glance: 256 explorative new sounds for NI's popular plug-in. Requires FM7 version 1.1 or later.
Contact:
www.native-instruments.com
ZERO-G WIRED:
THE ELEMENTS OF TRANCE
SAMPLE LIBRARY/VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT
You live in a spoiled time. Today's sample libraries not only come to you served on a silver platter — all nicely sliced, diced, key-mapped and programmed — but also offer the highest number of usable samples per buck, ever. Wired: The Elements of Trance is massive in size, scope and sonic quality — and usable is an understatement. Volume 4 of Zero-G's new ProSamples Platinum series, Wired is hosted by a special version of Native Instruments' Intakt sampler (plug-in or stand-alone) and packs more than 1 GB of classic and progressive trance-production elements onto a single DVD.
Intended as “every constituent you need to make the perfect trance track,” the package includes 740 beat-sliced drum loops categorized by style and percussion instrument; 500-plus instrument loops; 25 drum kits ranging from 808 and 909 to house and tech-trance variations; more than 290 individual instruments and single-hit percussive sounds; and, to round things out, 14 inspirational construction kits that draw from the lot. Loops range from two to eight bars in length and offer huge variety. The drum and percussion loops sound wonderfully alive and lifted; they come as progressively layered builds across the keys and stack perfectly. I particularly love the juicy and imaginative acid lines and high-energy synth sequences. The drum kits and instruments sound great, but you'll probably recognize many of them from gear you already own. Really, it's all about the loops, and there's a ton of great, unique items here.
Product Summary
ZERO-G
WIRED: THE ELEMENTS OF TRANCE > $129.95
At a glance: More than 1 GB of massive trance sounds, loops and kits. Intakt-hosted as stand-alone or VST 2.0, DXi, Audio Units, RTAS. Requires Windows XP and Mac OS 10.2.6 or higher.
Contact:
www.zero-g.co.uk
BEST SERVICE/UEBERSCHALL PLP120
PERFORMANCE LIBRARY/VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT
Heavily world-flavored, PLP120 is a 1.7GB collection of stellar live-acoustic percussive performances and electronic grooves that offers 1,000 loops, 500 fills and breaks and 500 one-shot sounds, all pristinely recorded at 24-bit, 96kHz resolution for huge dynamic range. Arranged into 70 Inspiration Sets, or thematic construction kits, the sample layout is genius and straightforward: The white keys hold four-bar grooves while the black keys hold fills, breaks and single sounds. Through a partnership with software developer reFX, the mesmerizing Loopeye interface scans clockwise through a sample as it plays, visually aiding you in defining new start and end points for a groove. Or you can completely disassemble a loop into smaller segments (as tiny as a beat), which you can map across the drop-down user keyboard, located at the bottom of the plug-in, and trigger into new groove variations. Although the grooves were recorded at 120 bpm, a high-quality MPEX2 algorithm from Prosoniq allows you to pitch- or tempo-adjust samples from 90 to 150 bpm without an ounce of degradation.
Sonically and musically, the loops kick ass, ranging from Brazilian and Latin salsas, flamencos and sambas to Asian, Indonesian, African and tribal to a splash of funky nu- and old-school electronica and hip-hop for good measure. These loops add a magical quality to a mix, taking it somewhere special every time. Flexibility is the name of the game in PLP: You can combine samples from different sets, adjust the attack and release times, reverse playback and apply resonant filtering to each loop, and assign each key or sample to its own audio output (a max of four stereo buses are available). Amazingly, every groove in the collection combines perfectly with each other. PLP120 is a blast to play with, inspirational to write with and a goldmine to work with.
Product Summary
BEST SERVICE/UEBERSCHALL
PLP120 > $199.95
At a glance: Live percussive-groove virtual instrument plug-in for Mac or PC. VST 2.0, RTAS, Audio Units.
Contact:
www.soundsonline.com
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