Sonic Implants
Apr 1, 2001 12:00 PM, Dave Hill Jr.
Deep down near the dank, dark root of groove and just beside the fickle heart of feel lies the sound of the kick, snare, and hi-hat. Because drum sounds occupy such a broad frequency range, they tend to define and shape the overall mix disproportionately compared with other instruments. The Drums Series 1 sample CD (Akai/E-mu, GigaSampler, Kurzweil, SoundFont, $199.95) by Sonic Implants tries to illuminate that space by giving producers the full spectrum of well-recorded raw drum sounds, which they can then personalize (or elegantly destroy) through compression, filters, and sonic effects.
In Sonic Implants' own words, this CD attempts to capture “the cleanest, punchiest, and best recordings possible.” A lofty goal, to be sure, but the Drums Series 1 collection of both Ambient Drums (sweet Blue Jay Studio natural reverb) and Session Drums (a dry-sounding, dampened room) contains a multiplicity of healthy options.
Although this collection contains no loops or MIDI files, the single-shot samples are quite musical on their own. Engineer Mark Tanzer (NRBQ, Carly Simon, Jerry Marotta, Lyle Mays) has exploited Blue Jay's wood, stone, and glass recording rooms nicely, capturing the ambience with a variety of microphones, mic angles, stick sizes, brushes, and both hard and soft bass-drum beaters. The Session Drums, recorded at Wellspring Studios in Boston, includes a more controlled batch of varied drum hits.
Sonic Implants constructed Drums Series 1 by sampling several different drum makes, sizes, woods, metals, and pitches. This collection represents recording engineers' best-loved workhorse studio kits, including Drum Workshop, Yamaha Recording Custom, Ludwig, Pearl, and Slingerland. A mix of Ufip, Zildjian, Sabian, and Paiste cymbals, with their natural-sounding decays, adds to the aural excitement.
The entire Drums Series 1 collection fits on a single disc. Users can download demos in MP3 format from Sonic Implants' Web site or buy samples in smaller, less expensive sections ($24.99 per kit). Breaking up large collections is a nice trend in the sample-for-sale arena, and Sonic Implants deserves applause for doing so. The option of buying smaller sample sections is valuable for those who are looking for a few professional sounds but don't need the intense depth or detail of a full CD (more than 250 drum sets).
If you require WAV or AIFF files, FMJ-Software's (www.fmjsoft.com) Awave Studio application can extract them from the SoundFont version. Regardless of how many of Sonic Implants' samples you acquire, you can easily add them to your music through ready-made hi-fi kits, or you can creatively tweak the full-range samples into something with a little more character.
Overall Rating (out of 5): 4
Sonic Implants; tel. (888) 769-3788; e-mail studio@sonicimplants.com;
Web www.sonicimplants.com
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