Tascam
Mar 1, 2002 12:00 PM, Dave Hill Jr.
Vibes, marimbas and other mallet percussion instruments have enjoyed a recent resurgence thanks in part to bands such as Tortoise and Groove Collective, not to mention the simple-but-haunting marimba motif of the Academy Award-winning soundtrack to American Beauty. In response, Tascam has released Christian and Lane Ultimate Marimba and Vibes (GigaSampler; $199) double-CD sample set for its GigaSampler and GigaStudio virtual-sampler applications.
Produced by Austin, Texas, musicians Donnie Christian and Sean Lane, both CDs exceed the status quo. The duo has done a stellar job capturing warm performances and rich percussive sounds. Providing more than just a well-sampled 5-octave rosewood marimba and a Musser Gold Century vibraphone, the set also includes samples of cello-bowed vibes and rattan-handled marimba performances. The vibraphone's motor speeds have been replicated carefully and can be adjusted via your MIDI keyboard Mod wheel. You can even create marimba rolls on patches like “Mar Full Mod” by tweaking the Mod wheel. The motorized vibraphone vibrato, sustain pedal and vibe dampener make these recordings among the most realistic-sounding vibes I've heard.
Multiple dynamic levels (mallet densities) further add to the warmth. Within the 691 MB of marimba samples are hard-, medium-, medium-soft-, and soft-mallet sampled hits. The patch files are fairly large, averaging about 51 MB for mono and 102 MB for stereo. The vibes disc contains 471 MB of vibes sounds and 71 MB of marimba extras. The vibes patches are noticeably smaller (approximately 25 MB), but you can still hear the subtleties of all the mallet densities. Remember: Tascam, formerly NemeSys, technology streams all samples from the hard drive, so RAM remains available for other applications.
For anyone looking for something a little different, Christian and Lane have added a section of extras for both the vibes and marimba patches. The extras include some cute marimba glissandi, interesting random-note combinations, darker dampened sounds and a few other oddities for good measure. The vibes section also contains an extras bank, which provides metallic scrapes, glissandi and sustains.
Because most producers and electronic musicians are consistently striving to exercise their creativity and expand their sonic palettes, the vibraphone and marimba sounds in this collection might be the perfect starting point for producing your next soundtrack, jingle or jazz odyssey. If you're looking for new, eclectic and inspiring sounds, why not try some melodic percussion?
Overall Rating (out of 5): 5
Tascam; tel. (323) 727-4864;
e-mail info@nemesysmusic.com;
Web www.nemesysmusic.com
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