# Percussion Libraries...



## jononotbono (Jan 20, 2016)

Hi,

So I'm thinking about expanding my percussion libraries as I don't have a massive selection of different stuff and a little unsure what to get as there is so much out there. I have NI K10U so already have Damage (which is fantastic). I need percussion for all sorts of different genres and therefore wondering if anyone can recommend a few Libraries that I would almost be expected to own when working in the Film, TV, and Video Game industries (before of course, I get to the stage of recording my own libraries). I know there are a lot of huge /Epic/whatever the buzzword is Percussion libraries _but _I am also interested in everything else and stuff that doesn't have to be huge sounding. Ethnic stuff. Metals. Etc. I still have a long way to go with learning about Percussion so the more varied choices I have at my disposal, the better. Choice is a great thing!

Thanks for any help and advice!

Jono


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## ysnyvz (Jan 20, 2016)

I'm not sure what you really need but for virtuoso level ethnic percussion there is only one library IMO. There are a lot of good percussion libraries but when it comes to ethnic/world percussion instruments nothing else convinces me. So I recommend Evolution Series World Percussion 2 plus Taiko. Here a few demos I made:


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## sleepy hollow (Jan 20, 2016)

If you haven't already, you should check out ORA Hand Percussion.
It's free, comes with a fany interface and offers interesting sounds.

Thread:
http://vi-control.net/community/threads/ora-hand-percussion-for-kontakt-5-0-3-free.33976/


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## renegade (Jan 20, 2016)

Evolution World Percussion is one of the best I own, sound and programming just works. Great choice of mics. It can do epic as well as intimate. If it had some of the traditional tuned percussion like marimba, vibes, xylophone etc. it would be pretty much complete. It has some orchestral perc. like timpani and cymbals + gongs.

Storm Drum 1+2+3 are great too (not that much tuned perc, but a little).


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## jononotbono (Jan 20, 2016)

This is wonderful. Thank you and can always rely on VI Control for suggestions. There are just so many choices. What about Orchestral Percussion? Sound Design Percussion? Anything weird/odd? Keep em coming haha...


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## artmuz (Jan 20, 2016)

EastWest Stormdrum3 , add RA to it (some fantastic gongs here)


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## jononotbono (Jan 20, 2016)

ysnyvz said:


> I'm not sure what you really need but for virtuoso level ethnic percussion there is only one library IMO. There are a lot of good percussion libraries but when it comes to ethnic/world percussion instruments nothing else convinces me. So I recommend Evolution Series World Percussion 2 plus Taiko. Here a few demos I made:




Holy tittie tourettes. They sound amazing! Wow! Thanks for sharing this!


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## Mr. Ha (Jan 20, 2016)

Cinesamples has some nice free percussion in the freebie section! Any other suggestions on freebies? 

Im also looking for some good percussion libraries and I'm thinking about getting spitfire percussion and some more epic library like for instance epic taiko ensemble from 8Dio. Any other suggestions for more 'cinematic' pecsussion?


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## artmuz (Jan 20, 2016)

Heavyocity master ensembles either loops or ensembles or both in a bundle, they have three differents ensembles.


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## Orchestrata (Jan 20, 2016)

Stormdrum 2 and 3 have a huge variety of percussion instruments (and SD2 has a fair bit of good sound design-y patches, too), and the quality is great. Hollywood Orchestral Percussion is excellent, though I'm sure there are other, more affordable options for orchestral percussion (not my specialty).

I have all the 8Dio 'epic' percussion ensembles and, as with Damage, once you start using them you hear them everywhere - very good, indeed.


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## toddkedwards (Jan 20, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Hi,
> 
> So I'm thinking about expanding my percussion libraries as I don't have a massive selection of different stuff and a little unsure what to get as there is so much out there. I have NI K10U so already have Damage (which is fantastic). I need percussion for all sorts of different genres and therefore wondering if anyone can recommend a few Libraries that I would almost be expected to own when working in the Film, TV, and Video Game industries (before of course, I get to the stage of recording my own libraries). I know there are a lot of huge /Epic/whatever the buzzword is Percussion libraries _but _I am also interested in everything else and stuff that doesn't have to be huge sounding. Ethnic stuff. Metals. Etc. I still have a long way to go with learning about Percussion so the more varied choices I have at my disposal, the better. Choice is a great thing!
> 
> ...


I really like Spitfire's HZ01, and Cinesamples CinePerc Core. Also, take a look at ARIA sounds percussion libraries. They are priced really decent and sound great.


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## Noam Guterman (Jan 20, 2016)

I have a lot of percussion libraries but I usually resort to either EastWest Hollywood Orchestral Percussion (Gold) for traditional stuff, or Stormdrum 2 (Pro) for those bigger than life stuff.


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## Ryan (Jan 20, 2016)

I use Spitfire Audio stuff (Percussion redux, HZ01 etc), 8dio percussion, EW SD2. I'm happy with those. I've also done some custom recordings to add a bit of flavour. 

Best
Ryan


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## NYC Composer (Jan 20, 2016)

I'll just throw in Soundiron's Apocalypse Percussion here, which I really like for its powerful acoustic/orchestral hybrid sound. I picked it up during a great sale once and was delighted with it. I like to use a very easy patch, all drums spread across the keyboard, identify a few keys and bash away, then quantize later.


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## gtrwll (Jan 20, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Hi,
> 
> So I'm thinking about expanding my percussion libraries as I don't have a massive selection of different stuff and a little unsure what to get as there is so much out there. I have NI K10U so already have Damage (which is fantastic).



If you have Komplete 10 Ultimate, there are other percussion instruments included besides Damage (sorry if this is captain obvious, but I thought to mention these if you'd missed them somehow). Action Strikes is an OK tool for those epic trailer things, nothing fancy but OK. Heavyocity has three percussion libraries (sorta) in K10U, which are Evolve, Evolve Mutations 1 and 2. I haven't gotten around to use those in anything yet, but they at least seem intriguing. And Kinetic Metal, I've not really used it yet, but you might want to give it a try.


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## dannymc (Jan 20, 2016)

> If you have Komplete 10 Ultimate, there are other percussion instruments included besides Damage (sorry if this is captain obvious, but I thought to mention these if you'd missed them somehow). Action Strikes is an OK tool for those epic trailer things, nothing fancy but OK. Heavyocity has three percussion libraries (sorta) in K10U, which are Evolve, Evolve Mutations 1 and 2. I haven't gotten around to use those in anything yet, but they at least seem intriguing. And Kinetic Metal, I've not really used it yet, but you might want to give it a try.



i also want to add to my percussion arsenal. i have a few of the cinesample libraries namely cineperc epic and cineperc pro which i love but even with the epic library i still feel i'm missing that over the top big percussion. i have Komplete 10 so could go for the upgrade here for $400. Would you recommend it or instead look at the storm drum series or 8dio epic percussion libraries? i just dont want to end up doubling up if cineperc epic is similar to some of these alternatives. 

Danny


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## jononotbono (Jan 20, 2016)

gtrwll said:


> If you have Komplete 10 Ultimate, there are other percussion instruments included besides Damage (sorry if this is captain obvious, but I thought to mention these if you'd missed them somehow). Action Strikes is an OK tool for those epic trailer things, nothing fancy but OK. Heavyocity has three percussion libraries (sorta) in K10U, which are Evolve, Evolve Mutations 1 and 2. I haven't gotten around to use those in anything yet, but they at least seem intriguing. And Kinetic Metal, I've not really used it yet, but you might want to give it a try.



Sorry, Yes, of course. Action Strikes and I have used it for a couple of things but I am really trying to steer away from one finger auto drumming etc as I want to learn how to write all sorts of percussion. AS is a fantastic tool though (I won't lie. It's amazing). Kinetic Metal is brilliant for weird and wonderful stuff and I have looked through all of Evolve but didn't really think it was for Percussion. Some great sounds in there...


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## gtrwll (Jan 20, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Kinetic Metal is brilliant for weird and wonderful stuff and I have looked through all of Evolve but didn't really think it was for Percussion. Some great sounds in there...



Yeah, I've only dabbled with the Evolve libraries, so I can't say from much experience, but I recall there was some perc patches/instruments there. As for Action Strikes, I like to load the individual instruments and craft the lines myself.


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## HiEnergy (Jan 20, 2016)

For some unusual and very detailed percussion I'd recommend Flying Hand Percussion by HandHeldSound.


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## Lawson. (Jan 20, 2016)

HZ01 is great for when you need those BIG drums. It's pretty raw, and has tons of mic mixes and positions, so it's super versatile and works well in most situations. My go-to for when I need to bring out the big guns.

Apocalypse Percussion Ensemble is kind of like the Swiss Army Knife of drums (not orchestral, just DRUMS in general). Great selection of snares, toms, basses, clacks, cymbals, ethnic stuff. It sounds fantastic out of the box. You literally can just load a patch (and there's a master patch which is great for that), start banging around on the keys, and instant awesome-sauce. The close mics have a more intimate sound (though still super powerful), and adding the room and far mics just give it this giant kaboom. I could play around with this for hours. The ethnic drums are just fantastic! My go-to for anything DRUMS.

Berlin Percussion for your every-day orchestral percussion needs. Literally has every type of orchestral percussion (and then some) you could ever possibly need. Very nice sound, multiple mics, tons of round robins and dynamics. I don't have Spitfire Percussion to compare (which I've heard is similar), but I know that BPC has more mic positions, more round robins, and more dynamics (for at least most patches). I think SP may have a few more instruments, though. My go-to for orchestral percussion.

Rhapsody Percussion ALSO for your every-day orchestral needs. Has your standard orchestral perc, plus some very, very nice ethnic stuff. For the price, it's super hard to beat, and sounds great, too! The sound of the hall is not my favorite, but with three mics it's quite flexible and you can always add your own reverb. It works really well in layering, as well. My next-in-line go-to for orchestral percussion.

CinePerc for bombastic, yet orchestral percussion. It has a super IN YOUR FACE sound, which can be handy. Multiple mics on it, which is handy for controlling natural reverb, but it still retains that really "loud" (for sake of a better word) sound (which can be a plus or a minus). This WAS my go-to for most percussion, but then I got BPC which IMO excels in pretty much every area. Still keeping it around, though, as there's a lot of gems in it (the timpani and snares are worth the price alone).

FlyingHandPercussion (which I had never thought of until my colleague reviewed them) for those oddities that you might need for that extra touch. I don't have this library, but it seems really cool. On my wish list!

[Note: I have received free products from Soundiron and Impact Soundworks.]


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## Zhao Shen (Jan 20, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Hi,
> 
> So I'm thinking about expanding my percussion libraries as I don't have a massive selection of different stuff and a little unsure what to get as there is so much out there. I have NI K10U so already have Damage (which is fantastic). I need percussion for all sorts of different genres and therefore wondering if anyone can recommend a few Libraries that I would almost be expected to own when working in the Film, TV, and Video Game industries (before of course, I get to the stage of recording my own libraries). I know there are a lot of huge /Epic/whatever the buzzword is Percussion libraries _but _I am also interested in everything else and stuff that doesn't have to be huge sounding. Ethnic stuff. Metals. Etc. I still have a long way to go with learning about Percussion so the more varied choices I have at my disposal, the better. Choice is a great thing!
> 
> ...


*Epic* - HZ01 (incredibly versatile), Heavyocity Master Sessions (for the classic Heavyocity sound, though "Metals" does provide more variation than I expected - a positive thing!), 8Dio Epic Percussion (sampled so wet that it's actually annoying, but the sound is great)
*Comprehensive* - Stormdrum 3 (Don't own it, but walkthroughs showcase its huge selection of instruments)
*Orchestral *- Hard to go wrong with any choice. Hollywood Orchestral Percussion and Berlin Percussion are good - also be sure to take a look at Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion.
*Ethnic *- Evolution World Percussion
*Interesting* - Soundiron has a lot of very unique offerings


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## Mr. Ha (Jan 20, 2016)

If I were to buy a taiko library, what would be the best? World evolution series Taikos or the 8dio epic taiko ensemble or are there other ones?
I have a spitfire template so some built in reverb would be good to match the sound of the Air hall.


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## ysnyvz (Jan 21, 2016)

Mr. Ha said:


> If I were to buy a taiko library, what would be the best? World evolution series Taikos or the 8dio epic taiko ensemble or are there other ones?
> I have a spitfire template so some built in reverb would be good to match the sound of the Air hall.


Evolution Series Taiko has 4 mic positions and 2 mixes. You can easily change sound without any external fx like this:


It has 4 different taiko ensembles and 8 different solo taikos. You can create even bigger ensembles like this:


You can use it with Spitfire libraries:


It has a lot of midi grooves and I shared 50 new ones for free here:
http://vi-control.net/community/threads/50-new-midi-grooves-for-es-world-percussion-taiko.49737


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## renegade (Jan 21, 2016)

Evolution Series Taiko and SD3 has the best IMO. Quite different sound - a question of taste


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## geoffreyvernon (Jan 21, 2016)

A great "all around" library would be CinePerc. A few other great libraries that can get you really anything you need would be HZ01 from Spitfire. God that library is amazing. I literally use it every day. Drums Of War. It's an older one but a very good one! Epic Taiko and Toms is another great set of libraries. Really beefy and punchy. They layer extremely well with CinePerc and HZ01. Spitfire Percussion is also another really great library. It's nice and well rounded and layers really well with the CineSamples stuff as well. DM-307 is also a really great hybrid styled percussion library. Lot's of amazing and useful stuff in there!


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## dan1 (Jan 24, 2016)

true strike & spitfire perc & drums of war are too old now?


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## geoffreyvernon (Jan 24, 2016)

dan1 said:


> true strike & spitfire perc & drums of war are too old now?



They never get to old for me! Still in my template.


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## benuzzell (May 24, 2016)

A lot of people have mentioned that, for ethnic/world percussion, Evolution World Series Percussion is the way to go. How would something like Vir2's 'World Impact: Global Percussion' compare to the complete Core version of EWSP? It's a lot cheaper, but is it a lot cheaper in quality in comparison? Do you get more bang for your buck by going with EWSP? Just curious, as I'm currently looking for some world percussion.


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## ysnyvz (May 24, 2016)

benuzzell said:


> A lot of people have mentioned that, for ethnic/world percussion, Evolution World Series Percussion is the way to go. How would something like Vir2's 'World Impact: Global Percussion' compare to the complete Core version of EWSP? It's a lot cheaper, but is it a lot cheaper in quality in comparison? Do you get more bang for your buck by going with EWSP? Just curious, as I'm currently looking for some world percussion.


There is no comparison. A single instrument from World Percussion 2, darbuka for example, is worth a lot more than entire Global Percussion collection.


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## airflamesred (May 24, 2016)

I think, the Vir2 libs (certainly the Elite Orchestral Percussion) lack in rr, some very usable stuff though. I have Evolution Europe - the timps, toms, roto toms are really good but I'm not mad for their mic positioning. As you can see by their catologue 'World percussion' is a large array.


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## AlexandraMusic (May 25, 2016)

I recently bought the Djembe and Middle East library from EWSP and I love them! 

I found them a lot more inspiring to play with (I had been using Ethno World 5 and Sultan Drums) and they put a big smile on my face.

I think they're going to be having a sale in the next month or two so might be a good time to pick it up!


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## jononotbono (May 25, 2016)

Noooo. Don't tell me things like that. It's like throwing a bag of crystal to Jesse Pinkman!


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## AlexandraMusic (May 25, 2016)

I know. These sample library producers are such trouble makers. :'(


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## ysnyvz (May 25, 2016)

Here is a short demo of 3 darabukas playing together a traditional rhythm called Baladi.



And a short demo of 3 djembes playing together another traditional rhythm called Maksum.


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## Astronaut FX (May 25, 2016)

Another strong endorsement for Soundiron's APE. Sounds terrific and has an incredibly intuitive and instantly user friendly interface. A good "hybrid" percussion library in that it covers a lot of ground and could potentially be used for any type of project.

The Evolution libraries, as others have suggested, cover the ethnic percussion quite well. You can't go wrong here.

Impact Soundworks Rhapsody will cover the orchestral percussion quite well, and is very affordable.

Others not mentioned so far:

Impact Soundworks Juggernaut is quite nice, and covers most anything you'd need from an electronica standpoint for both percussion and bass.

No LADD recommendations? It is pricy, but it has some pretty powerful capabilities. It does have more of a learning curve than most of the others mentioned so far.

Aside from APE, Soundiron also has several "experimental" percussion libraries, some of which are very inexpensive.


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## Smikes77 (May 25, 2016)

Zhao Shen said:


> *Epic* - HZ01 (incredibly versatile), Heavyocity Master Sessions (for the classic Heavyocity sound, though "Metals" does provide more variation than I expected - a positive thing!), 8Dio Epic Percussion (sampled so wet that it's actually annoying, but the sound is great)
> *Comprehensive* - Stormdrum 3 (Don't own it, but walkthroughs showcase its huge selection of instruments)
> *Orchestral *- Hard to go wrong with any choice. Hollywood Orchestral Percussion and Berlin Percussion are good - also be sure to take a look at Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion.
> *Ethnic *- Evolution World Percussion
> *Interesting* - Soundiron has a lot of very unique offerings



+1 for sound iron mate, I bought frendo last week and it's got some wierd stuff I think you'd like.


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## rJames (May 25, 2016)

benuzzell said:


> A lot of people have mentioned that, for ethnic/world percussion, Evolution World Series Percussion is the way to go. How would something like Vir2's 'World Impact: Global Percussion' compare to the complete Core version of EWSP? It's a lot cheaper, but is it a lot cheaper in quality in comparison? Do you get more bang for your buck by going with EWSP? Just curious, as I'm currently looking for some world percussion.


I bought Vir2 World Impact. Never use it. I wrote emails to find out about rr count and they said 3 and above. But the 3 rr's are made from the same hit on most patches. Terrible.


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## benuzzell (May 26, 2016)

AlexandraMusic said:


> I think they're going to be having a sale in the next month or two so might be a good time to pick it up!


Ahhh thank you for the heads up! I will hold off for now then, but definitely get it when it goes on sale 

And thank you to everyone else who gave their opinions on EWSP vs Vir2. It's greatly appreciated!


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## Leeward (May 27, 2016)

Spitfire Percussion fills all my needs for the traditional orchestral pallette. I also find that the baked-in ambience helps further push that distance required for the percussion ensemble when you blend with other intruments from drier libraries. 

HZ01 is a fantastic add-on to it, especially for those bigger one-off hits. I particularly love the timpani ensemble hits with rods. Great texture and colour.

That's all I have in my main template but I will often add others on a 'when-needed' basis. 8Dio Taikos, for instance.


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## Mr. Ha (Jan 10, 2019)

I am concidering getting Hollywood Percussion Silver Edition as it’s an unbeatable price. I use only spitfire symphonic orchestra for strings, winds and brass and 8Dio for cinematic percussion and choir but I have no orchestral percussion library, only the Kontakt factory samples.

I know Hollywood percussion is an older library and there are 3 editions (I’m concidering the cheapest as I don’t have a big budget right now) but is it still good and would it mix well with the spitfire orchestra?

Spitfire percussion is the library I’d really like to own but it’s just too expensive.


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## richard kurek (Jan 10, 2019)

Audiobro LADD


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## Mr. Ha (Jan 10, 2019)

LADD sounds great but it’s in a different price category...:/


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## Mr. Ha (Jan 10, 2019)

I could get the Silver edition for
$52 right now.


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## ScoreFace (Jan 10, 2019)

Mr. Ha said:


> I could get the Silver edition for
> $52 right now.



Well, that sounds quite good - I would get it then, the price is really cool!


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## richard kurek (Jan 10, 2019)

Mr. Ha said:


> I could get the Silver edition for
> $52 right now.


how about AMADEUS Orchestra you get plenty there plus all the rest


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## Wally Garten (Jan 10, 2019)

I quite like Embertone's jug library:

https://www.embertone.com/instruments/jugs-complete.php

Can be "big," but sounds a little different from the usual taikos and bass drums. Also a nice price: $25. (But I think there's a smaller version you can try for free.)


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## Sopranos (Jan 10, 2019)

Mr. Ha said:


> I am concidering getting Hollywood Percussion Silver Edition as it’s an unbeatable price. I use only spitfire symphonic orchestra for strings, winds and brass and 8Dio for cinematic percussion and choir but I have no orchestral percussion library, only the Kontakt factory samples.
> 
> I know Hollywood percussion is an older library and there are 3 editions (I’m concidering the cheapest as I don’t have a big budget right now) but is it still good and would it mix well with the spitfire orchestra?
> 
> Spitfire percussion is the library I’d really like to own but it’s just too expensive.


Do you need to pay for an ilok for that library though?


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## Reid Rosefelt (Jan 10, 2019)

I have a lot of world percussion libraries as it's a particular passion of mine, and I agree 100% that the Evolution Series is in a whole other league. The best recording and 4 mics, whereas many drum libraries only have one mic. 


However, they can't cover _everything_. They have a South America library (heavy on Brazilian) rather than a Latin Percussion one. Lots of overlap, but no timbales, for example. So if you get into percussion over time, there are a lot of inexpensive world libraries to explore to add more colors: Rast Sound, Muletone Audio (Brazilian instruments). I like Dream Audio Tools' South (Southern Italian percussion) 

Very few MIDI patterns are offered. It's much more fun to use stuff like the NI world Discovery Series libraries (the Middle Eastern one is particularly great), which have tons of MIDI patterns built in, played by professional musicians. If you like, you can drag your files into your DAW and play them with Evolution instruments. Groove Monkee also has a nice World set. 

Playing drums is my favorite use for my Seaboard Block. It takes all my percussion libraries to a new level. So much more sensitive to velocity than the drum pads on my MIDI controller.


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## Mr. Ha (Jan 10, 2019)

Sopranos said:


> Do you need to pay for an ilok for that library though?


This is a really dumb question but what is an ilok? Is it such a thing you stick in your USB to authorize software? I’ve never used one and don’t know how it works. I’ll definitively check this...


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## ysnyvz (Jan 10, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> Very few MIDI patterns are offered. It's much more fun to use stuff like the NI world Discovery Series libraries (the Middle Eastern one is particularly great), which have tons of MIDI patterns built in, played by professional musicians. If you like, you can drag your files into your DAW and play them with Evolution instruments. Groove Monkee also has a nice World set.


I shared some a few years ago. Have you tried these?
https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/duff-grooves-rar.2990/
https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/djembe-grooves-rar.3015/


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## Sopranos (Jan 10, 2019)

Mr. Ha said:


> This is a really dumb question but what is an ilok? Is it such a thing you stick in your USB to authorize software? I’ve never used one and don’t know how it works. I’ll definitively check this...


Yes, exactly. Although I believe they have electronic iLok now but again you still pay for it. Just consider that when purchasing your library. One of the ones you were considering definitely has iLok.


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## Mr. Ha (Jan 10, 2019)

Sopranos said:


> Yes, exactly. Although I believe they have electronic iLok now but again you still pay for it. Just consider that when purchasing your library. One of the ones you were considering definitely has iLok.


The website says that any purchase includes a free Play 6 License, is that the same thing?


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## Wally Garten (Jan 10, 2019)

Sopranos said:


> Yes, exactly. Although I believe they have electronic iLok now but again you still pay for it. Just consider that when purchasing your library. One of the ones you were considering definitely has iLok.



Just to clarify -- you don't have to pay extra if you just use the iLok manager to license things to your computer. I do that with all my libraries that require it. If you want to use the USB key, which lets you take your licenses to any other computer, though, that's an extra cost (plus you have to leave it plugged in, I think).


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## Reid Rosefelt (Jan 10, 2019)

ysnyvz said:


> I shared some a few years ago. Have you tried these?
> https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/duff-grooves-rar.2990/
> https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/djembe-grooves-rar.3015/


Yes, I've got those, thank you. But IMHO the NI Middle East Library is a more intuitively _playable_ instrument. It's laid out in a simple way to give you access to 12 sets of patterns and fills, plus hits, rolls, and ornaments. The patterns can easily be edited. The modwheel can control the fill speed. There are also over a dozen percussion ensemble patches. From this perspective it is the best I've found for creating Middle Eastern percussion patterns. The Evolution Series wins hands down for sound quality, of course, but I find the sound of the NI damned good, and it's my favorite new instrument in Komplete 12.


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## ysnyvz (Jan 10, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> Yes, I've got those, thank you. But IMHO the NI Middle East Library is a more intuitively _playable_ instrument. It's laid out in a simple way to give you access to 12 sets of patterns and fills, plus hits, rolls, and ornaments. The patterns can easily be edited. The modwheel can control the fill speed. There are also over a dozen percussion ensemble patches. From this perspective it is the best I've found for creating Middle Eastern percussion patterns. The Evolution Series wins hands down for sound quality, of course, but I find the sound of the NI damned good, and it's my favorite new instrument in Komplete 12.


Unfortunately I dislike sound and mapping of NI Middle East. If I were the one who developed that library, I would do a lot of things differently. It's a missed opportunity in my opinion. Being a Turkish composer, it could have been the best library ever for me...


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## Bluemount Score (Jan 10, 2019)

Hm, *Action Strikes, *anyone?


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## ScoreFace (Jan 11, 2019)

Meetyhtan said:


> Hm, *Action Strikes, *anyone?



Yes, Action Strikes is fantastic, for me it has the best and most cinematic sound! But it is 299€ and not on sale right now - it is worth the money, don't get me wrong, it contains tons of great instruments and I'm using it all the time. But I got it that this thread is more about low prized percussion libs.


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## Phil Harmony (Jan 11, 2019)

Meetyhtan said:


> Hm, *Action Strikes, *anyone?



NI did an awesome job with this one - it is the best for a strong and powerful sound, still it sounds very naturalistic. I think it is in Komplete, right?


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## Bluemount Score (Jan 11, 2019)

Phil Harmony said:


> NI did an awesome job with this one - it is the best for a strong and powerful sound, still it sounds very naturalistic. I think it is in Komplete, right?


In Komplete Ultimate, yes!


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## Joshua Campbell (Jan 11, 2019)

From the libraries I own, these are the ones I’d recommend:


Orchestral Percussion:

Spitfire – Spitfire Percussion

East West – East West Hollywood Orchestra Percussion (Gold)

Tapspace – Virtual Drumline (Marching Percussion)



Cinematic Percussion:

8Dio – New Epic Dhol Ensemble, New Epic Frame Drum Ensemble, New Epic Solo Taiko, New Epic Taiko Ensemble, New Epic Toms Ensemble, Majestica Percussion

Audict – Drums of the Deep

Sonic Couture – Bowed Gamelan, Glassworks, Pan Drums, Skiddaw Stones


Drum Kit:

Impact Soundworks – Shreddage Drums

FXpansion - BFD 3.0


Mallets:

Orange Tree – Pure Jazz Vibes

Sonic Couture - Grand Marimba, Vibraphone

Hand Held Sound – Scoring Mallets (Marimba, Vibraphone, Xylophone)

Impact Soundworks – Resonance – Emotional Mallets


Hybrid, Sound Design, & Rhythmic Textures:

8Dio – New Hybrid Tools Vol 1, Hybrid Synphony X, New Rhythmic Aura v1

Audio Imperia – Event Horizon, Dark Dimensions, Dark Moon Rising, Dystopian Dreams, Photosynthesis (Vol 1-4), Scenes from the Multiverse

Hybrid Two – Project Alpha, Project Bravo

Sample Logic - Havoc


Electronic Percussion:

Native Instruments – Komplete 10 Ultimate (Kontakt Libs, Battery), Maschine

Steven Slate – Trigger Platinum (Blackbird, CLA, Dave Bendeth, & Terry Date expansions)


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## Mr. Ha (Jan 11, 2019)

Joshua Campbell said:


> From the libraries I own, these are the ones I’d recommend:
> 
> 
> Orchestral Percussion:
> ...


What’s the difference between Hollywood Gold and Silver perc? I’m concidering picking up Silver for 52 bucks. Also how does Hollywood perc mix with spitfire symphonic libraries?

Great list, I own several of the 8Dio libraries!


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## dariusofwest (Jan 11, 2019)

Mr. Ha said:


> What’s the difference between Hollywood Gold and Silver perc? I’m concidering picking up Silver for 52 bucks. Also how does Hollywood perc mix with spitfire symphonic libraries?
> 
> Great list, I own several of the 8Dio libraries!



If I remember correctly, Silver has much fewer separate instruments than Gold does (snare, bass drum, piatti, triangle, etc are in two kit patches in Silver patches) and a few lite patches for timpani and the mallet instruments.


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