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Percussion Libraries...

jononotbono

Luke Johnson
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
 
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:





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