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None Disclaimer: The manufacturer provided DigiFreq with a unit of this product for review. Reviewed by Scott R. Garrigus | ||||||
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 "A meticulously curated selection of 62 percussive instruments performed by internationally renowned percussionist Joby Burgess and expertly captured in the legendary acoustic space that is Abbey Road Studio One. Focus on bringing life to your compositions with tailored features— such as soft takeover, voice choking and right/left hand mapping. Add a layer of unparalleled realism with a variety of beaters and playing styles. Crafted for professional composers, producers and sound designers. Abbey Road Orchestra will bring you every single section of the orchestra in breathtaking detail, captured in the world's most famous recording studio." That is the official description for Abbey Road Orchestra: High Percussion, now available from Spitfire Audio, which has provided DigiFreq with a copy for review.The Abbey Road Orchestra: High Percussion Sample Library Preceded by Low Percussion, High Percussion is the second installment in the Abbey Road Orchestra series and is a Spitfire Player-based sample library with a 98.05 GB download size. The library includes 62 percussive instruments, a total of 391 articulations with up to 11 dynamic layers and up to 16 round robins (depending on the instrument). Each instrument type is represented by a preset that includes all related articulations. There are 18 factory presets, as follows: 1. Bongos - includes a low and high bongo. There are hand, finger and stick hits for both left and right hands. Hands and fingers include regular and closed hits. Sticks include regular hits and rim shots. All articulations provide dynamically controlled rolls with ends and 12 round robins. 2. Congas - includes low, mid and main congas with hand hits for both left and right hands. The low and mid congas provide tone and bass hits. The main conga provides tone, bass, palm, closed/slap and tip hits. All the congas provide dynamically controlled rolls with ends and 12 round robins. 3. Darbuka - includes a single instrument with hand and brush hits for both left and right hands. There are hand hits on the edge and center and finger edge hits, but no rolls. Brushes provide edge and center hits as well as dynamically controlled rolls. There are 12 round robins. 4. Djembe - includes a single instrument with hand and brush hits for both left and right hands. There are normal hand hits for tone and bass, as well as closed tone hits, but no rolls. Brushes provide tone (normal / closed) and bass hits as well as dynamically controlled rolls. There are 12 round robins. 5. Field Drum - includes a single instrument with three articulations: Sticks Snares On, Sticks Snares Off, and Brushes Snares On. Sticks Snares On provides the following (left / right) hits: Rim Shot, Rim Hit, Centre Hit, Edge Hit, Centre Roll, Edge Roll, Drag Centre, Drag Edge, Ruff Centre, Ruff Edge. Sticks Snares On provides the same hits excluding the Rim Hits. Brushes Snares On provides left / right open and closed hits. There are 16 round robins. 6. Log Drums - includes six drums, each with a different pitch. There are left / right rubber mallet hits for each drum and 8 round robins. 7. Mini Bongos - includes low and high mini bongos. There are regular left / right hand and finger hits for both drums. The high bongo also includes closed hits. Both drums include dynamically controlled hand / finger rolls and there are 12 round robins. 8. Octabans - includes four drums, each with a different pitch. There are left / right hits for sticks and rods with 8 round robins. There are also dynamically controlled stick / rod rolls for each drum. 9. Piccolo Snare A - includes a single instrument with three articulations: Sticks Snares On, Sticks Snares Off, and Brushes Snares On. Sticks Snares On provides the following (left / right) hits: Rim Shot, Rim Hit, Centre Hit, Edge Hit, Centre Roll, Edge Roll, Drag Centre, Drag Edge, Ruff Centre, Ruff Edge. Sticks Snares On provides the same hits excluding the Rim Hits. Brushes Snares On provides left / right open and closed hits. There are 16 round robins. 10. Piccolo Snare B - provides the same articulations as Piccolo Snare A, but B is pitched lower. 11. Plastics - includes three instruments: Tub, Jerry Can and Bucket. Each one includes left / right hits with sticks on the side and top. There are 12 round robins. 12. Roto Toms - includes five drums, each with a different pitch. There are left / right hits for sticks (hits and rim shots) and brushes (hits only) with 8 round robins. There are also dynamically controlled stick / brush rolls for each drum. 13. Shime Daiko - includes a single instrument with three articulations: Taiko Sticks, Rods, Hands. All three provide left / right hits. Rods also includes rim hits. Both Rods and Taiko Sticks provide dynamically controlled rolls. There are 12 round robins. 14. Snare - includes a single instrument with three articulations: Sticks Snares On, Sticks Snares Off, and Brushes Snares On. Sticks Snares On provides the following (left / right) hits: Rim Shot, Rim Hit, Centre Hit, Edge Hit, Centre Roll, Edge Roll, Drag Centre, Drag Edge, Ruff Centre, Ruff Edge. Sticks Snares On provides the same hits excluding the Rim Hits. Brushes Snares On provides left / right open and closed hits. There are 16 round robins. 15. Temple Blocks - includes four instruments, each with a different pitch. There are left / right hits for hard and soft mallets with 8 round robins. 16. Timbales - includes low and high timbales. There are a variety of left / right stick hits for both drums. The hits include Centre Hit, Rim Shot, Closed Hit, Shell Open and Shell Closed. Both drums include dynamically controlled rolls and there are 12 round robins. 17. Toys - is a single patch containing a collection of nine instruments each with a variety of hits as follows: Handle and Machine Castanets (Single Hit, Roll, Flam) with 12 round robins; Claves (3 pairs with Low / High hits) with 8 RRs; Low and High Caxixi (Throw, Drop, Shakes, Swirls) with 8 RRs; Plastic and Wood Guiros (Short Scrape, Hit, Medium Scrape, Long Scrape, Wide Scrape - plastic only) with 5 RRs; Low and High Maracas (Throw, Shakes, Swirls) with 12 RRs; a Ratchet (Single Click, Continuous, 1 Rotation) with 6 RRs; Two pairs of Shakers (Low and High shakes) with 8 RRs; a Vibraslap (Open Hit, Choked Hit) with 3 RRs; and Heavy and Light Whips with 5 RRs. 18. Wood Blocks - includes four instruments, each with a different pitch. There are left / right hits for hard and soft mallets with 8 round robins. Playing the ARO: High Percussion The sheer number of dynamic layers (up to 11), round robins (up to 16), and the inclusion of a variety of beaters (hands, brushes, sticks) plus both left and right hand performances allow the creation of very realistic compositions for the short hits in the library. However, there are a number of features that also aid in creating realistic performances for the long articulations, for example snare rolls, guiro scrapes or ratchet rotations. Two of these features that work in conjunction are Roll End and Voice Choking. For every long articulations, Spitfire has recorded a natural end hit. With Roll End activated, pressing a key to trigger a roll and then releasing that key will automatically play an end hit making it sound completely natural. You can also create your own end hits by turning Roll End off and then triggering a short hit right after a roll. The trick here is to get the timing just right, but to make things easier, you can activate Voice Choking. In this scenario, you can press and hold a key to trigger a roll. While continuing to hold that key, press a key to trigger a short hit, which will automatically choke (or stop) roll playback. A wider range of control can also be achieved during the playback of the roll itself using the Soft Takeover feature. Normally the loudness and timbre of a roll is controlled via the Dynamics parameter (mapped to the Mod Wheel by default). With Soft Takeover activated, the velocity of the note determines the initial loudness. Then you can adjust the Dynamics parameter to take over control of the loudness after its level passes the initial loudness. For example, you can start a roll at mezzo piano and then raise it up to fortissimo during the roll sustain. High Percussion Mixing As with the majority of Spitfire Audio products, High Percussion gives you access to multiple microphone positions allowing you to customize your mixes to a very detailed degree. Being a part of the Abbey Road Orchestra, however, High Percussion provides a number beyond the norm… a total of 16 positions are provided here. Microphone signals include Mix 1, Mix 2, Section Overhead, Close 1, Close 2, Close Ribbons, Tree 1, Tree 2, Outriggers 1, Outriggers 2, Mids , Ambients, Vintage 1, Vintage 2, Pop Close, and Spill. Descriptions for each of these signals can be found in the user manual, which is available for download on the Spitfire website (see link below). A few things to note, however, the Mix 1 and Mix 2 signals provide curated selections of mics, which allow you to jump right into composing without having to worry about the sound. They are also designed to help save PC resources. In addition, the Close 2 signal provides a nice dry sound for most of the instruments if you'd like to create your own ambient environment using reverberation. Some of the instruments (such as Temple Blocks) still include room bleed, but this can be easily remedied with a standard gate effect. All of these mic positions can be assigned to different audio outputs, allowing a multitude of mix possibilities including surround sound. Deep Sampled Detail for Realistic High Percussion Performances While there are many other percussion sample libraries on the market, High Percussion provides a number of unique aspects. First and foremost it gives you access to the sound of Abbey Road Studio One, which has been used in a wide variety of well-known recordings and is one of the most famous studios in the world. Second, it provides a level of detail that allows you to create realistic performances that (if programmed correctly) will be indistinguishable from the real thing. Add to that the multitude of mix possibilities and you have a library that can be used in both your traditional and modern compositions. For more information, visit: SpitfireAudio.com |
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