Results for metal

Soundiron’s Rust 3 is the latest in its series of found-sound percussion sample libraries for Native Instruments Kontakt.

With this grand 3rd volume, we set out to conquer powerful bass and rich musical tone, recording a massive variety of surfaces, objects, oddities, apparatuses and custom contraptions very up-close in wide stereo to capture even the most subtle of resonances and overtones.

We aimed for a collection that would offer uniquely alternative drum kit concepts, richly complex tuned percussion, dramatic effects and stingers and a huge wealth of sustaining lead, pad and ambient instruments. We reached for crystalline highs and mind-melting lows. We wanted a library that could stand on it’s own, capable of producing limitless musical potential all by itself.

Rust 3 features at a glance:

• 49 open-format Kontakt instruments (36 K4 presets / 12 K5 presets).
• 2,238 Samples.
• 3.63 GB Installed.
• 24bit / 48kHz stereo PCM wav samples (non-encrypted).
• Powerful custom performance and FX control interface.
• Bonus unique FX ambiences and atmospheres.
• Bonus: 51 custom convolution reverb impulses.

Have a listen to the Rust 3 audio demos below to get an idea of what this is all about.

The patches of Rust 3 are grouped in 4 folders: Ensembles, Sustains, Master, and Effects.

The Ensembles section includes 7 instruments, with original (untuned) and tuned variations, so 14 patches in total. The sounds were recorded from a variety of objects, including large 50 gallon chemical drums, garbage can lids, garden tools, a cattle corral, various pipes and rods, and custom percussion instruments. A number of articulations is available – e.g. hands, sticks, mallets, etc – and the sounds are basically laid out like percussion kits mapped across the keyboard.
The tuned patches take a single tuned articulation from the full range of sounds included in each ensemble, and tunes and maps it across the keyboard. Articulations can be switched in realtime with MIDI CC, which can also be automated.

The three included Sustains patches have a focus on drones and ambient soundscape type sounds. The sounds in these patches can be morphed and polyphonic legato is available from the custom Kontakt interface panel.

The Master section includes a number of patches with combined instruments.

The MegaMixer patches allow you to create custom ensembles, with up to 10 instruments, each with independent tuning and mapping arrangements.

The master patch includes all percussive patches, and a lite version with less round robin samples is also included. The MegaMixer and Tuned Layer Builder patches allow you to construct your own ensembles by using 10 to 12 layers respectively.

The Effects section features 12 patches in both Kontakt 4 and Kontakt 5 format. The Kontakt 5 patches use the improved Time Machine Pro engine for a more realistic time stretching. The patches include sounds effects made by scraping metal objects, using violin bows, and other techniques.

Rust 3 includes a number of custom panels for quick access to parameters to modify the sounds, including the ever lovely “Uberpeggiator” custom arpeggiator, convolution reverbs and more.

For a more detailed overview of what’s included with Rust 3, check out the official walkthrough video below.

So what do I think?

Rust 3 is a beautiful library, chock full of useful sounds.

By itself, the general vibe of the library tends to be a bit dark/creepy/haunting, which is great for cinematic film and game projects. Individual instruments will also blend in just fine with pretty much any other music genre, though the reason why this library (as well as other Rust libraries) is in Soundiron’s experimental category is obvious. I am not saying you shouldn’t use Rust 3 in your dubstep tunes, but I reckon you’ll get better mileage when you’re into junk percussion and original designed instruments with a metal vibe.

In short, I am well impressed with Rust 3. The sound recordings, instrument design, and Kontakt scripting all contribute to a deliver another top notch library.

More information: Soundiron / Rust 3

Soundiron has announced the release of its Rust 3 sample library for Native Instruments Kontakt, featuring a collection of found-sound percussion instruments.

Soundiron’s Rust 3 comes with a custom interface for Kontakt.

Rust 3 is the long-awaited third installment in our legendary Rust series, exploring new ways of bending this classic genre into ever more musical directions. This time we set out to conquer powerful bass and rich musical tone, recording a massive variety of surfaces, objects, oddities, apparatuses and custom contraptions.

We captured each instrument in close, wide stereo to capture even the most subtle of resonances and overtones. We reached for crystalline highs and mind-melting lows. We aimed for a collection that would offer uniquely alternative drum kit concepts, richly complex tuned percussion, dramatic effects and stingers and a huge wealth of sustaining lead, pad and ambient instruments. We set out to build a metal library that could stand on it’s own, capable of endless self-contained musical potential well beyond the traditional limits of your typical metal percussion.

With well over 100 unique sound sets, tons of sustaining and effect elements covering a total spectrum of metallic flavors, this iron beast definitely delivers on that promise. With Rust 3, you’ll find an easy to use and inspiring metallic workshop, spanning an incredible depth of sonic potential and suitable for use in any musical and sound design genre.

The library is available to purchase for the introductory price of $79 USD until August 31st, 2012 (regular price $89 USD).

More information: Soundiron / Rust 3

Spitfire Audio has released Iron Drum, a new Spitfire Laboratories sample library featuring the sound of a tuned soft metal instrument.

We are absolutely delighted to announce having passed the £10k milestone with our Unicef campaign and wish to heartily thank you for your contribution in that respect.We’re now the 4th biggest contributor to Unicef UK via PayPal, a remarkable achievement, long may this continue.

To mark this achievement we have purpose built a whole new little lovely just for you guys.

Recorded at Air-Edel studios specifically for the LABS, the Iron Drum is a heavy iron drum with 6 “resonators” that feel not unlike a chunky hand drum. It has a beautiful mellow tone that’s both familiar (like a nicely tuned steel drum) whilst being difficult to place exactly (or is it a vibraphone of some sort?). We have recorded it 4 ways, with a rubber beater muted and unmuted: 5 round robins, 2 dynamic layers, and with hand strikes both muted and unmuted again recorded with 5 round robins at a single soft dynamic layer.

The Iron Drum library is free, provided you donate £2 GBP to Unicef via the LABS.

Spitfire has also announced Albion II – Loegria, the upcoming scoring library which centers on cinematic beauty and detail.

Designed as a stand-alone tool, everything you would need to write beautiful and esoteric film scores out-of-the-box. We are excited to present an incredible Chamber sized String group of the first call session players in the UK, again designed as High and Low Ensembles.

At last this intimate sound is available with Spitfire’s mic mixing ability, and with strings that concentrate also on an array of additional techniques not found in Albion I, and woods and brass that centre more on “choral” use of such sections. Loegria is a must buy for Albion users wishing to expand on the possibilities of that broad & thumping tool-set, but also stands alone as a superb tool for creating intimate scores.

Release date and price TBA.

More information: Spitfire Audio

Cinematique Instruments has released Junk Drum and The Specimenphone, the first two releases of its Clearing Out 2012 sale.

Junk Drum is a tiny step sequencer based drumcomputer. It is perfect suited to lend your music a percussive colour and enrich your drum track with unique spots. You can easily create your own groove or let Junk Drum play in Random mode.

The sounds of Junk Drum are based on a toy drum.

Junk Drum comes up with three different sounds: HiHat, Bass Drum and Snare. For modifying the character of your drum pattern, Junk Drum provides plenty of options to change the sound to your very own requirements: lowpass- and highpass filter (with a random high- and low pass modulator), distortion-, lofi-, speaker- and phaser-switches, separate fader to set the length and volume of all three sounds and a delay.

Junk Drums runs in standalone mode as well as in-sync to your host application. In order to create a pattern just select one of the 16 steps of your favourite track and adjust the right volume by clicking and sliding the respective step. If you want to let Junk Drum automatically play just switch on the unique random mode and lean back!

The Junk Drum library for Kontakt is available to purchase for 15 EUR.

The Specimenphone is an assortment of lots of metal bars which are freely hanging on a metallic frame. The object looks like a giant mallet instrument. The bars are metallic product samples which are used to demonstrate different kinds of metal, different sizes and forms such as square chrome bars, brass table legs or steel poles. The length of these metallic objects varies from 1 meter (40 inch) to nearly 2 meter (75 inch).

The custom Specimenphone instrument features metal bars hit with a stick & rubber hammer.

We hit all 18 bars and poles with a stick as well as with a rubber hammer in 1-3 velocity layer and 3 Round Robin variations. The sound we recorded with a stick are layered along the white keys, the other along the black keys. In addition to this we provide different options to shape the sound: A cabinet and a rotary simulation, 2 different delays, a reverb and a knob to adjust the release of the sounds. Finally we included the default arpeggiator of Kontakt with some presets.

All in all we are coming up with an instrument with a couple of weird and unique sounds. You can create sounds you never heard before. It is a great fun to play with Specimenphone.

The Specimenphone library for Kontakt is available to purchase for 13 EUR.

More information: Cinematique Instruments / Junk Drum / Specimenphone

8mosphere has announced the release of Crystal Bowls – The 13 Cosmic Rays, a collection of crystal sound bowls powered by Native Instruments’ Kontakt Player.

This unique sample based Synthesizer has powerful Sounddesign features to create vivid and surprising soundscapes as well as warm and organic tones for your compositions. Complex arpeggiator and random functions will help you to be creative.

Crystal bowls consist of quartz crystal combined with gemstones and metals, played with suede & rubber mallets or by finger. 13 of them were sampled for 8mosphere Crystal Bowls.

Crystal Bowls features

• 13 Crystal Sound Bowls (13 Cosmic Rays).
• 5 different recorded play modes.
• 8×8 high Quality Convolution Reverb.
• EFX & Arpeggiator randomizable.
• 1.33 GB compressed.

The Crystal Bowls library is available to purchase for 89 EUR excl. VAT.

More information: 8mosphere / Crystal Bowls

Modartt has announced the release of the Steelpans for Pianoteq, a new add-on which includes 4 instruments offering a superb playability: Steel Drum, Spacedrum, Hand Pan and Tank Drum.

The Pianoteq physical model has been enriched to produce the characteristic timbre of steelpans, with their “blooming” overtones that arise from the mechanical properties of thin steel sheets. Two unique parameters, blooming energy and blooming inertia, are especially interesting for adjusting the steelpans sound. Thanks to the physical model, the Steelpans add-on offers an exceptional playability and versatility.

Steelpans add-on for Pianoteq 4: Each instrument is provided with one preset faithful to the original instrument modelled and several variants.

Steelpans add-on features

• Steel drums have their origins in Trinidad and are intimately connected with calypso music. The steel drum offered is a combination of the known types the “double second”, the “tenor”, the “double guitar”, and the “triple cello”. Its range covers 4 octaves.
• The Spacedrum is a recent variant of the Hand Pan, and the first to be made available in a thirteen note chromatic model, opening new horizons to the musicians. The Spacedrum and Hand Pan instruments offer presets for both hand playing and mallet playing. They are extended to 4 octaves. One of the Spacedrum creators, Marc Guilliou from Metal Sounds, participated in the testing of the Pianoteq add-on version to make sure it is as authentic as possible.
• The Tank drum is made of thicker metal from a gas tank. In Pianoteq, the range is extended to 3½ octaves.

The add-on is available to purchase for 49 EUR. Requires a licence of Pianoteq 4 (Standard, PRO or Stage).

More information: Pianoteq / Steelpans add-on