Sonivox has announced the release of Big Bang Universal Drums 2.0, the latest version of its expansive percussion instrument.
Few tasks in the studio are as tedious and time-consuming as getting a fantastic drum sound—finding the right drums, the right microphones, the proper placement, and effective gain control. Big Bang Universal Drums 2.0 from Sonivox solves all these issues with over 15 GB of perfectly captured drum sounds—16 kits and over 400 patches are instantly available to enhance any recording with top studio drums. Big Bang Universal Drums 2.0 was created using handcrafted SJC Custom drums, in the studio using both close and ambient mic placement, with careful attention paid to getting just the right sound. There are both stick hits and brush strokes, and all programs were meticulously sampled at multiple velocities, with multiple hits being triggered in a round-robin style for the pinnacle of realism and authenticity.
SONiVOX created their Intelligent Rhythm Control (IRC) to apply user-defined rhythmic feel and timing in real-time, as notes are played, capturing the performer’s inspired moments while eliminating the need for further editing after the fact. The stereo delay allows either the left or right channel—or both—to be synchronized to beat values of the current tempo, tying the sound, song, and effects together. The convenient Note Repeat function retriggers any sound at a pre-selected beat/tempo value for as long as the pad, key, or trigger is held down, making it easy for any player to build up complex parts quickly.
“Every song begins with a beat,” says Jason Jordan, Head of Soundware at SONiVOX. “Our Big Bang Universal Drums provides just the right sound to get the beat started and bring any track to life, regardless of style or genre. And it does it instantly. We’ve added new sounds and a new browser to find them quickly, as well 64-bit VST and AU support.”
Big Bang Universal Drums 2.0 offers a new integrated browser that makes it easy to find, sort, and view exactly the right sound. Patches are categorized into Genre, Kick Drum, Snare Drum—and of course, Name—allowing sounds to be viewed and recalled in a musically meaningful way. All sounds can be individually shaped by the player, allowing for custom control. Pitch, dynamics, pan, and filter controls are all readily available, and settings are savable per patch. Multiple output buses allow the EQ and Delay routing to be quickly configured for multi-track recording or multi-channel outputs.
The on-screen graphics mimic the layout of a traditional drumkit, making pad assignments to a controller simple. Big Bang Universal Drums 2.0 MIDI also offers a MIDI Learn Mode, allowing quick integration with any MIDI keyboard, electronic drum set, MPC, or pad controller. Plus, Big Bang Universal Drums 2.0 can save and recall MIDI Learn presets and use them with any patch, so they need only be created once.
In addition to RTAS compatibility, SONiVOX Big Bang Universal Drums 2.0 now supports 32- or 64-bit AU and VST formats.
Big Bang Universal Drums 2.0 is available to purchase for $99.99 USD. Current Big Bang Universal Drums owners can upgrade online for a special discounted price.
More information: Sonivox / Big Bang Universal Drums
