Toontrack has announced the release of two expansion packs for the its EZdrummer 3 / Superior Drummer 3 and EZkeys 2 virtual instruments. Tailored for industrial rock and metal, dark electronic beats and cinematic sound design, these two collections of sound were designed to bridge the gap between acoustic, organic and electronic and offer a genre-transcending collection of sounds with a tangibly dark, gritty and distorted feel.
Inspired by anything from industrial metal to dark electronic beats and cinematic sound design, Dark Industrial EZX (89 USD/EUR) presents a fathomless fusion of warped, menacing and multi-layered textures of cutting-edge sound design.
In total, more than 400 audio sources covering anything from acoustic drums and percussion to electronic drum machines, foley, ambience and effect noises are included. Using elaborate chains of effects and outboard, each individual sound was engineered, re-amped or remixed for a tangibly raw, gritty and distorted feel. With these sounds as a base, 31 mix-ready presets were created, each offering its own unique hybrid kit. Combined, the contents of this EZX will lend you a massive body of sound that melds the two worlds of acoustic and electronic into a sinister synthesis of skewed percussive go-tos for any track in need of a viscerally dark aura.
To add, the intuitively laid-out interface offers dedicated pads for subs, risers, atmosphere and more, enabling you to use this EZX as a one-stop shop for fully produced beat foundations as much as a source for special effects. Lastly, a basic collection of MIDI files composed to go with each kit preset is included. This means that you don’t only have the sounds, you also have a starting point for the groove – one you can take virtually anywhere using the framework of creative features in EZdrummer 3 or Superior Drummer 3.
The absolute contraries of the audio scope come head to head in Dark Industrial EKX (89 USD/EUR) for EZkeys 2, a full-circle library of sounds covering the entire range from industrial rock and metal to dark electronic music and cinematic soundscapes.
The sounds were based around a broad pool of electronic instruments and analog synths paired with an acoustic piano and an organ. The individual components were then processed using pitch modulation, granular effects, distortion, compression, amps and outboard to create sounds with an inherently dark, gritty and raw aura. Finally, these instruments were combined to create never-before-heard hybrids of sound represented in a total of 82 presets distributed over five distinct categories: Keys, Pads, Leads & Basses and Textures. Expect an all-encompassing collection of hauntingly bent, skewed, convulsing and phasing sounds covering anything from earthmoving drones and basses to ethereal pads and piercing leads.
In addition to the sounds and the presets, a MIDI library of material tailored for each preset category is included. By using several instances of EZkeys 2 and assigning different sounds from this EKX to their own layers of MIDI, you can create all-immersive landscapes of dark and multi-textured sound.
Toontrack has also recently released the Area 33 – Origin SDX (179 USD/EUR) signature expansion which brings together parts of the original Drumkit From Hell team: Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal and producer/engineer/mixer Daniel Bergstrand (Behemoth, In Flames, Dimmu Borgir).
For this SDX, the team returned to Fredrik Thordendal’s personal studio 33 in Stockholm, Sweden. In total, five kits were recorded, each representing a pivotal branch in the bloodline of classic hard rock and heavy metal from the late 1960s through to the 1980s. But, that’s not all. With two tom configurations recorded of each kit – one open and one damped – this SDX covers all the blindspots in between, giving you the raw material to shape genre-transcending drum mixes for anything from earth-shattering and thunderous down to muffled, tight and snappy drums for any style.
On top of that, the kits were captured using what is far beyond traditional in terms of microphones. Each setup was recorded using the classic close-mic technique but, in addition, with an extra set of microphones on each position. This means that each drum and cymbal is represented by both a mono mic as well as a stereo pair of microphones, allowing you to sculpt tones beyond what you thought possible. Additionally, to capture the stellar character of the 33 drum room, 11 ambience microphones (of which seven in stereo) were recorded.
The new expansion packs are available at the Toontrack store and from distributors PluginFox and Best Service
