Totally Tom Tom

US Nine Volt Audio releases Stickbreakers Vol 1 – Tom Edition in Kontakt 3/4 format 11/08/10

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Nine Volt Audio has released Stickbreakers Vol 1 – Tom Edition in Kontakt 3/4 format. Here's their press release with all the details...
Created with twelve tom-tom drums, four percussionists, three stereo microphone positions, two concert bass drums and one 1200 seat hall, Stickbreakers Vol 1: Tom Edition combines content and creativity with ease of use to form an audio palette of airy lows, rounded mids and slamming high drum sounds.
Ensemble and solo tom recordings were captured from stage, balcony and hall microphone positions, each offering no less than 120 samples per drum/key. Four drums/pitches were captured for a range of natural tones with projection, resonance and strength. Two suspended concert bass drums with an array of articulations supply rumble and added richness of sound. The core content weighs in at over 2 GB of material, with 3,333 samples. But the collection goes beyond natural sounds...
By combining various pitches, articulations and microphone positions and applying all manner of EQ and effects, Stickbreakers offers 65 hybridized drum patches. These are not "listen to the crazy sound we made" type of patches, but rather focus on highly useable and clearly categorized sound types a composer needs on a regular basis.
Beyond clear grouping of sounds, great attention has also been put toward a wide range of "ease-of-use" features, including:

All pertinent sound and effect controls are accessible on the front interface.
A lightweight "Preview Patch" puts one sample from each patch under a different key. Pressing a key displays the patch name from which the hit came, helpful for finding the right sound quickly.
Remap any patch on the fly with the turn of one knob.
Patches to easily blend "Stage", "Hall" and "Balcony" microphone positions. So whether a track calls for soft rumblers, focused tight hits or colossal booms Stickbreakers Vol 1: Tom Edition is well suited for the job.
2.28 GB of 44.1 kHz/24bit samples and 82 Kontakt 3.5/4 instrument patches covering ensemble and solo toms, solo concert bass and hybridized drum sounds. Download is 1.06 GB.
Ensemble and solo recordings use 8", 10", 12" and 13" open back concert toms with extra long maple shells (three each for ensemble recordings). There are 120+ samples per drum/key. User interface controls are available to control the depth of automatic sample rotation and other humanization features.
Ensemble recordings were made with percussionists placed in suitable acoustic positions to accommodate composers wishing for accuracy in stereo width and depth.
Ensemble and solo instrument patches are available with multi-microphone mix controls.
Solo concert bass drum recordings were made with two suspension mounted models: a 32"x16" covered with natural animal skin and a 36"x18" with a Fiberskyn head. Articulations include open hits, muted hits and crescendo rolls for one of the drums.
User interface controls include: convolution reverb (with 14 custom IR .wavs), saturation, stereo width, velocity curve, low and high pass filters, delay, low, mid and high EQ gain, AHDSR, remap knob and humanization.
Two bonus "Big Hits" instrument patches are offered with 24 different keyswitchable fx chains.
Compatible with full retail versions of Native Instruments' Kontakt 3.5 and up. The free Kontakt Player will only allow for 30 minutes of unrestricted use.

Pricing and Availability:
Stickbreakers Vol 1: Tom Edition is available at www.NineVoltAudio.com for a discounted price of $79.99. The regular retail price of $99.99 will go in affect upon the release of Stickbreakers Vol 2 (different percussion type).
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