STORMDRUM 2

I had high expectations for SD2 because of how good the original StormDrum library was, and because of sound designer Nick Phoenix's reputation of releasing high-quality sound libraries. I was not disappointed with this second go-around of completely fresh material.

The powerful, forcedul, driving, exhilarating, mix-ready samples out-of-the-box are to die for, especially if you score for flm or video. Even better are the included MIDI loops that allowed me to actually see how a loop was constructed in full detail, and easily remove anything out of a loop that I didn't care for. Those of you looking for a more eclectic, and dare I say unique selection of drums, this library should not be missed. SD2 is highly recommended, from film composer to drum connoisseur."

Beautifully recorded, there is a stunning range of instruments on offer, from gongs, buddha bells and a Roman war drum to all manner of things you've probably never heard of. Each is unique and brilliantly suited to film music, whether it's as part of an exhilarating chase scene or subtle mood enhance. The big sounds are absolutely huge-powerful and punchy-and the smaller ones are suitably delicate and ethereal. Providing your system is up to it, you'll be creating scores that people will never know have been made not on a Hollywood soundstage, but on a computer.

This is an overwhelming truckload of fresh percussion to have dropped at one's fingertips. Thanks to the acoustics of that gorgeous Hollywood soundstage, you feel the sound as much as you hear it. It shakes your bones and brings tears to your eyes for its sonic purity, majesty and realism. You totally forget you're playing a VI; that's what makes SD2 the "big percussion" instrument on the market today.

Ok, the phrase "big ass drum" is definitely pigeonholing Stormdrum 2, but when I find myself showing off what SD2 can do, I'm loading up the epic bangers of the Godzilla set or the Earthquake ensemble or the likes and just pound away. It's an instant wow factor demonstrating the presence and quality of some of these drums. SD2, the hands down winner of percussion libraries.

Stormdrum 2 contains 16,000 samples, and I don't even want to think about how long it took to record the countless performances in Gypsy and Voices Of Passion. There's a sense of devotion about these projects, the long months spent recording and programming seeming to go well beyond the call of duty. As a consequence, each of the three Play titles is an artistic success. Sample libraries don't get much better than these, and any composer with an ear for sound will find much inspirational material in them.

If you're doing Film/TV work, ya gotta have it. The sounds are really that amazing.

Cited modestly by its creator as "the most successful acoustic percussion library ever released", EASTWEST's Stormdrum has won many fans since its release four years ago. This being a product aimed at the Hollywood movie industry, there had to a sequel, and sure enough we now find ourselves confronted by 'Stormdrum 2 ‹ The Next Generation'. (I like to think the subtitle is ironic.) The brutal metallic graphics alone are enough to scare anyone half to death, so it was with trembling fingers that I tore open the box and installed the library.

Hang drums, just one of the many types of unusual percussion instruments to be found in Stormdrum 2. What I found was a very satisfying mix of traditional and processed percussion, presented as separate hits and also blended together in various fiendishly clever ways. The variety of sounds is enormous, as can be seen by a quick look at the instrument list above. Rather than souping up the samples with EQ and compression, the producers concentrated on capturing the natural resonance of the drums and added a very pleasing room ambience. This means that while the timbales (for example) don't clang manically like the ones in the theme tune of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, big drums such as the giant odaiko and large, ambient dumbek really boom out impressively as nature intended. This boomy quality reaches its zenith in 'Earthquake Ensemble', a collection of low-pitched drums whose seismic rumble is capable of demolishing a row of houses. It's the kind of percussion sound that film composer Hans Zimmer is known for, with a low bass end designed to shake the walls of cinemas equipped with 5.1 surround systems.

Although culturally aware, the library is by no means purist; the producer thinks nothing of bunging a lot of reverb on a sample if it helps it achieve its effect. Consequently the massive, reverb-enhanced crescendo hits in the patch 'Rumpfs' sound absolutely devastating. But it's not all big bangs: some of the smaller hand drums sound very tuneful, making it easy to program more delicate grooves. I found some of the nomenclature a little unhelpful: the 'Malaysian' djembe sounds exactly like the African drum of the same name and the Indonesian 'bongos' sound more like high-pitched clay drums. I thought the intriguingly-named Roman war drum was going to raise the roof, but it turns out to have a rather pacific sound, somewhat like a softly-played tImpani! The drum performances are comprehensive and varied, and it's good to hear brushes as well as sticks used on some of them.

There's a lot of very nice stuff in the metals department: the bell-like Asian bowl gongs (bowed and hit), some great large gongs (including deep Javanese-sounding specimens), the obligatory spooky waterphone, scary piano noises and even an "80-foot metal bridge". (How did they get that in the car on the way to the studio?) The stand-out instrument for me was the 'hang drum', a resonant, metal, drum-like instrument that produces tuneful pitches in the manner of a Caribbean steel drum, but with a much softer, more beautiful sound. I found myself jamming along for ages with its attractive, understated, almost gamelan-like tones (which are tuned to a D-minor scale). For those who need a drum kit, EASTWEST have included a scaled-down version of the 'Black' Gretsch kit from Ministry Of Rock. A set of powerful tom-tom samples from different kits recorded at the MOR sessions (but not used in that library) are also included.

Acoustic percussion is only half the story, a large part of Stormdrum 2 centres on processed 'sound design' percussion, much of it distorted, reversed and generally messed up. This kind of thing has been done before, but SD2's programmers have a talent for creating hip, contemporary noises that work well for programmed rhythm patterns, especially in conjunction with the library's giant drums. To get you in the programming mood, 106 MIDI files are included, in a variety of tempos. Each has its own multi-instrument set-up; the moods range from Alien 2-style military snares and bass drums to BT-esque fuzzed-up breakbeats. There are so many fantastic electronic noises in there I couldn't begin to describe them ‹ suffice it to say that they rock, big time.

Play Away

Reviewing these wildly disparate sound libraries gave me the opportunity to get more familiar with the OPUS audio engine. The absence of on-screen multiple sound slots gives the erroneous impression that it's a single-instrument player, but in fact one instance of OPUS can handle multiple instruments operating independently on up to 16 MIDI channels. To create a multi-channel setup, you load a selection of instruments (choosing the 'Add' option rather than 'Replace'); their names are then listed in the Instrument window, and clicking on one reveals its individual screen display, where you can select the instrument's MIDI channel (which may be set to 'omni') and/or alter its volume, pan, ADSR and effects settings. It's a simple, flexible and effective system that enables you to quickly build complex setups without having to continually look at a cluttered screen.

Stormdrum 2 contains 16,000 samples, and I don't even want to think about how long it took to record the countless performances in Gypsy and Voices Of Passion. There's a sense of devotion about these projects, the long months spent recording and programming seeming to go well beyond the call of duty. As a consequence, each of the three Play titles is an artistic success. Sample libraries don't get much better than these, and any composer with an ear for sound will find much inspirational material in them."

As a former percussion major and as someone who's spent many an hour on the scoring stages of Los Angeles with some of the best percussionists in the world, I am mightily impressed. But as someone who writes and produces, I am grateful, because what I'm hearing in Storm Drum 2, just with the percussion, and not the MIDI performances, is the caliber of percussive sound I've heard so often at Fox, MGM, Universal and Warner Brothers studios that I can now use in my music.

As a composer, Storm Drum 2 is the percussion section I always wanted as a composer. I'm confident that if Jerry Goldsmith were alive today, he would echo my sentiments, as so many of the sounds I'm hearing I've heard live in many memorable sessions.

This is a great collection that offers no end of possibilities for those involved not only in dramatic scoring, but who also want one crackin' good drumset that can handle a variety of musical assignments.

There's also the matter of sound quality. PLAY sounds great. In fact, I like the sound of PLAY much better than I do Kontakt as it's a little brighter and clearer. I like Kontakt, but I always felt the audio sound of GigaStudio was far superior. The PLAY audio engine is in that tradition. The clarity and precision sound is just outstanding.

If you're doing Film/TV work, ya gotta have it. The sounds are really that amazing.