Four New Drum Kit Products for BFD2 Coming Soon!

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

el-bo,

Do you have a full version of Kontakt? If so, I can think of a couple of other options reagrarding that sound that you can check out that require the full version of Kontakt.

Feel free to PM me (as I don't want to really advertise another product in the Sonic Reality forum).

actually no, just the player, along with the 'infinite player' via the 2 big sonic reality group buys from a few years back....also use 'battery 3' , 'exs24' and 'ultrabeat'

will 'pm' anyway...always worth knowing options...

thanks

[Squids]

The 60s Downbeat Kit for BFD2 is now available for download! http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?Prod ... ode=KVRBFD

The 60's kit is a genuine Oyster Pearl Ludwig Downbeat kit the same specs as what Ringo used. Ken Scott, who recorded much of The Beatles White album and Magical Mystery tour recorded this kit the same way. The interesting unusual thing about it though is that they put tea towels over the heads of the snare and toms. This results in a VERY dampened sound. It may shock some people how dead it is but that's "the sound". Secrets from the guys who were there! I love this kit but it's probably the least satisfying to play on its own. Hearing it in musical context however is an eye opener. "Aha that's how they got that sound!" It leaves a lot of room for the other instruments and just has a vintage vibe to it. The Woody Woodmansey "Bowie Kit" that's coming has a similar thing about it but perhaps a bit more color since it was more tape dampening instead of the tea towel thing.

The 70s EJ Kit for BFD2 is now available for download! http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?Prod ... ode=KVRBFD

The 70's kit is a single head kit recorded in the style of Nigel Olsson, the drummer for Elton John. Ken Scott also recorded a bunch of Elton John records like Honky Chateau and Mad Man Across the Water. So, he nailed a great 70's drum sound. No tea towels. The toms bark a little bit (almost like a mid 70's Phil Collins kit because of the single heads but a little more 70s deadened sounding). This is an absolutely beautiful sounding kit even when played on it's own but once again in musical context some of these "character oriented" drum kits we're doing for BFD shine their best.

If you like these there are more coming from the EpiK DrumS Ken Scott Collection (including Terry Bozzio's Roto kit). The more demand there is for these kind of efforts the more you'll see. We've already got something very very special that will debut in BFD2 first before any other format. It's a surprise and I'll reveal it to you soon! In the meantime I hope you enjoy these cool authentic classic drum sounds!

[MickGael]

[LAGinz]

Do these BFD kits work in BFD Eco?

[allen_esoundz]

Do these BFD kits work in BFD Eco?

They will work in Eco but.......you need to piece the kit together rather than loading the BFD2 preset (which loads the entire kit)


Allen

eSoundz Support

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I bought the 60s downbeat kit.

First impressions: The drums sound very good. Ken Scott did a great job on these recordings, including the drum tuning/damping, the room, and overall signal chain. These really do sound top notch and the quality selections really come through in the pack. I don't love the crash, as it's not very "crashy" but that's just a taste thing. Overall, I wish the cymbals had more velocity layers. I'd happily have paid $100 for this kit with more layers. That said, the kick, snare and toms sound amazing with that instant Ringo sound, which I haven't gotten elsewhere. And I've got a ton of BFD2 content, so finally having the Ringo sound available is just great, plus I can easily go in and mix and match cymbals. Consider me one happy customer.

I'm all over that Woody Woodmansey kit as soon as that's out. I'd only ask that you consider putting out a version with a few layers at the current pricing, then charge maybe double for a version with more layers. I think $80-100 is a great price for really large kits, and I'd definitely like to see more of those from SR.

[MickGael]

I've found what (for me) is a fairly significant problem with these kits.

The overall level of the cymbals is VERY low (though the hats seem fine). When I pull the overheads back, the levels are EXTREMELY low (even with the trim maxed at +6dB. To the point of being practically useless.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

There used to me a tweak involving .txt files that increases the overall level of the kit piece. Does that still work in the latest version?

[andywright67]

Yes, you can add a tweaks text file to the data folder(s) as needed. The cymbal edge more so constitutes a hit as it were in these packs. I'd recommend re-mapping that artic for such use.

[MickGael]

Yes, you can add a tweaks text file to the data folder(s) as needed. This cymbal edge more so constitutes a hit as it were in these packs. I'd recommend re-mapping that artic for such use.

+1

[MickGael]

One final thought:

AFAIK, none of these kits offers dry cymbals (whereas most of the rest of the BFD libraries I have do). Correct me if I'm wrong, but cymbals ARE the overheads. Honestly, that makes zero sense to me. I often like a very close, intimate cymbal sound with minimal room. Far as I can tell, none of the kits do that?

[andywright67]

Typical drum recordings do not utilise close mic's on cymbals, and these kits are as Ken would record them for genre and representation of the drummer, artist and songs respectively.

You can route ambient sends in BFD2's KPI (Kit Piece Inspector) to an aux where you thus can have full control over the sound separate from others. For a close/intimate sound I would suggest adding an Envelope Shaper and reducing sustain, try removing low energy/frequencies that would tend to cloud spacial awareness, and give the cymbal a focal point by boosting around 5k so that it takes focus in the mix. It's hard to judge without hearing everything in context though so experimentation is key.

[electro]

One final thought:

AFAIK, none of these kits offers dry cymbals (whereas most of the rest of the BFD libraries I have do). Correct me if I'm wrong, but cymbals ARE the overheads. Honestly, that makes zero sense to me. I often like a very close, intimate cymbal sound with minimal room. Far as I can tell, none of the kits do that?

The Ken Scott kits are going after a particular sound with a specific drummer and engineer combo. They did an excellent job IMO.

[MickGael]

Typical drum recordings do not utilise close mic's on cymbals, and these kits are as Ken would record them for genre and representation of the drummer, artist and songs respectively.

You can route ambient sends in BFD2's KPI (Kit Piece Inspector) to an aux where you thus can have full control over the sound separate from others. For a close/intimate sound I would suggest adding an Envelope Shaper and reducing sustain, try removing low energy/frequencies that would tend to cloud spacial awareness, and give the cymbal a focal point by boosting around 5k so that it takes focus in the mix. It's hard to judge without hearing everything in context though so experimentation is key.

Thanks, I'll give that a try!

The nub of this for me is that, as great as the kits sound (and they sound fantastic), when there are audible levels of room in them, I have to try and match the other instruments to that space.

Now, if impulses were available from those sessions for convolution reverbs.

[zedd]

Now, if impulses were available from those sessions for convolution reverbs.

I'm pretty sure they were recorded. Squids is pretty thorough with his recording sessions. I think capturing the IRs is probably standard.

[Squids]

You guys are correct about this particular collection being more about the way Ken Scott records drums than other kits in BFD that have things like cymbal directs. However, the Coles 4038 overhead mics are very close to the cymbals and they're not that ambient as the rooms were also not very large (apart from 3 of the kits, 2 of which aren't released yet and that's Bozzio and Morgenstein... although they're coming). I really don't think anyone would need to "match ambience" for the overheads of cymbals vs. directs. There would be very very little difference. Maybe a foot closer if that? It's not like we're talking about room mics 5-10 feet away... and we're talking about cymbals not a kick or snare.

Anyway, the solution for each person is different and the most important thing is to get it to sound the way YOU want so, of course, that's one of the benefits of BFD2 where you can bring in kit pieces such as cymbals from another kit that does have an extra DI on the cymbals if you wanted to. We WILL have other libraries (actually a massive cymbal library with Danny Gottlieb being one of them) that will have DI on cymbals - but there we're not replicating the way anyone records we just have more options.

Now, in the case of Ken Scott Collection kits we actually DID do a few things more than Ken usually does. He doesn't always do under-snare mic and believe it or not he didn't always do room either! But we captured that with him so it wasn't too "purist" at the sacrifice of what most people want (when you are in a great studio you have to capture the room!!!!). Speaking of that yes we DID get some impulse responses of not only the rooms but of a real echo chamber as well and a real Plate reverb which is what he used. We'll have that ready soon along with impulses from Genesis' unique stone room in their studio and more as a freebie for anyone who has bought more than 2 BFD kits from us. An "incentive" (or they can just buy it for a good price, use up some of their epointz on it etc.).

Speaking of "incentive" to buy BFD kits we're doing a SALE on them this week so keep an eye out for that. It'll start tomorrow and I'll let you know what it is. Might be coupon based. Also, we're releasing Rod Morgenstein's BFD kit today or tomorrow! That will make it 5 BFD kits from EpiK DrumS and Neil Peart Drums - a total of 6 kit products for BFD2 with more coming! We've still got Bozzio and Woodmansey left on the EpiK DrumS A Ken Scott Collection range plus something very special and unique that we're releasing in BFD2 before any other format. Another vintage kit that I think you're going to love!