RHAPSODY: Orchestral Percussion, starting at $89. Lots of new reviews!

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Reviews
Impact Soundworks Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion is the sort of mature, stable product that I would expect from a developer with many orchestral releases under its belt and has been a complete pleasure to use. If you are looking for a bread and butter orchestral library, and especially if you also have use for the Latin and African additions, I would strongly recommend checking out this product. It’s competitively priced, fun, easy to use, flexible in a mix, and has an effortlessness to the recordings that communicates well to the listener.
- Per Lichtman, SoundBytes Mag

http://soundbytesmag.net/review-rhapsod ... ercussion/
The price point for the full library is an absolute steal and makes this an attractive option for both newcomers and more tenured users that may have already invested in another option(s). This library can no doubt add to what you may already have in your arsenal.
- Ryan Scully, SCORECast (Final score - 96%)

http://www.scorecastonline.com/2014/10/ ... ercussion/
The Aux Percussion in Rhapsody is a treasure box not only for the composer of classical pieces but also for the sound designers out there. You have percussions gathered on board like the Guiro, Vibraslap, Castanets and many more in a great sounding quality. This is the gem section of this library.
- Oliver Amberg, FilmAndGameComposers (Final score - 92)

http://filmandgamecomposers.com/blog/pr ... oundworks/
The key strength and selling point for me with this library is its versatility. The instruments can easily fit into any genre where acoustic percussion would be needed and the overall sound quality is excellent. On top of all of this, the program’s interface is easy to navigate and use. The added touches, like being able to control percussion rolls via the mod wheel or the ability to load individual instrument patches, makes the program even better. If you are someone who writes music in multiple genres and need a good all-purpose percussion library to build your compositions, Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion is a library I would highly recommend checking out.
- Michael Hoffman, OriginalSoundVersion

http://www.originalsoundversion.com/rha ... on-review/



Introduction

Welcome to Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion. This exquisite symphonic collection for KONTAKT features a comprehensive collection of 50 traditional & extended percussive instruments recorded through three mic positions. With a clean, focused character that is not clinically dry OR overly ‘epic’, R:OP is highly flexible for everything from small ensemble scoring and intimate cues to dramatic & bombastic. No other percussion library is as extensive AND affordable; we couldn’t be more proud to share it with you! This collection goes beyond the standard suite of drums (i.e. bass drum, snare, toms, cymbals) to include a wide variety of aux percussion (i.e. shaker, sleigh bells, castanets, chimes, metals, wood & temple blocks), symphonic hand drums (i.e. djembe, bongos, cajon, darbuka), and chromatic instruments (i.e. glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba, crotales, tubular bells).

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Essentials Version

We are also pleased to announce Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion ESSENTIALS, which offers the same depth of sampling as the full version, two mic positions (close & hall), 16-bit samples, and all essential percussive instruments – all at the no-brainer price of $89 with a smooth upgrade path to the full version. Please see the instruments list below to see which instruments are included in ESSENTIALS.

The Sound

R:OP is exceptionally versatile with three user-blendable mic positions: close, stage (decca) and hall. The close mics offer a dry, present, and neutral sound with a hint of air – ideal for small ensembles and intimate scoring. Stage and hall mics provide natural, but not overwhelming, reverb and space from the lovely hall.

Each microphone position can be thoroughly customized through volume, panning, stereo width, and offset controls – or disabled entirely to preserve memory. Whether your goal is a tight and focused percussion section, or something booming and epic, this virtual instrument offers a natural and focused sound that works in any production with minimal mixing or processing required.

http://soundcloud.com/isworks/sets/rhap ... percussion

Key Features

* Comprehensive suite of 50+ instruments & articulations
* Entire library loads in 8 patches - a full percussive template in only 8 channels
* Elegant and intuitive user interface all on one page
* Easy mic mixing (volume, pan, stereo) + instrument tweaks from UI
* Deep sampled: up to 10x velocity / 5x RR
* Modwheel-controlled dynamic rolls for dozens of instruments
* Focused & uncolored hall sound with short-medium reverb tail (~1.6 seconds)
* 16bit and 24bit samples

Instruments

* Asterisk denotes ROLL articulation is included
Bold instruments are included in the Essentials library
Bass Drum*
Gran Cassa*
Snare 1*
Snare 2*
Snare 3*
Snare 4*
Snare Ensemble*
Timpani
Toms 1-3
Tom Ensemble*
Cymbal Scraped
Gong 1*
Gong 2
Piatti + Mute
Ride Cymbal + Stick*
Tam Tam*
Viennese Cymbal*
Crotales
Glockenspiel
Marimba
Tubular Bells
Xylophone
Castanets*
Claves
Chimes
Cowbell
Finger Cymbals
Guiro
Metals
Shaker*
Sleigh Bells*
Tambourine*
Temple Blocks
Triangle*
Vibraslap
Woodblock
Bongo High + Low*
Cajon 1 & 2*
Conga High, Low & Muted*
Darbuka 1 & 2*
Djembe 1 & 2*

Video
Full walkthrough & screencast (ALL patches, ALL instruments, ALL articulations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_9q4OV0nzI

Manual

Download the PDF manual here!

Pricing

Full Version: $199
Essentials: $89 with $109 upgrade to the full version (includes close & hall mics, 16bit samples, bolded instruments above)
Purchase: http://impactsoundworks.com/rhapsody-or ... percussion (16 and 24bit versions included)

We hope you will enjoy the fruits of our labors and use RHAPSODY in many compositions!
Last edited by zircon on Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:31 pm, edited 13 times in total.
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Sounds fantastic! I've been looking for a clean low noise orchestral library.

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Yeah, this sounds great. Hope the price is reasonable. Very nicely organized.

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The prices usually are.

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Cheers guys :-) First audio demo is up! Check out "Armor for Elephants" by Dickie Chapin, which uses a variety of instruments from the library such as snares, aux perc, hand drums, cymbals, gongs, and tuned instruments.

https://soundcloud.com/isworks/sets/rha ... percussion
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Demo #2 is up! "Gelatin Adventures" uses all kinds of percussion for this mischievous and adventurous video game cue. You can check out both the Dressed version with other orchestral elements, or the Naked version for JUST Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion.

What do you think? Let us know! Price/release TBA next week :)
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I think the percussion really sounds great! Good tone and recording as well.
Dariusofwest

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Announcing the RELEASE DATE and PRICE of Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion, along with the official product site!

http://impactsoundworks.com/rhapsody-or ... ercussion/

The library will be available on September 15th for the introductory price of $199 (MSRP: $249) through September 30th.

We think this is a fantastic value, whether you're looking for an all-in-one comprehensive collection, OR a percussive suite to add new color to your existing arsenal of libraries!
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New demos today! Artificer's Fancy and Islands of Memory show the library in very different contexts.
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This library could be cool in a rock tune.I'd substitute a rock bass drum. Love the tubular bells so far.

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Cheers Bill :-) So we're still on course for a Sept 15 release - and have added several new demos including the brilliant "Noble Journey" by Will Bedford (very epic & adventurous!) and the more contemplative "Puddle Jumping" by Blake Ewing, evoking a Glass-esque style. Enjoy!
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Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion is now available!

I could not be more proud of this release... it has been an exhausting process with logistics, editing, and programming on a new order of magnitude in terms of time, resources and difficulty. But the result is amazing. This is now my go-to percussion library and I sincerely hope you will love it as well.
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On my list to get in the near future. Very nice library and a fair price for something that sounds this good.

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zircon wrote:I could not be more proud of this release...
As you should be, some very nice demo tracks on soundcloud.
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Thanks so much guys! I recorded an in-depth video today showing ALL instruments in the library. Every patch, every articulation. I also discuss some of the features like mic offsets in more depth. If you wanted to hear specific patches or sounds, this is your chance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_9q4OV0nzI

Via Facebook I've heard some composers + producers ask "What does Rhapsody bring to my collection?" And that's a fair question... there ARE a lot of perc libraries out there.

* ROP is very comprehensive. Sure, it has the standard instruments - bass drum, snares, cymbals, triangle, timpani, etc. But it also covers a large swath of aux percussion like finger cymbals, sleigh bells (+ rolls), multiple woodblocks, temple blocks, claves, castanets (+ 2x rolls), etc. It adds five types of hand drums, each of which has two individual drums and multiple articulations, for example two djembes, two darbukas, two cajons, hi + lo bongas, hi + lo congas, and so forth. It also features a nice selection of chromatic percussion (xylo, glock, marimba, crotales, tubular bells).

* It's clean, and fits into a mix very easily. The samples are not over-produced with lots of FX or EQ, nor are they RAW. You don't need to be a mixing master to find the right mic settings. It's meant to help you write music faster by just dropping the samples in with minimal tweaking. There is such thing as having too many mic positions and too many options when all you want to do is drop in some percussion and PLAY. You can easily tweak and adjust ROP to your heart's content, but you don't need to do that for it to sound great.

* Speaking of sound, the character of the library is neutral and focused. Even with the stage + hall mics on, the reverb is not excessive. It's not an "epic" library - there are enough of those. In fact, I really like using the library with JUST the close mics. In this context, it SOUNDS like it's recorded in a very clean, treated studio room - not a clinical sound stage or enormous hall, and with just the right amount of air. This makes it EXCELLENT for small ensemble work, animation, under-stated cues, traditional classical / romantic pieces, etc.

That being said, you certainly can make it sound epic by adjusting the mics, eq, and using a touch of built-in convolution. Some of our demos show that pretty well :-)

* The price is right. If you compare our instrument + articulation list to other percussion libraries out there, you'll notice that many of them have fewer instruments and charge more... sometimes, quite a bit more. Those that do have a comparable instrument list are typically several times as expensive as ROP. As with our entire product line, our philosophy is making products as affordable + accessible as possible (without sacrificing any quality). Only downside is we take a little longer to get things done, but that's not so bad, eh? ;)

* We have rolls. Lots of rolls! Bass drum rolls, snare rolls, ensemble rolls, shaker rolls, hand drum rolls, triangle rolls, kaiser rolls, Amoroso rolls, hoagie rolls... well, you get the idea. If an instrument COULD be rolled, we rolled it. Playing + dynamic crossfading these via modwheel is immensely satisfying. Why record this many rolls? Because that's how we roll.
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