Native Instruments has launched a comprehensive rework of their successful Abbey Road Drums instruments: The Abbey Road Drummer Series.

These new instruments allow both experienced and hobbyist musicians and producers to create authentic acoustic drum tracks, combining meticulously-sampled drums, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, with a comprehensive Groove Library and a detailed Mixer Section with class-A studio effects.

This 'Drums, Studio, Drummer' approach was pioneered recently in Native Instruments' Studio Drummer, and the new Abbey Road Drummer instruments use the same technical framework, based on Kontakt 5. The instruments run in the latest version of Kontakt 5 or the free Kontakt 5 Player. Owners of existing Abbey Road Drums products are entitled to a free upgrade to the new version of the instruments they own.

Each of the four Abbey Road Drummer instruments includes a Groove Library with over 1,000 grooves, variations and fills. The grooves complement the sound of each instrument: Abbey Road 60s Drummer includes rhythms for rock'n'roll, blues, jazz, soul/motown and psychedelic rock, for example. Importantly, all grooves were played live by session drummers for a fluid, authentic feel. The grooves are provided as MIDI files, and can easily be transferred into a host sequencer via drag-and-drop for detailed editing and arrangement. For drummers, the software offers MIDI mapping templates for various electronic drum sets and third-party drum software, plus flexible custom mapping options.

The comprehensive mixer section of the Abbey Road Drummer Series gives full control over mic levels on each drum, plus overheads, stereo room mics, snare bleed, and any other specialist mics used during the recording process. Carefully designed mix presets for each kit provide a selection of instantly usable templates based on well-known styles and techniques. Each drum has its own effect chain with a selection of routing options. The selection of effects includes a number of separately-available products, including a professional studio EQ, a studio compressor and Transient Master, plus tape saturation and a high-quality convolution reverb. The Mixer Section, combined with the powerful effects, and the expertly-recorded drum sounds, enables studio-grade sound processing with genuinely professional sound quality and flexibility.

The drum kits, recording techniques and equipment used for each instrument are typical of the period.

• Abbey Road 60s Drummer provides a Gretsch Round Badge kit from the early 60s and a late 60s Ludwig Hollywood kit, for a warm, well-rounded room-sound.
• A Ludwig Vistalite Tequila Sunrise kit and a vintage Premier kit provide the basis of Abbey Road 70s Drummer, with sounds ranging from tight, funky and precise to bombastic heavy rock.
• Abbey Road 80s Drummer provides a Yamaha 9000 and a Slingerland Magnum kit - plus a full set of Octobans for definitive 80s sounds, from edgy new wave to big-budget power metal.
• Abbey Road Modern Drummer delivers the sound of contemporary rock and pop - well-rounded, with a crisp, top-end and plenty of sub-bass - from a Pearl Reference kit and a Drum Workshop Collector's Series kit from the mid-90s.

The Abbey Road Drummer Series is now available at the NI Online Shop on DVD and as a download for $119 / €99 per instrument. All four instruments are also available as a bundle, for $349 / €299.

A new video provides a showcase of the Abbey Road Drummer Series.

The launch of the Abbey Road Drummer Series is further accompanied by this explanatory tutorial.

Additional information is available at native-instruments.com/abbeyroaddrummerseries