Drumdrops releases "Rogers Big R Dub Kit" sample packs (Kontakt, Multi-Velocity and Single Hits)
Drumdrops has released The Rogers Big R Dub Kit, a "genuine sounding dub kit".
This kit has been used to record Drumdrops in Dub Volume 3 and Drumdrops in Ska as well as many other commercial releases. The kit is comprised of a 24" x 14" Bass Drum, a Ludwig Black Magic 14" x 6.5" Snare Drum, a Ludwig Acrolite 14" x 5" Snare Drum, a huge 18" x 16" Floor Tom, and two Rack Toms, a 14" x 10" and a 13" x 8". The cymbals used were 15" Zildjian A Sweet Hi-Hats and a 17" A Custom Crash. Percussion for this kit includes a 14" Timbale drum and a set of Bongos. Also included is some Electronic Percussion using a Boss PC-2 Percussion Synthesizer and a Tama Techstar TS-204.
The kit was recorded and mixed by UK producer, musician and engineer Mike 'Prince Fatty' Pelanconi. The drummer used was reggae specialist Horseman. His hard-hitting beats have backed the likes of Wailing Souls, Sugar Minot, Max Romeo, Barrington Levy, John Holt, Big Youth, Gregory Isaacs and many more.
The recording and mixing took place in Miloco's The Ironworks in Brighton, UK. At the centre of the Control Room can be found a rare vintage 1970s BBC console. The outboard racks are full of great gear including a Lang PEQ-2 EQ, a Langevin EQ258A EQ, and plenty of dub reverbs. All of the drums were recorded without compression. Mike chose not to record any room microphones for this kit as he wanted a tight, dry Reggae sound.
The kit is available to purchase in three different sample packs. The Kontakt pack, The Multi-Velocity Pack and the Single Hits Pack.
The Kontakt pack has been designed exclusively for Native Instruments Kontakt 5. The pack includes up to sixteen velocities of each articulation and in total it contains 5352 samples. Included in the Kontakt pack is the latest version of the Drumdrops Kontakt 5 interface. The key features included are:
- A 10 channel mixer. Each channel comes with a Mute, Solo, Phase Reverse and 2 Aux sends.
- Close Microphone channels and overheads included.
- Two snares to switch between. A Ludwig Black Magic & Ludwig Acrolite Snare.
- Timbale, Bongos & Electronic Percussion included for Dub authenticity.
- Multiple Convolution Reverbs included, 4 studios Impulse responses and many classic reverbs as used by Lee Scratch Perry and King Tubby.
- The ability to change the velocity curve and tuning of each drum.
- Randomise the tuning, velocity, EQ and timing for added realism.
- Multiple Round Robins included for extra authenticity.
- 4 band EQ and Transient Master included on each channel.
- A buss compressor and Tape saturator on the mix buss.
- Ability to route each channel to your DAW.
- 14 Mix presets included mixed by a variety of engineers & producers including Prince Fatty.
- A full version and lite version for use on laptops.
- Multiple MIDI maps included with full compatibility with the Roland TD-12, TD-20 and TD-30 V-drums and the Yamaha DTX-900.
The Multi-Velocity pack is suited for people who want multiple velocity levels but do not run Kontakt or need the Drumdrops Kontakt interface. The pack includes up to sixteen velocities of each articulation and is ideal for working with samplers. In total it contains 467 drum samples.
The Single hits pack is suited for people who do not require too many velocity levels. The pack includes up to three velocities of each articulation and is ideal for working with drum machines. In total it contains 116 drum samples.
All of the samples in the Multi-Velocity and Single Hits packs are recorded as 24-bit / 44.1 kHz WAV files meaning they can be loaded into almost any sampler or drum machine. Drumdrops have however included templates for some of the leading software packs including:
- Kontakt v5.2.0.
- Battery v3.2.3.
- EXS24 Logic 9.
- Ableton Drum Rack v9.0.5.
- Reason v7.0.1 Combinator Refill containing NN-XT sampler & FX.
- Maschine v1.8.0.
- Geist v1.0.0.7.
- Studio One's Impact v2.5.1 Soundset.
- iDrum v1.73.625.
- Reason v7.0.1 Redrum Refill.
The sampler templates also come loaded with multiple MIDI maps. For a full list check the packs on the website. All of the samples in the SH and MV packs have been mixed from a combination of the overhead, room and close microphones.
Pricing & Availability
The packs are available to purchase only from the Drumdrops website. Prices are as follows:
- Kontakt 5 Pack: £ 45.00 / $ 62.00 / € 48.00.
- Multi-Velocity Pack: £ 15.00 / $ 23.25 / € 18.00.
- Single Hits Pack: £ 7.50 / $ 11.63 / € 9.00.
Below is a video walk through of the Drumdrops interface - Dan Taliras from startdreadingthenews.com explains the key features on the interface: