10. October 2017 | Newsletter | Noizefield
Hans Zimmer Percussion – Review
A couple of days ago Spitfire Audio released Hans Zimmer Percussion, a percussion sample library for Native Instruments Kontakt or Kontakt Player (Version 5.6.8 or higher). The new Hans Zimmer Percussion library is a consolidation of the two existing libraries HZ01 and HZ03 with some face lifting and new features. All percussion instruments of this library where recorded at Air Studios in London as almost all Spitfire libraries. Therefore HZP will blend extremely well with other Spitfire libraries. In the close future Spitfire will also release the bigger brother Hans Zimmer Percussion Professional with additional microphone perspectives and mixes not only from Hans Zimmer but Junkie XL, Alan Meyerson, Steve Lipson and Geoff Foster.
Main features and facts:
- Brand new, intuitive and beautiful GUI
- NKS-ready
- HZ01 and HZ03 content in one library
- World class percussionists: Frank Ricotti, Gary Kettel, Stephen Henderson, Paul Clarvis
- 12225 Samples
- 48.5 GB Uncompressed .WAV
- Drum ensembles and key solo instruments:
- Low Booms, Low Boom Gallery, Taiko Ensemble, Tamtam Ensemble, Boobams Ensemble, Hi Taiko Solo, Low Taiko Solo, Large Taiko Solo, Bass Drum Gallery Solo, Gong Drum Gallery Solo, Surdu Ensemble, Dohl Ensemble, Tombek Ensemble, Bombo Ensemble, Buckets & Snares Ensemble, Buckets & Crushers Ensemble, Bucket Top & Darbuka, Snare, Crusher, Darbuca, Paper Djun, Darbucket, Piatti, Anvils, Timpani Ensemble
- Close, room and ambient perspectives mixed by Hans Zimmer
- Free Kontakt Player Included
The Setup
As with all Spitfire Audio products, the setup and installation of Hans Zimmer Percussion is super easy. Spitfire provides a nice and clever tool called the Spitfire Audio Library Manager. It downloads and installs the complete library automatically to the chosen location once you are connected and logged in. The app even checks if there are software updates and new sample contents available.
What’s inside Hans Zimmer Percussion
As mentioned above the new library is a consolidation of the two existing libraries HZ01 – London Ensembles and HZ03 – London Soloists and contains everything from these two libraries. A huge benefit is the new Kontakt interface (GUI) and all Hans Zimmer percussion samples recorded at Air Studios in one place.
Presets / Articulations
Taiko Ensemble
- Ensemble – Hit
- Ensemble – Roll
- High – Hit
- High – Roll
- High – Puilli Hit
- High – Rim Hit
- Low – Hit
- Low – Roll
- Low – Rim Hit
- Low – Puilli Hit
- Large – Hit
- Large – Roll
- Large – Rim Hit
- Large – Puilli Hit
Paper Djun
- Ensemble – Hit
- Ensemble – Roll
- Solo – Hit
- Solo – Hit (alt)
- Solo – Roll
Bombo Ensemble
- Hard Hit
- Hard Roll
- Soft Hit
- Soft Roll
- Hand Hit
- Hand Roll
- Finger Roll
- Flam
Surdo Ensemble
- Ensemble – Hit
- Ensemble – Roll
- Solo – Hit
- Solo – Roll
Low Boom
- Hard Hit
- Hard Roll
- Soft Hit
- Soft Roll
- Rim Hit
- Rim Roll
- Puilli Hit
- Puilli Roll
Low Boom Gallery
- Hard Hit
- Hard Roll
- Soft Hit
- Soft Roll
- Rim Hit
- Puilli Hit
Bass Drum Gallery
- Hard Hit
- Hard Roll
- Soft Hit
- Soft Roll
- Rim Hit
- Puilli Hit
Gong Drum
- Hard Hit
- Hard Roll
- Soft Hit
- Soft Roll
- Rim Hit
- Puilli Hit
- Alt Hit
Dhol Ensemble
- Ensemble – Stick Hit
- Ensemble – Hand Hit
- Solo – Hand Hit
- Solo – Hand Top
- Solo – Hand Bottom
- Solo – Stick Hit
- Solo – Stick Top
- Solo – Stick Bottom
Darbuka
- Hit
- Fist
- Slap
- Tap
Snare
- Hit
- Flam
- Roll
Tombek Ensemble
- Ensemble – Hit
- Ensemble – Slap
- Ensemble – Tap
- Solo – Hit
- Solo – Slap
- Solo – Tap
Boobam
- Random Hit
- Random Rod
- Beater Hit – F3
- Beater Hit – G3
- Beater Hit – A3
- Beater Hit – B3
- Beater Hit – C4
- Rod Hit – F3
- Rod Hit – G3
- Rod Hit – A3
- Rod Hit – B3
- Rod Hit – C4
- Hand Hit – F3
- Hand Hit – G3
- Hand Hit – A3
- Hand Hit – B3
- Hand Hit – C4
- Hand Hit – D4
- Hand Hit – E4
- Hand Hit – F4
Buckets
- Solo – Hit
- Solo – Flam
- Solo – Roll
- + Snares Ens – Hit
- + Snares Ens – Flams
- + Snares Ens – Roll
- + Crushers Ens – Hit
- + Crushers Ens – Roll
- + Darbuca Ens – Hit
- + Darbuca Solo – Hit
- + Darbuca Solo – Hit (alt)
Tamtam
- Hit
- Scrape
- Scrape (long)
- Scrape (Choke)
- Scrape (Spatial)
- Roll
- Roll (Spatial)
- Roll (Inverse)
Metal
- Piattis – Hit
- Piattis – Choked Hit
- Anvils – Hit
- Crusher – Hit
- Crusher – Roll
Timpani:
- Hard Stick Hit
- Soft Stick Hit
- Rod Stick Hit
- Hard Stick Roll
- Soft Stick Roll
- Rod Stick Roll
Patches
Within the library are 2 main patches. The first is containing all the atonal percussion instruments and the second one contains the timpani which can be played chromatically. The new GUI is very easy to use and self explanatory. You can easily switch to the different sounds and change all parameters to your liking.
There is also a sub folder _Presets available in HZP where all individual percussion instruments can be browsed and loaded individually.
Watch the Hans Zimmer Percussion Walkthrough
Mic perspectives
Spitfire Audio was recording all the different percussion instruments with the 3 different microphone positions close (C), room (R) and surround (S) at Air Studios in London (http://www.airstudios.com/), where most of the other Spitfire libraries where recorded as well. For more mic perspectives and mixes there will come the Hans Zimmer Percussion Professional library.
Cinematic blockbuster percussion sound in a box
If it comes to massive cinematic, epic and expensive sounding percussion sounds for the next game- or film score this library is a must. Everything feels very dynamic, realistic and has the magic cinematic sound we all know from countless brilliant Hans Zimmer soundtracks. Credible rhythm sections can be layed out in seconds with HZP. To play with all the different percussion instruments is very inspirational and a pleasure. Especially the extreme low end and the stunning ambience of this library are extraordinary. Also worth to mention is that there are also some really nice metal and tamtam (Cymbal) sounds that make you stand out from the crowd.
This library, which has a very reasonable price by the way, sound not be missed in any modern film composers arsenal.
Hans Zimmer Percussion can be purchased and digitally downloaded from Spitfire Audio for €399 (currently for and introduction price of €299) from here:
Spitfire Audio | Hans Zimmer Percussion
Review summary
-
Overall Sound Quality
-
Features
-
Stability
-
Workflow
-
Pricing
Summary
Instant Hollywood Blockbuster percussion sounds at your fingertips. This library covers everything you need in order to create realistic percussion tracks we all know from countless Hans Zimmer movies.
4.8
Check these out!
