Abbey Road Orchestra: Metal Percussion

Spitfire Audio has released Metal Percussion, the third installment of the Abbey Road Orchestra sample library series, taking sampling to new heights and offering versatile sound textures for scoring.  

Abbey Road Orchestra: Metal Percussion combines both an expertly curated library of orchestral staples and a crafted collection of distinctive sounds and textures. With 58 hand-picked instruments in total, versatility is key — whether you need a classic crash sound or want to experiment with the variety of inspiring tones offered by the oil drum, this library covers all your bases.

Masterfully engineered by award-winning Simon Rhodes, in the legendary space of Abbey Road Studio One, and performed by world-renowned percussionist Joby Burgess, Metal Percussion takes sampling to new heights to incite you to add more inspired percussion, with shimmering metallic textures, shattering hits and otherworldly sounds.

The third instalment of Abbey Road Orchestra – the most detailed range of sample libraries we have ever created – Metal Percussion will be instantly familiar to Low and High Percussion users. Housed in the same Abbey Road Orchestra plugin and drawing on the same innovative features, intuitive mapping allows for easy layering and go-between to amplify the authenticity of your composition.

“What makes this collection incredibly special is all of this attention to detail. Combine the individual elements — Joby’s incredible understanding of his collection of instruments, Simon’s particular way of micing everything and setting up the mixes, the level of detail offered in the features, such as the right/left mapping— and you get so much more than some percussion chucked at the back of the room - it can become such a significant part of your production.”

— Paul Thomson, Spitfire Audio

Metal Percussion UI

All Encompassing Metal

Metal Percussion encapsulates a thoughtfully curated collection of versatile and diverse percussive instruments. Inclusive of both classic orchestral staples, such as a variety of cymbals and crashes, and more eclectic cinematic sounds and texture, such as the oil drum, waterphone and giant crasher, this library truly inspires organic composition.

Hand selected by world renowned percussionist Joby Burgess, the majority of these instruments come from his personal collection — which has been used extensively on major Hollywood productions — and offers true diversity. Whether you're looking for the delicacy of bells and chimes, the roaring sounds of the thundersheet or something more abstract like the variety of textural elements played on the oil drum, this library layers and combines beautifully to spark your imagination and inspire your own patches and creations.

Curated Versatility

  • Orchestral Staples
    • The finest orchestral samples:
      • An expertly curated selection of 58 percussive instruments, including but not limited to myriad cymbals, tam-tams, and three triangles
      • Up to 10 round robins
      • Up to 10 dynamic layers
      • 409 articulations, including discrete right and left hand performances
  • Inspirational Instrumentation
    • Boundless creativity:
      • A Joby Burgess hand-selected range of unique elements and metallic tones including an oil drum, trash cans, a waterphone and many more to inspire your creativity
      • A wealth of both standard and alternative techniques, including mallets, brushes, sticks, hammers, bowed cymbals, scrapes and superball drags
      • A huge sonic pallet, from trashy scrap metals to meditative temple bowls which excite the glorious acoustic of Studio One
  • Realism at Play 
    • Key features to ease playability: 
      • Voice Choking precisely controls the end of ringing cymbal hits and roll techniques when pressing the corresponding hit keys
      • Two Handed Layout which mirrors mapped keys further up the keyboard to enable flexibility and speed when playing
      • Right/Left Mapping recalls left and right hand performances on adjacent keys for playing and programming true-to-life rudiments
      • Presented in the same plug-in as Low and High Percussion, with the same intuitive layout and mapping.

Decades of Expertise

This library has been formed by some of the world’s best producers in music recording, created for professional composers of film, television, game and performance.

Joby Burgess – Joby’s playing can be heard on major film and TV scores, notably leading the percussion sections on Black Panther, Rocketman, Ad Astra, Mission: Impossible, The Darkest Hour, Dr Who and The Green Planet.

Simon Rhodes – Simon joined the EMI Abbey Road Studios in 1987. He is now Senior Engineer and has a long standing association with various composers including the late James Horner with whom he worked for 18 years on over 40 projects including Avatar, one of the highest grossing films of all time.

Key Features

  • 58 Percussive Instruments:
    • Anvils (3) – Metal bars struck with hammers creating ringing sounds with excellent projection - A modern equivalent to the traditional metalworker's anvil used in orchestral settings
    • Brake Drums (3) – Literally the brake drums from an automobile, these produce a surprisingly clear and resonant tone when struck - presented here as a set of three
    • Suspended Cymbals (3) – A set of three suspended cymbals (20” Dark, 21” Mellow and 16” Bright) performed with a variety of beaters providing a huge range of crashes and shimmering textures
    • China Cymbal – A traditional 24" China cymbal hand-hammered in Wuhan, producing a distinctive attack with a dark, washy sustain
    • Spiral Cymbal – A spiral cymbal with a very bright attack, moderate sustain and a distinctly 'trashy' character
    • Splash Cymbals (2) – A pair of splash cymbals (8” and 10”) with a fast attack and short sustain - ideal for accented hits
    • Crashers (2) & Stack – A set of two crashers and a cymbal stack creating a palette of short, sharp and dirty metallic sounds - great for fast passages or layering
    • Giant Crasher – Two thunder sheets (rectangular metal cymbals) stacked together and struck from above to create powerful, shattering hits with little sustain
    • Piatti (3) – An orchestral staple, piatti are hand-held clash cymbals struck together creating a dense and brilliant shimmer - presented here as a set of three – 21” Dark/Germanic, 19” Mellow/Viennese and 17” Bright/French
    • Scaffolds (3) – A trio of scaffold poles struck with beaters or hammers producing bright ringing sounds with discernible pitch
    • Tam Tams (2) – A pair of orchestral Tam Tams - large ‘gong-like’ instruments of indefinite pitch with a very long, deep resonance and dark overtones
    • Temple Bowls (4) – A set of four temple bowls to create meditative sounds with a rich blooming sustain
    • Thundersheet – An extremely large (64” x 42”) but very thin suspended metal sheet which produces a characteristic thunder effect when struck or shaken
    • Trash Cans (2) – A spread pair of trash cans creating a 'street' sound - great for both layering and creating complex polyrhythms
    • Oil Drum – A 40 gallon oil drum struck with a variety of beaters producing very unorthodox but highly complex sounds
    • Wind Gong – A 26" wind gong with quick and bright attack which produces a sound resembling the rushing of wind when struck
    • Waterphone – A remarkable instrument of metal tines surrounding a water-filled chamber. Played with a bow, the tines create a otherworldly sounds with mesmerising harmonics
    • Small Metals – A comprehensive collection of smaller metals to add additional colours and textures 

Agogos (2 pairs) – Pairs of cone-shaped bells with a short decay, each occupying a different pitch and struck with thin sticks to create charactful rhythms

  • Cabassa – A hand instrument with beads wrapped around a ridged metal cylinder and turned with a handle, often used in place of a shaker
  • Cowbells (3) – Clapperless bells with a short, hollow decay and struck with drum sticks - presented here with three pitches
  • Bell Tree – An instrument comprising of cup-shaped bells played by stroking with poly mallets
  • Spring Coil – A large coiled spring played with a triangle beater - either suspended from a stand (open) or resting on a soft surface (muted) 
  • Sleigh Bells & Indian Bells – Pellet bells attached to a handle (Sleigh Bells) or rope (Indian Bells) and shaken to produce a crisp 'jingle' sound
  • Tambourines (3) – Metal 'jingles' attached to a hoop and either shaken or struck, equally adept at fast, repeating rhythms or single note accents - presented as a set of three 
  • Triangles (3) – An orchestral staple, the triangle produces a bright, high pitched bell sound with a long decay - presented here as a set of three
  • Finger Cymbals (2) – Pairs of small cymbals struck together to produce a long and high pitched ring
  • Guira – A Caribbean instrument with a heavily textured metal surface, either tapped or scraped to create characterful repeating rhythms
  • Mark Tree – Suspended metal tines played by stroking with the fingers to produce the instrument’s signature glissandi
  • Reco Reco – Popularised in Brazilian music, the Reco-Reco consists of springs extended across a hollow metal frame which are struck or scraped
  • Windchimes – Small suspended metal tines which add light splashes of colour when flicked
  • Chains – Heavy gauge chains dropped into a trash can to create aggressive metallic accents and textures
  • 16 Mic Signals
  • 409 Articulations
  • Right/Left Mapping
  • Voice Choking feature
  • Two Handed Layout
  • ~136 GB download size
  • 151,905 samples

Pricing

RRP: £399 / $449 / 449€
Promo Period: £299 / $349 / 349€
Promo Crossgrade: £274 / $309 / 309€ *

*A discount for anyone who owns Abbey Road Orchestra: Low Percussion / High Percussion

More info: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/abbey-road-orchestra-metal-percussion

 

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