If you use shaken hand percussion samples or loops (and we all do) then you’ve got two problems – one of which you know, the other you might not:
1) There is a small and over used group of sounds you rely on every time you need a shaker.
2) You go to the same selection of samples and loops because all your other shaker sounds are inconsistently edited, ill-timed, have little-to-no tempo flexibility, are missing articulations, don’t come close to sounding real when programmed, or some combination of these.
That is why Nine Volt Audio created Shimmer & Shake: a double-DVD and download collection of shaken hand percussion patches for Kontakt AND a collection of 2350 loops in the REX, Stylus RMX, Kontakt 3.5/4, ACID wav and Apple Loop formats.
Instruments include the cabasa, vintage tambourine, modern tambourine, brass tambourine, sistrum, maracas hi, maracas low, caxixi, shekere, egg shaker, beer can shaker, “Bali-Pong” shaker, rain stick (played as a shaker), finger drum shaker, goat toes, sand shaker, rock shaker, pill bottle shaker, Shakerine front, Shakerine side, sleigh bells, shell shaker, Spin Spark hi, Spin Spark low and Vari-Tone. All loop folders and patch names further identify the sound characteristic to help find the right sound quickly (“natural”, “plastic”, “jingle”, “metal”, “sand”, etc.).
Unique to the multi-sample portion of the library is the “Tight” control. This unique interface knob tightens up MIDI performances when taking tracks into higher BPM ranges. This is something that naturally occurs when a percussionist performs, but has never been translated to the sample world until now. “Tighten” up performances with a twist of a knob to prevent mixes from being overtaken by unrealistic and “slushy” sounding parts. View the VIDEO DEMO to see hear and see it in action.
Multi-sample users will also enjoy over 4900 unique samples that cover regular shake sounds, accent shakes, hand hits, stick hits (tambourines) and crescendo/decrescendo rolls. Patches were programmed with consistency, so should you decide to change the shaker or tambourine, you will not need to change your MIDI part.
The loop portion of Shimmer & Shake presents each of the 25 instruments with 89 different rhythms (2225 loops) covering 4/4, 3/4, 7/8 and 5/4 time signatures. Individual hits and rolls for each are offered for endings and breaks.
Additionally, the loops are highly organized and rhythmically consistent from suite to suite making it extremely easy to audition different sounds while keeping the same rhythm. And as part of the BPM Flex Series every loop can be used at virtually any tempo with no artificial stretching!
Ease-of-use, consistency, organization and professional grade sounds, rhythms and programming make Shimmer & Shake a resource that you will use time-and-time again.
SPECIFICATIONS for the multi-sample portion
- 1 GB of 44.1kHz/24bit stereo samples and 26 Kontakt 3.5/4 instrument patches comprised of 4908 samples. Download is 748 MB.
- All patches include a wide selection of crescendo/decrescendo rolls, shakes, accent shakes, hand hits and stick hits (on tambourines).
- User interface controls include: convolution reverb (with 14 custom IR .wavs), saturation, stereo width, velocity curve, low and high pass filters, “tight”, delay, low, mid and high EQ gain, AHDSR, remap knob and humanization.
- Compatible with full retail versions of Native Instruments’ Kontakt 3.5 and up. The free Kontakt Player will only allow for 30 minutes of unrestricted use.
SPECIFICATIONS for the loop portion
- Shimmer & Shake features 2350 loops in the REX, Stylus RMX, Kontakt, ACID Wav & Apple Loop formats. Uncompressed, each format is approximately 3.4 GB. Downloads for each format are broken into four files between 540-660 MB.
- Any of the REX-based loops (used in Stylus RMX, Reason and most major sequencers like Cubase, Live, Sonar, Digital Performer, ProTools, Logic) can be used at tempos as slow as 80 BPM with no artificial stretching.
- Using Shimmer & Shake within Stylus RMX requires the user to drag-and-drop one folder into RMX’s included S.A.G.E. Converter.
- Fifty patches for Kontakt are supplied – 25 patches for 4/4 time and 25 for non-4/4 time. Extensive user interface controls and ease-of-use features are available on every patch. Shimmer & Shake is compatible with full retail versions of Kontakt 3.5 and up. The free Kontakt Player will only allow for 30 minutes of unrestricted use.
- All loops are in 44.1kHz/24bit resolution.
Shimmer & Shake is available on DVD or via Download at www.NineVoltAudio.com for $99.99. The Multi-Sample or Loop portion can be purchased separately via Download for $69.99 each.