Jan 20, 2009 4:28 PM

At Winter NAMM 2009, sound ware developer and distributor EastWest announced an update ($TBA) for the Quantum Leap SD2—The Next Generation virtual instrument software. The update offers 2.5 GB of percussive sounds featuring a variety of strike and brush solos, and ensemble recordings.

The update includes the sound of three giant Chinese Lion Drums, played by six percussionists in sync. The Middle Earth Ensemble features eight percussionists playing various bass and battle drums combined with floor and small toms. Two large Persian Battle Drums played in sync bridge the gap between Middle East and West, while Trailer Toms feature eight sets of huge tom ensembles.

New solo instruments include the mridangam, a two-headed Indian drum capable of dozens of tones like tablas, but with a different harmonic structure, played by a lifetime mridangam master. Other solo instruments include 10 new sampled drums played with a variety of brush techniques; a rare Indian stringed percussion instrument, the Khamak; the Daf, a Persian hand drum, which offers high-pitched drum sounds; samples of Chinese toms in sets of four; various new Chinese gongs and cymbals played with many techniques; and Chinese blocks.

For the maximum customization without sound degradation, SD2—The Next Generation delivers MIDI performances created with Roland V-Drums and Zendrum percussion controllers. This is said to allow the user to change anything, with no effect on sound quality. MIDI performances are pre-mixed, panned and produced for quick use.

All recordings were made with vintage Neumann microphones in the EastWest Studio 1. Additionally, Professor Keith O. Johnson and Nick Phoenix recorded reverb impulses.

For more information, visit www.soundsonline.com.

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