Stormdrum 3

Name: Stormdrum 3
Price: 69 USD
Author: EastWest

by EastWest · Drum Instrument · Cinematic percussion library

Not rated yet

Stormdrum 3 is a cinematic percussion library of world drums and exotic percussion, much of it from Mickey Hart's private collection, recorded with five mic positions.

It costs $69 on sale (regular $199) and runs in EastWest's Opus player.

Best for: Drums, Sound Design. Genres: Ambient & Cinematic.

Keywords: cinematic, film & game audio, world instruments, ensemble, round-robin, clean, epic, sample-based, sequencer, sound design, subscription, tempo-synced.

What it does

Stormdrum 3 is EastWest's cinematic percussion library for film, TV and game composers, played by Mickey Hart, Greg Ellis and Chalo Eduardo. It is built around big, ensemble-scale drums rather than a drum kit, with five mic positions to place them close up or far back in the room.

150+ instruments: grouped as Taiko Family, Big Drums, Gongs (with clocks and waterphone), Metals, Shakers, Small Drums and Woods.
Five mic positions: Close (an 8-mic array), Mid (about 15 ft), HiFi (a super-clean pair at 15 ft), Main (a Neumann M50 Decca tree at 20 to 25 ft) and Vintage (RCA ribbons at 25 ft).
Articulations and round robins: many articulations per instrument, with round robins so repeated hits do not sound identical.
Performances and loops: tempo-synced performances plus 23 loop patches that layer several instruments into one sequence.
Mixer effects: an SSL EQ and dynamics channel strip, a transient shaper, an SSL stereo bus compressor and reverb, plus tuning, delay, envelope and filter controls.

EastWest says it adds "many additional layers of depth" and a much wider range of instruments over Stormdrum 2.

It runs in EastWest's Opus player and is also part of the ComposerCloud+ subscription.

Source: EastWest product page

When to use it

Stormdrum 3 is the better pick when a cue needs huge taikos, ensembles, gongs and world percussion rather than a kit. Unlike Superior Drummer 3, EZdrummer 3 or Addictive Drums 2, it has no standard kick, snare and hi-hat kit, so it does not replace them for songs. Compared with Battery 4 and XO, which are beat-making samplers for your own sounds, it is a fixed, deeply sampled library with performances and five mic positions. It is bigger and has more mic choices than Stormdrum 2.

Best for: epic, tribal and world percussion in film, trailer and game music, layered from the loop patches or played by hand.
Genres: cinematic, trailer, game and world-influenced music.
Look elsewhere if: you need a drum kit for songs (Superior Drummer 3, EZdrummer 3) or want to build kits from your own samples (Battery 4, XO).
Tip: use the 23 loop patches as a starting layer and blend instruments in the onboard mixer, as Computer Music suggests.

What producers say

Reviewers rate it among the best big-percussion libraries, with only minor gripes about the player.

Computer Music (via MusicRadar, 2013) said that for big drums and percussion "you simply won't find better", praising the Taiko Family and Dragon Ensembles, the playability and the 23 loop patches.
Criticisms: Computer Music noted occasional glitches in the PLAY 4 engine of the time ("not show-stopping") and the lack of standard kit drums.
Sweetwater users rate it 5 out of 5, from a single review calling it "Lots of fun."

Where to buy

Best Service: $69
EastWest: $69 (regular $199)
Plugin Boutique: $69 (regular $149)
PluginFox: $69 (regular $149)
AudioDeluxe: $69 (regular $149)

Tutorials and reviews

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