"Beautifully recorded, there is a stunning range of instruments on offer. The big sounds are absolutely huge-powerful and punchy-and the smaller ones are suitably delicate and ethereal. Providing your system is up to it, you'll be creating scores that people will never know have been made not on a Hollywood soundstage, but on a computer." - MUSIC TECH

REVIEW QUOTES

"Beautifully recorded, there is a stunning range of instruments on offer, from gongs, buddha bells and a Roman war drum to all manner of things you've probably never heard of. Each is unique and brilliantly suited to film music, whether it's as part of an exhilarating chase scene or subtle mood enhance. The big sounds are absolutely huge-powerful and punchy-and the smaller ones are suitably delicate and ethereal. Providing your system is up to it, you'll be creating scores that people will never know have been made not on a Hollywood soundstage, but on a computer." - MUSIC TECH

"This is an overwhelming truckload of fresh percussion to have dropped at one's fingertips. Thanks to the acoustics of that gorgeous Hollywood soundstage, you feel the sound as much as you hear it. It shakes your bones and brings tears to your eyes for its sonic purity, majesty and realism. You totally forget you're playing a VI; that's what makes SD2 the “big percussion” instrument on the market today." - REMIX

"Ok, the phrase "big ass drum" is definitely pigeonholing Stormdrum 2, but when I find myself showing off what SD2 can do, I'm loading up the epic bangers of the Godzilla set or the Earthquake ensemble or the likes and just pound away. It's an instant wow factor demonstrating the presence and quality of some of these drums. SD2, the hands down winner of percussion libraries." - MUSIC4GAMES

"Stormdrum 2 contains 16,000 samples, and I don't even want to think about how long it took to record the countless performances in Gypsy and Voices Of Passion. There's a sense of devotion about these projects, the long months spent recording and programming seeming to go well beyond the call of duty. As a consequence, each of the three Play titles is an artistic success. Sample libraries don't get much better than these, and any composer with an ear for sound will find much inspirational material in them." - SOUND ON SOUND

"If you’re doing Film/TV work, ya gotta have it. The sounds are really that amazing." - FILM MUSIC MAGAZINE

REVIEWS

"Cited modestly by its creator as "the most successful acoustic percussion library ever released", Quantum Leap's Stormdrum has won many fans since its release four years ago. This being a product aimed at the Hollywood movie industry, there had to a sequel, and sure enough we now find ourselves confronted by 'Stormdrum 2 ‹ The Next Generation'. (I like to think the subtitle is ironic.) The brutal metallic graphics alone are enough to scare anyone half to death, so it was with trembling fingers that I tore open the box and installed the library.

Hang drums, just one of the many types of unusual percussion instruments to be found in Stormdrum 2. What I found was a very satisfying mix of ethnic and processed percussion, presented as separate hits and also blended together in various fiendishly clever ways. The variety of sounds is enormous, as can be seen by a quick look at the instrument list above. Rather than souping up the samples with EQ and compression, the producers concentrated on capturing the natural resonance of the drums and added a very pleasing room ambience. This means that while the timbales (for example) don't clang manically like the ones in the theme tune of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, big drums such as the giant odaiko and large, ambient dumbek really boom out impressively as nature intended. This boomy quality reaches its zenith in 'Earthquake Ensemble', a collection of low-pitched drums whose seismic rumble is capable of demolishing a row of houses. It's the kind of percussion sound that film composer Hans Zimmer is known for, with a low bass end designed to shake the walls of cinemas equipped with 5.1 surround systems.

Although culturally aware, the library is by no means purist; the producer thinks nothing of bunging a lot of reverb on a sample if it helps it achieve its effect. Consequently the massive, reverb-enhanced crescendo hits in the patch 'Rumpfs' sound absolutely devastating. But it's not all big bangs: some of the smaller hand drums sound very tuneful, making it easy to program more delicate grooves. I found some of the nomenclature a little unhelpful: the 'Malaysian' djembe sounds exactly like the African drum of the same name and the Indonesian 'bongos' sound more like high-pitched clay drums. I thought the intriguingly-named Roman war drum was going to raise the roof, but it turns out to have a rather pacific sound, somewhat like a softly-played tImpani! The drum performances are comprehensive and varied, and it's good to hear brushes as well as sticks used on some of them.

There's a lot of very nice stuff in the metals department: the bell-like Asian bowl gongs (bowed and hit), some great large gongs (including deep Javanese-sounding specimens), the obligatory spooky waterphone, scary piano noises and even an "80-foot metal bridge". (How did they get that in the car on the way to the studio?) The stand-out instrument for me was the 'hang drum', a resonant, metal, drum-like instrument that produces tuneful pitches in the manner of a Caribbean steel drum, but with a much softer, more beautiful sound. I found myself jamming along for ages with its attractive, understated, almost gamelan-like tones (which are tuned to a D-minor scale). For those who need a drum kit, Quantum Leap have included a scaled-down version of the 'Black' Gretsch kit from Ministry Of Rock. A set of powerful tom-tom samples from different kits recorded at the MOR sessions (but not used in that library) are also included.

Acoustic percussion is only half the story, a large part of Stormdrum 2 centres on processed 'sound design' percussion, much of it distorted, reversed and generally messed up. This kind of thing has been done before, but SD2's programmers have a talent for creating hip, contemporary noises that work well for programmed rhythm patterns, especially in conjunction with the library's giant drums. To get you in the programming mood, 106 MIDI files are included, in a variety of tempos. Each has its own multi-instrument set-up; the moods range from Alien 2-style military snares and bass drums to BT-esque fuzzed-up breakbeats. There are so many fantastic electronic noises in there I couldn't begin to describe them ‹ suffice it to say that they rock, big time.

Play Away

Reviewing these wildly disparate sound libraries gave me the opportunity to get more familiar with the Play audio engine. The absence of on-screen multiple sound slots gives the erroneous impression that it's a single-instrument player, but in fact one instance of Play can handle multiple instruments operating independently on up to 16 MIDI channels. To create a multi-channel setup, you load a selection of instruments (choosing the 'Add' option rather than 'Replace'); their names are then listed in the Instrument window, and clicking on one reveals its individual screen display, where you can select the instrument's MIDI channel (which may be set to 'omni') and/or alter its volume, pan, ADSR and effects settings. It's a simple, flexible and effective system that enables you to quickly build complex setups without having to continually look at a cluttered screen.

Stormdrum 2 contains 16,000 samples, and I don't even want to think about how long it took to record the countless performances in Gypsy and Voices Of Passion. There's a sense of devotion about these projects, the long months spent recording and programming seeming to go well beyond the call of duty. As a consequence, each of the three Play titles is an artistic success. Sample libraries don't get much better than these, and any composer with an ear for sound will find much inspirational material in them." - SOUND ON SOUND

"As a former percussion major and as someone who’s spent many an hour on the scoring stages of Los Angeles with some of the best percussionists in the world, I am mightily impressed. But as someone who writes and produces, I am grateful, because what I’m hearing in Storm Drum 2, just with the percussion, and not the MIDI performances, is the caliber of percussive sound I’ve heard so often at Fox, MGM, Universal and Warner Brothers studios that I can now use in my music.

As a composer, Storm Drum 2 is the percussion section I always wanted as a composer. I’m confident that if Jerry Goldsmith were alive today, he would echo my sentiments, as so many of the sounds I’m hearing I’ve heard live in many memorable sessions.

This is a great collection that offers no end of possibilities for those involved not only in dramatic scoring, but who also want one crackin’ good drumset that can handle a variety of musical assignments.

There’s also the matter of sound quality. PLAY sounds great. In fact, I like the sound of PLAY much better than I do Kontakt as it’s a little brighter and clearer. I like Kontakt, but I always felt the audio sound of GigaStudio was far superior. The PLAY audio engine is in that tradition. The clarity and precision sound is just outstanding.

If you’re doing Film/TV work, ya gotta have it. The sounds are really that amazing." - FILM MUSIC MAGAZINE

OVERVIEW

QUANTUM LEAP SD2 - THE NEXT GENERATION is the sequel to QUANTUM LEAP STORMDRUM (one of the best selling acoustic percussion based virtual instruments ever released).

QUANTUM LEAP SD2 - THE NEXT GENERATION is over twice the size of the original Stormdrum, featuring over 12 Gigabytes of ALL NEW (except the included Metallica black drum kit from Ministry Of Rock) acoustic percussion instruments. The unique selection of drums and percussion included exceeds all other collections. As a sequel to STORMDRUM it sets new standards that will exceed the expectations of everyone who owns a QUANTUM LEAP product.

Included is the new advanced EASTWEST PLAY sample engine offering both 64-bit and 32-bit support.

Also included are 100+ film score oriented MIDI PERFORMANCES, each with dozens of variations, intros and endings from bombastic to hypnotic. The PLAY software allows for millions of variations of each midi performance so you can create custom performances at any tempo without any loss of sound quality because the samples are not time-stretched, only the sequencer tempo is changed. Want to slow it down from 120 BPM to 50 BPM? Simply change the tempo of your sequence, the sounds will remain pristine. Want to change the tone to something more aggressive, or something more subtle? Simply change the dynamics and marvel as 24 velocity multi-sampled percussion creates a completely new sound. Want to tune, add effects or filters to specific drums? No problem. Want to mute specific sounds and play in your own parts? No problem. Sound replacement? No problem. Like the sound of a performance, but don’t like the rhythm? Simply use the current multi to create your own rhythms.

Drawing from the secret collections of three percussionists, QUANTUM LEAP SD2 - THE NEXT GENERATION features some of the most amazing, and unique multi-sampled percussion imaginable, all recorded with vintage Neumann microphones in the famous EASTWEST STUDIO 1 (formally United-Western) for that unmistakable Hollywood sound-stage vibe and a sound far beyond any other commercial percussion collection.

PRODUCERS NOTES

QUANTUM LEAP STORMDRUM provided composers with a sound only found previously in top Hollywood films. It has even made it's way into many Hollywood blockbusters.

QUANTUM LEAP SD2 - THE NEXT GENERATION takes the concept to a whole new level. Studio 1 at the new EASTWEST STUDIOS (formally United-Western) is one of the best sounding percussion recording studios anywhere. It is very similar to the top Hollywood sound-stages, but with a more refined sound. The studio has one of the best mic collections in the world, and rare vintage recording equipment that is sonically superior to any I have used previously. Digital transfers were done through very expensive Meitner converters.

I got access to some fantastic percussion collections and purchased everything I could. I even contacted Remo and had them build me the largest floor tom ever built (42"x42" +legs)! As a teenager, I remember seeing Mickey Hart playing some gigantic Remo rack toms with the Grateful Dead. That sound always stuck with me. SD1 had a cool patch called "Thunder Ensemble". This was six musicians hitting large drums in unison in a warehouse. SD2 has the "Earthquake Ensemble", which is eleven musicians hitting huge, large and sometimes smaller drums in unison in EASTWEST studio 1.

There are many gems in SD2 and lots of subtle beautiful sounds as well. I collected many small Tibetan bells over the years and you'll find these together in one beautiful patch. Troels Follman contributed his hang-drum samples which are very unique. Other unique instruments are the Whale Drum, Giant Tongue Drum and Octaplus 9 action toms. The sound design percussion is pretty special too, as is the Glitched Electronic Percussion. There is plenty of very detailed conventional percussion included also.

Generally there is a lot of velocity switching going on and some round robin (alternate) sample switching. The sounds are usually organized with the middle of the drum hits on the lowest keys, and as you move up the keys, the hits move to the outside of the drum. Use CC11 volume and CC12 pan inside your sequencer, because they work per midi channel, unlike CC7 and CC10 which control the entire instance of PLAY's volume and pan. The mod-wheel controls a fantastic filter which can give the sounds more life and sound design options.

The MIDI PERFORMANCES included in QUANTUM LEAP SD2 - THE NEXT GENERATION are in type 0 midi file format. This means that 16 tracks of midi data is compressed into a single midi file data stream. You can playback the data as is, or expand it onto 16 tracks using the expand/unpack function in your sequencer. Set up a template that allocates 16 tracks to PLAY, midi channel 1-16. Once expanded, you have access to every parameter of the sequence, as if you had created it yourself. Tempo, muting instruments, adding instruments and parts, changing the tone using velocity and controllers, quantizing etc... are all possible. If you are not experienced with creating MIDI percussion performances, they might be educational too. The .ewi multi files that contain the 16 sound patches for each midi performance are also useful as templates to create your own MIDI performances.

You may want to add some reverb on top of the natural sound-stage ambience, as is typically done in film-scores. PLAY's convolution reverb is perfect for this. The delay is useful also. Use the stereo width control to widen the sound-stage, and channel sourcing to get a mono signal for exact placement in the stereo field. You'll find that the left and right channels often sound quite different, which is useful.

QUANTUM LEAP SD2 - THE NEXT GENERATION is a timeless Virtual Instrument that I am very proud of. Make it your own by customizing the performances! Enjoy it! - NICK PHOENIX

QUICK FACTS

QUANTUM LEAP SD2 - THE NEXT GENERATION is a new and improved concept that is destined to become the new standard for years to come.

Produced by NICK PHOENIX

Includes over 12 Gigabytes of percussion insanity!

Includes 100+ MIDI Performance files

Includes PLAY advanced 64-bit (with 32-bit compatibility) software engine

Drumkit and Related Black Kit Basic MOR Black Toms Power 6 Black Toms Soundstage 6 Ludwig Toms Soundstage 3 Octaplus Mallet Toms 9 Octaplus Rod Toms 9 Octaplus Stick Toms 9 Octaplus Toms Monster 9 Octaplus Toms Power 9 Octaplus Toms Soundstage 9 Orchestral Cymbal Rolls Orchestral Marching Kit The Beast SR The Beast Ethnic Drums African Bowl drums Brushed Drums Chinese Kettle Drums Custom Bongos Custom Congas Darabuka with Metals Dholak Dynasty O Daiko Earthquake Ensemble Giant Ambient Dumbek Indonesian Bongos Malaysian Djembe Moroccoan Darubaka Nagado Fortissimo Nepalese Two-Headed Drum O Daiko Set SR O Daiko Set Roman War Drum Table Hits Timbales Tong Zi Set Udu

Ethnic Metals 11 Bowl Gongs Action Melody rev Action Melody Aluminaphone Bowed Bowl Timp Bowed Cymbal Bowed Superball Gongs Brake Drums Cajun Triangle Chinese Cymbal Finger Cymbal 1 Finger Cymbal 2 Finger Cymbal 3 Finger Cymbal 4 Giant Buddha Bell Gongs 7inch to 22inch Gongs 24inch to 35inch Hang Drum Indian Hi Bells Indian Low Bells Large Riq Mallet Waterphone Metal Bridge Metal Objects Opera Gong Persian Castanets Prepared FX Spring Drum Tibetan Prayer Circle Waterphone Whale Drum Woods and Shakers 12 ft Log Drums Aboriginal Percussion Anklungs Bamboo Sticks Chinese Noisemaker Chinese Opera Blocks Clacks Danmo Devil Chasers Tambourines Ticki-Ticki Tongue Drum MOD Vietnamese Shakers n Rattles

Sound Design Percussion 120 bpm glitched drone 120 bpm glitched drums 125 bpm glitched drone 125 bpm glitched drums 130 bpm glitched drone 130 bpm glitched drums 135 bpm glitched drone 135 bpm glitched drums 140 bpm glitched drone 140 bpm glitched drums 150 bpm glitched drone 150 bpm glitched drums 160 bpm glitched drone 160 bpm glitched drums Ambient Contortion Ambient Largeness Deja Vu Distorbia Fuzzbox Godzilla Hits SR Godzilla Hits Neural Exposure Old Skool Neve Panic Attack Psycho FX Radiostatic Anamoly Rumpfs Stutter Maker high Stutter Maker low Stutter Maker reg Swoosh Maker high Swoosh Maker low Swoosh Maker reg Zendrum Programs Anklungs ZEN m Brushed Drums ZEN m Brushed Drums ZEN Danmo ZEN m Darabuka with Metals ZEN Devil Chasers ZEN Dholak ZEN Earthquake Ensemble ZEN Godzilla Hits ZEN Hang Drum ZEN Indonesian Bongos ZEN m Malaysian Djembe ZEN Moroccoan Darubaka ZEN Nepalese 2hd Drum ZEN m Orchestral Marching ZEN Taikos ZEN The Beast ZEN Tibetan Prayer Circle ZEN Ticki-Ticki ZEN Tong Zi Set ZEN Udu ZEN Whale Drum ZEN

LOOP FEATURES:
QUANTUM LEAP SD2 - THE NEXT GENERATION does not offer loops. Instead we give you 100 MIDI performances created with Roland VDrums and Zendrum percussion controllers

What this means is that you can change ANYTHING with no sound quality loss

Want to slow it down from 120 BPM to 50 BPM? Simply change the tempo of your sequence, the sounds will remain pristine

Want to change the tone to something more aggressive, or something more subtle? Simply change the dynamics and marvel as 24 velocity multi-sampled percussion creates a completely new sound

Want to tune, add effects or filters to specific drums? No problem

Want to mute specific sounds and play in your own parts? No problem

Sound replacement? No problem

Like the sound of a performance, but don’t like the rhythm? Simply use the current multi to create your own rhythms

MIDI PERFORMANCES: 100 film score oriented midi performances, each with dozens of variations, intros and endings from bombastic to hypnotic are included

Software allows for millions of variations of each midi performance so you can create custom performances at any tempo

POWERED BY EASTWEST'S PLAY 64-bit Advanced Sample Engine with built-in Network Control (plug-in or standalone)

This VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT combines intuitive handling with excellent sound quality, and functions as a plug-in instrument, without the need for a sampler.

PLAY is a 64-bit** (with 32-bit compatibility) Advanced Sample Engine with built-in Network Control* (plug-in or standalone). PLAY is Included with all new EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP Virtual (software) Instruments.

FEATURES



*This feature will be available after release as a free download for all registered users.

**MAC 64-bit support will be announced after the release of MAC OS X (10.5 Leopard)

13 GB Free Hard Disc Space

DVD Drive

iLok Security Key, not included (a free soundsonline.com account is required for retrieving and managing iLok licenses)

If you do not own an iLok Security Key you can purchase one at your local authorized EASTWEST retailers, or here.

More details about the new iLok copy protection for our PLAY SYSTEM powered products is available HERE

Please note, to use some of the larger MIDI file performances, you will need a recommended system. For those with slower systems, here are some tips to improve performance.

If your system is below our recommended specifications, here are some tips for optimizing PLAY and SD2:
1. Install samples on a fast drive that is not too full. Make sure all software is up to date.
2. Change PLAY's streaming settings to buffer factor 5
3. Change audio driver buffer to 512 or even 1024 if you just need to mix down an SD2 performance.
4. Turn off reverb.
5. Mute some tracks of an SD2 performance and render in two passes. Maybe separate the low drums from the hi frequency drums, so you have two audio mixes that can be processed later.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR MAC

G4 1Ghz or faster, 2GB RAM, Mac OS 10.4 or higher, DVD drive,

iLok required (not included), internet connection required for one-time product activation

RECOMMENDED MAC SYSTEM:

Core 2 Duo 2.5Ghz or faster processor, 4GB RAM, DVD drive,

iLok required (not included), internet connection required for one-time product activation.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR PC:

P4 2.5Ghz or faster, 2GB RAM, Windows XP SP 2 or Vista, sound card with ASIO drivers, DVD drive,

iLok required (not included), internet connection required for one-time product activation.

RECOMMENDED PC SYSTEM:

Core 2 Duo 2.5Ghz or faster processor, 4GB RAM, sound card with ASIO drivers, 64-bit OS and host, DVD drive,

iLok required (not included), internet connection required for one-time product activation.

INCLUDED FOR BOTH PC & MAC:

32-bit standalone and plug-in versions included.

64-bit PC VST (host must support 64-bit VST plugins) and standalone versions included.

Check the following compatibility chart for availability of other 64-bit versions and updates.

SUPPORTED INTERFACES

WIN: VST™, ASIO™, DirectSound™

MAC: VST™, Audio Units™, Core Audio™

RTAS: Check http://www.soundsonline.com/updates.php for availability of RTAS versions.

All included instruments, information and specifications are subject to change without notice.