Another “Epic-Boom-Bang”- Library On The Market?
There are so many libraries with orchestral percussion on the market. Most try to be the next Hans Zimmer-Sound-Alike library. Impact Soundworks decided to go in another direction. But let’s have a closer look to at this new library.
The Library
No flashy GUI, no fancy stuff. It’s not a beauty on the outside but don’t judge a book by its cover. 9 Gigs are waiting to be downloaded. The library runs only with the full version of KONTAKT. You can run it for 15 minutes with the free KONTAKT Player.
The library contains 50 instruments, 100+ articulations and 21+ gigabytes of raw recordings. The instruments have been sampled with up to 10x RR and 5x velocity layers.
The Patches
Rhapsody comes with eight patches:
- ROP Aux Percussion
- ROP Cymbals and Gongs
- ROP Drums and Ensembles
- ROP Hand Drums
- ROP Marimba
- ROP Timpani
- ROP Tubular Bells and Crotales
- ROP Xylophone and Glock
The Instruments
OK – you’ll get eight patches, but you will stop counting when it comes to the number of instruments as it contains everything your beating heart desires. Many of them have rolls that can be controlled with the mod wheel which saves a lot of time (* = Instrument includes mod wheel-controlled ROLL articulation). All instruments can be loaded as a single instrument as well.
Drums
- Bass Drum 1*
- Bass Drum 2*
- Gong 1*
- Gong 2
- Snare 1*
- Snare 2*
- Snare 3*
- Snare 4*
- Snare Ensemble*
- Timpani*
- Tom 1
- Tom 2
- Tom 3
- Tom Ensemble*
Chromatic Percussion
- Crotales
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Tubular Bells
- Xylophone
Cymbals & Gongs
- Cymbal Scraped
- Gong 1*
- Gong 2*
- Piatti
- Piatti Mute
- Ride Cymbal*
- Tam Tam*
- Viennese Cymbal*
Chromatic Percussion
- Crotales
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Tubular Bells
- Xylophone
- Castanets*
- Claves
- Chimes
- Cowbell
- Finger Cymbals
- Guiro
- Metals
- Shaker*
- Sleigh Bells*
- Tambourine*
- Temple Blocks
- Triangle*
- Vibraslap
- Woodblocks
- Hand Drums
- Bongo High*
- Bongo Low*
- Cajon 1*
- Cajon 2*
- Conga High*
- Conga Low*
- Conga Muted
- Darbuka 1*
- Darbuka 2*
- Djembe 1*
- Djembe 2*
The Sound And Handling
If you are looking for Batman lurking on a roof top you are in the wrong place. This is no super hero stuff. All the instruments in Rhapsody sound unspectacular but yet powerful and authentic. Of course you can wake the HZ-factor in this library. The onboard reverb is the first step. With layering and additional compressing you can blow out your windows if necessary.
You have all the classic percussion you’ll ever need in this library (and probably more). You can switch each instrument on and off in every patch to save memory.
Each instrument has the possibility to adjust to following parameters:
- Attack
- Decay
- Sustain
- Release
Of course you can also tweak the instruments in regards to EQ, volume and tune.
With the global switch you will apply your current settings to all the instruments in the patch.
The rolls sound so alive and real. You can easily control them with your mod wheel. So no onerous tinker in your Midi-Editor. Great! Isn’t it?
The Aux Percussion (worth a headline!)
The Aux Percussion in Rhapsody is a treasure box not only for the composer of classical pieces but also for the sound designers out there. You have percussions gathered on board like the Guiro, Vibraslap, Castanets and many more in a great sounding quality. This is the gem section of this library.
The Mic Department
You have three mic positions:
- Close
- Stage
- Hall
Each of these mics has following mix parameters:
- Mix
- Pan
- Wide
You can turn off the mics if you don’t need them all. Theres is a “Mix”, “Pan” and “Wide” button for every mic.
The Price
Rhapsody from Impact Soundworks costs $199 which in my opinion, is value for money. If you are on a tight budget you can grab the “Essentials version” for $89.
You can purchase Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion right here
Orchestral Percussion by Impact Soundworks
INSTALLATION – 90%
PATCHES – 100%
INTERFACE – 80%
SOUND – 100%
VALUE – 90%
92%
92/100
The vast variety of instruments and the mod wheel controllable rolls make this library a real competitor in the world of orchestral percussion. Even though it’s not another “Epic-Library” you can tear the place down with some tweaking. So if you are looking for a versatile percussion library you should definitely give it a try. Value for money. Not a beauty but a fantastic compilation of orchestral percussion.