Ocean Way Drums Gold Edition Review - Reviewed By Ryan Holquist
Sonic Reality's Ocean Way Drums Gold is the industry's best sounding drum sample library. Ocean Way Recording engineers Allen Sides and Steven Miller have captured 19 different drum kit sounds that are perfect for all contemporary music styles. Allen and Steve's mixes are preserved via discrete microphone controls – this allows for mix-ready drum tracks straight out of the box, as well as the ability to tweak every single mic on every single drum kit. Each kit has six ambience presets, all created with adjustable ambient mics, and every element of Ocean Way Drums (kit piece, preset, mic level) can be mixed and matched. Between the out-of-the-box Grammy-winning mixes and the ability to make virtually endless tweaks and combinations, Ocean Way Drums provides supreme flexibility combined with practicality and ease of use.
Steven Miller and Allen Sides at Ocean Way Recording are renowned for their audiophile approach to microphones and custom modified preamps and outboard gear. Sonic Reality is known for expanding the boundaries of drum sample expression by way of their proprietary IMAP keyboard mapping. The IMAP expands upon the standard GM mapping for drums, providing eleven key articulations for the snare drum, four key articulations for kick drum, three articulation keys per tom, six key articulations for the ride cymbal, ten key articulations for the hihat, and more. Once you spend only a little bit of time familiarizing yourself with the intuitive layout, your programmed drum parts will breathe with realistic expression and dynamic range. Previously irreplaceable drum kit articulations such as varying degrees of open hihat, tom rimshots, and ride cymbal crashing are now at your fingertips!
Whether you're programming a drum part from scratch, replacing sub-par audio, or performing live on V-Drums, the unprecedented Ocean Way Drums Gold is an invaluable sample library.
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