Pro Tools Instrument Expansion Pack
| Posted in Music Technology
The Pro Tools Instrument Expansion Pack has been revealed as leading Avid’s presence at the 2010 NAMM show, which is taking place now in California. The five-instrument pack has been a well kept secret in recent weeks, with Avid keeping tight-lipped on the five updated AIR virtual instruments that it contains – comprising 55GB of linear (uncompressed) sound content. Arguably the biggest news however is that the Expansion Pack will be made available for a startlingly low price not much more expensive than just one of the instruments contained within.
So what are those instruments? First on the list is the renowned drum plug-in Strike, which has been given a substantial makeover for the new release. Among the improvements is an enhanced Style Editor plus improved MIDI export comprising a MIDI-Record button to allow simpler use, and only one PT MIDI track now being required versus the 15 needed in older versions.
Virtual drummers will also be delighted to know that the plug-in now supports user samples. There’s more content to play with as well – over 10GB, in fact, bringing the overall total to 25GB. Included are two new acoustic kits recorded at Nashville’s Blackbird Studios, new instruments such as bongos, chimes, drum sticks, finger snaps, hand claps, tambourine and cowbell, three new electronic kits, and 55 new styles to experiment with. Throw in some freshly developed 3-D drum animation and the new Strike is itself quite an offering .
But it’s still only the beginning of what the Digidesign Pro Tools Instrument Expansion Pack has to offer. Next in the running order is sampling tool Structure, which has been revamped with a host of new features including Giga-Sampler format import, Kontakt 3 import, added EXS modulation matrix support which means the plug-in will now handle LFO and Modwheel assignments, and an enhanced database to provide a better working environment. Digidesign has also incorporated the Digidesign Basic Orchestra into the sampler alongside a new custom-designed grand piano named Digidesign Piano B. Finally, and is if Strike wasn’t already offering enough, Structure includes Nashville Signature drum kits.
Third is Velvet, a reverb module offering ambience, spring and room reverb types plus built-in FM Tine Sounds.
However, it’s the inclusion of Transfuser that will excite Pro Tools fans, particularly with the addition of a new bassline module that Avid describes as echoing the Roland 303, a six band parametric EQ effect module, new electronic AIR drums and new loops from BigFish Audio.
Finally, Hybrid rounds out the instruments with two new waveforms added for oscillators 1 and 2 (Multi-Saw and Multi-Square), plus waveforms for noise oscillator (Blue, White, Mod, Crackle) which Avid is suggesting will put a big smile on the faces of RnB producers.
With NAMM 2010 now reverberating to the sound of new products being released, the pressure was on Avid to announce something attention-grabbing, and it seems like the manufacturer has achieved exactly that with the Pro Tools Instrument Expansion Pack.
About Barney Jameson
A contributor, editor and in some cases creator of more music and pro audio magazines than he cares to remember, Barney Jameson is a veteran of writing about gear, and a pretty keen singer songwriter to boot.
Having started his musical education reading old copies of the Melody Maker while riding the tube to University in the mid-nineties, Barney once sang in a band called Sugarstone, troubling record company chequebooks not quite enough to make it a career option. Instead, he achieved his goal of starting a music magazine of his own when he founded Playmusic in the early noughties. Later on, having exploited VIP access to as many festivals as possible, he wrote about the pro audio industry throughout Europe and the Middle East, travelling to far-flung destinations such as Dubai, Doha and Muscat (nice mountains).
As the latest addition to the DV247 team, Barney has big plans. But when he’s not plotting online domination of the musical instrument world, he keeps himself busy writing songs on a battered old acoustic guitar and playing them to audiences in his home town.
Tags: pro tools, Pro Tools Hybrid, Pro Tools Strike, Pro Tools Structure, Pro Tools Transfuser, Pro Tools Velvet