Toontrack Americana EZX Review
By MNJ
| Posted in Music Technology, Review
Following on from its Nashville EZX pack, Toontrack have headed south west to Austin, Texas to capture the spirit and vibe of the state that has produced some of the best music to come out of America in the last two decades. The latest expansion pack in Toontrack’s EZdrummer series is named after the generic name for the music that has provided an alternative to mainstream and radio-friendly commercial recordings – Americana. Consisting of a wide range of individual as well as crossover artists and bands, Americana takes rock, country, blues, folk and roots music and removes the slickness of the big Nashville and L.A. production, returning it with a rawer and more down-home approach. The excellent ‘making-of‘ video on the Toontrack website shows that during the recording process, the production team as well as the musicians and engineers involved were constantly aware that the drum sounds they were producing had to reflect the more intimate atmosphere of the smaller venues that the music is generally played in, where artist/audience interaction and communication through song is more important than a stage show or elaborate lighting. Recorded at The Congress House Studio in Austin by engineer and producer Mark Hallman, Toontrack regard American EZX as one of the most genre-defining products in the history of the company.
Check Current Pricing of Toontrack Americana EZX at dv247.com
Kits recorded for American EZX include a Fibes Maple, a 1965 Ludwig Burgundy Sparkle with a wood hoop ‘snare-off’ feature and a Brushed Kit, all with only one rack and one floor tom, two crashes and one ride cymbal. There’s also a small percussion feature consisting of a Cross Crasher, Celtic Bell and Sizzle Strip. The kicks, which offer a choice of 22” or 16” Fibes Maple or 22” Ludwig, sound surprisingly modern, with plenty of thud. There’s no hint anywhere of any lo-fi approach, all samples are pristinely recorded. Because of the size of the studio – which is constructed of mainly wooden walls with baffles – there’s not much natural ambience but there’s enough ‘air’ around the drums to make them sound real enough. Snares include a 14” x 6.5” Ludwig Black Beauty and a Tama 14 x 5.5” Ltd Edition Wood Hoop. There’s plenty of ‘crack’ and presence to the snares and it’s useful to have a ‘snare-off’ option on a Toontrack expansion pack at last. Heads for all the drums have been carefully chosen; the toms have been fitted with Remo Ambassadors while the Ludwig snare gets a Ludwig Weathermaster on the top and a Remo Vintage A Coated underneath. Most of the cymbals chosen for Americana EZX are from Zyldjian, including New Beat hats, a K Dark crash, a 19” Armand ride with a missing rivet and a huge 20” Constantinople. Other cymbals are from UFIP natural and Class series.
Americana EZX also includes a reasonably extensive MIDI pack with plenty of suitable grooves and fills including Ballad, Mid-tempo and Uptempo sections which include syncopated, shuffled and swing as well as swampy New Orleans, half-time and 6/8 patterns. The MIDI pack also includes intros, verses, bridges, chorus and outros to help users put together rhythm tracks with minimal fuss. All the drums were played by Stephen Belans and Mark Hallam. The MIDI library was put together by Thomas Hedlund. Customers buying Americana EZX before the end of October 2011 are automatically entered into a competition to win a custom designed guitar (see Toontrack website for details). Americana EZX will work with either EZdrummer 1.3 or Superior Drummer 2.3.
Current users of both EZ and Superior Drummer who have a selection of the various expansion packs will already be aware of how brilliant sounding they all are. Americana EZX is no exception and although limited to only three kits, the pack provides users with enough ‘back-porch’ vibe to create realistic sounding drum tracks that will sit comfortably underneath any of the alt. music styles it’s intended for. Particularly wonderful is the Brushes Kit, which has a naturally laid-back feel that’s so right for this music. Recommended
Check Current Pricing and Read More Info on the Toontrack Americana EZX at dv247.com
Ludwig Kit
Fibes Kit
Brushes Kit
Tags: americana, americana ezx, ezdrummer, superior drummer, toontrack americana ezx