Discrete Drums News

05/13/10 Discrete Drums products that were previously only available as large CD collections have been repackaged as convenient DVD products. Many Discrete Drums Pro Sets are available at a lower price of $199, and now include formats such as multitrack WAV files, Pro Tools Sessions, stereo WAV files, one shot samples, and REX and/or Apple Loops. Discrete Drums Stereo Sets have also been repackaged and relaunched on DVD, and are now available at a lower price of $99. All six Pro Sets are available as a bundle at the promotional price of $599 for a limited time. Kickin Country Press Release

05/13/10Sonoma Wire Works added Kickin' Country to the world renowned Discrete Drums multitrack drum recording library. Kickin' Country features the legendary drummer Tony Morra recorded at Downtown Batterie in Nashville, Tennessee. The Kickin' Country Pro Set (9GB) includes multitrack WAV files with Pro Tools sessions, stereo REX and WAV files, and one shot samples for $199. The Kickin' Country Stereo Set (3GB) includes stereo REX and WAV files for $99. Styles included are brushes, ballads, waltz, train, pop and more. The 19 sessions included in Kickin' Country are organized into song parts including verse, chorus, bridge, intros, outros, fills, solos, breaks, and more, making it easy to build great sounding arrangements. Kickin Country Press Release

11/20/09 The Heavy Mental 2 drum loop collection is now available! This is the second collection in the Heavy Mental Drum Recording Library Series, and was also recorded in the legendary "Big Boy" room at the Sound Kitchen in Nashville. This amazing sounding room can be read about in the "Making of Discrete Heavy Mental" in EQ magazine! Heavy Mental 2 consists of 13 tracks of HUGE pounding drums - kick, snare, hat, stereo toms, stereo overheads, stereo room, stereo BIG room, stereo "gak" track. 15 projects with 50 or more segments (choruses, verses, fills, intros, solos, etc - one project has over 100!) Segments within each project range from straight up simple rock beats, to flailing metal double kick, bashed out, kick-butt mayhem. Drummer Tony Morra puts his heart and soul into this collection. It must be experienced to be believed! Heavy Mental 2 Press Release

10/6/09Sonoma Wire Works acquired the Discrete Drums brand and product line of drum recording libraries. This move ensures the continuation and expansion of impeccable drum loop products for both Discrete Drums and Sonoma Wire Works customers. Discrete Drums Acquisition Press Release

9/11/08 Rick Naqvi of PreSonus Comment in Craig Anderton's Heavy Mental Pro Set Review: "I am doing a record right now that features Tony Morra on several songs. What a monster drummer and an amazingly nice guy too. Personally I think 'real' drum loops like this absolutely sound better than midi loops even though it's a little more work to edit them. Craig, I agree with you about the 'room' sounds. That's the secret sauce." Buy Heavy Mental Drums Pro Set

2/21/07 Harmony Central's Discrete Drums Pro Sets Review: "Because I do a lot of audio-for-video, soundtracks, and songwriting, sample CDs have become an important part of fleshing out arrangements. I've noticed over the years that some of these are like "A-list" studio musicians, because they get the call over and over again in different applications. Of all the drum libraries I use for "commerical" music, I've gotten more mileage from the Discrete Drums Pro Set libraries than any other ...I reach for Discrete Drum's Rock Series One sample CD collection when I need quick drums for a soundtrack. The sound quality is excellent, the playing is dynamic and human, and the files are presented in multitrack format so it's easy to mutate the tracks as you want: Process just the snare, replace the kick, bring up the room mics, that sort of thing. As a result, even though it's a drum sample library, you can personalize it to a large degree. So much so, in fact, that I did a remix of it and played it for the Discrete Drum guys. I expected them to throw me across the room (We spent thousands of hours getting it to sound right, and you put it through distortion pedals!) but instead they said cool and put it out as a sample CD called "Turbulent Filth Monsters."

2/1/06 Electonic Musician's Heavy Mental Drums Review: "All the elements are well recorded, but the room tracks are what really define this collection. When mixing, I particularly liked adding the Big Room track, which was recorded well back from the kit. It makes the mix come alive and sound really huge (see Web Clip 1). The Room track was recorded closer, but also adds significant ambience. Heavy Mental Drums is another winning library for Discrete Drums. If you need large-sounding, flashy drum loops for your metal or rock tracks, you won't be disappointed."

10/1/05 MIX's Heavy Mental Drum Library Review: "Loading the 48kHz multitrack files into Pro Tools was a snap. Just have a quick listen on the audition CDs, find what you like and start working. The cuts feature popular session drummer Tony Morra and were cut at Sound Kitchen's Big Boy room (just outside Nashville in nearby Franklin, Tenn.). The quality of the performances and audio throughout is impeccable. I appreciated accessing 13 separate channels on each project, and for more variation, alternate endings are provided with each project, along with a collection of miscellaneous crashes, count-offs and extra endings for use anywhere. Also, all of the drums are dry-miked and can be combined with the distance mic tracks or with outboard reverb to your taste." Buy the Heavy Mental Pro Set

08/1/05 GuitarPlayer Reviews Discrete Drums EarthBeat: "DD gives us 16 different grooves, all of which share a common genesis: They have a hybrid worldbeat vibe. They're not authentic in the way that you'd expect a collection of ethnic percussion to be. Instead, they provide the kind of blending of ethnic and Western grooves that the majority of musicians go for when they graft genres using live musicians, as opposed to samples. The evocatively named Carlos groove, one of the 16 mentioned, takes a straight-eighth rock beat and lays Latin percussion on top of it, somewhat reminiscent of Santana's early hits ("Black Magic Woman") and Steely Dan's "Do it Again." The thing about DD's approach is that they give you much more than a basic beat. They give you versions labeled "Verse," "Chorus," "Bridge," and a couple other variations involving a heavier snare, a busier ride cymbal, cross-sticking, or some other very musical twist. Drum solos, too. Each of these variations in turn has additional variations. I particularly like the laid-back feel of some of the slower grooves (Oasis) and the 6/8 African-flavored tracks ("Into It"). But I found all of them to be inspiring, easy to use, and produced with top-notch care. And it's a great value." Buy the Earth Beat Pro Set

05/1/05 Electronic Musician Discrete Percussion Review: "When listening to the loops in Discrete Percussion: the Eric Darken Collection, you quickly realize that percussionist Eric Darken is a master operator of the standard tools of his trade, and has an uncanny aptitude for turning everyday household objects into instruments. This two-disc collection seamlessly mixes reliable standbys such as congas, shakers, and tambourines, with the sounds of toilet seats, briefcase latches, computer-keyboard spacebars, egg cartons, watering cans, stick-bag zippers, and other improvised percussion. A lot of creativity went into the construction of these loops, and they offer a fresh twist on the standard percussion repertoire. But don't get the wrong idea - this is no collection of bonks and boinks; these loops are very musical and will fit nicely into a wide range of pop styles. And, if you're producing music that's more out there, you'll find fodder here, as well." Buy the Discrete Percussion Stereo Set

04/1/05 Electronic Musician EarthBeat Drums Review: "The heart of EarthBeat is its stellar grooves. The songs have a range of solid drum grooves with cool, multilayered percussion on top. The percussion, played in African and Latin styles, adds the world-music feel to the performances. It doesn't seem as though Discrete Drums was trying to re-create world styles beat for beat, but rather to use the percussion (played by Eric Darken) to lend a world-music flavor to the rock, funk, and pop grooves (laid down by drummer Greg Morrow). The content is extremely well recorded, and the drums have a big, clean, beefy sound. The EarthBeat tracks are among the best-sounding loops I've heard...This is another winner for Discrete Drums." Buy the Discrete Drums Earth Beat Pro Set