East West Sounds Stormdrum 3 User manual

USER MANUAL

1.0.3

EASTWEST | STORMDRUM 3

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IMPORTANT COMPATIBILITY NOTE!

Our Revolutionary New Opus Software Engine

Our brand new Opus software engine has been years in development, and replaces

the Play engine. All EastWest Libraries (with the exception of the original Hollywood

Orchestra, the original Hollywood Solo Instruments, and the MIDI Guitar Series) are

supported in Opus, allowing them to take advantage of a faster, more powerful, more

ﬂexible, and better looking software engine.

Opus comes with some incredible new features such as individual instrument down-

loads, customized key-switches, new effects for the mixer page, scalable retina user

interface upgrades for legacy products, a powerful new script language, and many more

features that allow you to completely customize the sound of each instrument.

It’s one of the most exciting developments in the history of our company and will be the

launching pad for many exciting new products in the future.

Using Opus and Play Together

Opus and Play are two separate software products, anything you have saved in your

projects will still load up inside the saved Play version of the plugins. You can update

your current/existing projects to Opus if you so choose, or leave them saved within Play.

After purchasing or upgrading to Opus you do not need to use Play, but it may be more

convenient to make small adjustments to an older composition in your DAW loading the

instruments saved in Play instead of replacing them with Opus. For any new composi-

tion, just use Opus.

A Note About User Manuals

All EastWest Libraries have their own user manuals (like this one) that refer to instru-

ments and controls that are speciﬁc to their respective libraries, as well as referencing

the Play User Manual for controls that are common to all EastWest Libraries.

For EastWest Libraries supported for use within Opus, we highly recommend taking

advantage of all the powerful new features it has to offer.

Reference this user manual for details related to the instruments and controls speciﬁc

to this library and, in place of the previously mentioned Play Software Manual, refer to

the Opus Software Manual from the link below instead.

OPUS SOFTWARE MANUAL: https://media.soundsonline.com/manuals/EW-Opus-Software-Manual.pdf

EASTWEST | STORMDRUM 3

iii

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not rep-

resent a commitment on the part of East West Sounds, Inc. The software and sounds

described in this document are subject to License Agreements and may not be copied

to other media. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise

transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by East West

Sounds, Inc. All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective

owners.

Solid State Logic (SSL) Channel Strip, Transient Shaper, and Stereo Compressor licensed

from Solid State Logic. SSL and Solid State Logic are registered trademarks of Red Lion

49 Ltd.

East West Sounds, Inc.

6000 Sunset Blvd.

Hollywood, CA 90028

USA

For questions about licensing of products: [email protected]

For more general information about products: [email protected]

http://support.soundsonline.com

EASTWEST | STORMDRUM 3

1

1. Welcome

2 About EastWest and Quantum Leap

3 Producer: Nick Phoenix

4 Percussionist: Mickey Hart

5 Credits

6 How to Use This and the Other Manuals

6 Online Documentation and Other Resources

EASTWEST | STORMDRUM 3

2Chapter 1: Welcome

Welcome

About EastWest and Quantum Leap

Founder and producer Doug Rogers has over 35 years experience in the audio industry

and is the recipient of many recording industry awards including “Recording Engineer of

the Year.” In 2005, “The Art of Digital Music” named him one of “56 Visionary Artists &

Insiders” in the book of the same name. In 1988, he founded EastWest, the most criti-

cally acclaimed sound developer in the world, and recipient of over 60 industry awards,

more than any other sound developer. His uncompromising approach to quality, and in-

novative ideas have enabled EastWest/Quantum Leap to lead the sound-ware business

for 25 years.

In 1997 Rogers partnered with producer/composer Nick Phoenix and set up the Quan-

tum Leap imprint, a wholly owned division of EastWest, to produce high-quality, no-com-

promise sample libraries and virtual instruments. Quantum Leap virtual instruments are

mostly produced by Nick Phoenix. Some of the larger productions, such as Symphonic

Orchestra, Symphonic Choirs, Pianos, and the Hollywood Orchestral Series are co-pro-

duced by Doug Rogers and Nick Phoenix. As a composer, Phoenix began scoring ﬁlm

trailers and television commercials in 1994. To date, he has either scored or licensed

music for the ad campaigns of over 1000 major motion pictures including Tomb Raider

2, Terminator 3, Lord of the Rings Return of the King, Harry Potter 2, Star Wars Episode

2, Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Blood Diamond, Night at the Museum, and

The Da Vinci Code. EastWest/Quantum Leap has now ﬁrmly established itself as one of

the world’s top producers of high-end sample libraries and virtual instruments.

In 2006, EastWest purchased the legendary Cello Studios (formerly United Western Re-

corders) on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, re-naming it EastWest Studios. The 21,000

sq. ft. facility, since remodeled by master designer Philippe Starck, houses ﬁve recording

studios and is the world headquarters for EastWest.

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3Chapter 1: Welcome

Producer: Nick Phoenix

Nick founded Quantum Leap and, apart from the co-productions with Doug Rogers, has

produced all its titles. “I am a sample maniac. Working as a composer has given me a

unique perspective into what composers really need.” Nick has been scoring and creat-

ing the music for ﬁlm trailers for the past 19 years.

His company “Two Steps From Hell” is the top trailer music company in the world. Two

Steps albums are consistently in the top 100 on iTunes, and the ﬁrst album is about to

go Gold. Two Steps From Hell gave its ﬁrst concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall in June

2013.

EASTWEST | STORMDRUM 3

4Chapter 1: Welcome

Percussionist: Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart is best known for his nearly three decades as an integral part of an extraordi-

nary expedition into the soul and spirit of music, disguised as the rock and roll band the

Grateful Dead. As half of the percussion tandem known as the Rhythm Devils, Mickey

and Bill Kreutzmann transcended the conventions of rock drumming. Their extended

poly-rhythmic excursions were highlights of Grateful Dead shows, introducing the band’s

audience to an ever-growing arsenal of percussion instruments from around the world.

Exposure to these exotic sounds fueled Mickey’s desire to learn about the various cul-

tures that produced them.

His tireless study of the world’s music led Mickey to many great teachers and collabora-

tors, including his partners in Planet Drum Zakir Hussain, Babatunde Olatunji, and Airto

Moreira. Planet Drum’s self-titled album not only hit #1 on the Billboard World Music

Chart, remaining there for 26 weeks, it also received the Grammy for Best World Music

Album in 1991—the ﬁrst Grammy ever awarded in this category. Hart took home the

Grammy for Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2007 for the Global Drum Project

with Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo. He released his latest criti-

cally acclaimed album, Mysterium Tremendum, in 2012.

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5Chapter 1: Welcome

Credits

Producer

Nick Phoenix

Executive Producer

Doug Rogers

Project Coordination

Doug Rogers, Rhys Moody, and Nick Phoenix

Engineers

Nick Phoenix, Ken Sluiter, Jeremy Miller

Percussionists

Mickey Hart, Nick Phoenix, Chalo Eduardo, Greg Ellis

Editing and Programming

Justin Harris, Nick Phoenix, Mike DiMattia, Andrzej Warzocha,

Jason Coffman, Pierre Martin, Arne Schulze

Art Direction

Steven Gilmore, Thomas Merkle, Doug Rogers, Nick Phoenix, Rhys Moody

Software

Klaus Lebkücher, Klaus Voltmer, Bartlomiej Bazior, Adam Higerd,

Truc Phan, Stefan Holek, Doug Rogers, Nick Phoenix, Rhys Moody,

Elon Arbiture, Helen Evans

Manual

John Philpit

Special Thanks

Remo

EASTWEST | STORMDRUM 3

6Chapter 1: Welcome

How to Use This and the Other Manuals

All documentation for the EastWest PLAY Advanced Sample System and its libraries is

provided as a collection of Adobe Acrobat ﬁles, also called PDFs. They can be viewed on

the computer screen or printed to paper.

Each time you install one of the PLAY System libraries, two manuals are copied to the

ﬁle system on your computer:

• The manual that describes the whole PLAY System. The largest of the manuals, it

addresses how to install and use all aspects of the software that are common to all

libraries.

• The library-speciﬁc manual, such as the one you are currently reading. This smaller

document describes aspects that differ from one library to the next, such as the list

of included instruments and articulations.

Using the Adobe Acrobat Features

By opening the Bookmarks pane along the left edge of the Adobe Acrobat Reader, the

user can jump directly to a topic from the section names. Note that some older versions

of Acrobat Reader might not support all these features. The latest Acrobat Reader can

be downloaded and installed at no cost from the Adobe web site. (As an example of a

hyperlink, you can click on the last word of the previous sentence to be taken directly to

the Adobe site.)

When reading this and other manuals on the computer screen, you can zoom in to see

more detail in the images or zoom out to see more of the page at once. If an included

picture of the user interface, or a diagram, seems fuzzy or illegible, then zoom in using

one of several means provided in the Acrobat Reader software.

Online Documentation and Other Resources

For the most up to date information, visit the support pages at EastWest’s web site.

There you can ﬁnd:

• information made available after these manuals were written

• FAQ pages that may already list answers to questions you have

• suggestions from EastWest and other users of the EastWest PLAY System

• news about upcoming releases

The address is:

World excluding Europe: http://support.soundsonline.com

Europe: http://support.soundsonline-europe.com

EASTWEST | STORMDRUM 3

7

2. Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3, An Overview

8 The Design Concept For the Stormdrum 3 Virtual Instrument

9 Statement from the Producer

11 What’s Included

11 Hardware Requirements

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8Chapter 2: Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3, An Overview

Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3, An Overview

The Design Concept For the Stormdrum 3 Virtual Instrument

More than 5 years after the release of “Quantum Leap SD2 – The Next Generation,” the

Producer of that award-winning virtual instrument, Nick Phoenix, is releasing an all

new collection of percussion instruments, Quantum Leap SD3. Not only has he newly

recorded a vast array of both common and unusual sounds, but he has taken advantage

of the superior technical capabilities of today’s recording studio to create a library with

an inspiring sonic presence.

This percussion library was recorded in the same location, EastWest Studios in Holly-

wood, California, as the 3 titles from the Hollywood series by EastWest/Quantum Leap:

Strings, Brass, and Woodwinds. Therefore, all these libraries work together to provide

a consistent sound quality. And like the Diamond Editions of those earlier “Hollywood”

libraries, it includes samples simultaneously recorded with 5 sets of microphones that

you can mix together in the PLAY software to achieve the sonic presence you require,

from close and intimate to expansive. More information about the microphone options is

included on page 50.

To achieve the breadth of instrument types Nick Phoenix was looking for in his new library,

he drew on the private collection of legendary percussionist Mickey Hart and multiple

drums on loan from the Remo company, hand-picked by drum pioneer Remo himself.

Nick Phoenix, Mickey Hart, and Remo in the control room at EastWest Studios.

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9Chapter 2: Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3, An Overview

The SD3 library is not exclusively about unusual instrumentation. It features some of

the most naturally played and realistically recorded standard percussion available. This

includes such instruments as bongos, tabla, doumbek, cajon and djembe.

One of the favorite instrument groups in SD2 has been the taiko drums. This new library

features a wholly new assortment of these sometimes huge Japanese marvels, the most

comprehensive, authentic and awe-inspiring group of taiko drums ever sampled.

Remo, Chalo Eduardo, and Mickey Hart set up one of the larger Remo drums.

The SD3 virtual instrument includes not only individual sampled instruments, but also

tempo-synced percussion performances directed and played by Mickey Hart, along with

Chalo Eduardo, and Nick Phoenix. They are multi-instrument, looped snippets from 23

different jams. As an example, one of these jam sessions called Sambastique has been

carved into 40 unique snippets at a consistent tempo that can be arranged in any order

you want. Read more about these performance loops in the section called The Mickey

Hart Live Loops Folder, starting on page 47.

Statement from the Producer

“As a lifelong Grateful Dead fan and a percussion fanatic, it was a dream to create a

virtual instrument with Mickey Hart. The incredible and oftentimes unique sounds in

Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3 will inspire composers for decades to come. SD3 follows

the general blueprint of SD2, in that it has acoustic percussion multi-samples in the

following categories: Large Drums, Small Drums, Metals, Woods, Shakers and the Taiko

Family, but the similarities end there. SD3 has more extensive techniques, more round

robins, 5 separate mic positions, better instruments, better execution and performance,

and even more magic than SD2. It also has the biggest and most authentic taiko col-

EASTWEST | STORMDRUM 3

10Chapter 2: Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3, An Overview

lection ever sampled. Everything from piercing tones of a small shime daiko, to deep

ensembles, to an 800-pound (360-kilo) monster taiko.

“At the end of the recording session, we spent half of a day laying down some mean

four-man grooves. Playing with Mickey was like taking peyote and jumping on a quasar.

These performances represent a bonus section in SD3 controlled by excellent time com-

pression and expansion. In SD3, our focus was to capture Mickey’s unrivaled percussion

collection in the best possible multi-sampled way. It is very ﬂexible. And note that even

the close mix comprises the input from 8 microphones.

“This virtual instrument is his legacy, and mine as well. After the sessions, Mickey told

me I was a maniac and that he knows one when he sees one. I’m proud of that.”

— Nick Phoenix

Jamming in EastWest Studio 1: Nick, Mickey, Chalo, lots of percussion, and lots of mics.

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11Chapter 2: Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3, An Overview

What’s Included

This Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3 library you purchased includes all of the following:

• a complete set of sample-based instruments, enumerated later in this manual

• approximately 87 Gigabytes of 24-bit, 44.1 kHz samples

• the EastWest PLAY Advanced Sample Engine

• the unique authorization code that identiﬁes the license you bought

• manuals in Adobe Acrobat format for both the EastWest PLAY System and the Quan-

tum Leap Stormdrum 3 Virtual Instrument

• an installation program to set up the library, software, and documentation on your

computer

• an Authorization Wizard for registering your license in an online database

One required item not usually included is an iLok security key. If you already have one

from an earlier purchase of software, you can use it. Otherwise, you need to acquire one.

They are available from many retailers that sell EastWest and Quantum Leap products, or

you can buy one online at www.soundsonline.com.

Hardware Requirements

See the PLAY System manual for a complete list of the Hardware and Software Require-

ments for installing and running any PLAY System library. In addition, the available

space on the hard drive required for a full installation of Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3 is

approximately 87 GB (Gigabytes).

EASTWEST | STORMDRUM 3

12

3. The Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3 User Interface

14 Round Robin Reset Button

14 Stereo Spread

15 Filter Controls

15 Reverb Controls

15 Time-Stretch Tuning

16 Sensitivity

16 The Graphical Representation of the Envelope

17 The Browser View

17 The Mixer View

18 FX Plug-ins in the Mixer View

28 The 6-Pole Filter

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13Chapter 3: The Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3 User Interface

The Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3

User Interface

Overview of the User Interface

Each library presents its own interface when one of its instruments is the current one,

as speciﬁed in the Instruments drop-down in the upper right corner. The image below

provides an overview of the entire window when in Player View.

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14Chapter 3: The Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3 User Interface

Much of this interface is shared by all PLAY System libraries, and the common features

are described in the PLAY System manual. The 6 controls described here are:

• Round Robin Reset

• Stereo Spread

• Filter

• Reverb

• Sensitivity

• the graphical representation of the Envelope

Round Robin Reset Button

A round robin articulation is one in which several different samples are recorded with all

parameters, such as volume, speed of attack, and so on, being essentially constant. The

PLAY Engine then knows to alternate between the two or more samples during playback.

The goal is to avoid what’s often called the “machine gun effect,” in which playing the

same sampled note repeatedly causes the unnatural sound of consecutive notes being

mechanically identical.

There’s one potential problem with round robin technology, and one way to

solve it is the Round Robin Reset button. The PLAY Engine remembers which

sample should be played the next time the note sounds. If, for example, a round-robin

patch contains two samples, A and B, and a piece uses that note 7 times, the PLAY

Engine plays A B A B A B A. If the piece is played again from the beginning, the engine

will play starting with B, because that’s next in order. The second rendition will be subtly

different. Being able to reset all round-robin articulations to the beginning of the cycle

allows for consistent playback.

You can use this button to reset all round robin instruments on demand. Or use your

choice of a MIDI note or MIDI control code to reset them one instrument at a time from

a MIDI keyboard or the data stored in a sequencer project. See the description of the

Settings dialog for more information about this instrument-speciﬁc approach.

Stereo Spread

The knob in this set of controls affects the apparent width of the sound of the instrument

within the soundscape. Turning the knob all the way to the left makes the sound seem

to come from a speciﬁc location as indicated by the Pan control. The more this knob is

turned to the right the wider the apparent source of the sound, making

it harder to pinpoint in the stereo ﬁeld.

The Left and Right (L and R) buttons specify the source of the audio

input for this control, the left or right channel. Note that you can click

either button to change the input to the one currently off. The button titled On must be

illuminated for the controls to have any effect.

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15Chapter 3: The Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3 User Interface

Filter Controls

The Filter controls take the sound of the instrument, and

modify it by ﬁltering out some of the sound above a certain

frequency. This type of effect is commonly called a Low

Pass Filter.

The Frequency knob determines where the sound starts to

be ﬁltered out. (In the image at the right, the frequency

is set to 2 kilohertz.) The Resonance knob speciﬁes how

much the ﬁlter “rings” at the dialed frequency. The higher

the resonance knob is set, the more focused this ringing

becomes.

The graph gives you visual cues about the frequency distribution you are creating with

the settings you select.

Make sure the On button is illuminated for this ﬁlter to have any effect.

Reverb Controls

A generic Reverb control is described in the main PLAY manual,

and that description applies here as well.

The Reverb controls in Stormdrum 3 contains an extra knob not

present in some other PLAY interfaces:

Pre-Delay

Increasing the level with this knob delays the onset of the re-

verb so that the initial section of the sample is unaffected. This

feature allows the sound of each attack to maintain its true color while the rest of the

note still gains the beneﬁt of the reverb effect.

Time-Stretch Tuning

This set of controls allows you to control the pitch, either

with or without also changing the tempo of a performance,

depending on multiple factors, as described below.

There are two related controls. One is a knob for raising or lowering the pitch. The other

control is a pair of buttons for selecting which of two kinds of re-tuning you want to use:

• On the left is option A, the original EastWest tuning approach. With Button A, you’re

changing the speed of playback in order to affect the pitch. But, if you use Button

A with a performance from the Live Loops folder, the tempo is not affected; that’s

because the tempo of those performances is controlled by the host’s tempo setting (or

when running in standalone mode, by the Engine Tempo Sync setting in the Advanced

Instrument Properties from the Main Menu). In the Live Loops folder, this Tune A op-

tion only changes the pitch.

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16Chapter 3: The Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3 User Interface

• With Button B, the playback speed remains unchanged, even as the output is re-

tuned. And that’s consistent across all folders.

In other words, in most folders, the A and B approaches are very different. But in the

Live Loops folder, the basic effect will be about the same either way, though the timbre

of the instrument may sound a little different depending on whether you select A or B.

You also have a choice between two modes: Normal Quality and High Quality. Normal

Quality is the default, and you should only consider changing to the High Quality setting

if you’re running PLAY on a more capable computer with enough processing power to

handle the extra computations required to achieve this extra level of quality. The setting

is made in the Advance Instrument Properties dialog box, which is opened from the Main

Menu. There you’ll ﬁnd ...

Note that this selection of Quality applies to the B Tuning option for all instruments and

to the A Tuning option only for loops (such as those in the Mickey hart Live Loops folder),

because loops always use time-stretching.

Sensitivity

This control deﬁnes a mapping between the velocity of the MIDI notes and the velocity

of the notes that sound. Being able to control the sensitivity is primarily useful when

playing live, for example on a keyboard or drum pad.

For example, suppose you want to play notes at the high end

of the velocity range (maybe 80 to 120, out of 127) for some

instrument, but ﬁnd it difﬁcult to play the keyboard in a way

that lets you consistently play the sounds you want. Drag up

with the mouse over the Sensitivity graph so the graph looks

like the picture at the left. A medium touch on the keyboard sounds louder than it would

otherwise and a wider range of touches will all generate sounds in the louder range you

want. Conversely, drag the graph downward to gain more control over the lower half of

the velocity range.

The Graphical Representation of the Envelope

The Envelope Controls are described in the main PLAY Sys-

tem manual because they are common to all PLAY System

libraries. Only some libraries include the graph, as shown

here, so it is included in the manuals for those libraries only.

Note that the total width of the graph represents the total

length of all phases of the envelope. Therefore, when you

change something in one part of the graph, for example,

the decay, you may see the slopes of other components, the

attack and the release, change as well because those phases become a larger or smaller

percent of the whole; this is as expected.

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17Chapter 3: The Quantum Leap Stormdrum 3 User Interface

The Browser View

The Browser behaves identically among all PLAY System libraries. Read the main PLAY

System manual for information about how to use that view.

The Mixer View

The Mixer view is new in PLAY 4. As described in the PLAY 4 manual, the Mixer view

allows the user to view and control the output from all the channels within the current

instance of PLAY. Here, you can control the loudness and the pan position, as well as

the MIDI input and the audio output channel. You can also mute or solo each track (the

M button or S button, respectively). In any PLAY virtual instrument that features multiple

microphone positions, it is also possible to mix and blend the output from those mics.

The image above shows the PLAY mixer page with the Stormdrum 3 instrument named

36in Thai Gong Hits loaded into the left-most column. At the top, “Channel 1” means

that it responds to MIDI input on channel 1 only. And where the MIDI input for the other

instrument reads “Omni,” that means it responds to all MIDI channels. Click in this

control to see a list of other input options you can select.

The small button with the fader symbol lit in yellow has been pressed to open 5 more

strips to the right, representing the 5 mics available in SD3. (Clicking on the yellow but-

ton again hides the mic strips so that you can see more channel strips, but any values

you set still apply when the strips are hidden.) The name of each mic is listed at the

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East West Sounds Stormdrum 3 User manual

East West Sounds Stormdrum 3 User manual

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