With Slate’s Trigger being an industry-leading application for sample replacement, we wondered if it might include some of the technology in SSD 5, but sadly not. Since the last SSD release, Toontrack has raised the bar significantly by combining a mammoth library with additional features such as effects processing, sample replacement and more. Another welcome addition is that of hand claps, cowbell and tambourine, which while simple are a handy inclusion. But even with the inclusion of some more jazz and vintage-oriented sounds, there’s still a signature flavour of SSD’s modern sonic aesthetic. There are some phenomenal kits included within the new Deluxe 2 sample set ranging from pointy, weighty kits brimming with clarity and cut, to big, open, roomy-sounding drums. Steven Slate Drums has always been known for its heavy, rock-friendly sound, and this is no exception.
There’s a lot of flexibility for sound properties such as pitch, close/room mic position blending, dynamic response and an adsr envelope for each kit part Likewise, whatever is going on under the hood has worked: the samples feel and sound more ‘organic’ in response to our hits, with a much more natural, less mechanical sound between velocity levels, even with the kits and samples from earlier versions. We were pleased to see though, that the presets mapped perfectly to our Roland kit’s default MIDI notes straightaway, where in previous versions there was an element of rearranging the mapping. While there are certainly a number of changes in the interface, the first impression is definitely one of familiarity if you’ve used Steven Slate Drums before. In all it was about two hours from our first download starting to us hitting a pad. While it did take a while for us to download and get set up, it was painless, and we’d suggest setting your computer going while you’re doing something else.
It’s worth noting that all of Slate’s products require an iLok dongle, or iLok account to authorise.
#STEVEN SLATE DRUMS 4 OR 5 PLUS#
The library is split into eight parts, plus the plug-in itself. We started our review by downloading the samples from the company’s site.
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