THE SOUND OF NOW

After visiting three classic decades of drums – from the swinging sixties, the rock & disco flavored seventies into the massive gated eighties – London's world famous studios and our Berlin team now present their fourth collaboration: ABBEY ROAD | MODERN DRUMS. You'll find nothing but the highest quality contemporary drum sounds – the dream setup for modern pop and rock producers. As with the60s,70s and80s Drums, there are no emulations or modeling of any kind and only the best, most exclusive equipment was used. Recorded in the legendary spaces of Abbey Road's Studios Two and Three, there's two modern-classic kits ready to use in your DAW.

Two top-of-the-line drum kits were thoroughly recorded: a Drum Workshop Collector’s Series from the mid 90s as well as a Pearl Reference kit from the mid 00s. Drum Workshop (DW) are well known for their exceptionally high standards and innovative direction in the art of making drums. This maple Collector’s Series kit recorded in Studio Two, which we call the 'White Kit', is the best from this flagship line of custom made American drums. Pearl is a name synonymous with rock & roll since the 60s. The Reference kit recorded in Studio Three, otherwise known as the 'Sparkle Kit', debuted on the market in 2005 and is still the highest quality commercially available kit in Pearl’s current range.

Every care has been made to ensure the most accurate recordings possible, preserving the true character of the original drums. The DW kit was tuned with a slightly ‘rockier’ sound in mind than the more ‘poppy’ sounding Pearl kit, but remember there are no rules!

Over 40,000 individual samples with up to 27 velocities were recorded with a choice mixture of brand new state-of-the-art equipment and highly sought after vintage gear to reflect the true sound of professional modern drums. From Abbey Road's vast collection of microphones (one of the biggest in the world) the high-end modern Brauner VM1 was used alongside classic vintage microphones like the Neumann U47.

Punchy, clean sounding SSL 9K microphone preamps are mixed with colourful classics such as the Redd 51 and EMI TG12428, while further processing went through modern favourites like the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor. Vintage treasures like the Fairchild 660 compressor/limiter ensured the dynamics were nothing short of exciting. The analog signals were then translated into the digital domain using state-of-the-art Prism ADA-8 A/D converters.

We've included a great selection of speciality drums to suit your creative needs. Kick drums were recorded with an adapted Yamaha NS10 loudspeaker re-wired as a mic, giving a deeper, punchier sound. Special 'splash on snare' sounds were recorded with the Pearl kit, allowing a choice between a dead, processed sound or a raw sound similar to processed hand claps. 3 different Sabian Chopper cymbals were recorded in both Studios, great for sharp, trashy hats, and the unique Zildjian Spiral Trash effect cymbal was captured in Studio Two, so there's plenty to choose from.