Soundiron says that Apocalypse Percussion Ensemble is their industry leading scoring percussion masterpiece, and with the launch of the brand new v2.0, they are pushing it to a whole new level. A spokesperson told us, "This isn't just an update - it's a complete rebirth. We've massively upgraded it with +10 GB and nearly 9,000 new samples, with a whole galaxy of stunning new features. We've added a new far microphone position for 60 articulations, plus a new 38" gong, pedal controlled hi-hats, suspended cymbal, Tibetan finger cymbals and number of new rolls and effects. We've also fully remastered and expanded the snare ensemble section. All-new GUI features include midi loop import, playback, export and customization, a complete multi-FX rack page, an upgraded arpeggiator and roll-simulation system, easy 3-mic position loading, mixing and routing, faster loading. and custom key-mapping, with instant presets for popular drum mapping standards.  We've even included 400 hand-crafted midi grooves and tribal loops by our excellent team of pro composers and producers, ready to tweak right in the GUI or any sequencer."

Here's more details in Soundiron's own words...

APE now has over 40 different drums of all shapes, with nearly 200 articulations, an average 12x round-robin and deep velocity layering.  Weighing in at almost 25 GB with over 25,000 samples, APE is a true monster. You'll find thunderous ensemble and solo bass drums, toms of all sizes, dhols, riqs, frame drums, bongos, cajons, doumbeks, a massive snare ensemble and 6 solo snare drum types. We've also got stick clicks, clacks, hi-hats, rides, crashes, splashes, hybrid and FX cymbals, gong, finger cymbals and much more. 

Each instrument features 3 independent mic positions (close, mid and far) in every preset that you can load/unload, mix and channel route. We recorded in a large open hall with 12 pristine mics and noiseless preamps. The natural hall brings out a lush, rich tonality and truly powerful sound, with tons of punch and body - but that doesn't mean you're limited to a wet sound. We provide total room shaping control, so you can bring it down to a tight studio space when you need it. Quickly turn this massive hall ensemble into a fat, clean powerful rock drum kit with the tweak of a few knobs. This isn't just another epic drum library - it's a total percussion workshop.

The expressive "Standard" presets allow instant access to the full library in classic percussion array preset layouts.  The main "Ensemble All" preset lets you customize your key-mapping for each articulation, with map saving & loading and plenty of handy industry standard mapping layouts to choose from. The more focused section presets offer an extended articulations and deeper control. The Megamixer is perfect for custom ensemble and drum kit creation with total resource efficiency, while the Section Mixers allow absolute control over the sound of each sub-group.  Our unique Tuned Dual-Layer presets allow you to create your own multi-layered tuned percussion sounds from a huge selection of drum and cymbal articulations. And of course, we included ultra-efficient "Lite" versions of all of them to lighten the ram and CPU load when needed.

We've upgraded our ARP meta-arpeggiation system (the "Uberpeggiator") with new saving/loading and the EZ-roll mode to create adaptive grooves and sequences. We've also included a robust selection of ambient pads, drones, atmospheres and soundscapes crafted from the raw source using our own secret sauce.

The intuitive FX Rack offers chorus, flange, phase, delay, distortion, compressor, EQ, amp & speaker sims and convolution reverb, featuring 70 custom rooms, halls and unique fx impulses. This standard open-format library includes unlocked wavs and requires the full version of Kontakt 5.1 or later. The free Kontakt Player and Player Libraries rack don't support this format.

Pricing and Availability:

Apocalypse Percussion Ensemble v2.0 is on sale for only $229 through October 31st, 2013. The price goes to $249 after the intro period ends.

More information:

• Soundiron

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