Toontrack Death & Darkness SDX Expansion Pack

The Death & Darkness SDX merges two world-class studios with two of today’s most in-demand modern metal producers: Mark Lewis (Cannibal Corpse, Whitechapel, Coal Chamber) and Tue Madsen (Meshuggah, Behemoth, Hatesphere). Combined, it gives you a truly diverse and all-encompassing collection of drums designed to cater to any facet of today’s fragmented scene – from the most brutal, blast beat-ridden and breakneck-speed death metal to hard-hitting metalcore, hardcore and all the fusion-inspired hybrids of progressive metal.

The SDX was configured as two separate libraries, one for each studio. The ‘Death’ portion of the SDX was recorded by Mark Lewis at his choice studio, the Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas. The Ranch’s perfectly crafted Vincent van Haaff-designed main room offers second-to-none acoustics – pristine and distinct but still dense and with a warm, resonant and balanced natural reverb. To contrast, the ‘Darkness’ part of the SDX offers a completely different experience – a darker, less polished and more raw-natured tone of drums. It was recorded in the empty swimming pool in Tue’s longtime and much-legendary Antfarm Studio in Aarhus, Denmark. With the reflective surface of the hard tile walls and floor in the pool combined with the surrounding room’s brick structure and high ceiling, the ambience of this unique room heard on countless albums is unlike any other.

Welcome to two studios, two schools of modern engineering and an almost insurmountable amount of drums ready for you to hone, mold and shape to literally anything you can imagine sound-wise. Get ready to produce drum mixes that have the power to pierce and cut through any thick wall of guitars or extremely layered production.

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

• Nine (9) complete kits
• A total of 19 bass drums, 19 snare drums, 35 cymbals and more
• Recorded at two different studios: Sonic Ranch, TX, (by Mark Lewis) and Antfarm Studios, Denmark, (by Tue Madsen)
• Sampled with extreme attention to detail and articulation
• Configured as two sound libraries, one for each studio
• Includes custom mix presets engineered by Mark Lewis, Tue Madsen and Toontrack
• Sampled by drummers Sean Reinert and Michel Svane
• Includes MIDI performed by Sean Reinert and Jay Postones (TesseracT)

DEATH.

Size: Approx. 114 GB
Kits: 4
Bass drums: 10
Snare drums: 9 (plus alternative configurations)
Cymbals: 17
Hi-hats: 3

DARKNESS.

Size: Approx. 70 GB
Kits: 5
Bass drums: 9 (plus alternative configurations)
Snare drums: 10 (plus alternative configurations)
Cymbals: 18
Hi-hats: 3

Both considering its sheer size and to also let you, the user, decide in what capacity you ultimately want to utilize this massive sound source, the Death & Darkness SDX was configured in convenient parts designed for a specific use. At any time, you can add the parts you are missing by downloading and installing them via the Toontrack Product Manager.

These are the different download/install configurations available for both the ‘Death’ and ‘Darkness’ libraries.

MINIMAL INSTALLATION.

“Close Mic Setup”
This is a basic install of the library featuring all close, primary overhead and ambience microphones.

Death: approx. 21 GB
Darkness: approx. 16 GB

PARTIAL INSTALLATION.

“Default Mic Setup”
This is a partial install of the library featuring all close, primary overhead, ambience and all room microphones. This is the minimum install for presets to sound as intended.

Death: approx. 54 GB
Darkness: approx. 49 GB

FULL INSTALLATION.

“Full Mic Setup”
This is the full install of the library featuring all microphones and bleed.

Death: approx. 114 GB
Darkness: approx. 70 GB