Review: Claustrophobic EZX Delivers Contemporary Drum Sounds
(mtebaldi | Posted 2010-08-05)
The Claustrophobic EZX is another expansion pack for Toontracks EZdrummer and Superior Drummer. Focusing to accommodate hip hop, R&B, and Pop producers need for the execution of contemporary and radical beats of todays music, this pack is filled with cutting edge sounds. Curious about why they named this pack Claustrophobic? Once loaded, you will see. Just like the room this mega kit will appear within in your EZdrummer, all the drum samples were captured in a very small studio drum room, and thats what has made it possible to create all the in-your-face, tight and powerful sounds you will be manipulating. Coming with a great selection of drums, cymbals and percussion sounds, what makes this expansion pack unique is that it offers (in its internal mixer) the ability for manipulation of four different effects (compression, distortion, attack and reverb) while giving you the power to save your own settings as presets. With them, you can create different musical textures every time, without ever leaving EZdrummer.
The Grooves library comes with hundreds of pre-programmed beat variations. There you will find the Basic Kit Grooves that contains slow pocket beats, slow funk, hi hop, funk/rock, latin hybrid, funk/rock up tempo, pop, rudaments (is this the gangsta way of saying rudiments?), swing, breaks, and fills. And if you thought that wasnt enough, the Claustrophobic EZX accommodates two more beats libraries; the Extended Kit Grooves and Extra Grooves. The former offering dozens of beat variations, each categorized under its recommended tempo, from 80 BPM to 150 BPM. The Extra Grooves is comprised of intro, chorus, fills and full beat variations arranged under dozens of groove styles, giving you a nice push in the back since offers all the beats needed when producing a song from start to finish.
Since great quality drum sounds are nothing new to you once youve started working with any Toontrack products, its their commitment on creating a product that helps you on your music production needs that compels me to give Toontrack my compliments this time. A collection of perfectly crafted sounds and grooves designed especially for the creation of contemporary music like the Claustrophobic EZX, leaves producers with no excuses for not achieving a sick beat.
Here is the list of instruments samples available with this EZX pack:
Kickdrums:
15" Cocktail Kick No TopSkin
15" Cocktail Kick
15" Cocktail Kick Loose TopSkin
15" Cocktail Kick Towel
22" Premier Gen-X1
22" Premier Gen-X Lower
20" Premier Artist Birch Heritage
20" Premier Artist Damped1
20" Premier Artist Damped2
22" Premier Gen-X Open
22" Premier Gen-X Open2
22" Premier Gen-X Damped
22" Premier Gen-X Damped2
22" Premier Gen-X Damped with Cymbal
12" Tom
12" Tom Damped
22" Premier Gen-X2
22" Premier Gen-X2 NoSnares
Snaredrums:
13" Tama Steel
14" Premier Gen-X
14" Premier Gen-X with Crash
12" Tama
14" Tama Superstar Low
12" Pearl
14" Tama Superstar High
14" Tama Superstar with Brushes
8" Yamaha Steve Jordan
High Snaredrums:
8" Yamaha Clubkit Snare
12" Pearl
13" Tama
13" Tama with Cymbal
13" Tama with Brushes
Racktom 1:
10" Premier Gen-X - Sticks
10" Premier Gen-X - Damped
10" Premier Gen-X - Sticks2
10" Premier Gen-X - Brushes
10" Premier Gen-X - with Cymbal
Racktom 2:
12" Premier Gen-X - Sticks
12" Premier Gen-X - Damped
12" Premier Gen-X - Sticks2
12" Premier Gen-X - Brushes
12" Premier Gen-X - with Cymbal
Floortom 1:
14" Premier Gen-X - Sticks
14" Premier Gen-X - Damped
14" Premier Gen-X - Sticks2
14" Premier Gen-X - Brushes
14" Premier Gen-X - with Cymbal
Floortom 2:
16" Premier Gen-X - Sticks
16" Premier Gen-X - Damped
16" Premier Gen-X - Sticks2
16" Premier Gen-X - Brushes
16" Premier Gen-X - with Cymbal
Hats:
14" K Zildjian - A Zildjian New
10" K Zildjian - A Zildjian
15" K Zildjian - 16" MEINL
14" K Zildjian Brushes
Extra Hats 1:
12" Istanbul / 12" K Zildjian Hats
Extra Hats 2:
13" Istanbul / 13" A Zildjian New Beat Hats
Crash A:
16" K Zildjian Dark Crash Thin
14" K Zildjian Dark Crash Thin
18" Paiste Full Crash
20" Istanbul Nostalgia
16" K Zildjian Dark Crash Thin - Brushes
Crash B:
18" K Zildjian Dark Crash
16" Paiste Thin Crash
18" Istanbul Crash
18" K Zildjian Dark Crash - Brushes
Splash:
10" Splash K Zildjian
8" A Zildjian Splash
12" Istanbul Splash
13" Istanbul Splash
10" Splash K Zildjian - Brushes
Ride:
20" K Zildjian Custom
20" K Zildjian Custom Dry Light
20" Sabian ED Thigpen Crystal Ride
20" Sabian Ride - Sticks
20" Sabian Ride - Brushes
China:
16" Spock K Dark Crash / 12" LP China Top
18" Zildjian Dark Crash / 16" MEINL Dragon
18" Paiste Medium Lite China
19" Istanbul Mel Lewis CrashRide
19" Istanbul Mel Lewis CrashRide - Brushes
Large Cowbell:
Large Cowbell
Small Cowbell
Small Cowbell:
Small Cowbell
Cabasa:
Cabasa LP Small
Cabasa LP Large
Tambourine with Hands:
Tambourine with Hands
Tambourine with Sticks:
Tambourine MEINL with Sticks
Tambourine LP with Sticks
Snaps:
Snaps
Claps:
Claps
Footstomps:
Footstomps
Triangle:
Triangle
Bells:
Bells
Shaker:
Shaker
Chimes:
Chimes
For more information about this product, visit www.toontrack.com.
Make sure to check my other reviews about Toontracks produtcs:
EZdrummer http://www.musicgearreview.com/article-display/3423.html
Drum Kit From Hell EZX - http://www.musicgearreview.com/article-display/3457.html
