Smaller 909:
Good things come in smaller packages
A 909 sample library for EXS24 and Kontakt with a reasonable size, a reasonable price, and great sound. It has enough knob-positions to capture the full range of sounds from each drum, and round robin samples for the analog drums that sound slightly different each time they are played. It sounds like this:
The 96kHz version is 797MB and the 44.1kHz version is 370MB. The size of the library was kept relatively small using simple techniques that reduce the number of samples and also provide more variations of the snare and bass drum:
- The tone and noise parts of the snare are separate samples. By separating them and then layering them back together it is possible to create the entire range of 909 snare drum sounds with much fewer samples.
- The attack-click was separated from the bass drum. This means any attack knob position can be recreated with less samples.
The manual documents all EXS24 and Kontakt programs. It also includes the simple license.
Modified bass drum
To get the widest variety of bass drum sounds, the bass drum of the 909 that was sampled for this library was modified. The range of the tune and decay knobs was increased, and a pitch knob was installed (More about the modifications here). Most of the examples on this page use sounds of the modified bass drum. One of the nice things made possible by the modifications are these 808-like booms:
The audio examples on this page are completely dry, without effects or EQ, to give you an accurate impression of what the library sounds like. Download them as WAV files (35MB).
Kontakt programs
Programs made with Kontakt's scripting language let you adjust the sound of each drum with knobs, a bit like a real 909:
Click here to see a full size screenshot of all drums (in the manual).
EXS24 and Kontakt programs
The programs above are impossible to create with EXS24, but there is also a set of programs that are more or less identical for booth EXS24 and Kontakt. These programs give you access to all sounds, only in a different way. Please see the manual for details. They are more versatile than the programs above because they let you play many knob combinations of the same drum at the same time. All audio examples on this page were made with these programs and EXS24.
96kHz and 44.1kHz
The library comes in 24bit 96kHz and 24bit 44.1kHz versions. They are identical except that one has 96kHz samples and the other 44.1kHz samples. The samples and programs have names ending with 96k or 44k so that they can be installed at the same time without conflict.
If you are using a hardware sampler, a 16bit 44.1kHz version is also available. This is just samples (WAV files). There are no round robin samples and no programs.
All versions are included in the purchase. You can download any or all of them.
Technical details
The samples were recorded straight into a Lynx Aurora digital converter, without mic-preamps, compressors, DI-boxes, transformers or anything else that could color the sound. The recordings where edited into samples using a purpose-written algorithm for best results.
The programs for EXS24 work with Logic Studio or Express version 8.0 or later. The programs for Native Instruments Kontakt need the full version of Kontakt 4.0 or later (the free Kontakt Player won't work).
The samples are standard WAV files. The 24bit 96kHz and 24bit 44.1kHz versions contain 2924 samples each. The 16-bit version for hardware samplers contain 618 samples.
The library is available as a digital download only.