Legion Series 33 Drummers Batucada

Description

In our efforts to push the limit of ensemble percussion sampling, we have traveled to Latin America to sample an outstanding Batucada ensemble. ‘Legion Series 33 Drummers’ is not only composed of a massive ensemble of 33 drummers playing in unison, but also the ensemble split into sections, summing up to 88 drums. 5 Timbas, 9 Tamborims, 6 Guaches, 11 Chocalhos, 12 Caixas (snares), 12 Repiniques, 12 Surdos (4 Bass Players, 4 mid Players, and 4 high Players), 11 Dobras and 10 Cowbells were sampled in independent sections along with two solos, making this library the most in-depth dedicated Batucada library you will ever need.

The Batucada is a Brazilian band composed exclusively of percussion instruments, traditionally accompanied by marching in a parade of costumed dancers and floats in the Brazilian Carnivals. The sound of a Batucada is incredibly powerful and could give even the loudest rock bands a run for their money. The discipline required to organize and maintain this style of tight, seamless drumming is astounding and it was an absolute joy to work with these percussive experts.

As the music is primarily composed entirely of percussive instruments we wanted to give you a detailed sonic image of each of these fantastic musicians, not only by deep-sampling the Batucada as one 33-player rhythmic ensemble in unison but also by offering you deep-sampled versions of each of the sections as well as an additional two solo player perspectives for each of the instruments. You can now play the sounds of this African influenced South American group featuring Multiple Rhythmic Variations (loops), each one with real dynamic control and round-robin, along with hundreds of articulations per instrument!

The Batucada utilizes our familiar Legion UI and features a range of front-facing options, giving easy access to control the instruments. These options include Attack, Release, Pitch, Glide and Sample Offset The Reverse, Chaos, and Stack options also allow for quick options to randomize or change the sound of the ensemble completely. The Batucada also includes our custom Chaos FX system as well as our highly intuitive 4-part XY Effects Engine for even more in-depth sound design options.

Meet The Players

The Timba is a long drum that produces low tones and is played with the hands. The Tamborim is a small, round frame drum with a  head typically made of nylon tightly tuned to ensure a high, sharp timbre, providing a minimum amount of sustain – it is the soul of samba music. The Dobra is the mid-range drum or known as the melody drum and usually plays intricate patterns of drumming. The Surdos in a standard Batucada exist in three different sizes (Low – Mid – High) and commonly provide the heartbeat and power of the ensemble.

Meet The Players

The Guaches are metallic shakers filled with various types of beads and seeds. Chocalhos are two-handed metallic shakers (formerly bottle caps) typically used as a supporting instrument to sustain the rhythm, heavily contributing to the “swing” of the batucada. The Caixa is what gives character to the batucada. Played with two wooden sticks, keeps the bright character alive. The Caxia helps establish the tempo and adds flourishes between in the Surdos. The Repinique is a high-pitched tom-tom that helps fill in the breaks of the lower instruments and is typically used for call and response or complex syncopated ostinato patterns. You will usually see the Repinique doubling the snares or Caixa. The Cowbells or Agogô provide one of the highest tones of the Batucada.

Advanced Features

Our Legion Series contains a comprehensive array of intuitive controls. Instantly stack and combine as many articulations as you want. Reverse any sound with a single click. Adjust the speed, pitch, and sample offset with just a touch of a dial. Everything is quick, easy and intuitive, so you can concentrate on what is most important – the music.

4 Part Effects Engine

Legion Series 33 Drummers “Batacuda” also contains our familiar 4-part Effects Engine for extreme and easy sound processing. Each of the 4 effect modules includes an X/Y Matrix that can be assigned to an effect such as Filters, Distortion, Lo-Fi, Rotator, Delay, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Reverb, and Convolution Reverb. The X/Y parameters can be assigned to any of the effects settings and mapped to any MIDI CC so you have total control over each effect. The familiar UI also includes both a Sequencer and Modulation tab which allow you to further manipulate the samples.