NI Abbey Road Drummer Series

These new instruments allow musicians and producers to create acoustic drum tracks, combining sampled drums, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, with a Groove Library and a Mixer Section with studio effects. This 'Drums, Studio, Drummer’ approach was pioneered recently in Native Instruments’ Studio Drummer, the company says, and the new Abbey Road Drummer instruments use the same technical framework, based on Kontakt 5. The instruments run in the latest version of Kontakt 5 or the free Kontakt 5 Player. Owners of existing Abbey Road Drummer products are entitled to a free upgrade to the new version of the instruments they own.

Each of the four Abbey Road Drummer instruments includes a Groove Library with 1,000 grooves, variations and fills. The grooves complement the sound of each instrument: Abbey Road 60s Drummer includes rhythms for rock’n’roll, blues, jazz, soul/motown and psychedelic rock, for example. The grooves are provided as MIDI files, and can be transferred into a host sequencer via drag-and-drop for editing and arrangement. For drummers, the software offers MIDI mapping templates for various electronic drum sets and third-party drum software, plus custom mapping options.

The mixer section of the Abbey Road Drummer Series gives control over mic levels on each drum, plus overheads, stereo room mics, snare bleed, and other specialist mics used during the recording process. Mix presets for each kit provide a selection of templates based on known styles and techniques. Each drum has its own effect chain with a selection of routing options. The selection of effects includes a number of separately-available products, including a studio EQ, a studio compressor and Transient Master, plus tape saturation and a convolution reverb.

The drum kits, recording techniques and equipment used for each instrument are typical of the period. Abbey Road 60s Drummer provides a Gretsch Round Badge kit from the early 60s and a late 60s Ludwig Hollywood kit. A Ludwig Vistalite Tequila Sunrise kit and a vintage Premier kit provide the basis of Abbey Road 70s Drummer, with sounds ranging from “tight, funky and precise to bombastic heavy rock, ” according to NI. Abbey Road 80s Drummer provides a Yamaha 9000 and a Slingerland Magnum kit – plus a full set of Octobans for 80s sounds, “from edgy new wave to big-budget power metal.” Abbey Road Modern Drummer delivers the sound of contemporary rock and pop (“well-rounded, with a crisp, top-end and plenty of sub-bass”) – from a Pearl Reference kit and a Drum Workshop Collector’s Series kit from the mid-90s.

Pricing & Availability:

The Abbey Road Drummer Series is now available at the NI Online Shop on DVD and as a download for $119 / 99 EUR per instrument. All four instruments are also available as a bundle, for $349 / 299 EUR.

Additional information on this special offer is available at www.native-instruments.com/abbeyroaddrummerseries.