Hans Zimmer Percussion – Review

A couple of days ago Spitfire Audio released Hans Zimmer Percussion, a percussion sample library for Native Instruments Kontakt or Kontakt Player (Version 5.6.8 or higher). The new Hans Zimmer Percussion library is a consolidation of the two existing libraries HZ01 and HZ03 with some face lifting and new features. All percussion instruments of this library where recorded at Air Studios in London as almost all Spitfire libraries. Therefore HZP will blend extremely well with other Spitfire libraries. In the close future Spitfire will also release the bigger brother Hans Zimmer Percussion Professional with additional microphone perspectives and mixes not only from Hans Zimmer but Junkie XL, Alan Meyerson, Steve Lipson and Geoff Foster.

Main features and facts:

Brand new, intuitive and beautiful GUI
NKS-ready
HZ01 and HZ03 content in one library
World class percussionists: Frank Ricotti, Gary Kettel, Stephen Henderson, Paul Clarvis
12225 Samples
48.5 GB Uncompressed .WAV
Drum ensembles and key solo instruments:
- Low Booms, Low Boom Gallery, Taiko Ensemble, Tamtam Ensemble, Boobams Ensemble, Hi Taiko Solo, Low Taiko Solo, Large Taiko Solo, Bass Drum Gallery Solo, Gong Drum Gallery Solo, Surdu Ensemble, Dohl Ensemble, Tombek Ensemble, Bombo Ensemble, Buckets & Snares Ensemble, Buckets & Crushers Ensemble, Bucket Top & Darbuka, Snare, Crusher, Darbuca, Paper Djun, Darbucket, Piatti, Anvils, Timpani Ensemble
Close, room and ambient perspectives mixed by Hans Zimmer
Free Kontakt Player Included

The Setup

As with all Spitfire Audio products, the setup and installation of Hans Zimmer Percussion is super easy. Spitfire provides a nice and clever tool called the Spitfire Audio Library Manager. It downloads and installs the complete library automatically to the chosen location once you are connected and logged in. The app even checks if there are software updates and new sample contents available.

What’s inside Hans Zimmer Percussion

As mentioned above the new library is a consolidation of the two existing libraries HZ01 – London Ensembles and HZ03 – London Soloists and contains everything from these two libraries. A huge benefit is the new Kontakt interface (GUI) and all Hans Zimmer percussion samples recorded at Air Studios in one place.

Presets / Articulations

Taiko Ensemble

Ensemble – Hit
Ensemble – Roll
High – Hit
High – Roll
High – Puilli Hit
High – Rim Hit
Low – Hit
Low – Roll
Low – Rim Hit
Low – Puilli Hit
Large – Hit
Large – Roll
Large – Rim Hit
Large – Puilli Hit

Paper Djun

Ensemble – Hit
Ensemble – Roll
Solo – Hit
Solo – Hit (alt)
Solo – Roll

Bombo Ensemble

Hard Hit
Hard Roll
Soft Hit
Soft Roll
Hand Hit
Hand Roll
Finger Roll
Flam

Surdo Ensemble

Ensemble – Hit
Ensemble – Roll
Solo – Hit
Solo – Roll

Low Boom

Hard Hit
Hard Roll
Soft Hit
Soft Roll
Rim Hit
Rim Roll
Puilli Hit
Puilli Roll

Low Boom Gallery

Hard Hit
Hard Roll
Soft Hit
Soft Roll
Rim Hit
Puilli Hit

Bass Drum Gallery

Hard Hit
Hard Roll
Soft Hit
Soft Roll
Rim Hit
Puilli Hit

Gong Drum

Hard Hit
Hard Roll
Soft Hit
Soft Roll
Rim Hit
Puilli Hit
Alt Hit

Dhol Ensemble

Ensemble – Stick Hit
Ensemble – Hand Hit
Solo – Hand Hit
Solo – Hand Top
Solo – Hand Bottom
Solo – Stick Hit
Solo – Stick Top
Solo – Stick Bottom

Darbuka

Hit
Fist
Slap
Tap

Snare

Hit
Flam
Roll

Tombek Ensemble

Ensemble – Hit
Ensemble – Slap
Ensemble – Tap
Solo – Hit
Solo – Slap
Solo – Tap

Boobam

Random Hit
Random Rod
Beater Hit – F3
Beater Hit – G3
Beater Hit – A3
Beater Hit – B3
Beater Hit – C4
Rod Hit – F3
Rod Hit – G3
Rod Hit – A3
Rod Hit – B3
Rod Hit – C4
Hand Hit – F3
Hand Hit – G3
Hand Hit – A3
Hand Hit – B3
Hand Hit – C4
Hand Hit – D4
Hand Hit – E4
Hand Hit – F4

Buckets

Solo – Hit
Solo – Flam
Solo – Roll
+ Snares Ens – Hit
+ Snares Ens – Flams
+ Snares Ens – Roll
+ Crushers Ens – Hit
+ Crushers Ens – Roll
+ Darbuca Ens – Hit
+ Darbuca Solo – Hit
+ Darbuca Solo – Hit (alt)

Tamtam

Hit
Scrape
Scrape (long)
Scrape (Choke)
Scrape (Spatial)
Roll
Roll (Spatial)
Roll (Inverse)

Metal

Piattis – Hit
Piattis – Choked Hit
Anvils – Hit
Crusher – Hit
Crusher – Roll

Timpani:

Hard Stick Hit
Soft Stick Hit
Rod Stick Hit
Hard Stick Roll
Soft Stick Roll
Rod Stick Roll

Patches

Within the library are 2 main patches. The first is containing all the atonal percussion instruments and the second one contains the timpani which can be played chromatically. The new GUI is very easy to use and self explanatory. You can easily switch to the different sounds and change all parameters to your liking.
There is also a sub folder _Presets available in HZP where all individual percussion instruments can be browsed and loaded individually.

Watch the Hans Zimmer Percussion Walkthrough

Mic perspectives

Spitfire Audio was recording all the different percussion instruments with the 3 different microphone positions close (C), room (R) and surround (S) at Air Studios in London (http://www.airstudios.com/), where most of the other Spitfire libraries where recorded as well. For more mic perspectives and mixes there will come the Hans Zimmer Percussion Professional library.

Cinematic blockbuster percussion sound in a box

If it comes to massive cinematic, epic and expensive sounding percussion sounds for the next game- or film score this library is a must. Everything feels very dynamic, realistic and has the magic cinematic sound we all know from countless brilliant Hans Zimmer soundtracks. Credible rhythm sections can be layed out in seconds with HZP. To play with all the different percussion instruments is very inspirational and a pleasure. Especially the extreme low end and the stunning ambience of this library are extraordinary. Also worth to mention is that there are also some really nice metal and tamtam (Cymbal) sounds that make you stand out from the crowd.

This library, which has a very reasonable price by the way, sound not be missed in any modern film composers arsenal.

Hans Zimmer Percussion can be purchased and digitally downloaded from Spitfire Audio for €399 (currently for and introduction price of €299) from here:
Spitfire Audio | Hans Zimmer Percussion