Epic Redefined

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Instrument Details

The sound of DAMAGE comes from loops, kits, and effects. All loops and kits are designed for seamless layering and maximum flexibility, and loosely classified in four styles: Epic Organic, Epic Tech, Industrial Electronic, and Mangled Pop.

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Artists

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Behind The Damage

The Road To Damage

Our goal was to break new ground by combining traditional drums with found-sounds to create a unique sonic blend. In our journey to capture an eclectic mix of percussive instruments, we decided early on that recording sources in multiple locations with different configurations would give DAMAGE the depth we were looking for.

We captured sound sources at Heavyocity’s studio in New York, Prism Sound Studios ‘The Church’ in Boston, Skyline Studios’ A Room in Manhattan, a junkyard in Connecticut and other locations

Two Years of Detail

Over the course of two years, we captured in-depth recordings of unique percussion. Over 26,500 samples were recorded at 96 kHz, 24-bit (all meticulously downsampled to 44.1 kHz 24-bit) using state of the art equipment, including SSL and Neve large format consoles, API, Wunder, Neve and Avalon Mic pre/EQs, and AKG, Mojave, Sennheiser, Lawson and Neumann Microphones.

A large part of DAMAGE’s deeply-sampled material consists of ensemble-style recordings. We captured these ensembles so they would deliver detailed performance dynamics (most with 9 round robins and 6 velocities) and a wide range of impact.

Deliberate Destruction

Staying true to the Heavyocity sound, we injected a darker, more aggressive side to DAMAGE (thus its name). We created high-impact one-shot hits by layering processed sounds, EQed with a $h!t-Ton of bottom.

One real standout kit is the signature ‘DAMAGE Hits’, providing devastating cinematic hits with unnerving tonal pads controlled with the mod wheel.

Processing Damage

Manipulating the source material once it was captured was an equally important part of developing DAMAGE’s unique sound.

With Heavyocity’s ‘Music-Meets-Sound Design’ approach, we’ve always used a lot of outboard gear, plug-ins and layering of unconventional sounds to achieve inspiring sonic results.

Designing The User Interface

The DAMAGE GUI (Graphical User Interface) was a challenge. It had to be intuitive and inspiring, and incorporate both the rhythmic suites (loops) and the percussive kits (multi-samples/one shots). Instead of a one-size-fits-all-approach, we created GUIs for each instrument type.

We wanted the interface to exude a gritty attitude, and make people want to get their hands on it. After months of brainstorming and many revisions, we found just the right balance between functionality, playability, and plenty of attitude.

Damage Effects

DAMAGE provides simple, intuitive ways to alter the sounds without leaving the interface. You have control over EQ, Filter, Tuning, and a wide range of master effects (Distortion, Lofi, Reverb, Delay, Compression). In many of the percussive kits, you also have the ability to tune, filter, and equalize each drum individually.

In addition to the master controls and effects, every preset contains the signature Punish Knob. Combining saturation, distortion, compression, and limiting, the Punish Knob creates an effect that can be both musical and devastating.

“It Came From Over There..”

One key feature for the multi-mic kits is the ability to place the drums in the stereo field. The Stage tab, found in presets with deeply sampled percussion and cinematic single-shots, allows you to quickly and easily place a drum in 1 of the 35 positions on a ‘stage’.

Using the three Master Mixer faders, you can easily change the decay characteristics and balance of the close, room and hall mic positions. You can also solo and mute each mic position, or decrease the sample footprint by purging unused microphone positions.

Customizing The Grooves

With such a diverse collection of percussive loops, we wanted to provide a way to radically alter the grooves. The single loop ‘modifier’ controls allow you to reverse the order, stutter, skip, and randomize the playback of the loops’ slices on the fly. We actually exceeded our own expectations here — you can twist and reshape the loops into entirely different forms, making these little monsters your own.

You can change the tuning, level and pan of each slice. And for detailed rearrangement, just drag the loop’s MIDI data into your host sequencer.

Trigger FX 2.0

With expanded control parameters, DAMAGE’s T-FX page builds on the successful ‘Trigger FX’ introduced in Evolve Mutations 2. Using your MIDI keyboard, you can add Punch, Phaser, Rotator, LoFi, Glitch FX, Pitch Sweeps, Filter Sweeps, and Delay to loops and single-shot drum kits, to mangle and tweak on the fly.

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