Toontrack Midi Pack

Raw, pummeling rhythm guitar tones. Soaring leads, ambient clean settings and special effects. Thick, in-your-face bass amp simulations, an array of tools for drums, vocals and keyboards. This EZmix Pack covers the ins and outs of metal mixing and comes directly from the desk of one of today’s premier names in the game; Colin Richardson.

Sweden is one of the largest music exporters in the world. How a country of some ten million people has managed to become a cogwheel in the international hit-making community is a slight mystery. However, fact remains that since the heydays of ABBA and through to today, Sweden – and particularly Stockholm – has produced songwriters, artists and hits across all genres imaginable in an almost assembly line-like fashion. Regardless the reason, with this collection of sounds we’ve set out to bring some of that mojo straight to your desktop.

Toontrack wanted to capture the essence of the Americana genre the raw, untamed and no frills sound that defined the music that rose out of rebelling the mainstream country and rock establishment in the 1990s. Where better to do this than in its very stronghold, Austin, TX, and through the guidance of seasoned engineer Mark Hallman (Carole King, Dan Fogelberg)?

EZkeys Mellotoon is based on the Mellotron keyboard introduced in the early 1960s. This unique instrument was the first of its kind to include samples of real instruments, but as opposed to the modern-day digital sampler, the Mellotron pulled them off a magnetic tape loop that ran inside the keyboard. It came with various sounds for piano, strings, flutes, brass and is likely best described as the first-ever “band in a box”.

The instrument in question is a Steinway* D-274, one of the world’s most heralded instruments of its kind and a top pick for concert halls around the world. Measuring 274 centimeters in length, this majestic and one-of-a-kind colossus is a marvel of engineering and craftsmanship involving 12,000 individual parts assembled with utmost detail. To capture it, where better to turn than the main hall at Galaxy Studios – the very room in which the core library for Superior Drummer 3 and several other Toontrack libraries were recorded. Boasting 330 square meters and a daunting floor-to-ceiling height, it has an ambience tailored for natural but controlled reverberation. To offer flexible use in anything from the full-scale and orchestral down to the intimate and scaled-down, the recording setup included an array of 19 individual microphones. In the final product, these mics are used to give you mix-ready presets showcasing the instrument in a wealth of different mic configurations and timbres. In addition to the sounds and the presets, a basic collection of MIDI unique to the product and tailored for the instrument is included.

For the past decade and counting, Toontrack has recorded drums in some of the world's best studios, with some of the most esteemed engineers, with the most in-demand players and with only the best of the best in terms gear at their disposal. With sounds recorded in legendary studios like New York's Hit Factory, London's 2Khz Studio or where Nashville's A-list clientele go, Blackbird Studios, the Pop! EZX is the culmination of years of relentless recordings and a true testament to the company's search for the perfect sound.

The Ambient EZmix Pack is a collection of settings specifically aimed at creating large, reverberant soundscapes. A creative toolbox, perfect for use in atmospheric compositions spanning anything from motion picture scores to modern pop and a wide array of other musical contexts.

The classic sounds and MIDI groove content from the first generation of EZdrummer. Timeless drums spanning the whole range of pop and rock – captured in perfect sonic detail in one of the world's top studios!

Including the model that has forever etched its name in music history as the bar-none pick for session players across all genres and styles, this EBX was designed to serve as the ultimate go-to expansion for EZbass. Equipped with flatwound strings and recorded both direct in and through a custom flip-top-style amp, it will lend you a workhorse of an instrument with an enormous tonal span.