EBX Expansion packs

Toontrack can ofer you something for pretty
much every occasion. The beauty of their
catalogue lies in its expansion capabilities; you
begin with their basic packages, such as
EZDrummer 2 and EZBass, and build your library
through their extensive line of expansion packs,
celebrating a wealth of musical styles.
The latest genre to get the Toontrack
makeover is Gospel. Firstly, we’ll need to point
out that these are expansion packs, so you’ll
need to have a copy of EZBass and EZDrummer
2 installed, in order to proceed. Superior
Drummer 3 users can also import the Gospel
EZX drum expansion pack, without the
requirement to cross-grade to EZDrummer.
Where the Gospel EZX ixes aim, is with
content leaning irmly in the direction of
celebratory and worship music, which arguably
ties into the Soul and Funk genre too. Stacked
with new kit sounds and percussion, Gospel will
compliment the existing EZDrummer default
content beautifully. The 1.2GB of sampled
content, captured at Paragon Studios in
Nashville, centres around three diferent drums
kits, with the usual Toontrack ability to mix and
swap sounds with comparative ease. The kits
relect diferent eras of Gospel, from the 1940s
to the present day, engineered by seven-time
grammy-award-winner, Danny Duncan.
The diverse nature of the kits is pretty
striking, from brightness and punch, through to
darker and fully rounded sounds. Thanks to a
substantial set of mixes, procured by Danny
Duncan, there’s plenty of production-ready kits
included. Some of these can sound a little labby,
dependent on the groove material employed.
We were aware of some sonic limitations, such
as a lesser ability to handle some of the subtle
drop-sticks, surrounding the main backbeat. It’s
far more stark in isolation, but once placed in
context this perception dissipates quickly, in
part thanks to the impressive kit playing of
Calvin Rodgers.
As with all EZDrummer expansion packs, it’s
the ease of use, and extensive selection of
sounds and MIDI grooves that make for a
winning formula, but as far as Gospel goes, it’s
the ability to link in the drum pack with the bass
expansion that makes light work of the genre.
The Gospel EZB expansion is a great addition
to the rightly applauded EZBass package. In
contrast to the default Toontrack EZBass
content, Gospel features the most gloriously
captured MTD USA 535 Andrew Gouche AG5
ive-string bass. This means that it extends to
beautiful tonal 5-string depths, often found in
modern funk, soul, and of course Gospel.
Included is a generous amount of suitable and
stylised MIDI content, which is transferrable in
key within the EZBass package, thanks to
Toontrack’s ingenious onboard programming
system. It’s just as easy to drag and drop into
your DAW, while sonically the pack allows for
nifty-switching between bridge and neck
position, for a contrast in sound reproduction.
All instances concentrate on inger-playing,
rather than the use of any plectrum.
Toontrack have pulled of another master
stroke with these two associated expansions;
the bass is rich, full and unbelievably realistic,
while the drums sound punchy, stylised and
very classic.
Web timespace.com, toontrack.com
Toontrack
Gospel EZX & EBX
Expansion packs
€75
In the search for new bass and drum grooves that will move the spirit,
we go to Church and get Gospel with Toontrack
Verdict
For Outstanding bass/drum sounds
Ideal for funk, soul, pop and gospel
The bass expansion is exemplary
Expansions full of highly usable presets
The ease-of-use quotient is of the scale!
Against Some snare sounds lack
variety and nuance
More MIDI content is always welcome
Usable well beyond this genre. The drum
performances are spirited and classy,
while the bass sounds utterly sublime
Gospel EZX - EZDrummer 2 9/10
Gospel EBX - EZBass 10/10
Alternatively
Ujam Phat v2
£90.00
An alternative drum system that
allows expansion
Ujam Royal
£109.00
This virtual bassist pack provides a
huge range of ingered playing
styles and phrases, triggered via
MIDI key commands
The sheer volume and breadth of Toontrack’s
expansion pack range, covers just about
every style going, from heavy duty rock,
to sensitive latin percussion, all captured
at some of the inest and most legendary
recording facilities in the world. The
comparative simplicity of these packs,
residing within the Toontrack ecosphere,
is not coincidental. While EZBass is the
comparative newcomer, it’s gathered traction
very quickly, with bass expansions being
developed to keep pace with the wealth
of drum catalogue content. For greater
detail, Superior Drummer 3 stands out, with
the added functionality allowing the user
to encompass the ever more expansive
SDX packs, with even larger amounts of
sampled content, when compared to the
EZX expansion packs. If you’re working
in production that requires variation and
quality, there’s no better place to turn for
your rhythm section source material.
Get hip to Toontrack!
August 2021 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 81
gospel ezx & ebx expansion packs / reviews <
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