U.K.-based Spitfire Audio’s DRUMLINE is the eighth release in their Originals sample library. DRUMLINE features the California-based Blue Devils Drumline and Bugle Corps, a world-renowned marching-band music ensemble. DRUMLINE (sans bugles) was recorded at FOX’s Newman Scoring Stage in Los Angeles with the same care and outstanding recording quality as all the Spitfire sample libraries.
DRUMLINE comes bundled with its own player that gives you access to a number of free Spitfire Labs sample collections. The player has the Close (overheads), Room and Hyped microphone mixer. Room is a mix of Decca Tree, outrigger and ambient microphone arrays. The Hyped mode pitches, stretches, saturates the samples to add weight. There is a good-sounding reverb, and the Tightness control dials-in the length of the notes. There are nine presets or patches that feature approximately 1.5GB of snares, tenor drums, bass drums, and cymbals with five straightforward NKS (Native Kontrol Standard) compatible controls.
We installed DRUMLINE in Mac OS 10.15 Catalina running Logic X and it all worked the first time—we liked the player’s simple and intuitive controls. For the most part, the presets are great as they come with an organic and tight sound that would work great for either a Pop production or a big score. We found no need to “fix” anything or add effects. We liked the crescendo/swell patch but we wish they could be synched to tempo.
DRUMLINE is a collaboration between the Bleeding Fingers Music composer collective (a joint venture between composer Hans Zimmer, his business partner Steve Kofsky) and Extreme Music, the production arm of Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
DRUMLINE sells for $29 MSRP (download) and is available for AAX, AU, VST2 or 3 for MAC OSX 10.10 or later and Windows 7, 8 and 10. It also supports Native Instruments’ Native Kontrol Standard.
