Abbey Road 60s Drummer

With the power of STUDIO DRUMMER, ABBEY ROAD | 60s DRUMMER brings legendary drums to life. Travel in time from the warm, well-rounded room-sound of the 60s to pristine, modern styles, plus everything in-between.

Get behind two 60s kits, exquisitely-recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Command your own 60s drummer in the form of a comprehensive Groove Library, and polish your sound with a detailed Mixer Section and class-A studio effects.

ABBEY ROAD | 60s DRUMMER runs in the free KONTAKT PLAYER and KONTAKT.

All drums were recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, UK, using period equipment and recording techniques.

An iconic symbol of the music industry since 1931, Abbey Road has been the location of countless landmark recordings by artists such as The Beatles, U2, Kate Bush, Oasis, Kanye West and Radiohead, to name just a few.

Abbey Road has pioneered many studio techniques and technologies, and is widely recognized as one of the most advanced recording, mixing and post-production complexes in the world.

Create the perfect drum submix completely within the instrument! All ABBEY ROAD DRUMMER instruments feature a dedicated Mixer Section and a range of high-quality studio effects, including tape saturation, convolution reverb and three big-league effects: a top-quality studio EQ, a high-end studio compressor and the awe-inspiring TRANSIENT MASTER.

And if time is tight, Mixer and Effects Presets provide instant pro sound with precision mic levels, the perfect blend of close and room mics, and just the right effects to set it all off.

Recreating the sound of an era is not just a question of EQ or effects. Only by using the instruments, the recording equipment and the techniques of the period is it possible to capture the distinctive sound.

For example: A popular drum recording technique of the 1960s was to cover the snare and toms with tea towels, for a dampened sound. These ‘tea towel’ sounds are provided here, as one of up to six different articulations per drum.

Other snare articulations include center hits, halfway hits, rimshot, flam, roll and others. Drums were recorded in up to 30 velocity layers.

Kick: 24" Gretsch Round Badge Kick

Snare 1: 14" x 5" Ludwig Jazz Festival Snare

Snare 2: 14" x 6.5" Ludwig Mahogany Snare

Hi-hat: Early 60s Zildjian Vintage Hihat

Rack Tom: 13" Gretsch Round Badge Rack Tom

Floor Tom: 16" Gretsch Round Badge Floor Tom

Cymbals: Early 60s Zildjian High Crash, Early 60s Zildjian Low Crash, Early 60s Zildjian Ride, Early 60s Zildjian Sizzle

Kick: 22" Ludwig Hollywood Kick

Snare 1: 14" x 5" Ludwig Supra-Phonic 400 Snare

Snare 2: 14" x 5.5" Radio King Snare

Hi-hat: Late 60s Zildjian Vintage Hihat

High Rack Tom: 12" Ludwig Hollywood Rack Tom

Low Rack Tom: 13" Ludwig Hollywood Rack Tom

Floor Tom: 16" Ludwig Hollywood Floor Tom

Cymbals: Late 60s Zildjian High Crash, Late 60s Zildjian Low Crash, Late 60s Zildjian Ride, Late 60s Zildjian Sizzle

Both kits were recorded using only the best period equipment, including the legendary REDD.17 valve mixing desk from 1958, an EMI TG mixing desk introduced in 1967 as well as a valve Studer J37 4 track 1-inch tape machine from 1964.

Each kit was recorded with an array of microphones from the studio's microphone collection - one of the largest in the world. A selection of classic Neumann, AKG, Sony and STC models were used to record each drum and percussion element from both close range and further away - capturing the legendary ambience of Abbey Road's Studio Two.

Detailed specs about recording equipment...

ABBEY ROAD | 60s DRUMMER was Executively Produced by Peter Cobbin, Abbey Road's Director of Engineering, recorded by Mirek Stiles and assisted by John Barrett and Kris Burton. Native Instruments sound designers Paul Maurer and Nicki Marinic were on hand to oversee the sessions. Drumming duties were performed by one of London’s top musicians, Ralph Salmins.

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The Groove Library gives you a personal session drummer — to play the drums of the era in the styles of the era.

ABBEY ROAD | 60s DRUMMER contains over 1,000 grooves, divided into five genres: Rock´n´roll, blues rock, jazz, soul/motown, and psychedelic rock, with a choice of fills and variations for each groove.

Especially if you’re not a drummer, using grooves is a quick and efficient way to produce authentic-sounding drum tracks. Find a beat you like, then simply drag and drop grooves and fills into your host sequencer to create a new MIDI pattern.

All patterns were played live by pro drummers for organic, physical authenticity. This is important because if you’re after a natural sound, you have to be aware of the real-life physical constraints of real drummers. Hit the crash, snare and floor tom all at the same time? No way.

Played grooves also possess an inherent feel and character, which is difficult to recreate with a mouse and computer keyboard.

You can adjust the grooves within the instrument. The Tightness control lets you tweak the feel of each groove in real time, from gridded precision to enigmatic slack. The Swing control adds swing, changing a straight rock beat into a loping shuffle at the twist of a dial.

Customizing the grooves themselves is simple. Once it’s in your sequencer, the groove shows up as a MIDI pattern, so you’re free to add beats, strip it down, shift and move about as required.

The Mixer Section provides ultra-precise control over the mic levels on each drum, plus overheads, stereo room mics and any other specialist mics used during the recording process. The Mix Presets put pro sound just a click away, and provide a perfect starting point for detailed tweaking.

Each snare provides faders for top and bottom mic, plus adjustable bleed level. Here, ‘bleed’ refers to how the rest of the kit rattles the snare wires — raise the bleed level for more realism.

Each drum has its own effect chain with a selection of routing options. All the updated ABBEY ROAD DRUMMER instruments include a top-quality studio EQ – a uniquely musical 4-band EQ with switchable fixed-bell curves on the low and high bands, plus adjustable Q settings on the midrange.

Also available as a fully-fledged product in its own right, this powerful compressor adds presence and drive to your drums without blurring the detail. And it’s not just for bus compression – this studio compressor is available on each of the mixer tracks.

Another premium-grade effect, also available separately —TRANSIENT MASTER is an incredibly musical and versatile tool for re-shaping sounds. Emphasize attack to make a drum hit harder, or shorten the resonance tail of a drum that rings too long. Bring drums to the front of the mix or smooth out spiky drums without touching the levels.

Like all the others, this effect is provided on each individual mixer track. By simulating the natural, harmonic compression of analog tape, the Tape Saturator adds a pleasing warmth to your sound. And pushed a little harder, it delivers a smooth, organic overdrive.

The drums were recorded in perfect acoustic conditions, and the overhead and room mic options on the mixer provide tight control over the room sound. But the updated ABBEY ROAD DRUMMER instruments take things one step further, with an integrated Convolution Reverb — 30 high-end impulse responses ranging from small rooms to big halls, for extra space and depth on your drums.