SAN CLEMENTE, CA, USA: Q Up Arts is proud to acknowledge its 30th anniversary milestone as a world-class sound collections developer/licensor by re-releasing its debut Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits sample collection — combining the talents of three top-tier drummers in American heavy metal mainstays Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee, Alan White of British pre-eminent prog rockers Yes, and American studio mainstay Jim Keltner (known primarily for his session work with former members of The Beatles and many more artists), as the first single-hit drum sample library of its kind upon release, originally optimised for use with high-flying hardware samplers of the day, duly available again for anyone’s production pleasure as a 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION that still rocks while breathing new life into the legacy collection concerned, this time as a KONTAKT instrument featuring Q Up Arts’ new GUI (Graphical User Interface) ideally suited to present-day DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) workflow — as of March 1…
The talented Reek Havok has been working as a self-employed sound designer, interactive consultant, and audio technologist under the impressive-sounding Sounds Amazing! moniker that has seen him creating immersive and educational experiences for a wide variety of projects including multichannel sound design, physical interactive exhibits, ambient and thematic audio, and factory presets for a wide variety of synthesizer manufacturers for over 30 years with highlights aplenty. As such, he helped make history towards the start of his ongoing Sounds Amazing! journey when forming a powerhouse engineering and programming partnership with Q Up Arts President Douglas Morton to fully realise the creative scope and power of a series of expertly recorded hard-hitting drums sounds that made media waves when released as the first single- hit drum sample library of its kind as Q Up Arts’ debut Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits, originally optimised for use with high-flying hardware samplers of the day, such as Akai’s S1000, E-Mu’s Emulator III, Roland’s S-770, and more.
An aptly-named product if ever there was one, those ‘heavy-hitting’ celebrities to which Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits originally owed its notable name were none other than Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee — who, according to Reek Havok himself, “…hit everything really hard, so there’s really no medium hits [as] even his soft hits are loud,” Yes’ Alan White, and legendary session stickman Jim Keltner. Needless to say, those world-class drummers’ distinctive hits were expertly recorded by the likes of Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer Bob Rock — best known for producing rock bands such as Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Metallica, and, of course, Mötley Crüe — and English record producer and audio engineer Eddy Offord — who gained prominence in the Seventies for his work on albums by the progressive rock bands Emerson, Lake & Palmer and, of course, Yes — during recording sessions at world-class facilities, including what was then known as A&M Studios — itself once the headquarters to A&M Records, the longest-lived independent record label as the brainchild of American music industry magnates Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, and originally home to comic actor, filmmaker, and composer Charlie Chaplin’s namesake Chaplin Studios in the historic heart of Hollywood — as well as Hollywood’s hallowed Music Grinders and Ocean Way on Sunset Boulevard, alas both defunct, sadly, since the time when Los Angeles’ abundant recording studios ruled the music scene has arguably long gone.
Fast-forwarding to today, the timely 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of that trailblazing Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits sample collection sees Q Up Arts re- releasing its debut release as a KONTAKT instrument featuring a new GUI ideally suited to present-day DAW workflow with ATTACK, RELEASE, VELOCITY, VEL>FLTR, CUTOFF, and TONE, plus panning and tuning controls for each of those expertly recorded hard-hitting drums. As an added extra, Q Up Arts has helpfully included impulse responses from Lexicon’s lauded 300 DIGITAL EFFECTS SYSTEM, so Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits users can now access authentic-sounding reverb with creative control over their own mix of the drum sound that truly defined Eighties/Nineties rock — thanks to the GATE, SMALL STAGE, SMALL PLATE, LARGE CHAMBER, FAT PLATE, SMALL WOOD ROOM, MED. STAGE, and HUGE HALL settings that are available alongside associated self-explanatory controls for DRY WET, IR SIZE, REVERB VOLUME, and REVERB TUNING. That said, Q Up Arts has helpfully encoded the Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits re-release to work with Native Instruments’ NKS (NATIVE KONTROL STANDARD®) extended plug-in format for all virtual instrument developers — delivering intuitive and seamless interaction with the German giant’s cutting-edge KOMPLETE KONTROL S- Series keyboards, MASCHINE hardware, and third-party controllers.
Clearly, then, the re-released Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits now provides polished flexibility for making massive-sounding drum tracks! By bringing back — to the future, effectively — Q Up Arts’ debut release in such timely fashion, it is hardly surprising that company President Douglas Morton is musically moved by this 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION. “I’m stoked to be offering this amazing collection again — albeit in its new incarnation,” he states, sensibly concluding: “Great drum sounds recorded well in world-class studios are always in style.”
The 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits can be purchased and digitally downloaded as 16-bit/44kHz stereo drum samples for a time-limited introductory promo price of $49.00 USD until March 12, 2022 — rising thereafter to an MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) of $99.00 USD — from its dedicated webpage, including some superb-sounding audio demos, here: https://www.quparts.com/product-p/hhgh_knt.htm
The 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits needs the full version of Native Instruments’ KONTAKT (5.8.1 and above) to run as an NKS (NATIVE KONTROL STANDARD®) supporting plug-in instrument for Mac (OS X 10.10 or later) or Windows (7, 8, or 10 — latest Service Pack, 32/64-bit).
Watch Reek Havok of Sounds Amazing! and Q Up Arts President Douglas Morton commemorating Q Up Arts’ 30th anniversary while talking through the original release and subsequent re-release of Heavy Hitters Greatest Hits here: https://youtu.be/4kS1Z8EMp8k