Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars
Sonuscore’s original Trinity Drums library (reviewed in the November 2016 issue of SOS) delivered a combination of orchestral and electronic/industrial drums in a Kontakt‑based format that made it very easy to build the big, hard‑hitting, drum cues that are so prevalent within action‑based film or TV. With its 100 ‘themes’, each with three sonic layers — high, mid and low — that offered pattern variations, the option to play the same sounds freehand, and the ability to mix and match layers between different themes, it made creating a custom cinematic drum cue very easy.
Sonuscore are now back with Trinity Drums 2. It does all of the above (because it includes all the themes from the original) but with considerably more content and a refreshed, slicker UI offering an improved preset browser. The new version requires Kontakt 6.7.1 or higher (the free Player version is supported) and ships with over 500 core drum sounds (with around 4GB of content) designed by Sonuscore collaborators Boom Library. The number of themes has been doubled with a further 100+ new preset themes sitting alongside those from the original. As before, each theme offers three sound layers, each occupying a different frequency range and, for each layer within a theme, five pattern variations and a couple of single‑shot sounds are available for triggering. The key mapping makes the triggering very flexible, so you can trigger all three layers from a single key, or mix and match different layer combinations, or different patterns from each layer, as well as adding the single‑shot sounds for additional variety. By default, you can add further volume dynamics via the mod wheel.
Clicking on the preset name (top centre of the Main page) opens the improved browser. This now includes tempo‑based filtering as well as options for filtering for v1/v2 themes, cinematic/modern styles and time‑base. As before, a Mixer page lets you adjust the balance between the three layers and apply a degree of Boost (adding extra punch and aggressiveness; this is a good target for automation) and this is also where you can mix and match individual layers between themes. The FX page provides EQ, distortion, compression, transient shaping, a filter and lo‑fi options for each layer as well as a global delay and reverb.
...the easy interface and impactful and film/TV‑ready sonics provide Trinity Drums 2 with a winning combination.
Trinity Drums 2 certainly packs a punch, and the expanded theme content just means it’s even easier to find something to inspire a new cue or fit into an existing one. What’s more, this doubling of the content is delivered at a reduced price compared to the original, and Sonuscore do offer a modest discount for owners of v1 wanting to upgrade to the new release. OK, so there are other modern cinematic drum libraries that offer more options for those wanting to play in every hit of their own performances but, for busy media composers needing results fast, the easy interface and impactful and film/TV‑ready sonics provide Trinity Drums 2 with a winning combination.
€99
$99