Best Service Peking Opera Percussion
This is 3GB of multisampled Chinese drum and percussion one-shots and articulations, divided into four categories.
The Jingda low and high hand percussion sets are made up of small gongs, blocks and cymbals. The Drum category features three types of drum: the big jiangu, the smaller huapengu and the pitched 12-piece paigu set. For the jiangu and huapengu, both solo and five-player ensemble patches are included.
Two types of Bell are represented: the qing and the bianzhong. Cymbals and Gongs includes the melodic yunluo set, with keyswitching of two stick types. Overall, it's a riotous and satisfyingly varied collection of velocity-layered metals and drums, well laid out for performance or triggering with the included MIDI loops.
The custom Engine player interface offers only basic editing, though more is available via Engine's Advanced page. Still, what POP lacks in bespoke editing, it more than makes up for sonically.
MusicRadar Rating
Pros
Beautifully realised, varied and unusual percussion collection.
Cons
Nothing really.
Verdict
Sounds simply phenomenal, capturing the full flavour of some uniquely characterful instruments.
Review Policy
All MusicRadar's reviews are by independent product specialists, who are not aligned to any gear manufacturer or retailer. Our experts also write for renowned magazines such as Guitarist, Total Guitar, Computer Music, Future Music and Rhythm. All are part of Future PLC, the biggest publisher of music making magazines in the world.
Specification
Additional Requirements
PC: Pentium/Athlon XP 3.0GHz; Mac: Intel Mac 1.8GHz
OS Requirements
Apple Mac OS X 10.5 or later Microsoft Windows XP or later
Platform
PC, Mac
RAM Required (GB)
1






