There's 40% off Toontrack EZX Expansion packs in Sweetwater’s early Black Friday sale - these are the ones we're buying
Top up your drum sample collection with these electronic kit-playable drum sound, all for under $50!
For electronic drum set owners, one of the simplest ways to expand the range of sounds on offer is by hooking-up to a computer and triggering kits from a plugin such as Toontrack’s EZDrummer. The Black Friday music deals haven't officially started yet, but there are plenty of early bird deals around. The early Sweetwater Black Friday sale is getting things rolling with a 40% discount across 38 Toontrack EZX Expansion packs. This means that you have access to some world-class drum sounds for just $47 each - a snip of their normal $79 price.
If you’re not familiar with the concept, these sounds have been created in some of the world’s top studios by big-name producers and drummers, using a Holy Grail list of kits, snares and cymbals, and captured using the same techniques, microphones and outboard gear used on classic records.
The end result is a collection of sounds that give you a mind-blowing multi-sampled library that you can play from your electronic drum kit. They offer enhanced dynamics, the ability to blend in real room ambience, process and mix individual drums to find your perfect sound for practicing, jamming to tracks or recording on your own songs.
40% off Toontrack EZX Expansions: was $79, now $47
Sweetwater has taken its scissors to the price of 38 awesome Toontrack EZX Expansion packs in the run-up to Black Friday. Expand your sound collection with everything from blues and jazz, rock and metal, funk and soul and beyond with these fantastic deals and save while you can!
With 38 packs up for grabs, that's a lot of choice. These are the ones we have our eye on:
40% off Toontrack Pop Punk EZX: was $79, now $47
Whether it’s the So-Cal sound of the 90s, or a more modern take on the genre, the Pop Punk EZX brings you everything you need for uptempo clarity, beefy breakdowns and powerful aggression courtesy of Goldfinger guitarist/punk production hero, John Feldman, who has been behind crafting drum sounds for Blink-182, 5 Seconds of Summer, The Used and many more.
40% off Toontrack UK Pop EZX: was $79, now $47
Toontrack enlisted British session icon Ash Soan to create the UK Pop EZX, and inside you get a range of UK-inspired sounds from across the decades: Beatles-esque tea-towel sounds, reggae-rock, new wave, contemporary rock/pop sounds and more. It’s not too far removed from a cross-section of Ash’s career, offering a versatile sound set that will have you covered authentically for a number of styles.
40% off Toontrack Hip-Hop! EZX: was $79, now $47
From Boom-Bap to Trap and pretty much everything in between, if you need a comprehensive set of playable sounds geared towards hip-hop then look no further. There’s a frankly ridiculous number of sounds in every kit preset ranging from drum machine hits to heavily adapted acoustic samples, percussion, effects and more. Cover all the defining eras of the genre for less than 50 bucks!
40% off Toontrack Funkmasters EZX: $79, now $47
This pack was sampled by none other than John “Jabo” Starks and Clyde Stubblefield, who you know from their work as James Brown’s most famous beat-providers, and the pack was recorded by studio legend, Bob Rock. Here, the sounds are all about tight, funky, response and vintage-inspired fat, crunchy drums. You won’t find a better add-on for creating crispy funk and dirty breakbeats at this price.
40% off Toontrack Alt-Rock EZX: was $79, now $47
Steve Albini is known for his love of analogue tape, comprehensive microphone techniques, and most of all, impeccable drum sounds. So, it’s an incredible deal when you can get drum sounds created by the man who recorded Nirvana, The Pixies and hundreds of others for less than $50. This one’s a no-brainer.
40% off Toontrack Made of Metal EZX: $79, now $47
Take Bullet For My Valentine drum animal, Jason Bowld and place him in Belgium’s renowned Galaxy studios with Colin Richardson (Slipknot, Machine Head, Sepultura and many more), and you get Made of Metal. It’s full of excellent modern metal drum sounds (DW, Tama, Mapex and Truth kits) that will cut through and deliver the power and articulation you need.
Even better, there’s 38 EZX Expansions to choose from ranging from rock, jazz, hip-hop, metal, songwriter and more, all captured and arranged into stylistically appropriate presets. There really is something for everyone, and the beauty of buying samples is that they’re delivered digitally so you can be up and running with your new sounds almost immediately!
Check out some of our favourites above, or click through and browse all 38 of the packs on offer and choose for yourself. It’s worth noting that you will need to own a copy of Toontrack’s EZDrummer or Superior Drummer software in order to run these. Sweetwater is currently offering EZDrummer and a free EZX Expansion (worth $79) for a bundle price of $149, but with this level of saving, it’s worth investing!
You can shop the full early Black Friday sale at Sweetwater until 18 November. If you're on the hunt for more music software bargains, check out our Black Friday plugin deals page.
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I'm a freelance member of the MusicRadar team, specialising in drum news, interviews and reviews. I formerly edited Rhythm and Total Guitar here in the UK and have been playing drums for more than 25 years (my arms are very tired). When I'm not working on the site, I can be found on my electronic kit at home, or gigging and depping in function bands and the odd original project.
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