Best Orchestral Percussion?
Are you looking for cinematic orchestral percussion for your music compositions?
Percussion is the essence of action and rhythm, of power and energy.
Anything from low majestic booms, to hard hitting and punchy drums, to driving high percussion.
In this quick guide I have compiled a list of great orchestral percussion VST libraries:
Download our FREE guide to sampled orchestration - the 7 essential techniques every composer and songwriter needs to know: th. Part of an increasingly large catalogue of free libraries from discount distributor VST Buzz, this explosive collection of metallic percussion runs the gamut from traditional instruments to hardware that would be more at home in a builder’s merchants than a recording studio. So that means plenty of cymbals, bells, chimes, pipes, doors and metal sheeting.
Orchestral Percussion VST libraries – Top List
- Damage (Heavyocity)
- CinePerc (Cinesamples)
- HZ Percussion (Spitfire Audio)
- Berlin Percussion (Orchestral Tools)
- StrikeForce (Laboratory Audio)
- Action Strikes (Native Instruments)
- Spitfire Percussion (Spitfire Audio)
- SAGA – Acoustic Trailer Percussion (Red Room Audio)
- Symphony Series Percussion (Native Instruments)
- Taiko Creator (In Session Audio)
- Cerberus (Audio Imperia)
Hello Composers! =)
My name is Mike, founder of professionalcomposers.com, music composer and sound designer since 1998, old school nerd, and coffee addict. So grab a cup of coffee, and let’s check out some Orchestral Percussion VST Libraries! =)
A very dark and processed overall sound, including 700+ loops, 500+ one-shots and 58 kits. Damage is not about natural orchestral percussion. The focus is rather on epic, loud and hard impacts.
My Favorite Highlights
- Instant Trailer type Epic Percussion
- The Punish Knob for even more “Heat”
- Powerful User Interface
- The Room Placement Mixer
CinePerc was recorded at the SONY Scoring Stage in Los Angeles, and mixed by master engineer Dennis Sands. This is the great “all-in-one” orchestral percussion package, with that instant “Hollywood Sound”.
My Favorite Highlights
- 4 libraries in one (Core, Pro, Epic, Aux)
- Great Hollywood Sound
- The Microphone Mix Controls
- Includes a Full Ensemble Patch (great for quick mockups)
Recorded at Air Studios via an impressive signal chain: 96 rarefied microphones into Neve Montserrat preamps, into the world’s biggest Neve 88R desk. And the selection of percussion included is extensive.
My Favorite Highlights
- Great Selection of Percussion (especially in the low-range)
- Many Powerful Soundshaping Features
- Includes Ensembles and Solo Patches
- The Interface is very Straightforward
Gigantic percussion library (150GB sample set) recorded at the Teldex Scoring Stage in Germany. All instruments were recorded in their natural positions, which gives you a natural percussion mix.
My Favorite Highlights
- Build your own percussion ensembles
- True Damping Feature
- Uniform mapping structure
- Different Mallets for respective instruments
StrikeForce was recorded at 192k in many various recording studios, halls, tunnels, rooms in Los Angeles. The focus is on a modern cinematic sound, compared to a natural orchestral sound. This library will give you big ensembles, anvils, sub boom, and “ticktocks” that simply works great for that big and modern sound.
My Favorite Highlights
- Modern Cinematic Sound
- The Sound Categories
- 5 Different Drum Tunings
- Lots of Round Robins
Action strikes includes 12 full ensembles plus 65 single instruments and 12 carefully-compiled Hit Sets. Even though the main focus is on building percussion from phrases that you trigger with key switches, you can use the individual patches to play the sounds manually.
My Favorite Highlights
- Great for Writing Percussion Parts fast (Ex: Mockups)
- The Categorization of Low, Mid and High Parts
- Adjust accent strength with the pitch wheel
- Change Dynamics with the MOD-wheel
An orchestral percussion library with a great variation of low and high percussion instruments, as well as a set of mallet instruments. A very natural orchestral percussion sound, with amazing dynamics, recorded in the Hall at Air Lyndhurst.
My Favorite Highlights
- Great true recorded dynamic range
- Quick and Easy mapping
- Great Sound Shaping Controls
Epic Percussion Vst Plugin Free
SAGA, which has the subtitle “Acoustic Trailer Percussion” is of course focusing on trailer type percussion based on recorded sounds. It gives you a range of drum ensembles, dynamic metals, and even world instruments. Recorded in a fairly dry hall with 2 microphone positions. There are over 110 instruments in total, including special sounds like giant silos, metal doors, machinery etc.
My Favorite Highlights
- Up to 7 dynamic layers and 10 round robin
- Multiple articulations (rolls, rims, edges..)
- Simple & Straightforward GUI
- The Extra Field Recordings (Machinery, Tools etc.)
55 orchestral percussion instruments, recorded at Studio 22, Budapest. It features a wide range of both classic and exotic percussive instruments, diverse articulations and powerful drum head resonance simulation.
My Favorite Highlights
- Huge range (55 recorded instruments)
- Tremolo, Crescendo Roll, Flam, Edge variations and FX articulations
- 5 microphone mixes including spot microphone
- Drum Head Resonance Simulation
- Inspiring and simple interface
This library is based on one of the most used percussion instruments in cinematic music, the Japanese Taiko drums. Taiko Creator allows you to create, control and generate multiple solo and ensemble groups of your own, all playable from a single interface. From mega big, and low booming Taikos…to sharp stick hits.
My Favorite Highlights
- The Mapping system is brilliant
- The Presets give you instant access to different ensembles
- Custom creation of percussion groups
- Extremely playable out of the box (all in one patch if you wish)
Based on a hard-hitting drummer trio, thus the name “Cerberus”, this library has a very modern cinematic sound. It is also very customizable, including for example 7 microphone positions and a very nice user interface with sound shaping controls.
My Favorite Highlights
- Modern Hard Hitting Cinematic Sound
- Includes a Recorded Drum Kit
- 7 microphone positions for the regular patches
- True Stacking Engine, with additional round robin samples
- True Strike (Project Sam)
Classic and highly celebrated, and still very much usable today. - LADD (Audiobro)
LA Drama Drums (LADD), had many interesting features, and blends traditional and modern percussion. - StormDrum (EastWest)
Another classic, which comes in 3 versions. All are based on high quality recordings in a great space, by professional percussionists. - Ensemble Drums Collection (Heavyocity)
Great for that big ensemble sound, on several different types of orchestral percussion. - Rhapsody (Impact Soundworks)
Covers a nice range (50+ instruments) of traditional orchestral percussion instruments. - Apocalypse Percussion (Soundiron)
Amazing for big epic toms, hard hits and trailer type percussion.
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Epic Percussion for Epic Music
Do you want a high quality, hard hitting, big and epic sounding percussion VST libraries tailored towards Trailer Music, Epic Music and Hybrid Scores?
Classic orchestral & cinematic percussion is focused on realism and authenticity, but that is not what Epic Music and Trailer Music is about, right?
Epic Percussion is very processed, sound designed, and excellent for augmenting the power of your overall percussion mix. Over the Top, is what Epic Percussion is about.
I will now give you my personal recommendations of the best percussion VST libraries for Epic Music.
Epic Percussion VST Libraries – Top List
- Damage (Heavyocity)
- Strikeforce (Laboratory Audio)
- SAGA (Red Room Audio)
- Cerberus (Audio Imperia)
- Ensemble Drums Collection (Heavyocity)
Hello Composers! =)
My name is Mike, founder of professionalcomposers.com, music composer and sound designer since 1998, old school nerd, and coffee addict. So grab a cup of coffee, and let’s check out some Epic Percussion VST Libraries! =)
A very dark and processed overall sound, including 700+ loops, 500+ one-shots and 58 kits. Damage is not about natural orchestral percussion. The focus is rather on epic, loud and hard impacts.
One of my favorite features is the mean “Punish Knob” which adds saturation and grit to any percussion sound/ensemble. I also really enjoy the many ensemble patches that you get with Damage, where “Armageddon Ensemble” is my absolute favorite.
Main Specs & Features
- 30 GB uncompressed (26,500+ samples)
- 900+ NKIs (58 Kits, 900+ Loops)
- Playable Trigger FX for real-time control
- The “Punish Knob” for Saturation & Grit
- Sound Positioning Grid
Strikeforce main focus is on a modern and powerful sound. Recorded, mixed and produced in Los Angeles, with an overall Hollywood Blockbuster “over the top” sound.
It has a very unique approach to dynamics, where for example things like reverb tail, EQ settings and compression changes in the various dynamic layers.
You can also go from solo, to small ensemble, to big ensemble in one single patch, which is not only amazing for dynamics and contrast variation, but also insanely practical for your composer workflow.
Main Specs & Features
Percussion Vst Instruments
- 43 GB uncompressed
- 129 Total KONTAKT Instruments
- 12 Multi Presets
- Close and Far Mix, with Individual Pitch and ADSR
- 5 Different Drum Tunings per Ensemble / Solo Patch
SAGA gives you a large collection that goes from world instruments, to epic drum ensembles, to metal percussion, and even tools and experimental sounds. All to provide you with an arsenal of sounds for cinematic and epic music composition.
Since it was recorded on a scoring stage you get nice depth, without having everything too wet. This means you can add your own favorite reverb if you want to push these instruments into a bigger space.
Epic Percussion Vst Free
There are over 110 instruments in total, and I especially like the range of sounds you get in this library. From the smallest and lightest sticky/clicky/tocky type of sounds…to the mega epic field recordings in giant industrial silos!
Main Specs & Features
- 4 GB of content (11,346 samples)
- Up to 7 dynamic layers and 10 round robin
- Recorded in a fairly dry hall with 2 microphone positions
- Multiple articulations (rolls, rims, edges, various sticks & mallets)
- Extra Field Recordings (tools, machinery, giant silos etc.)
Cerberus gives you a quick and easy workflow to build your larger-than-life percussion ensembles. Featuring a “stacking script”, you can go from the recorded trio into a big army of percussionists.
As a bonus you also get a drum kit which was recorded on location in the same space. As well as a Gran Cassa ensemble.
Main Specs & Features
- 13.3 GB installed
- Drum Ensembles (Gran Cassas, Kick Drums, Low Toms, Mid Toms, High Toms, Snares, Clacks, Clicks)
- 7 microphone positions (regular patches)
- 3 mix mic positions (processed patches)
- True Stacking Engine (with additional round robin samples)
If you need massive ensembles of percussion that have that instant “epic vibe”, then Ensemble drums collection of the Master Series from Heavyocity will feel like a godsend.
It’s super easy to dive and and play/record, and get a huge sound without even touching the interface. But if you want to do more sound design and shaping the overall sounds, the interface is very straightforward and fun to use. Especially the Punish Knob and the 3D stage view are wonderfully satisfying to experiment with.
Main Specs & Features
- 3.5 GB uncompressed (1,650+ samples)
- 470+ NKIs and 30+ Kits
- The Stage for easy stereo placement
- The signature Punish Knob
- The Loop Mutator
- Drums of War (Cinesamples)
- Stormdrum (EastWest)
- Action Strikes (Native Instruments)
Learn more about each of these great percussion VST libraries aimed at epic cinematic music and trailer music. Read the specifications, listen do the audio demos, and get a complete overview: