With Vienna Jazz Drums, the Vienna Symphonic Library brings a decade of experience in sampling and software development to the art of jazz drumming. Not only did we record single hits using every conceivable drum technique and articulation, we’ve also captured the sonic variety inherent in each instrument by hitting it in multiple places. Want to play from the center of the head to the rim of the shell? Just move the modulation wheel and the variety and liveliness of your performance becomes jaw-dropping. Special attention was given to the ride cymbal, responsible for the characteristic quarter note pulse of many Jazz tunes. Tempo, playing zone, velocity, as well as the number of times the cymbal is hit in the context of the music contribute to the sound of this versatile and sensitive instrument, rendering an absolutely authentic performance. From accompaniment to solos, use Vienna Jazz Drums for swing and latin grooves, big band, bebop and ballads. Good news for Vienna Instrument PRO users: The new Vienna Jazz Drums includes a set of drum loops for the internal Auto Playback and Pattern sequencer (APP) of Vienna Instruments PRO. Don’t miss the Video Tutorial that helps you to start grooving at the touch of a fingertip!

*Not included in any DVD library

Requires the ViennaKey.

As a “Keyboard Glockenspiel” the celesta has a range of 5 octaves with an interesting dual character. The way its sound is produced makes it a percussion instrument, but it is usually played by a pianist, not a percussionist. The sound of the celesta is soft and “heavenly“ (in French: “céleste”). A famous celesta part can be heard in the Nutcracker Suite of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.

Requires the ViennaKey.

The German name Glockenspiel means “bell play” and refers to the sound of small bells. At the end of the 17th century, the small bells were replaced by steel bars with a key range of about three octaves. The sound of the glockenspiel is very high and piercing and can be clearly heard even through a full orchestra playing in “tutti”. The glockenspiel is very popular and frequently used in majestic brass fanfares (e.g., by composer John Williams).

Requires the ViennaKey.

The Vibraphone is the most mechanically complex and sophisticated of all mallet instruments with a key range of 3 ½ octaves. Its tube resonators and the adjustable electric motor result in a “vibrating” (crescending and decrescending) soft metal sound that takes its inspiration from the human voice. The vibraphone is not only firm favorite in jazz but also in contemporary music, both as a harmonic and melodic instrument.

Requires the ViennaKey.

The Xylophone consists of wooden bars of various lengths that are arranged according to their pitch in scales, very similar to the keys of a piano. Additionally, the modern orchestra xylophone has resonator tubes for each bar, at a range of four octaves. Compared to the marimbaphone, the xylophone has a higher (and narrower) range and its bars are made of a harder wood, resulting in a brighter and more penetrating timbre. In orchestral arrangements, the xylophone commonly emphasizes certain parts of a melodic line in forte or fortissimo.

Requires the ViennaKey.

The marimbaphone (or just “marimba”) consists of wooden bars of various lengths which are arranged according to their pitch in scales, very similarly to the keys of a piano. Compared to the xylophone, the marimbaphone is larger with a key range of five octaves (from bass to alto), and its wood bars are thinner and softer, resulting in a warm and pleasing sound. Since the 1950s it has become a standard instrument in contemporary music.

Requires the ViennaKey.

Tamtams & Gongs features four Tamtams of different sizes (60, 100, and 130 cm diameter). We’ve recorded not only single hits in various velocities, but also tremolos and scratches – these sounds have become very popular in film scoring and sound design. Unlike the tamtams, the gongs have a definite pitch and a knob in the center. You’ll find gongs played with different mallets (soft, wood, metal) and a bow, including rolls and crescendo VOLUME CONTENTS. As a third category, the finger cymbals (low and high) are featured with normal strokes, side strokes, and rubs. With Tamtams & Gongs you’ll bring some exotic flavor to your music!

Requires the ViennaKey.

The oversized tam-tam, with a diameter of more than 65 inches, was treated with all the tricks of the trade, with a special nod to Stockhausen's opus "Mikrophonie". It was struck with metal rods, cardboard and jigsaw blades, hit and rubbed with chains, and manhandled with fly swatters, an egg cutter, and even a massaging rod.

Requires the ViennaKey.

This library features various types of bell and bell substitutes that are used in the orchestra: Tubular bells, plate bells, church bells, hand bells, cowbells (cencerros), burma bells, sleigh bells, altar-boy bells and more. The tubular bells were originally developed as an easily portable substitute for church bells in the orchestra. They are arranged chromatically and cover a range of approx. two octaves. Although their sound was intended to be as close as possible to church bells, this target has never been reached. However, nowadays the timbre of the tubular bells is valued in its own right and particularly useful in the higher register, whereas the lower register is usually covered by the plate bells.

Requires the ViennaKey.

The glass harmonica was invented in 1761. Mozart wrote several pieces for this instrument. The hemispherical glass bowls which rotate around a horizontal axis driven by a pedal were rediscovered only in the last decades of the 19th century. Sounds are produced by touching the rotating glasses with moistened fingertips. Today, the glass harmonica is an absolute rarity, with roughly ten professional players world-wide. Another rather rarely encountered jewel is the verrophone (from the french word "la verre" for glass). The youngest of the glass instruments was developed only 20 years ago in Germany. Chromatically tuned glass tubes are rubbed with moistened fingers like the musical glasses, but are also struck with mallets. The lingering, atmospheric sound is highly esteemed by modern composers due to its extraordinary intensity. The musical glasses present one of the oldest forms of making music and sounds with glasses. The instrument consists of several custom-made wine glasses. In order to get different pitches the musical glasses are filled with varying amounts of water. The musical glasses sampled by the Vienna Symphonic Library have a chromatic range from G3 to G6. The glass instruments are rounded off by the bottles which are blown with VOLUME CONTENTS such as sustains and flutter tonguing.

Requires the ViennaKey.

Sounding stones made of basalt, granite, marble and other minerals were used in many ancient cultures for ceremonial and religious purposes. These days, the lithophone is the most commonly known stone instrument, which Carl Orff first introduced to orchestral arrangements. There are 15 small round slabs of limestone chromatically arranged on rubber pegs. The lithophone recorded by the Vienna Symphonic Library was newly developed at the Technical University of Zurich, and modeled after the marimba. The unmistakable, round stone sound remains prominent over the instrument's nearly five octave range.

Requires the ViennaKey.

The bass waterphone is an unusual, evocative instrument with a diameter of 14 inches and considerably larger than the waterphone used in the Vienna Instruments Percussion Collection. Its larger number of sounding rods, their increased length, the larger opening as well as the bigger resonating body with more water, furnish the musician with more unusual sonic possibilities and a wider variety of colors.

Requires the ViennaKey.

Exotic Percussion features percussion instruments from various cultures and regions: Glass chimes, metal crotales, Japanese singing bowls (wood and rubber), log drum, spring drum, ocean drum, castanets, rails, various car honks, ratchets, whip, hammer, thunder sheet and wind machine. These percussion sounds will enrich your orchestral scores, dance tracks or ambient soundscapes with exotic flavors and can be a real source of inspiration.

Requires the ViennaKey.

The ViennaKey is necessary to run any VIENNA INSTRUMENT or Vienna Symphonic Library software. This USB protection device by eLicenser (formerly Syncrosoft) is not included in the box of any Collection, it is a separate item you have to get additionally.

You will need one ViennaKey for every computer you want to run a VIENNA INSTRUMENT on. So you’ll have to order at least one ViennaKey with your first purchase. Customers who order the complete SYMPHONIC CUBE will get one ViennaKey for free.

This beautiful poster produced by the Vienna Symphonic Library will be a gorgeous, yet practical addition to your studio.