Toontrack EZX: Latin Cuban Drums

The Cuban Groove.

While rhythm may be the heartbeat of most genres, in Latin music the pulse and the beat is the very lifeblood. In fact, in many ways the groove is the song. Welcome to the Latin Cuban EZX, a mix-ready battery of kits tailored for just that – infectious latin-flavored rhythms for anything from traditional to modern.

The Latin Cuban Drums EZX features a handpicked collection of drums and a selection of mounted percussion pieces such as bells, woodblocks and a timbale. It was all captured at the famed Sear Sound Studios in New York by a team with a much-prominent status in the broad field of Latin music: Grammy Award-winning and Emmy-nominated engineer Dave Kowalski and drummer Robby Ameen. Between them, their work spans from the early ’80s through to today and includes collaborations with numerous top artists, awards and accolades. In fact, Robby is arguably one of the most influential Latin-oriented drummers of the past few decades with books, instructional videos and much more on his CV – all on the subject of drums in Latin music.

Welcome to two custom kits tailored for Latin and Cuban music, recorded in the aura of a classic New York room by one of the most well-versed drummers in the field – all at your fingertips.

Features

• Recorded at Sear Sound Studios, New York
• Produced by Grammy Award-winning and Emmy-nominated engineer Dave Kowalski
• Sampled by drummer Robby Ameen
• Features two of Robby Ameen’s custom kits, four crash cymbals, two cymbal stacks, four ride cymbals, two standard hi-hats, and one right-hand FX hi-hat
• Side of the floor tom sampled to mimic the traditional 'cascara' playing style
• Also includes two mambo bells, two songo bells, two “left-foot” cowbells, one "left-foot" woodblock, one woodblock and a timbale
• Comes with MIDI performed by Robby Ameen

The Drum Kits

The Latin Cuban Drums EZX features two of drummer Robby Ameen's personal kits. His unique setup includes two hi-hats, two ride cymbals, and several mounted percussion pieces as well as a right-hand timbale. In addition to capturing all of these instruments in traditional Toontrack meticulousness, we also in great detail sampled the floor tom to mimic the traditional ‘cascara’ playing style.

The Studio

Sear Sound is one of – if not the – oldest recording studios in New York City. It was founded by Walter Edmond Sear (1930-2010), inventor, composer, film producer, and out-and-out audiophile with a deep passion for gear and technology. He built his studio around the philosophy of having musicians capturing their music live at the studio and through the shortest possible signal paths of the highest possible quality. Over the years, literally everyone has recorded here – from John Zorn to Björk, David Bowie, Lenny Kravitz, Yoko Ono, Steely Dan, Lou Reed, Wayne Shorter, and Norah Jones, to name just a few. Simply put: Sear Sound is a hugely influential puzzle piece of our collective music history. We are happy to bring you two pivotal cornerstones for your songs captured in this magical aura: drums and percussion.