Axé

Selected “Best of 2021” in the category “Best Orchestral Percussion Virtual Instrument” made by Sample Library Review.

Demos in Dolby Atmos

Demos in Stereo

We are proud to introduce Axé (pronounced ash-eh), our biggest production of 2021!

Axé brings Epic Music and Latin American instruments together for the first time. Our aim was to sample a massive ensemble of powerful drums in a wet hall to create a massive-sounding ensemble that will bring composers a new take on what Epic Soundtracks can be.

With 81 instruments in total, divided in 5 categories (Low Surdos, High Surdos, Dobras, Caixas and Repiques), Axé contains a gamma that covers the whole frequency spectrum, from roaring Low-Frequency Surdos all the way to the massive High-Frequency transients the Repiques can produce when in ensemble.

Additionally, we have designed 11 Drum Kits and 15 Tonal Articulations using Axé as source, which combined with our powerful egine, can provide even richer results to any piece.

Axé was performed by acclaimed percussion ensemble ‘Batalá Atenas’, and was recorded in a wet hall to provide powerful resonances in a never-heard-before configuration, our aim was to capture new colours for music that needs to be… simply huge.

From the sessions, we created three types of mixes aimed to offer as many options as possible to any composer. Mono Spots, Stereo and Ambisonics Mixes.

Finally, we’ve also created a Smart Sequencer that will help you write your own rhythmic sections, randomise them (with musical coherence), save them as MIDI and even drag and drop them to your DAW, all from within the interface!

The Instruments

Axé contains a total of 90 Instruments divided in 5 categories.

17 Low Surdos: The Surdo (or Fundo) is a large bass drum with a very deep sound and beefy tails. To be able to tune it ‘Low’ (Primeiro), it should be around 20-26 inches (50-65cms) in diameter. Although traditionally the heads would be made from goat skin, nowadays they are made from Nylon for better resonance.

17 High Surdos: The Surdo can also be tuned to be ‘High’ (Segundo) when their diameter is between 16-20 inches (40-50cms), usually a perfect 4th-5th from the Low Surdo, and together, they beat the base rhythm of a Samba Reggae band.

17 Dobras: The Dobra (or Surdo Terceiro) is an amazing drum that, although still low in Pitch, has a much more dry sound and it’s perfect for playing syncopations in Samba Reggae and even being in the foreground of music. The Dobra is slightly smaller than the Surdo Segundo and the beaters are less ‘spongy’ to produce louder transients and shorter tails.

15 Caixas: The Caixa is the most familiar instrument to non-Brazilian audiences: A Snare. For Samba Reggae and other Brazilian Rhythms, they are in charge of creating a rhythmic background “mat” in around which music revolves.

15 Repiques: The Repique (Also known as Repinique) is the front-person of the ensemble - the ‘melody’. They are a small drum that is usually hit with a Nylon stick (some types of music use Wooden sticks). Repiniques have a huge Transient and when played in ensemble, create a massive and aggresive sound.

What does ‘Axé’ mean?

‘Axé’ (pronounced ash-eh) is a word that comes from the Yoruba term àṣẹ, and today it’s widely used in Brazil’s artistic and martial-art world to describe ‘good energy’, ‘good vibes’, ‘soul’, or ‘light’.

And this is exactly what our aim was when chosing this name: As Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) is one of the cradles of Brazilian percussion music, we wanted to chose a name that would completely make sense to this special project.

What is ‘Batalá Atenas’?

BATALÁ ATENAS is part of an international music project called Batalá Mundo that plays samba reggae - traditional music from Salvador da Bahia in northeastern Brazil. The music has its roots in traditional African percussion, and is accentuated with a heavy dose of Brazilian Samba.

BATALÁ plays this music on 4 types of drums, creating a powerful, dynamic sound that excites the senses. The music, combined with the dynamic dance and the colourfull costumes, create a visual and acoustic experience hard to forget.

The 'Batalá Mundo' Project was created by Mestre Giba Goncalves, percussionist from Salvador da Bahia (Ile Aiye, Olodum, Muzenza, Male Debale, Jimmy Cliff, Tupi Nago and Kaoma), who started the project in 1997 in Paris, France. Ever since, the project kept growing steadily to other cities of France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain, South Africa, Australia, the USA and through the South American continent.

BATALÁ ATENAS was born in 2010 when Mestre Stavros Parceiro decided to bring these rhythms of Samba Reggae to Greece.

Today, Batalá Mundo counts with over 6 studio albums and has participated in important events all around the world, such as the Salvador Carnival in Brazil, the Olympic Games in Athens, the Notting Hill Carnival in the UK, Lavagem do Bonfim in Salvador, Lavagem do Bonfim in Paris, the Christmas Parade in Vienna, and the Day of the Dead in Mexico to name a few.

Currently, more than 1.500 percussioninsts conform the 'Batalá Mundo' project worlwide, with a total of 36 bands in 14 countries and 3 continents, bringing authentic Bahia music and culture to the general public.

For more info about Batalá Atenas, click here.

The Recording

As usual, we’re always trying to develop cutting-edge mixes for composers who want to dare and dive in the immersive-music world, which keeps growing rapidly, however, we also aim that our products are top-notch for those composers who prefer to stick to Stereo and thus, we craft every single mix independently.

4 Spot Mixes.

Axé contains 4 Mono Spot mixes for very localised sounds. Each of the Spots aims to a different section of the ensemble, providing powerful transients with a lot of presence.

4 Stereo Mixes.

We also crafted four Stereo mixes for different perspectives: Close, Mid, Far and ‘Mix’, which provides a balanced sound between focus and space. The Stereo Mixes are a great way to start your composition before you can start adding and swapping other mixes and perspectives.

4 Ambisonics Immersive Mixes.

As our main aim to offer tools for composers wanting to create immersive music (such as Surround, Atmos, etc.), we recorded and mixed Axé using also Ambisonics Microphones, and created four immersive Mixes that offer the perfect sensation of being right there with the percussion ensemble.

A 180° Immersive Mix creates a half-surround immersive experience with the ensemble. Here, you can feel as if the instruments were from your left to your right, in front of you.

A 360° Immersive Mix puts you right in the middle of the ensemble, where you can listen to the instruments all around you.

A 360° Presence Immersive Mix works just like the 360° Mix, but the instruments have much more presence so their transients are much more aggressive.

A Front Immersive Mix places the ensemble right in front of you, for a more localised placement of the ensemble - a great way to be able to pan the ensemble in the sonic spatial field.

The Cherry On Top

Aside from all of what’s already available in Axé, we decided to beefy up the library to offer an even wider gamma of sonic tools.

We designed 11 Sound Design Percussion Kits that will give you a great variety of hits for edgier compositions. All the kits were designed in native Ambisonics, which means they are compatible with both Stereo and Immersive formats.

Finally, we also included 15 Sound Design articulations, some of which are Loops that will help you create melodies and pads that could complement your music in unique ways. All the Sound Design elements were also created in native Ambisonics, which means you can add them to your music regardless of it being in Stereo or Immersive formats.

Ambisonics + Stereo Version

Over 21.300 Samples
16GB Compressed to 8.4GB

Articulation List

Low/High Surdo (Fundo Primeira / Segunda)

Hit
Muted
Hand Muted
Double Flam
Triple Flam
Body Hit
Hit with Whippy Sticks
Muted Hit with Whippy Sticks
Crescendo Short
Crescendo Long
Arc
Sforzando Short
Sforzando Long
Roll (With CC1 Dynamics)

Caixa

Hit
Rim Shot
Cross Stick
Rim Click
Hit with Rebound
Rebound
Double Flam
Triple Flam
Rim
Crescendo Short
Crescendo Long
Arc
Sforzando Short
Sforzando Long
Roll (With CC1 Dynamics)

Repique (Repinique)

Hit
Edge Hit
Double-Stick Hit
Muted
Hand Muted
Double Flam
Triple Flam
Body Hit
Rim
Wooden Stick Hit
Rim Shot with Wooden Stick
Crescendo Short
Crescendo Long
Arc
Sforzando Short
Sforzando Long
Roll (With CC1 Dynamics)

Dobra (Fundo Terceira)

Hit
Muted
Hand Muted
Double Flam
Triple Flam
Rim
Hit with Whippy Sticks
Double Hit with Whippy Sticks
Muted Hit with Whippy Sticks
Crescendo Short
Crescendo Long
Arc
Sforzando Short
Sforzando Long
Roll (With CC1 Dynamics)

Sound Design Kits (Reversed Available)

10x Surdo Low
10x Surdo High
10x Dobra
10x Caixa
10x Repique

Tonal Sound Design

Surdo Low
Surdo High
Dobra
Caixa
Repique
Woof
Cold Wind
Jump Attack
Woosh
Distorted Edge
Sea Wave
Organ-ic (Loop)
Water Engine (Loop)
White Noise (Loop)
Disturbance (Loop)

Mix Perspectives

Spots (Mono)

Spot 1
Spot 2
Spot 3
Spot 4

Stereo

Mix (Balanced)
Close
Mid
Far

Immersive (Ambisonics)

180° Half Surround
360° Full Surround
360° Presence Full Surround
Front Directional