Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion
A compendium of drums, tuned instruments, and percussion with a touch of natural reverb.
$199
Audio Demos
- Attack of the Blue Monster (Naked) Dmitry Selipanov 2:04
- Noble Journey (Dressed) Will Bedford 1:22
- Chenja (Dressed) Ian Dorsch 1:10
- Levelling the Walls (Dressed) Henning Nugel 2:39
- Artificer's Fancy (Dressed) Andrew Aversa 1:38
- Gelatin Adventures (Dressed) Andrew Aversa 2:04
- Islands of Memory (Dressed) Jason Cullimore 2:26
- With Honor, We Fight (Dressed) Brad Jerkins 2:02
- Puddle Jumping (Dressed) Blake Ewing 2:09
- Armor for Elephants Dickie Chapin 1:18
- Noble Journey (Naked) Will Bedford 1:22
- Chenja (Naked) Ian Dorsch 1:07
- With Honor, We Fight (Naked) Brad Jerkins 2:10
- Puddle Jumping (Naked) Blake Ewing 2:09
- Levelling the Walls (Naked) Henning Nugel 2:39
- Artificer's Fancy (Naked) Andrew Aversa 1:38
- Gelatin Adventures Andrew Aversa 2:04
- Islands of Memory (Naked) Jason Cullimore 2:26
Overview
This exquisite symphonic collection features a comprehensive collection of 50 traditional & extended percussive instruments recorded through three mic positions. With a clean, focused character that is not clinically dry OR overly epic, Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion is highly flexible for everything from small ensemble scoring and intimate cues to dramatic, bombastic tracks. No other percussion library is as extensive AND affordable!
Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion is available in two editions. See what’s included in each edition in this convenient comparison chart.
Product Info
Comprehensive suite of 50+ instruments
Includes a huge variety of core and aux orchestral percussion – drums, cymbals, mallets – suitable for a wide range of styles and compositions.
Tuned and untuned percussion
Tuned instruments can be played chromatically and include: timpani, xylophone, crotales, tubular bells, glockenspiel, and marimba.
Three mic positions: close, stage, hall
Recorded in a beautiful, medium-sized orchestral hall with a more natural and true-to-life sound that isn’t drenched in reverb.
Includes both 16 and 24-bit samples
For absolute minimum noise floor, load up the 24-bit patches. Or, keep your template light and snappy with the 16-bit instruments.
Deeply sampled for realism and authenticity
Up to 10 dynamic layers and 5 round robins per articulation, allowing for highly expressive compositions and performances.
Rolls included for many instruments
Use the modwheel to control naturally-recorded rolls in real-time for shakers, sleigh bells, tambourine, triangle, castanets, all cymbals and gongs, snares and snare ensemble, timpani, hand drums (cajon, bongo, etc.)
Features
Entire library loads in just 8 patches
Easy mic mixing and panning in one place
Modwheel-controlled dynamic rolls and swells
Built-in adjustable EQ and reverb
Elegant & intuitive one-page UI
Requirements
4GB of disk space (16-bit samples)
7200 RPM hard drive or solid state drive recommended.
9GB of disk space (24-bit samples)
7200 RPM hard drive or solid state drive recommended.
4GB of RAM (8GB recommended)
Higher amounts of memory let you load more instruments.
Kontakt 5.3.1+ Full Version
This library is NOT compatible with the free Kontakt Player.
Kontakt Requirements - Mac OS
Intel Macs (i5 or higher): macOS 10.14, 10.15, 11 or 12 (latest update).
Apple Silicon Macs (via Rosetta 2 & natively on ARM in Standalone or in hosts that support it): macOS 11 or 12 (latest update)
Kontakt Requirements - Windows
Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 (latest Service Pack, 32/64-bit). Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU. Graphics hardware support for OpenGL 2.1 or higher. Windows 10 strongly recommended.
Tutorials
All Patches & Articulations
Overview & Interface Walkthrough
Featured Artists & Composers
Kevin Manthei
Angry Birds Mystery Island, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Villainous, Neverwinter, Star Trek Online
"ISW creates some of the most inspiring & realistic guitar sample libraries. I had to write a bunch of really gritty, angry heavy metal & sports action rock cues. I used Shreddage 3 Serpent for leads and was blown away by its onboard processing, programming, and amazing live-sounding leads. I also created a signature sound based on the lead guitar in David Lynch's Twin Peaks series, originally played on baritone guitar. [Serpent] built a convincing replica of that sound just using on-board FX. It was so fun and easy to do!"
Jimmy Hinson
Black Ops 4, Mass Effect 2, There Came An Echo, Borderlands 2
“Between Shreddage, Super Audio Cart, Juggernaut, and Mega Brass I don’t remember the last time I haven’t used an Impact Soundworks instrument in a track. The attention to detail is astonishing and it’s all so easy to use out of the box, which is a big deal.”
Simon Franglen
Titanic, Skyfall, Spectre, Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water
Impact Soundworks make detailed, emotive instruments. I’ve happily bought over two dozen of their libraries which should say everything. They get used every day.
Our goal with Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion was nothing less than creating the most versatile and affordable percussion library ever. With 50 instruments, 100+ articulations, and 21+ gigabytes of raw recordings in the full edition, calling this collection ‘comprehensive’ is an understatement. Each instrument has been exhaustively sampled with up to 10x RR and 5x velocity layers, captured across three mic positions (two in Essentials) in a gorgeous orchestral hall.
Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion goes beyond the standard suite of drums (i.e. bass drum, snare, toms, cymbals) to include a wide variety of aux percussion (i.e. shaker, sleigh bells, castanets, chimes, metals, wood & temple blocks), hand drums (i.e. djembe, bongos, cajon, darbuka), and chromatic instruments (i.e. glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba, crotales, tubular bells).
Besides its scope and affordability, what else sets this library apart? Most orchestral percussion libraries strive for the ideal of “epic” through big halls and lots of reverb: a huge sound for a huge price. Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion was instead recorded & designed to function in any musical context, from small, emotional pieces, to tense underscores, and even bombastic, loud, and — yes — epic tracks.
Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion is available in two editions, Essentials and Full, to suit different needs and budgets. We’ve put together a comparison chart to show specifically which instruments and features are included in each edition.
Our philosophy when building instruments is to design with composers in mind. To that end, we’ve created a intuitive interface for the library that provides customization and control without being overly complex.
Script Features:
- Volume, tuning, and envelope controls for each instrument
- Internal preset system for saving your settings & mixes
- Per-instrument 3-band “Solid-G” EQ
- Enable / disable instruments & mics to preserve RAM
- Multiple outputs – send instruments to different Kontakt outs
- Mic mixing – volume, pan, width, offset (via CC)
- Convolution reverb send with wet & size controls
Reviews
Rhapsody Orchestral Colors & Percussion – Designing Music Now
“If you are looking for an all in one complete orchestral sample library that won’t break the bank and still sound legitimate – look no further than Rhapsody Orchestral Colors and Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion. These libraries were recorded in the same hall so it makes mixing a breeze. Combined, these two libraries are a must-have for quick yet realistic-sounding orchestral compositions.” (Designing Music Now)
Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion – Film and Game Composers
“The vast variety of instruments and the mod wheel controllable rolls make this library a real competitor in the world of orchestral percussion. Even though it’s not another ‘Epic-Library’ you can tear the place down with some tweaking. So if you are looking for a versatile percussion library you should definitely give it a try. Value for money […] a fantastic compilation of orchestral percussion.”
Oliver Amberg (Film and Game Composers)
Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion – Original Sound Version
“The key strength and selling point for me with this library is its versatility. The instruments can easily fit into any genre… and the overall sound quality is excellent. On top of all this, the interface is easy to navigate and use. The added touches, like being able to control percussion rolls via mod wheel or the ability to load individual instrument patches, makes [ROP] even better. If you are writing music in multiple genres and need a good all-purpose percussion library, Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion is a library I would highly recommend.”
Michael Hoffmann (Original Sound Version)
Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion – SCOREcast Online
“Impact Soundworks set out to develop an Orchestral Percussion Library that was of high quality and content but was ultimately more focused on malleability and workflow. Did they succeed? Yes. The sheer amount of instruments included is impressive and with no corners cut.
“[…] The price point for the full library is an absolute steal and makes this an attractive option for both newcomers and more tenured users that may have already invested in another option(s). This library can no doubt add to what you may already have in your arsenal.”
Ryan Scully (SCOREcast Online)
Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion – Solonoid Studio
“Overall, this is a great sounding package for intimate scoring or more general scoring, and the provided sounds have great response and plenty of round-robins, so it’s a really handy library to have. It’s also very reasonably priced, which makes this…a top choice for your first orchestral percussion library or as a solid addition to your collection.”
Cory Pelizzari (Solonoid Studio)
Rhapsody: Orchestral Percussion – SoundBytes Magazine
“Impact Soundworks Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion is the sort of mature, stable product that I would expect from a developer with many orchestral releases under its belt and has been a complete pleasure to use. If you are looking for a bread and butter orchestral library, and especially if you also have use for the Latin and African additions, I would strongly recommend checking out this product. It’s competitively priced, fun, easy to use, flexible in a mix, and has an effortlessness to the recordings that communicates well to the listener.” Per Lichtman (SoundBytes Magazine)