Manufacturer: Heavyocity
Format: NKI, NKX, NKC, NKR, NICNT
Quality: 24-bit; Sample Rate – 44.1 kHz; Channels – stereo
System Requirements: Native Instruments Kontakt 5.0.0+
Size: 14.94 GB
Damage is a simple and easy-to-use rompler designed to expand your percussion arsenal.
Compared to the previous version, Damage features a new interface, an improved Trigger FX engine, and a 16 GB sampler library (30 GB uncompressed).
Damage’s sounds are divided into two main categories: Rhythmic Suites and Percussive Kits. The former are based on tempo-synced loops, while the latter are based on multisample kits. In both cases, there are further subcategories.
The seven hundred-plus loops are divided into patch menus (one loop per key) and single patches (one loop divided into fragments and assigned to different keys). In both cases, the patches are divided by genre (Epic Organic, Epic Tech, Industrial, and Mangled Pop). There are full patches and element patches, and the latter are divided into the layers that make up the aforementioned.
In terms of sound character, Damage covers a wide range – from dense, blockbuster-style drum sounds to natural, organic drums and metallic percussion.
Percussion kits are divided into five main categories: Epic Organic Drums, Ethnic Drums, Metals, Hybrid FX Hits, and Damage Kits. There are 60 kits in total, some of which are looped, others not, and some are multi-layered. The Hybrid Kits section presents the hits themselves and their aftershocks separately. The modulation wheel allows you to mix them in any proportion.
By combining such diverse instruments in a single interface, Damage is somewhat confusing – while all patches contain three pages of parameters, the options presented on these pages vary from preset to preset (see Interface Features). What they all have in common is a three-band EQ, low- and high-pass filters, master effects (distortion, lo-fi, reverb, delay, and compressor), as well as a volume envelope, Punish control, and pitch control.
Broken Rhythms
The Damage instrument loop patches offer extensive keyboard control, with helpful color coding. When trying to figure out which key corresponds to which key, there’s a lot of room for creativity—from the obvious (swapping loop sections) to the less obvious (Trigger FX).
The patches that aren’t in the Damage Kits folder don’t use keyswitching. The keys are color-coded, but for another purpose—to mark duplicate zones (useful for playing fast passages).
In terms of sound character, Damage covers a wide range – from dense, blockbuster-style drum sounds to natural, organic drums and metallic percussion. The built-in reverb plays a major role. Another useful feature of the Percussive Kits is their specific amplitude envelopes, determined by the nature of the space. These kits cover a wide range of musical styles, and by digging around in Kontakt or Kontakt Player, we can always find something useful.
On the other hand, the loop characters are easy to categorize. Even so, skillful application of effects allows for fat, cutting-edge sounds; chopped loops are easy to match with the project tempo. All this together enhances the control and usefulness of the Damage instrument.
The Punish button is also worth mentioning. It’s located on the EQ/Filters page and controls a combined drive and compression effect, adding overall saturation and volume boost to the sound.
Interface Features
Damage uses different interfaces for different preset types, such as Kits, Loop Menus, and Single Loops. Single Loops present loop segments with real-time control parameters for each segment. A convenient MIDI To Host button lets you drag and drop sequences into the arrangement field of our main workstation.
Loop Menus benefit greatly from the excellent Trigger FX system. Eight effects are available (Punch, Phaser, Rotator, Lo-Fi, Glitch, Scale Envelope, Filter, and Delay). These can be activated in real time directly from the keyboard, which is a nice touch. Loop Menus also feature a 16-step amplitude sequencer.
Percussion Kits feature three microphone pickup modes (Close, Room, and Far) and 3D panning, allowing you to position the drums in any of 35 positions on stage. However, the most powerful feature is the ability to assign an amplitude envelope individually to each room, and EQs and filters individually to each note.
If you’re looking for incredible For the percussion sounds commonly found in soundtracks, games, commercials, and music today, Damage is for you. It’s a truly creative, user-friendly instrument that transcends genre boundaries, thanks to its library of presets.
