Dave Kerzner of Sonic Reality and Ken Scott got to visit Abbey Road, the place where Ken recorded tracks from The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour and White Album. It had been years since Ken had been back to the studio. Here you can see photos from that visit as well as a variety of rare images of vintage EMI gear including R.E.D.D. 37 and 51 desks, Studer 4 track tape decks, Altec modified to RS124 and... well if you read the book "Recording The Beatles" then you might like this section! Sonic Reality has done sample sessions using the classic EMI gear that was used on The Beatles, Pink Floyd and many others.
Many artists use Sonic Reality sounds and software including The Rolling Stones, The Who, Tears for Fears, Genesis, Rush, Blue Man Group, Jon Anderson, Yes, Seal and more. Here are rare exclusive pics from various concerts, back stage and rehearsals SR has attended.
Sonic Reality co-created Ocean Way Drums with Grammy®-winning engineer/producer Allen Sides and Steven Miller. It is considered by many to be the "Rolls Royce" of drum plug-ins and has received high critical acclaim and awards from magazine reviewers. Now, Ocean Way Drums is available in 4 different versions for every budget from as low as $199 all the way up to $1,999. Here you get a rare behind the scenes look at the studio, Allen Sides' early days, Steven Miller at work, Ocean Way Drums sessions, the halls of Ocean Way Studios, the equipment and more!
Sonic Reality has a virtual instrument for Drum Kits and Grooves done with legendary drummers and style called "Drum Masters". It uses the Infinite Player powered by Kontakt so it can work stand alone for the Mac and PC as well as a plug-in for ProTools, Cubase, Logic, FL Studio, Live, Digital Performer, Sonar, Garageband or most DAW/Sequencing software. It is available as Silver, Gold or Platinum packages through Sonic Reality dealers world-wide as well as a la carte downloads on www.downloadablesoundz.com
Jerry Marotta's sample sessions for the Drum Masters series are unique. From the sound of his unusual triple-snare Yamaha® set to the deep tones of his Taos calf-skin set, you get unique tribal rock sounds played with the style and feel of Jerry Marotta. Jerry has played with numerous artists but is perhaps best known for his drumming work with Peter Gabriel where he played on 5 albums. Jerry and Sonic Reality recreated those grooves and drum sounds for the Drum Masters series.
Sonic Reality's Drum Masters series features John Blackwell, drummer for Prince who has also worked with Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Cameo, Lauryn Hill and Diddy. These are photos from John's sampling session in Miami and various NAMM pictures. In addition to the Tama Star Classic set you can also see the JB Sonor kit that was sampled during John's Drum Masters sessions.
Drum Masters features 8 legendary drummers including Nick D'Virgilio who has played with Tears for Fears, Genesis, Kevin Gilbert and his own band Spock's Beard. Nick and Dave K of Sonic Reality used to play together years ago and now they've collaborated on several monstrous drum sample sessions for the Studio ProFiles Drum Masters series. From sampling sounds in the style of Phil Collins to general classic and progressive rock, Nick "NDV" D'Virgilio's Premier, Gretsch and Mapex kits are powerfully unique. They are available now either a la carte for the Infinite Player or in a variety of Drum Masters bundles.
IN 2004 we got together with Danny Gottlieb, legendary jazz drummer from the original Pat Metheny Group and dodging two hurricanes he drove down with a trunk full of cymbals from his personal collection which includes rare vintage cymbals, one of a kind prototypes from Zildjian, Istanbul and Paiste, the Take 5 ride used by Joe Morello with Dave Brubeck, cymbals from Mel Lewis and Don Lamond as well as cymbals Danny used with PMG. Here are some pics of those cymbals that were sampled and are finally being released for the Infinite Player and Drum Masters series.
A sneak peek at sessions with Sonic Reality, legendary drummer Neil Peart and Nick Raskulinecz producer of Rush's Snakes and Arrows album. See exclusive behind the scenes shots of the audio and visual production of a Studio ProFiles/Drum Masters sample library for Sonic Reality's Infinite Player plug-in. Filmed at The Drum Channel.
Get a behind the scenes look at drum sampling sessions with legendary Bill Cobham and Ken Scott. Here they are recreating the drum sounds and grooves Bill played on classic fusion Mahavishnu Orchestra and Billy Cobham solo records like Spectrum that Ken Scott originally recorded and produced. The sessions were at Long View Farm Studios just outside of Boston. Everyone flew in from different places to do this session from LA to Switzerland.
Rod Morgenstein is one of the 5 diverse drumming legends we sampled for the Ken Scott Collection. Here Ken and Rod are recreating the drum sounds and grooves in the style of his original recordings with the Dixie Dregs which Ken produced. A special visit by another Sonic Reality artist, Keith Emerson, surprised Rod during the session. They got to discuss Rod's recent remake of the ELP song "Tarkus". Finally we see Rod signing the drum heads which is something we had each drummer in the KSC do to give away to lucky selected Sonic Reality customers who purchase the Ken Scott Collection and for charity.
The Ken Scott Collection features 5 legendary drummer's kits and grooves recorded by producer/engineer Ken Scott. Here are drum sample sessions with Woody Woodmansey of David Bowie's original Spiders from Mars. Ken recorded and produced several David Bowie albums featuring Woody on drums including Honky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. Here, they reunite after over 30 years to recreate those classic drum sounds and grooves for the Ken Scott Collection.
The Ken Scott Collection features 5 legendary drummers that can has recorded classic albums with back in the day. Here's a look at drum sampling sessions with Terry Bozzio. Ken engineered, produced and even managed Terry's band "Missing Persons". Now after many years the two reunite to recreate the unique "Roto Tom Kit" Terry used to play with bands like Missing Persons. This vintage Bozzio sounding kit is similar what he used with Zappa and UK. It's great for getting everything from a punk/new wave sound to progressive rock and new and unusual sounds for any style.
Here's a behind the scenes look at the drum sampling sessions for the Ken Scott Collection which features 5 legendary drummers, one of them being Bob Siebenberg of Supertramp. Here Ken, who originally recorded and produced the albums Crime of the Century and Crisis What Crisis, is recreating those drum sounds and grooves with Bob over 30 years later in a studio simulating the original Trident Studios in London where many of Ken's classic recordings were originally made from The Beatles to David Bowie to Elton John to Supertramp and more.
The Ken Scott Collection: Drums from Back in the Day is a sample collection/Infinite Player plug-in from Sonic Reality's Studio ProFiles series that features 5 landmark drummers: Bill Cobham, Rod Morgenstein, Woody Woodmansey, Bob Siebenberg, Terry Bozzio recorded by legendary producer/engineer Ken Scott. Reuniting 30+ years later, Ken and Sonic Reality recreate the authentic drum multitrack sounds of albums Ken has recorded with David Bowie, Supertramp, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Dixie Dregs, Missing Persons, Elton John and The Beatles.
This is a collection of drums most of which Sonic Reality has sampled for both released and as of yet unreleased kits and kit pieces for the Infinite Player plug-in and Drum Masters series.
At Sonic Reality we use some of the best mic pres, consoles, effects, tape machines and other recording equipment in the world. The reasons are many including high recording quality, specific character coloration emulating classic recordings and to bring our users something so luxurious that it would otherwise be out of reach for the project studio... tube outboard gear, one of a kind consoles in legendary studios, classic EMI consoles and Studer 4 tracks like they used with The Beatles at Abbey Road in the 60's, Trident A Ranges where Supertramp, David Bowie and Elton John were recorded and more. Here are pictures of the rare equipment we sample and record music with.
These are vintage keyboards, synths, guitars and other instruments that have been in Sonic Reality studios over the years, most of them sampled and only some of them released in products like Sonik Synth 2, Sonic Refils etc. All of the best released and unreleased archives are being programmed for Sonic Reality's Infinite Player plug-in.
Sonic Reality has created the "Official Moog Sample Collection" They sampled the sounds for "SampleMoog" with IK Multimedia based on the SampleTank engine and are coming out with the complete Moog sample archives in both Reason and Infinite Player format soon. Here are some pics of various Moog synths Sonic Reality has sampled.
Dave K of Sonic Reality was invited to watch Genesis rehearse for their Turn it On Again reunion tour. He was there to answer any questions they had about Sonic Reality sounds and IK/SR plug-ins that they used. It was also the first time Dave met Simon Collins, Phil's son who sings, writes and even plays drums like his dad. Dave and Simon collaborated on musical projects including a cover of Genesis' "Keep it Dark" and they co-wrote the instrumental song "The Big Bang" featuring Phil Collins on drums. Here you can see rare behind the scenes photos of Genesis rehearsing and performing live.
Here you can get a sneak peek at Sonic Reality sessions with two of Genesis' producer/engineers in their recording history at their own studio called "The Farm". Nick Davis and Hugh Padgham recreate classic drum sounds in the famous stone live room where they recorded Phil Collins signature drum big tom drum sounds and more. Samples coming soon to the Infinite Player Studio ProFiles and Drum Masters series. Includes extra pics of Dave's visit to The Farm with Nick Davis and Tony Banks during Genesis 5.1 remixes for their box sets.
Here are pictures of various microphones used in sample sessions. From rare vintage microphones to the latest 7.1 surround sound Holophone®, here's just a sampling of microphones that are used to record sounds for Sonic Reality products.
In 2007 Dave Kerzner of Sonic Reality collaborated with Simon Collins, son of drummer/singer/songwriter Phil Collins on a tribute to Simon's dad and Genesis. They did a remake of the song "Keep it Dark" using Sonic Reality sounds and IK Multimedia effects with most of the production done in the computer (apart from vocals and guitars). Later they collaborated again on Simon's latest album "U-Catastrophe" and co-wrote an instrumental featuring Phil Collins on drums called "The Big Bang". The album also features many Sonic Reality sounds both released and as of yet unreleased Infinite Player sounds including the upcoming "Cinema Sessions".
Sonic Reality travels the world in search of sounds to sample and for international business with companies like IK Multimedia, Propellerheads, Steinberg, Yamaha, Native Instruments and more! Here you can glance some of these visits around the globe.