Virtuosity Drums
Key Features
- Contemporary jazz kit performed with sticks by Austin McMahon at Virtuosity Musical Instruments in Boston.
- Six mixable microphone perspectives offer control of volume, bleed, and stereo width inside the supplied interface.
- Kick, snare, and tom recordings provide up to 36 velocity layers through a continuously performed wave-capture approach.
- Cymbal mappings use four round robins to vary repeated MIDI passages.
- Basic Kit and Full Kit programs cover General MIDI-style writing through extended drum and percussion articulations.
- Individual mic programs can be opened separately for stem-style processing in a DAW.
- SFZ library works with Sforzando or ARIA Player and includes 1,000 sampled performances across 4,900 files.
Description
Virtuosity Drums is a contemporary jazz drum-kit library for the Sforzando or ARIA sampler, built from recordings of Austin McMahon playing the house kit at Virtuosity Musical Instruments in Boston. It supplies a live-room character with six mixable microphone positions, while its General MIDI-oriented basic kit makes it practical for writing parts from a keyboard, pads, or programmed MIDI.
The full kit goes further with extended snare, tom, cymbal, and auxiliary-percussion articulations. Kick, snare, and tom performances use a continuously played "wave" capture method that provides up to 36 velocity layers, while cymbals use four round robins for repeated figures.
The supplied Sforzando interface lets you blend mic volume, bleed, and stereo width, adjust pitch by kit piece, and switch snare wires or dampen the kick. Individual microphone programs can be loaded in separate sampler instances when you want to process stems independently.
The library contains 1,000 performances across 4,900 audio files and needs about 1.1 GB of drive space after installation, with the same space needed for the archive. It is a CC0 release, and the developer's current product page provides the SFZ download with no sign-up or limited-time condition stated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Virtuosity Drums a VST instrument?
No. It is an SFZ sample library designed for the Sforzando or ARIA sample player, so install one of those players and load the included VirtuosityDrums.bank.xml file rather than expecting a self-contained VST instrument.
What is the difference between Basic Kit and Full Kit?
Basic Kit is the General MIDI-compatible option with core articulations and the first three mic positions. Full Kit includes the extended techniques, all microphone positions, and the complete sample set.
Can I mix or process the microphones separately?
Yes. The interface supplies mix controls for the mic positions, and the individual mic programs can be loaded in separate Sforzando instances when you need distinct DAW channels for further processing.
How can I lower the library's CPU or memory use?
The official manual recommends the Basic Kit or an individual microphone patch for more economical use. It also advises increasing the audio-driver buffer and using a computer performance mode if needed.
