Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars
Cartago is a collaborative production from Giuseppe Caiazzo of Silence+Other Sounds and Stefano Maccarelli. Both have extensive experience with sample libraries aimed at composers and Cartago, which is built for the full version of Kontakt (6.8 or above), features a collection of cinematic‑flavoured drum and percussion sounds, and is aimed squarely at that same audience.
The instruments include both acoustic sources and some ‘designed’ options, drawn from the likes of orchestral bass drums, timpani, snares, frame drums of various types, taikos, darbukas, djembes and a number of more exotic options. The 13GB of sample data means you are getting some deeply sampled instruments, featuring multiple round robins, articulations, dynamic layers and microphone positions.
Inside Kontakt, Cartago actually provides two very different front‑end experiences for the user; the Acoustic Percussions Sequencer (as shown in the screenshot) and the Designed Drums Kit. The APC presets let you load and layer three of the deeply sampled drum/percussion sounds. These can sound pretty epic when triggered manually but, some comprehensive effects options notwithstanding, the really interesting element if you need quick results is found in the Sequencer panel. This offers four ‘scenes’ (different sequence patterns) that you can keyswitch between and control the overall dynamics of via a combination of the Expression, Scale and Tight controls. The sequencer engine has its own preset library and user sequences can easily be created. It’s effective, easy to use and makes for instant performance inspiration.
The Designed Drums Kit lets you build your own drum kit across a conventional 4x4 pad grid with over 2200 one‑shot (and some multisample) options to choose from. These samples are divided into five categories — cinematic impacts, low‑end kicks/thumps, designed snares, percussions/raw sound and whoosh/rise/SFX — and, whether you want traditional sounds or something more modern, there is plenty to explore. Again, the features and functionality of the front end are actually rather impressive and provide all sorts of interesting ways to map and layer the sounds, as well as a whole slew of effects options for further sound design.
...ably demonstrated by the impressive collection of presets for both engines, Cartago most certainly delivers in terms of sounds.
Both producers know their way around the sampling process so, as ably demonstrated by the impressive collection of presets for both engines, Cartago most certainly delivers in terms of sounds. Some care is needed with some of the APS presets as you can easily end up triggering quite a lot of samples (so things can get pretty demanding in terms of computer resources) but, if you like your UIs functional rather than super‑slick (this is perhaps not the prettiest Kontakt instrument I’ve ever used), the functionality is equally impressive and both engines offer very accessible performance options that will appeal to the busy composer. Yes, the cinematic drums marketplace is a crowded one, but Cartago can certainly stand its ground sonically and is also very competitively priced (even more so if you pick it up at the discounted launch price). Well worth auditioning.
$119
$119