Native Instruments Action Strikes review

Project-ready cinematic percussion sounds

  • £249
  • €299
  • $299
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The sample library has 12 hefty percussion ensembles, used in three Kontakt instruments

MusicRadar Verdict

For impressive instant results, this is hard to beat, particularly for soundtracking.

Pros

  • +

    Cinematic sounds in a boiled-down package. Easy to use.

Cons

  • -

    Those after intricacy and flexibility should look elsewhere.

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The sequel to Native Instrument's acclaimed Action Strings, Action Strikes applies the same "instant mix-ready patterns" approach to percussion.

"Like Action Strings before it, Action Strikes sounds bombastic, vibrant and resoundingly cinematic"

The sample library has 12 hefty percussion ensembles (Taiko Invasion, Heroic Drums, etc), used in three Kontakt instruments.

In Ensemble, 105 preset rhythms with five variations per ensemble are strung together via keyswitching, with dynamics controlled by the mod wheel and some instrumentation control available in the ability to freely combine the Low, Mid and High sections from up to three ensembles.

The other two instruments - Instrument and Hits - offer single-instrument loops and banks of multisampled one-shots respectively.

Like Action Strings before it, Action Strikes sounds bombastic, vibrant and resoundingly cinematic. If you need intricate control over your drum and cymbal sounds, there are far more flexible options, but for impressive instant results, this is hard to beat, particularly for soundtracking.

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