AVL Drums - multiple versions?

Plugins
#1

For the AVL drum plugins, there are multiple versions:

  • Black Pearl 4A
  • Black Pearl 4B
  • Black Pearl 5

and

  • Red Zeppelin 4
  • Red Zeppelin 5

I understand the difference between Black Pearl and Red Z (different kits) but all versions of the respective kits look the same, and have the same parameters available. What’s the difference in the versions, and why are there multiple available?

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#2

There are small variations between the kits, for the samples used in them.
The naming just follows what the author had set for the sf2 files he created.
AVL Drumkits 1.1 Released! Now with Soundfont2 - LinuxMusicians might have some details.

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#3

Ok, I did a little digging.

For Red Zeppelin, the only difference is note 43 - the floor tom.

  • RZ4 - 16" floor tom (rings like a timpani, sounds really nice to my ear)
  • RZ5 - 18" floor tom (lower pitch, more of a thud. Doesn’t ring as much)

Regarding the Black Pearls, in the link provided above, the creator states the following:

The difference is in the snare drums, 4A has a double ply batter snare head and has a less ‘crisp’ sound, a bit lower pitch and a longer duration hit than 4B, it actually has similar character to some electronic snares. 4B is a bit snappier and more traditionally ‘acoustic’ sounding but sometimes 4A sits in a mix better, it all depends on what you’re looking for. Other than that they are identical.

That doesn’t mention 5, so I opened up the sf2 files in an editor.

  • 5 is exactly the same as 4b - same snare, but with a 2nd high tom.
  • Note 47 on both 4a and 4b is a “tom edge” version of the single high tom.
  • Note 47 on 5 is a different tom altogether - tuned to a lower pitch, and “boomier.”

These are all the differences I could see:

Note # 4A 4B 5
37 SideStick Sidestick2 Sidestick2
38 PearlSnare PearlSnare2 PearlSnare2
40 PearlSnareEdge PearlSnare2Edge PearlSnare2Edge
47 Pearl12TomEdge Pearl12TomEdge Pearl13Tom2

Hope this helps someone other than myself.

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