Lets go on a mystical voyage to the dark age of ancient Europe, where legends were born, and old northern gods still determine the fate of man-kind! This article explores Dark Era, a virtual instrument plugin from Best Service. If you work on dark or fantasy projects, this article is for you.
Dark Era — An Epic Sound Library
Dark Era is a library of Instruments, sounds, and voices consisting of more than 50 instruments and 20000 samples.
the plugin explores the sounds and myths from the Vikings and other tribes from the old ages, and can make your tracks sound like they were composed centuries ago! Here is more about its three main sections:
The Instruments
The first section consists of period-accurate instruments, such as string harps, gut-string lyres, and Nordic bone flutes. It also has war horns and resonant drums.
This is the complete list of the seven string instruments, 17 wind instruments, and 33 drums and percussion of Dark Era:
Bowed Strings
- Tagelharpa
- Jouhikko Small
- Tagelharpa
- Jouhikko Big
- Crwth
Plucked Strings
- Cologne Lyre
- Ancient Lyre
- Trossingen Lyre
- Utrecht Lute
War Horns
- War Horn
- White Horn
- Curved Horn
- Shofar
- Bukkehorn
- Shell
- Long Trumpet
- Big Horn
- Double Flute
- Small Bone Flute
- Vulture Bone Flute
- Pictish Pipes
- Elderwood Flute
- Overtone Fujara
- Didgeridoo
- Wooden Lur
Percussion
- Shamanic Drum Small
- Shamanic Drum Big
- Big Frame Drum
- 5 Square Drums
- 2 Skin Drums
- 2 Skin Snares
- Skin Tom
- Sieves
- Anvil
- 3 Viking Mouth Harps
- Jawbone
- Pan Medium
- Pan Rusted
- 7 Seed Shakers
- Small Bells
- 2 Cowbells
- Bullroarer
- Horseshoe and Bronze Mortar
The Sound Design
Soundscapes
The second section has more than 100 programmed soundscapes to complement the instruments collection. These are partially rhythmically animated to pulsate in sync with the current tempo of your DAW or to create unreal atmospheres using complex sound textures that are adjustable in level and panning in the mixer page of Engine.
Dedicated Epic Loops
It also has dedicated Epic Loops designed to support the sound rhythmically. These consist of up to 20 instruments and up to 16 separate elements, which can all be individually adjusted.
Each loop comes in four variations with different fills and endings, and they will automatically adapt to the tempo of your DAW.
Rhythmic Pads
Additionally, it offers rhythmic pads containing melodic and rhythmic elements to bridge the gap between the drums and the solo instruments.
Just as for the soundscapes, the individual pad elements can individually be panned and mixed.
The Vocals
The third and last section contains rhythmical human voices, throat singing, and a preset with overtone singing.
Dark Era offers twenty-four MIDI files of unusual but still very usable shouts, whispers, and shamanic invocations. The rhythms are editable, and you can even create them from scratch.
The sounds you can make with this plugin are unreal, and to hear a few examples of what Dark Era makes possible, check out this playlist from its producer, Eduardo Tarilonte.
The Talents Behind Dark Era
The producer
Eduardo Tarilonte is an award-winning sample library developer. In Addition to Dark Era, he also created libraries such as Forest Kingdom, Epic World, Era Medieval Legends, Cantus, Mystica, Shevannai, Desert Winds, and many more.
It is worth mentioning that Hollywood composers use Eduardo’s libraries to create tracks for movies, tv series, video games, and documentaries.
The Instruments
The string and wind instruments as well as some of the drums used for creating Dark Era were handmade by the master instrument maker Benjamin Simao.
The Performers
While Benjamin Simao performed the string Instruments, the shamanic Drums, and tympanum romano himself, Iván Carlón performed the wind instruments, and Adal Fernández del Castillo performed the percussion.
On the other hand, Moisés Pérez performed the throat singing and the vocal rhythms. Not to mention that he performed the overtone singing, jointly with Joaquim Manjón.
The Studio
The recording took place in Eldana Studio, located in Spain, using high-quality gear and close miking techniques for a more guttural impact, t
Who Should Consider Dark Era?
This library is perfect for those who want to create tracks for movies, documentaries, and video games related to the Vikings, ancient Europe, and the dark ages.
Additionally, Dark Era is equally suited for historical music productions as well as for ambient music.
How To Use Dark Era?
The instruments are playable via Best Service ENGINE 2 Sample Player, which comes with the plugin. It is compatible with Mac and Windows platforms and operates in AU, VST, and AAX formats.
The Directories break down from sections to subdirectories and presets that offer unique and impossible-to-recreate variations. Each of those presets comes with a decent number of controllers, which allow you to tweak it to your needs.
Conclusion
Dark Era is a library of great and inspiring sounds of the dark ages, perfect for those who score films, historical documentaries, or period-specific audio dramas.
In addition to the top-level sound quality, the instruments of this plugin have unique spirits, personal characters, and offer a sort of individuality that will make your composition unique and different.
Are you looking for specific soundtracks that fit the theme of your project? We can help! At Mello Studio, we compose original music that make your production stand out! Contact us today.
This feels like a thrilling video game