In October 2019 Sunhouse released King Klavé Sounds, a Sensory Percussion V1 pack made in collaboration with Amaury Acosta (aka, King Klavé) drummer, producer, composer, and electronic artist known for his band (U)nity and for his work with Pino Palladino, Candido Camero, Kimbra, José James and many others.
King Klavé Sounds quickly became popular with V1 Sensory Percussionists, and we were thrilled to hear it being used on stages and in productions!
So we are proud to announce that we have upgraded King Klavé Sounds for V2. King Klavé 2 has all of the sounds and kits of the original, but each set has been faithfully updated to make use of V2 features that were not possible in V1 – and with King Klavé 2 there are nine all new sets.
If you are a Sensory Percussion 2 user, you can get the pack for free now!
The Upgrade Process
You can read about the recording and kit building process for V1 on the original blog post. Upgrading the King Klavé Sounds pack for V2 was a careful process made to maximize V2 features - making the kits better while maintaining the spirit of the originals.
The King Klavé 2 sets are even more expressive and responsive to your playing due to the modular structure of Sensory Percussion 2. Where we were limited to making “cycle” or “pattern” kits by sequencing single samples in V1, the pattern-based sets in V2 sequence full, velocity-responsive zones or drum maps.
All of the V1 sets are included in the upgrade, and have been renamed with more exciting titles. Here is a table connecting the new names:
| King Klavé 1 Set Name | King Klavé 2 Set Name |
|---|---|
| King Klavé Congas | Klavé Congas |
| King Klavé Timbales | Klavé Timbales |
| King Klavé Bongos | Klavé Bongos |
| King Klavé Guiro Kit | La Tiza |
| Cuban Perc | Que es la vida sin percusiòn? |
| Afro-Cuban cycle 1 | Orbitos |
| Afro-Cuban cycle 2 | Ciclos |
| batasTimbalesCycle | Timbata! |
| batas | Aberlikula |
| Cogas Bells Claves | Vaunao |
| bongos kit v1 version | Viñales: un paraìsoterrenal |
| guaguanco | La rumba no es como ayer |
| batas pattern | Lukumì |
| 6/8 cycles | Have you ever wondered? |
| Columbia Rumba cycle | La Columbia |
| Afro-Cuban Drum Machine | The boxer who threw the fight. |
The New Sets
There are nine all new sets in King Klavé 2.
Chango’s Storm
Every 100 hits will cause a "storm": a randomized modulation of FX across the whole set. The strength and length of that storm is unknown, but the more you play, the more likely you’ll trigger a stage-5 storm, which will deeply modulate delays, a tube amp, and a phaser on the hand percussion sounds.
La Mano Secreta
Any accent played on the head of the drums will gradually increment the "decay" knobs and distort the sounds of this sequenced pattern kit. Hitting the rim of any drum will bring you back to a clear sound.
PolyBata, La Palma Oriental, Pello’s Conga, and La Cena
These sets rely on sequencers that allow you to play a pulse and cycle drum maps with unsynced steps in order to create polymetric grooves.
For example, in “La Palma Oriental”, the sequencer named “Batas 1” is panned to the left and cycles 9 steps against the 10 steps in “Batas 2” that is panned to the right. So playing a straight pulse will produce a 9 against 10 rhythmic pattern.
“Single Drum Variations”
The “single drum” kits – in all Sunhouse sound packs – are designed to squeeze the sound of an entire kit onto the gestures of a single drum. Quiet hits trigger a high sound (sometimes a hi-hat or ride cymbal, but that’s not the case with the King Klavé single drum kits, which have heel & toe or a bell mapped to quiet hits). Firm hits on the center/edge trigger a bass or kick sound, while hits on the rim trigger a snare sound (or a sound that functions as a snare), and rimshots trigger some kind of accented, big sound.
The single drum kit variations for King Klavé 2 are Antes Que Anochezca, El Super Ivan, and Abuela’s Dream.
