RUST PRIME BY SOUNDIRON

RUST PRIME BY SOUNDIRON

KK-ACCESS REVIEW

Rust has been a popular series of metallic based sample libraries released over several years from the Californian based masters of sampling, SoundIron.

this new iteration gathers together all 4 of the previous Rust releases,adds a bunch of new Rust 5 content,then neatly wraps them up and presents them into a highly convenient one stop Kontakt Player NKS compatible package that is sure to please sound designers, film, game & media composers, or indeed any sound creative’s wishing to add some distinctive metal timbres into their productions.

When considering the use of industrial or real world found sounds in music production, be it breaking glass, splintering wood, scraping concrete, or the pounding of anvils, there is something uniquely compelling and powerful about the sound of metal objects being struck, scraped, warped and generally being abused, that resonates (quite literally) with me.

I can recall with a wave of enduring nostalgia, first seeing Depeche Mode live performing their album ‘Some Great Reward’ live, way back in 1984, which leaned heavily on a sampled metallic dystopian industrial backdrop for both it’s rhythmic and melodic song construction.

In those days everything to me seemed fresh, experimental , revolutionary, and was exciting to my own emerging musical ears.

Forty plus years on, and although not new, there is still a valid and well established place for hard hitting metallic’s, alongside more subtle uses of the median, whether the latest blockbuster trailer, or an avant garde soundscape, metals are certainly accepted and permanently welded into our media listening psyche.

This new library compilation offers users a veritable scrap heap of fantastic content to play with, not only in terms of presets, but also the opportunity to blend and forge your own sound designs, courtesy once more of SoundIron’s intuitive to use 4 layer NKS Kontakt engine.

TECH SPECS

Rust Prime runs in Kontakt 8.1 or later, either full version or free Kontakt Player edition.

It is compatible with all versions of Komplete Kontrol when hosting the appropriate version of Kontakt.

9GB of disk space is required for the installation, with 24-bit, 48 kHz Stereo Lossless NCW Format being used for the 20,365 Stereo Samples.

The library uses the Kontakt NKI format for the included factory presets, and there are 20 specifically crafted presets for each of these 5 Rust banks, as well as an associated Rust master preset for each.

Finally, there is also a master Rust Prime NKI which features ensembles from each of the 5 libraries, alongside some companion elemental subsynth waveforms to reinforce them.

DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION

Download can be achieved via the dedicated SoundIron installer application provided post purchase, however as Rust Prime is a Kontakt Player library, it is possible to carry out the entire authorisation, download, and installation directly through Native Access, which is more accessible and convenient.

Once installed, Rust Prime will be added to the factory side of the Komplete Kontrol browser after launching either the standalone application, or the plug-in version within your DAW, I recommend the latter as it’s quicker, meaning you will be ready to begin exploring in just a few strikes of an anvil!

FULL KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS PARAMETER MAPPINGS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THE REVIEW FOLLOWING THE MEDIA LINKS

ACCESSIBILITY

Rust Prime uses the now established SoundIron 4 layer Kontakt engine, of which I have always been a big fan, and in particular their associated NKS implementation.

From the sound design perspective, it allows users to directly select the categories and their related samples straight from the Komplete Kontrol knobs, meaning that you can quickly mix, match, and blend up to four layers of sounds to create your own personal patches.

There are further valuable options, such as LFO, Filters, Arp, ADSR, Sample Offset etc, which make it a realistic means of shaping your own content from the ground up.

Unfortunately there is still no means to accessibly remove what I assume is a Kontakt source reverb from the FX rack, which can be annoying on some presets, a good proportion of the Rust material is reasonably dry, so in this case you may be much more likely to be adding your own ambience courtesy of a second Komplete Kontrol FX slot, or externally on the track, but ultimately better Kontakt access would offer better control of such factors.

SAMPLE CONTENT

Rust Prime features an expansive collection of metallic percussion sounds including farm equipment, caboose, firetruck, windmill, squeaking doors, dumpsters, bottles, chairs, bowed saws, brass rails, racks, stairwells, mineshaft’s, soda can ring pulls, and so so much more.

I could not really begin to imagine how many samples must be stored on the SoundIron HQ servers, but certainly when it comes to metallic’s, they have gathered together a superb collection of material from their archives during the course of the 5 Rust releases.

The included sample pool has been put to good use in the creation of 20 FX presets for each of the Rust series, with plenty of nice examples of rhythmic tempo synced presets, making use of the arp controls integrated into the NKS interface.

These can of course be modified to taste, altering the rate, or modwheel assignments to effect pan, pitch, filter and so forth.

There are also playable presets, where sustained samples have been used to create drones, pads, leads and ambiences, again all can be modified by swapping out individual layers.

SONIC PLAYGROUND

The joy of this library though, comes from user preset creation, it can be beneficial to start with a clean canvas, which is where the master Kontakt NKI presets can be employed

Each Rust library has this single preset appropriately named to identify the related Rust product version.

I had hoped that the Rust Prime master NKI would allow for the browsing of the entire sample pool, however it seems to be restricted to cross pollinating of only the ensemble categories of the 5 libraries, I guess there must have been a technical reason for this, and admittedly it would certainly have yielded a very long list to browse through directly if using the KK keyboard controls alone.

Please do make a point of checking out the excellent Walkthrugh by Craig Peters, as well as the related ‘writing in the style of’ video, which are linked at the end of the review.

CONCLUSION

Rust Prime would be a wonderful addition to any composers creative palette.

There is a large collection of metal percussion, Foley, and ambiences that can potentially find a home in all manner of projects, with the addition of new Rust 5 material.

The NKS user interface is entirely malleable for those of us who rely on the Komplete Kontrol keyboards for sample library access, much of this is down to the ability to select and load our own choice of samples directly from the NKS template.

Rust Prime represents great value as a multi library collection over the individual library prices, with the welcome addition of new content & the added advantage of it now featuring official Kontakt Player and NKS support.

Rust Prime can be purchased directly from the SoundIron website for the introductory price of £98.00 (regular £122.00)

Rust Prime Product Page:
https://soundiron.com/products/rust-prime?srsltid=AfmBOorVtxlT_ZysJYQB3QUZHfwDDD8S5LDXdh3WR3uULmqA9MYtjir2

Rust Prime Walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylpFrT_CiqU

Writing in the style of Chernobyl (featuring Rust Prime):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SC1fozAl74

Rust Prime user Manual:
https://dist.soundiron.com/SND/Manuals/Soundiron%20-%20Rust%20Prime%20-%20User%20Manual%20-%20v1.0.pdf

SoundIron are participating partners of the Able Artist Foundation
https://www.ableartist.org/

KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS PARAMETER MAPPING

Page One – Layer 1A

Knob 1 – Layer On/Off
Knob 2 – Category
Knob 3 – Sound
Knob 4 – Volume
Knob 5 – Attack
Knob 6 – Offset
Knob 7 – release
Knob 8 – Width (reduces to mono or wider stereo)

Page Two – Layer 1B – Vibrato, Pitch, Pan

Knob 1 – Vibrato Depth
Knob 2 – Vibrato Rate
Knob 3 – Pan
Knob 4 – Autopan
Knob 5 – Pitch (plus or minus 36 semitones)
Knob 6 – Pitch M
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated

Page Three – Layer 2 A

Knob 1 to 8 – As per Layer 1 controls

Page Four – Layer 2 B

Knob 1 to 8 – As per Layer 1 B controls

Page Five – Layer 3 A

Knob 1 to 8 – As per Layer 1A controls

Page Six – Layer 3B

Page Seven – Layer 4 A

Knob 1 to 8 – As per Layer 1A

Page Eight – Layer 4B

Knobs 1 to 8 – As per Layer 1B
Page Nine – Select & LFO

Knob 1 – Layer Select 1,2,3, or 4
Knob 2 – LFO On/Off
Knob 3 – LFO Shape: Sine, Square, Triangle, Sawtooth, Random
Knob 4 – Target: Volume, Bass, Treble, Pitch, Pan, Resonance, Frequency
Knob 5 – Sync On/Off
Knob 6 – Rate (beats or Hz depending on sync value)
Knob 7 – Intensity
Knob 8 – Fade In

Page Ten – Filter

Knob 1 – On/Off
Knob 2 – filter Type x 12
Knob 3 – Modulator
Knob 4 – Resonance
Knob 5 – Frequency
Knob 6 – Invert
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated

Page Eleven – Arp

Knob 1 – On/Off
Knob 2 – Arp Mode: Normal, Hold, Hold Plus, Gliss, Strum,
Knob 3 – table
Knob 4 – Arp Direction: Up, Down, Up & Down, Down & Up, ZigZag Up, ZigZag Down, zigZag Up Down, ZigZag Down Up, Move In, Move Out, In & Out, Out & In, EZ Roll, Random, As Played
Knob 5 – Time
Knob 6 – Swing
Knob 7 – Random Amount
Knob 8 – duration amount

Page Twelve – Gliss & Strum

Knob 1 – Gliss Direction
Knob 2 – Scale
Knob 3 – Curve
Knob 4 – Rate
Knob 5 – strum Direction
Knob 6 – Chord
Knob 7 – duration
Knob 8 – Rate

Page Thirteen – Constrain & X Fade

Knob 1 – On/Off
Knob 2 – Key
Knob 3 – Scale
Knob 4 – X Fade Amount
Knob 5 – Velocity Minimum
Knob 6 – Velocity Maximum
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated

(c) Chris Ankin

KK-Access.com

7th February 2025

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About the Author

Based in Buckinghamshire, England, Chris Ankin has worked as a freelance review writer and contributor with articles published in Sound On Sound, Home & Studio Recording and ST Format Magazines.

He has also successfully worked extensively in and around the music, recording, film Soundtrack scoring, Game & media composition, the creative arts, Charitable trusts,publishing, music streaming and property investments since 1982 whilst continuously and deliberately managing to evade any mainstream recognition under his own name by the use of various pseudonyms.
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