 September 11, 2008 - Rick Naqvi of PreSonus Comment in Craig Anderton's Heavy Mental Review
"I am doing a record right now that features Tony Morra on several songs. What a monster drummer and an amazingly nice guy too. Personally I think 'real' drum loops like this absolutely sound better than midi loops even though it's a little more work to edit them. Craig, I agree with you about the 'room' sounds. That's the secret sauce."
More in Craig Anderton's Heavy Mental Review | Buy Heavy Mental Drums
 February 21, 2007 - Harmony Central's Discrete Drums Pro Sets Review
"I still reach for Discrete Drum's Series One sample CD collection when I need quick drums for a soundtrack; it's stood the test of time. The sound quality is excellent, the playing is dynamic and human, and the files are presented in multitrack format so it's easy to mutate the tracks as you want: Process just the snare, replace the kick, bring up the room mics, that sort of thing. As a result, even though it's a drum sample library, you can personalize it to a large degree. So much so, in fact, that I did a remix of it and played it for the Discrete Drum guys. I expected them to throw me across the room (We spent thousands of hours getting it to sound right, and you put it through distortion pedals!) but instead they said cool and put it out as a sample CD called "Turbulent Filth Monsters."
Read Craig Anderton's Review: Discrete Drums Pro Sets | Buy Discrete Drums - Series One | Buy Turbulent Filth Monsters
August 25, 2006 - Craig Anderton Reviews Discrete Drums Pro Sets
"Because I do a lot of audio-for-video, soundtracks, and songwriting, sample CDs have become an important part of fleshing out arrangements. I've noticed over the years that some of these are like "A-list" studio musicians, because they get the call over and over again in different applications. Of all the drum libraries I use for "commerical" music, I've gotten more mileage from the Discrete Drums Pro Set libraries than any other."
Read "Review: Discrete Drums Pro Sets" by Craig Anderton | Buy Discrete Drums Pro Sets
 August 1, 2006 - EQ's AmpliTube Meets Drums Mentions Turbulent Filth Monsters
"[Amp Modeling] isn't just about guitar and bass: As any keyboard player will tell you, a little judicious grit can really add character to sterile synths. I've had great luck using guitar modeling on drums (the original AmpliTube was one of the secret ingredients in my Turbulent Filth Monsters drum loop sample CD)."
Read EQ's "AmpliTube 2 Meets Drums" | Buy Turbulent Filth Monsters
 February 1, 2006 - Electonic Musician's Heavy Mental Drums Review
"All the elements are well recorded, but the room tracks are what really define this collection. When mixing, I particularly liked adding the Big Room track, which was recorded well back from the kit. It makes the mix come alive and sound really huge (see Web Clip 1). The Room track was recorded closer, but also adds significant ambience. Heavy Mental Drums is another winning library for Discrete Drums. If you need large-sounding, flashy drum loops for your metal or rock tracks, you won't be disappointed."
Read EM's Heavy Mental Drums Review | Buy Heavy Mental Drums
 October 1, 2005 - MIX's Heavy Mental Drum Library Review
"Loading the 48kHz multitrack files into Pro Tools was a snap. Just have a quick listen on the audition CDs, find what you like and start working. The cuts feature popular session drummer Tony Morra and were cut at Sound Kitchen's Big Boy room (just outside Nashville in nearby Franklin, Tenn.). The quality of the performances and audio throughout is impeccable. I appreciated accessing 13 separate channels on each project, and for more variation, alternate endings are provided with each project, along with a collection of miscellaneous crashes, count-offs and extra endings for use anywhere. Also, all of the drums are dry-miked and can be combined with the distance mic tracks or with outboard reverb to your taste."
Read Mix's Heavy Mental Drum Library Review | Buy Heavy Mental Drums
 August, 2005 - GuitarPlayer Reviews Discrete Drums EarthBeat
"DD gives us 16 different grooves, all of which share a common genesis: They have a hybrid worldbeat vibe. They're not authentic in the way that you'd expect a collection of ethnic percussion to be. Instead, they provide the kind of blending of ethnic and Western grooves that the majority of musicians go for when they graft genres using live musicians, as opposed to samples. The evocatively named Carlos groove, one of the 16 mentioned, takes a straight-eighth rock beat and lays Latin percussion on top of it, somewhat reminiscent of Santana's early hits ("Black Magic Woman") and Steely Dan's "Do it Again." The thing about DD's approach is that they give you much more than a basic beat. They give you versions labeled "Verse," "Chorus," "Bridge," and a couple other variations involving a heavier snare, a busier ride cymbal, cross-sticking, or some other very musical twist. Drum solos, too. Each of these variations in turn has additional variations. I particularly like the laid-back feel of some of the slower grooves (Oasis) and the 6/8 African-flavored tracks ("Into It"). But I found all of them to be inspiring, easy to use, and produced with top-notch care. And it's a great value."
Read Guitar Player's Discrete Drums EarthBeat Drums Review | Buy EarthBeat Drums
 May 1, 2005 - Electronic Musician Discrete Percussion Review
"When listening to the loops in Discrete Percussion: the Eric Darken Collection, you quickly realize that percussionist Eric Darken is a master operator of the standard tools of his trade, and has an uncanny aptitude for turning everyday household objects into instruments. This two-disc collection seamlessly mixes reliable standbys such as congas, shakers, and tambourines, with the sounds of toilet seats, briefcase latches, computer-keyboard spacebars, egg cartons, watering cans, stick-bag zippers, and other improvised percussion. A lot of creativity went into the construction of these loops, and they offer a fresh twist on the standard percussion repertoire. But don't get the wrong idea - this is no collection of bonks and boinks; these loops are very musical and will fit nicely into a wide range of pop styles. And, if you're producing music that's more out there, you'll find fodder here, as well."
Read EM's Discrete Percussion Review | Buy Discrete Percussion
April 1, 2005 - Electronic Musician EarthBeat Drums Review
"The heart of EarthBeat is its stellar grooves. The songs have a range of solid drum grooves with cool, multilayered percussion on top. The percussion, played in African and Latin styles, adds the world-music feel to the performances. It doesn't seem as though Discrete Drums was trying to re-create world styles beat for beat, but rather to use the percussion (played by Eric Darken) to lend a world-music flavor to the rock, funk, and pop grooves (laid down by drummer Greg Morrow). The content is extremely well recorded, and the drums have a big, clean, beefy sound. The EarthBeat tracks are among the best-sounding loops I've heard...This is another winner for Discrete Drums"
Read EM's Discrete Drums EarthBeat Drums Review | Buy EarthBeat Drums
 November 1, 2004 - EQ documents the Making of the new Discrete Drums collection - Heavy Mental "With Heavy Mental in particular, I feel the thing that sets it apart is the fact that we went into a world-class studio and set Tony Morra loose. He's a great drummer, his drums sound killer, the playing is phenomenal, and he wasn't afraid to get heavy. This is not a generic collection of performances, although we do get simple in places, as well as cover the balls-to-the-wall flailing. [laughs]"
Read EQ's The Making of Discrete Drums Heavy Mental | Buy Heavy Mental Drums
October 1, 2003 - Electronic Musician Series Two Review
"The grooves and sounds in Discrete Drums Series Two are inspiring and filled with attitude. The combination of the multitrack format and the individual drum samples allows for plenty of creative flexibility. If you're serious about putting together drum tracks that maintain the human element, I highly recommend this collection."
ReadEM's Discrete Drums Series Two Product Review | Buy Discrete Drums - Series Two
 April 1, 2003 - MIX Interview with Discrete Drums producer - Rick DiFonzo
"Every Discrete Drums performance includes eight tracks of drums, like you'd find them laid out on a multitrack, plus a stereo mix. Each user can customize the sound of the kit and make it sit in a track just the way they want. The response to Series One was so good that we released a second, and we're just about to put out a third." Rick is the key player behind Discrete Drums, one of the best-selling sampled drum libraries in the business.
Read Interview with Rick DiFonzo by MIX
March 1, 2002 - Electronic Musician Series One Review
"I love the concept of this library. The end result could potentially blow away other methods of achieving realistic-sounding drum tracks. The performances utilize session folks from Nashville, and the quality of the playing and engineering is very good overall. The drum sound is big and expansive and some creative editing makes for a great drum track. The ability to balance the ambient/dry sounds of the overhead and room mics and to experiment with different EQ, compression, and reverb settings on the snare is a luxury usually not available to those who use drum loops in their work."
Read Electronic Musician's "Discrete Drums Series One Review" | Buy Discrete Drums - Series One
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