Silence+Other Sounds – Maleventum Pompeii

Winds and percussion of Ancient Rome

Maleventum Pompeii is a Kontakt library based on the brass instruments and percussion of Ancient Rome.

We collaborated with producer and ancient instrument expert Francesco Landucci to record a huge array of horns and drums in the original environment of a Roman reservoir at the archaeological site of Cecina in Italy.

Most of the instruments have been captured with both close and room microphones, to provide the flexibility to blend/switch from a more intimate, breathy sound to a more evocative one.

Maleventum Pompeii features the following original instruments:

• Horns: Roman Cornu, Lituus, Roman Tuba, Aulos, goat animal horns of various sizes and typologies.
• Flutes, whistles and pan-flutes (syrinx)
• Drums & Percussions: Timpana, Tintinnabula, Crotala, Sistrum
• Weapons: swords, spears, metals, helmets

With the 15 meticulously crafted Kontakt instruments, Maleventum Pompeii allows a wide range of composition possibilities , from playable solo horns instruments to evocative horns layers, from war horns sound design instruments to phrases, percussion loops and one-shots.

Following the concept and tradition of the acclaimed Maleventum 1 and Maleventum 2, the instruments in Maleventum Pompeii instantly evoke scenes of ancient battlefields, solemn pagan rituals, with a sonic palette ranging from the gelid colors of the norths to the warm lands of the Mediterraneum.

Maleventum Pompeii is for TV, film, game composers and sound designers looking for a one of a kind instrument based on rare and meticulously recorded horns and drums instruments, to immediately set a ‘dark age’ and ‘ancient’ mood. It fits particularly well the epic genre, with specific regard to fantasy and dark age movies, but its versatility makes it useful also for post-horror, thriller, electronic and ambient music.