Klangmacht Helloween Manual
Thank you for choosing Klangmacht Drums "Helloween"!
This is the Manual for Klangmacht Helloween. Looking for the Product Description? Looking for the Product Page to buy a licence or to check out videos and sound examples?
Overview
We’re thrilled to introduce you to the Helloween "Production kit", featuring a Sonor Signature Heavy Bubinga set with a Sonor Signature Snare and Paiste 2000 cymbals. This virtual drum kit was recorded by legendary producer Charlie Bauerfeind at Streetlife Studios in Fürth, Germany, and in H.O.M.E. Studios im Hamburg, utilizing both digital and analog methods.
Dani Löble, Drummer of Helloween, played this kit, which was originally played by Helloween's first drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg, on Helloween's chart breaking album "Helloween" (2021). All samples are originally taken from the recording session of this iconic album! Each microphone was carefully pre-routed to stems, premixed, and preprocessed by Charlie, ensuring that every hit, crash, and thump you trigger is production-ready and full of character, sent with love right into your studio, waiting to be shaped into your next masterpiece.
Installation
Helloween is a Kontakt instrument, compatible with Kontakt 7.0 and higher. You need a Serial Number that you can use in Native Access.
Please refer to the Klangmacht Drums Installation Guide on how to install it.
Quick Start
We want you to dive into the sound as quickly as possible:
- Open the Instrument: Load Helloween in Kontakt.
- Hit the Drums: Click on the visual drumkit to hear some samples!
- Demo Song: Press the small Play Button in the lower right corner to hear the demo MIDI we've provided. You can turn the big knob while listening listen what happens. This will give you a quick taste of the kit's versatility.
- Send MIDI Data: Play your MIDI controller or DAW/Sequencer (MIDI notes) to trigger the instrument.
- Explore the Keyboard: Open the Kontakt keyboard to view all available samples and notes. This will give you an immediate sense of the sonic possibilities.
- Explore the Snapshots: Open one of the pre-configured snaphots through the "Open Snapshot"-function in Kontakt
to get some quick ideas for different sound possibilities.
View Modes (Easy, Mixer, Full)
The Instrument has 3 different view modes you can choose from, depending on how many controls you want to show or hide on the screen:
- Easy Mode: Simplifies the interface, giving you access to the Big Knob, the drumkit, and basic options via the main controls in the lower menu.
- Mixer Mode: Provides detailed control over stems and routings, perfect for those who want to dive deep into the mix.
- Full Mode: Provides additional features for the different stems, perfect for those who want to have full control.
The following instructions are referring to the "Full Mode" of the instrument, where all features are visibile.
You can switch to "Full Mode" by clicking on "Full" in the lower section:
Feature Description
The instrument is packed with features to tailor the sound to your exact needs. Here’s a breakdown:
1 BIG KNOB
The heart of this kit is the Big Knob. Turn it from left to right to morph your sound from "Close" (tight and focused) to "Big" (wide and expansive). This single control adjusts all stems in a pre-configured manner, giving you access to a vast array of sounds with minimal effort. Play around with it and discover your unique sound. The Big Knob is connected to all stems that can be controlled individually (see 8).
2 DEMO PLAYER
The Demo Player allows you to hear a specially crafted MIDI file that showcases the instrument’s versatility. Just click play, adjust the Big Knob, and hear the magic unfold.
3 DIGITAL / ANALOG SWITCH
We've recorded every sample in both digital and analog formats—once through a pristine digital signal chain and once through a fully analog setup, including a Paul Wolff FIX Console and an MTR 90 Otari 2" tape machine. This switch lets you choose between the warmth of analog and the clarity of digital, depending on your taste and the needs of your track.
4 MAIN SOUND / ALTERNATIVE SOUND SWITCH
For added flexibility, we recorded an alternative snare. This switch allows you to toggle between the main and alternative sounds.
5 DRUMMER / AUDIENCE SWITCH
By default, you will hear all samples from drummer perspective (so just like in the visual representation of the drumkit). If you switch to "Audience", the L/R stereo image is swapped and you her all samples from audience perspective.
6 MAPPER
By default, all mappings from midi notes to instruments are using the default Klangmacht Map, designed for consistent mapping across all Klangmacht Drum Plugins. By using the mapper, you can choose between different industry standard mappings or create your own custom mapping. The mapper is described in detail here: Klangmacht Drums Mapper
7 GROOVES
The instrument is shipped with some hand-picked and perfectly matched grooves to get you started. The grooves are an excerpt, taken out of Klangmacht Midi Packs that can be purchased indepently from Klangmacht Drum Plugins. The Groove Explorer is described in detail here: Klangmacht Groove Explorer
8 STEM CONTROL
Each pre-mixed stem can be controlled individually:
- Stem level (volume knob). You can adjust the stem levels by turning the small knobs to suit your taste. The stems are still "connected" to the Big Knob:
- The plugin remembers the change compared to the value that would actually apply to the small knob, depending on the position of the big knob.
- So, if you operate the big knob after making a change, it will change the small knobs in the same proportion as the change you have just made!
- You can use the “Reset Preset” button to reset the small knobs to the preset value (depending on the position of the big knob). This button only appears (in the lower section of the Big Knob) after you made a change on the small knob.
- Solo/Mute functions by the respective buttons
.
- Output routing
: route each stem to different outputs in Kontakt, enabling precise control in your DAW. (See the Kontakt Tutorial for activating multiple outputs here)
- Room Stems
(see 9 for details).
9 ROOMS
To add spatial depth, you can send selected instruments into two different room environments: Room Near and Room Far.
Use the Send to Near and Send to Far buttons found in the Stem Control sections for Kick, Snare, Toms, Hi-Hat, Ride, and Crash.
Activating these sends blends the respective instrument into the selected room stem.
Both Room Near and Room Far have their own dedicated stem sections with controls for level, mute, solo, and output routing.
Use the Send to Near and Send to Far buttons found in the Stem Control sections for Kick, Snare, Toms, Hi-Hat, Ride, and Crash.
Activating these sends blends the respective instrument into the selected room stem.
Both Room Near and Room Far have their own dedicated stem sections with controls for level, mute, solo, and output routing.
10 IMPACT KICKSHOT
For a punchier and more consistent low end, you can activate the Impact Kickshot.
This control blends in a specially selected one-shot sample with your kick bus—adding weight and stability while preserving the original dynamics.
The one-shot is phase-aligned and perfectly tailored to the kit.
This control blends in a specially selected one-shot sample with your kick bus—adding weight and stability while preserving the original dynamics.
The one-shot is phase-aligned and perfectly tailored to the kit.
11 IMPACT SNARESHOT
Just like the Kickshot, the Impact Snareshot layers a single, matched one-shot sample on top of the snare bus.
It helps achieve a tight, controlled snare tone—ideal for dense mixes or modern productions where consistency is key.
It helps achieve a tight, controlled snare tone—ideal for dense mixes or modern productions where consistency is key.
12 SNARE REVERB
This is a dedicated artificial reverb channel for the snare drum, using a pre-processed and carefully selected reverb tail.
It’s designed to blend seamlessly with the natural room tones, but can also be routed to a separate output for full mix control in your DAW.
It’s designed to blend seamlessly with the natural room tones, but can also be routed to a separate output for full mix control in your DAW.
13 CHARACTER
Fine-tune the overall character of the drum shells (Kick, Snare, Toms) using the following controls:
- Air: Adds a dedicated overhead microphone layer—capturing only the shells—for enhanced stereo width and openness. Can be routed to its own output.
- Density: Engages parallel compression and saturation on Kick, Snare, and Toms for more punch and presence in dense mixes.
-
Steady: Reduces sample variation (Round Robin) in Kick and Snare for a more stable, less dynamic playback—ideal for certain production styles.
14 BLEED
Control how much microphone bleed is present—capturing the natural spill between instruments. You can independently adjust and route:
- Cymbal Bleed: Hi-Hat, Ride, and Crash sounds picked up by shell microphones.
- Shell Bleed: Kick, Snare, and Toms captured through non-primary shell mics (e.g., Kick through Snare mic).
Each bleed group can be sent to a dedicated output, giving you precise control over the kit’s natural bleed and realism.
15 DRUMKIT
Click directly on any drum or cymbal in the drumkit image to preview its sound. When playing MIDI into the instrument, you’ll see visual feedback—each triggered element is briefly highlighted so you can track activity and identify instruments at a glance.
And now - make some noise!
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