8DIO – Terminus $248

To some, the world of film trailers is strewn with cliché – whether it be the editing, voiceover, sound design or music. This is not to say the originality is missing, but certain tropes are very common, and perhaps necessary, in grabbing the viewer/listeners’ attention in such a limited time frame. 8DIO are well-established creators of sample library content suitable (though not exclusively) for this territory, and Terminus is no exception. Arriving with a loud thud, this Kontakt-based library is designed to be ‘large’, and features over 1,200 instruments and FX to stake its claim. The provided instruments fall into four main groups – Drums, Hybrid, Orchestral and Synth. Within each of these are banks based on Hits, Slams, Sub Hits, Falls and Risers. Additionally, some instruments also add ‘Ear Candy’ (airy textures) and ‘Strums’ (transitional music and FX-based textures). Although the instruments largely map a different sound to each key, sounds can be transposed using an octave cluster of notes at the top end of the keyboard. The Stretch feature takes this further by allowing you to play the last used sample across the full keyboard (which can be combined with Stack, Reverse and the ‘Chaos Effects’ to provide some serious customisation).

The more you delve into Terminus, the greater the realisation that this isn’t just a string ‘trailer tool’. I found myself creating dark electronica backing tracks and strange, brooding or beautiful ambient backdrops with some ease. As such, I can see this becoming an essential part of my production armoury in future. Bruce Aisher 8dio.com VERDICT 9.0