Pro/cussion
"Maximum Percussion Module"


 The E-mu Pro/Cussion is a classic module belonging to the glorious "Proteus" line.  This is a multi-timbral percussion instrument whose sounds are based on actual digital recordings of "real" instruments.  The sound is typically E-mu:  very clean, punchy and digital.

There are hundreds of different drum and percussion instruments, easily available at the tip of your fingers (when using a controller keyboard or drum machine pads) or drumsticks (when using a trigger drum controller)

The Procussion contains four megabytes of very high quality 16
bit percussion samples selected from the Emulator III sound library and stored on ROM (Read Only Memory) for instant access.  But this is only the beginning.  The Procussion gives you the ability to literally take these sounds apart and re-assemble them into an almost limitless number of entirely new percussion sounds, combining parts of one instrument with another or with any of a selection of digital waveforms also stored on ROM.
 
The extensive cross-switching functions allow a high degree of musical expression not normally attainable from sampled percussion instruments. The 16 bit samples are arranged into 128 kit locations, 64 of which are user-programmable.

Procussion also features 32 voice polyphony allowing you to take full advantage of its layering capabilities (up to 8 sounds on each key or drum pad) and its ability to respond multi-timbrally to all 16 MIDI channels makes it ideally suited for multi-track sequencing and composing using a MIDI sequencer.

Other features include 3 stereo outputs for individually processing sounds (also configurable as 6 polyphonic sub-mixes with fully programmable panning), integral sends and returns to allow the addition of external effects units without the need for a separate mixer, and of course, an extensive MIDI implementation.

The unit works with - obviously - all MIDI-equipped devices, but it's particularly suitable to be paired with a drum controller such as the Roland Octapad and SPD-series, Alesis, DrumKat etc.  I also have had success just using a common MIDI keyboard controller.

 

E-mu Procussion audio demos in mp3

Here is the Pro/Cussion's on board demo song:

E-mu Procussion Demo Sequence

ROM KITS sound demos

Stream all mp3 examples below

 

Kit name with audio demo My comments
000 Ampitheater Arena rock drum kit - huge kick and great reverb on the snare
001 Mega Drums Extremely clean and punchy
002 Rock n Roll Perfect for '70s rock
003 Palladium Terrific urban rhythm kit - check out that 808 kick
004 Jazz Drums Outstanding ride cymbal in this one.  Great velocity-switched snare as well.
005 Metal Drums Incredibly powerful.  Just add your own metal guitar and bass.
006 Rap Session Another terrific hip-hop kit - including synth bass.
007 Latin Drums Extremely realistic and very expressive percussion - perfect for all Latin genres!
008 Percussion 1 Lots of great-sounding clave, cowbells, maracas etc.
009 Tool Kit Drums for outer space
010 Ambient Rock Nice room ambience
011 Acoustic Kit Nice and fluid, laidback.
012 Thundadome 1960s-style effected drum sounds
013 Disco Ball Very nice dance drum kit
014 Vibrations There's even space for a fantastic vibraphone!
015 Rock Drums Dry and high-pitched rock drums
016 House Machine Early '90s American "New Jack Swing" style setup
017 Fusion Stix Highly-produced, "gluey" and punchy drum kit
018 Found Sound Quality sound effects originated from the drum samples.
019 Marimba Superb marimba patch!
020 Space Drums Manipulated pitches and pseudo-echoes.
021 Hard Rock Mega-powerful kit - hear the drummer go crazy :-)  - and the crowd cheer
022 Stadium Rox Another very good arena rock setup.
023 Dance 2000 Interesting dance kit, with a killer synth bass on the right of the keyboard layout.
024 Industry Low-pitched oddities
025 Heavy Metal Powerful kit with thundering toms
026 Hip Hop Hybrid 808 + pop sounds - very punchy.
027 Rosewood Tine Another marimba-style idiophone.
028 Percussion 2 More great percussion instruments, in a different keyboard layout.
029 Sound FX Reversed, low and high-pitched samples make for an interesting kit.
030 Sluggo Drums Love the name.  A punchy rock-blues setup.
031 Beat Box The classic Roland TR-808 kit!
032 Rocket Drums Powerful toms and superb compressed sounds!
033 Huge Room Great natural reverb
034 Churchyard Low-pitched bells
035 Drum Dance Nice hybrid 808 + rock set.
036 Percussion 3 Congas, bells, guiros...
037 Mallet Bells Beautiful, hypnotic bells
038 Hip House Drums for the classic early '90s style.
039 Latin Layers Latin percussion from Pluto
040 Big Band Characteristic swing orchestra drum set.
041 Multi FX Lots of sound effects.
042 Heavyosity Heavy and compressed.
043 Ritual Night Jungle drums
044 Dance Club Fantastic and typical early '90s techno-house kit
045 Indo Steel Nice ethnic metals
046 Orch Perc Larger than life orchestral percussion.  Lovely tubular bells...
047 Country Kit Outstanding, clean and very powerful country drum set.
048 Killer Synth How about a synth hidden in this module? Definitely a nice surprise :-)
049 Heavy Handed very
050 Percussives more percussive special fx
051 Mystic Land Reversed fairies
052 Beach Party Bongos by the sea
053 Intervallix Mutants
054 Jazzy Traps Acid jazz drums
055 Clavarimba More marimbas for you.
056 Rockabilly Spot-on rockabilly drums
057 Control Snares A lot of snare drums
058 Lotsa Kicks A lot of kick drums
059 All Snares Processed snares
060 More Toms Weird toms
061 More Cymbals Atmosphere cymbals
062 More Percushn yep
063 More Basses all of them

 

E-mu Procussion specifications

 

Year of release: 1991
Polyphony: 32-voice
Sound generation method: PCM
Preset memories 64 kits in ROM, 64 in RAM
MIDI: in, out, thru
Sound expansion capabilities: no
Sequencer no
Arpeggiator no
Effects no


 

E-mu Procussion pictures (click on thumbnails to enlarge)

               

E-mu Procussion manuals

available at www.emu.com

Links

 

SITE Type of resource DESCRIPTION
www.emu.com home page  
     

E-mu Procussion review with audio demo