Dark ERA Engine Player Release

Dark ERA Crossgrade

release date: 12.03.2025
4.8 of 5
(56)
Crossgrade ***

AAX Native, AU, Engine Player, Mac, Standalone, VST3, Win
Download Size: 4.87 GB

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in stock
$ 139259

 4.17BestCoinBestCoin Bonus 

***Crossgrade from ERA II Medieval Legends, ERA Vocal Codex, Ancient ERA Persia, Celtic ERA 2 to Dark ERA

Do you own one of these ERA Libraries? Then you can get Dark ERA at a discounted crossgrade price.

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Dive into the Mystical Sounds of the Vikings

With Dark ERA, Eduardo Tarilonte, the master of atmospheric sounds, takes you on a journey back to a dark age, when the first legends were born and the ancient gods of the North ruled the fate of men. With this library, you can experience the sounds to which the Vikings and other long-forgotten peoples once sang their myths and legends.

The fascinating sounds of Dark ERA range from the deep resonance of the ancient Tagelharpa to the impressive Lyre, and the distinctive tones of Nordic bone flutes and the overtone flute Fujara. When the war horns sound, powerful percussion instruments thunder, and mystical throat singing begins, you'll definitely get goosebumps. These instruments blend with soundscapes and pulsating pads that deepen the atmosphere. Dark ERA becomes yet another masterpiece from Eduardo Tarilonte.

Dark ERA EP GUI 1The Instruments

Dark ERA offers over 50 instruments with more than 20,000 samples – including string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion. To enable an authentic and versatile performance, multiple playing techniques were recorded and integrated into the powerful Engine Player. The wind instruments feature True Legato and a variety of articulations, while the flutes offer some unusual, intense effect sounds.

For the stringed instruments, there are round-robin samples for both ascending and descending notes. The plucked instruments were recorded with various techniques such as pick, fingers, and strumming.

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Included Instruments:

  • Bowed Strings: Tagelharpa, Jouhikko (Small & Big), Crwth
  • Plucked Strings: Cologne Lyre, Ancient Lyre, Trossingen Lyre, Utrecht Lute
  • Winds: War Horn, White Horn, Curved Horn, Shofar, Bukkehorn, Shell, Long Trumpet, Big Horn, Double Flute, Small Bone Flute, Vulture Bone Flute, Pictish Pipes, Elderwood Flute, Overtone Fujara, Didgeridoo, Wooden Lur
  • Percussion: Shamanic Drum Small & Big, Big Frame Drum, Square Drums, Skin Drums, Skin Snares, Skin Tom, Sieves, Anvil, Viking Mouth Harps, Jawbone, Pan Medium & Rusted, Seed Shakers, Small Bells, Cowbells, Bullroarer, Horseshoe, Bronze Mortar

Sound Design

The collection is complemented by over 100 intricately programmed soundscapes that are sometimes rhythmically animated, with evolving sound textures and a unique atmosphere. All elements can be individually adjusted in volume and panorama within the mixer of the Engine Player.

For rhythmic accompaniment, there are Epic Loops consisting of up to 16 instruments and offering up to 20 adjustable elements. These loops allow flexible beat creation and automatically adapt to your DAW's tempo. You'll have different variations of the main loop, fills, endings, and a pulsating rhythm that perfectly matches the sound.

Dark ERA EP GUI 2Rhythmic Pads connect drums and solo instruments, containing both melodic and rhythmic elements. You can also individually mix the elements of the pads.

Another highlight is the Vocal Rhythms, inspired by the Inuit. Here, you can assemble shouts from 24 MIDI files, which can be modified or completely re-created. The throat singing is divided into four styles, and you can even add C3 harmonics with a slider. Shamanic ritual chants and individual vocals add vibrant and authentic elements to the music.

Use Cases

This library is perfect for film soundtracks, TV documentaries, historical music productions, or mystical ambient music. It also provides the ideal soundtrack for games with a historical or epic background.

The Recordings

The stringed and wind instruments, as well as some percussion instruments, were handcrafted by specialist Benjamin Simao. The instruments were played by the following musicians:

  • Benjamin Simao: Stringed instruments, Shamanic Drums, Tympanum Romano
  • Iván Carlón: Wind instruments
  • Adal Fernández del Castillo: Percussion
  • Moisés Pérez: Throat singing & overtone singing, Vocal rhythms
  • Joaquim Manjón: Overtone singing

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Special care was taken when recording the frame drums: The powerful bass is fully showcased without losing any pressure in the sound. These tones remain present and powerful in the mix. Metallic percussion elements, such as anvils and horseshoes, can be heard clearly and sharply.

Dark ERA is compatible with other libraries in the ERA Series, as all were recorded at the same studio in Spain by Jorge Calderón Muriel using high-quality equipment (Kahayan Mic 4K7 and 12K72 Preamp). The instruments were recorded closely to capture all the nuances and provide direct, flexible sound material for editing.

Dark Era benefits from an exceptional lossless compression that reduces the file size from around 15 GB to approximately 4 GB, without compromising on quality.

Engine Player 1.2.0 or higher required.

 Ratings

The following reviews have been placed by customers who also bought this product from us. All reviews are provided through eKomi, Europe’s largest independent customer review company.

4.0 of 5
12.10.2024 Language: englisch

Great atmospheric and inspiring sounds. My only criticism is that the ENGINE *** could really do with an update, i.e. scalable, more legible font - I'm on a decent sized screen and it's pretty hard to read.

5.0 of 5
08.09.2024 Language: englisch

For all viking, dark medieval or ancient music, very good, natural, playable sounds. I was also surprised by the nice ambience stuff.

5.0 of 5
20.05.2024 Language: englisch

Perfection!

 Awards

Best of 2019

MT Excellence
MusicTech Magazine, Excellence Award

SOS 5 stars
Sound On Sound Magazine 5 from 5

StrongMocha 5from5
StrongMocha 5 from 5


Fuenf Sterne
Sample Sound Review 5 from 5

Megasynth 4,7
megasynth.de  4,7 from 5
 

Bonedo 4
bonedo.de 4 from 5

 Endorsements

Einar Selvik (Wardruna)Einar Selvik (Wardruna)
Vikings TV series music

"Dark Era gives you access to a great selection of rare and hard-to-get instruments along with complimenting soundscapes as well as smart and easy solutions for playing and replicating the real deal. Great job, Eduardo! So if you want to add some solid historical texture to your music and don’t happen to own a wide selection of obscure historical instruments - this is the library to get!"

David Arkenstone

David Arkenstone
With 3 Grammy nominations, 20 Billboard hits, and millions of fans worldwide, has established himself as one of the best contemporary instrumental musicians of our time.

"Again, Eduardo has opened up the world to us. The amazing textures and playable instruments are truly transporting to another time. The percussion and flutes are stunning and very much alive. I see many years of inspiration from this collection…!"

Neil AcreNeal Acree
World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Starcraft.

"Eduardo Tarilonte's libraries never fail to deliver the sounds that we never knew we needed but that we can't live without. Dark Era takes that to the next level with another must-have collection of inspiring and unexpected sounds.  Perfect for fantasy video game scoring and so much more. Highly recommended!"

David García Díaz David García Díaz
Sound designer and video game composer whose work includes games like RiME or the Bafta´s audio achievement winner "Hellblade: Senua´s Sacrifice".

“When it comes to Viking Pagan folk music, Dark Era, by Eduardo Tarilonte is one of the very few and for me the best instrument to capture the tones that make this music style unique. Throat singing, war horns, frame drums, skin drums...and a large etc. All captured with great detail and easy to use just right out the box. I wish I had "Dark Era" when I was working on the soundtrack of Hellblade: Seuna’s Sacrifice.
If you want to create music in the style of Heilung or Wardruna, or add a raw, dark, beating texture to your music, I think this is the right tool to have.”


Teufel
Teufel
Band "Tanzwut"

"ERA II Medieval Legends, Celtic ERA and Dark ERA are for me as a medieval musician and producer a perfect basis for studio work. The sounds of the medieval instruments are authentic and harmonize with each other. It is a pleasure to work with these samples and to create new songs for my band Tanzwut with the help of this impressive sound library".

 Requirements


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Mac

  • macOS 10.15 - macOS 15
  • 64 bit: Stand-alone, AU, VST3, AAX (native Apple Silicon or Intel)
  • RAM: 4 GB (more recommended)

Windows

  • Windows 10 or newer
  • 64 bit: Stand-alone, VST3, AAX
  • Intel Core Processor
  • RAM: 4 GB (more recommended)

The latest Engine Player tutorial video can be viewed here: Engine Audio

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Dark ERA Engine Player Release