wendel
WENDEL
‘Wendel by Roger Nichols’ sample Collection
Legendary Sounds, Masterfully Revived for the Modern Era
Wendel, more than a mere computer system, is a cherished part of our family. This 75 lb blue box was expertly tailored by none other than Roger Nichols, the trailblazer of digital recording and an unrivaled recording engineer fondly remembered as “The Immortal”.
Seeing people, companies, and even AI increasingly sampling beats and releasing Wendel Jr. sounds, we felt compelled to share the original, untouched sounds that helped shape the iconic style of Steely Dan, John Denver, Toto, Heart, Duran Duran, Rosanne Cash and Stevie Wonder to name a few. The impeccable and profoundly human-sounding drum tracks, created from samples that Roger so masterfully recorded for Wendel, continue to echo the unique sonic signature of 8-time Grammy Winner for engineering and Technical GRAMMY Award recipient, Roger ‘The Immortal’ Nichols.
To add an extra layer of care and love to these timeless sounds, Roger’s protégé, Jason Levine who is also a Principal Director of Creative Cloud Evangelism at Adobe, has meticulously listened to and carefully converted all these samples to modern formats. This is our tribute to the king of recording real drums, Roger Nichols, and his lasting legacy in the world of music. It’s time for you to relive that distinctive Steely Dan sound, brought back to life by the very hands trained by the maestro himself.
NOTE: these are the original samples recorded by Roger and the only sample pack endoresed by The Roger Nichols Estate.
wendel drum samples original mono 16 bit
Rain Drop - Wendel (found on roger comp)
hey 19 - first track all wendel drum samples
IGY from The Nightfly - wendel
Wendel in action - JPN from France just sent us this Wendel beat
Jason Levine, Roger Nichols, John Denver December 1996
Exclusive Collection
This pack is bursting with over 500 rare samples that until now, have mostly resided in Roger’s private collection. This is your unique chance to access a treasure trove of sounds that have defined the Wendel Jr. cartridges.
Premium Quality
Meticulously transferred from original 8-bit, 12-bit, and 16-bit Wendel samples into modern, headerless digital data formats in the 90s, each sample maintains its high-fidelity sonic signature. These aren’t your ordinary, run-of-the-mill sounds!
Adapted for Modern Production
As of December 2022, these samples have been refined and tailored to seamlessly fit into your contemporary DAW environment. The early 90s PCM files have been given a fresh lease of life for today’s music production demands.
Hand-Curated and Refined
Jason Levine, Roger’s protégé, meticulously optimized every sample, considering factors like sample rate and byte order for perfect sound and easy track incorporation. DC offset has been meticulously corrected for each sample.
daw
What is wendel?
The sample pack is flawless, a great collection in its own and a great starting point for so much directions, musically speaking.
I’ve been waiting to get my hands on these sampels!!
DAW
Technical stuff
What's included?
Your download includes a zip file. There are over 500, one-shot WAV files (drum and percussion samples) neatly organized. Each sample is 48kHz/24-bit, carefully converted from its original 50kHz/16-bit raw format (some originating in 12-bit as well). Any DC offset present in the original digital transfers has been corrected for pristine fidelity and maximum amplitude.
For detailed information about the included samples, please refer to the comprehensive ‘READ ME’ file included in the download.
Please don’t share the zip, we know it’s easy but we really appreciate the support. We think 500+ Samples that really had the love and energy put behind them that only “The Immortal” could do should be worth a lot, BUT we kept it reasonable for that reason! Thank you <3
Are they mono, stereo or both?
Most files are mono, as that’s how they were originally intended. However, some samples were originally captured in stereo during recording, and so they are presented here, for the first time, in stereo versions.
How many velocities/ articulations for each sample?
As Wendel was capable of digitally re-pitching (to simulate variation/alternate hits) most of the samples are individual, unique one-shots. However, Roger was never content with only having a single drum to work with. He would sample several drums (say, kick drums) from the same manufacturer in a variety of sizes and attacks. The same goes for snare drums. That said, there are several folders that contain multi-samples of the same snare/kick or hi-hat. One specific folder (Wendel Preset Snares) contains a variety of snare drums, each with multiple velocities and several articulations.
ask questions
info at rogernichols dot com
