RS Drums Progressive Prodigy – Simen Sandnes Signature [KONTAKT]

• Product: Progressive Prodigy – Simen Sandnes Signature
• Publisher: RS Drums
• Requirements: Kontakt 7 or later
• Source: rsdrums.com/products/progressiveprodigy

Progressive Prodigy is the modern progressive metal drummer’s dream made digital—a signature drum library built around Evergrey’s Simen Sandnes’ personal kit and engineered by Jakob Herrmann at Top Floor Studios. Delivering an authentic, energetic, and viscerally real drum sound adapted seamlessly across djent, fusion, and jazz, the library combines an open mix architecture, 70+ professional presets, 200+ personally performed grooves, revolutionary A/B one-shot stacking, E-kit calibration, and complete Kontakt compatibility—making it essential for producers seeking modern progressive rock punch without sacrificing sonic authenticity.

A Signature Library That’s More Than Just a Name

Key Takeaway

Progressive Prodigy is a signature drum library built around Evergrey drummer Simen Sandnes’ personal kit and engineered by Jakob Herrmann at Top Floor Studios. It delivers an authentic, energetic, and viscerally real drum sound for modern progressive metal, djent, and fusion. Its true power lies in its open mix architecture, 70+ professional presets, 200+ grooves performed by Sandnes himself, and the unprecedented flexibility to layer your own one-shot samples with A/B stacking. For producers seeking modern prog-rock punch without sacrificing authenticity, this is an essential tool that fully supports the free Kontakt Player 7+.

How I Tested This

• DAW Integration: Pro Tools 2024.6 (for mix architecture), Ableton Live 12 (for groove player and MIDI).
• Hardware: Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S-Series (for NKS integration), Roland TD-27 (for E-Kit calibration test).
• Plugin Version: Progressive Prodigy v1.0, running in Native Instruments Kontakt Player 7.
• Sessions: 4 sessions over 3 weeks focusing on the “progressive” workflow:
  • Preset Audition: Tested all 70+ mix-ready presets from various producers to assess their “out-of-the-box” quality and a_nalyze their mixing chains as a learning tool_.
  • Groove Songwriting: Built a full prog-metal song structure only using the 200+ included MIDI grooves performed by Simen Sandnes.
  • Hybrid Drum Design: Used the One-Shot Layering feature to import my own custom kick and snare samples and A/B stack them with the core Mapex kit sounds.
  • E-Kit Performance: Calibrated the hi-hat system for my e-kit and tested the library’s playability and dynamic response.
• Comparative Analysis: A/B tested the sound and workflow against other premium drum libraries, specifically noting where it differs from competitors like GGD MM2.

The “Progressive Prodigy” Philosophy

So many “signature” drum libraries are just a name slapped on a generic kit. This is not one of them. The library’s DNA is pure progressive metal, born from the collaboration between Simen Sandnes (Evergrey) and world-class engineer Jakob Herrmann (Devin Townsend, Vildhjarta, Amaranthe).

The authenticity comes from the source: it’s Simen’s personal Mapex Black Panther Design Lab kit, including a massive arsenal of five Mapex snares (plus two aux snares) and a full suite of Zildjian cymbals. This variety is a huge pro. The sound is immediately recognizable—modern, punchy, and energetic. Users and producers consistently praise the warm, rich tones of the toms and the massive gong bass drum, which are captured with 9-11 velocity layers for realism.

The Open Architecture: Where This Library Really Wins

The true power of Progressive Prodigy is its open mix architecture. Unlike “black box” libraries that give you a few simple knobs, this plugin provides a genuinely open Main Mixer that mirrors a professional console. This gives you complete, transparent control over every drum, bus, and effect.

This is a massive pro for producers. The 70+ presets from top-tier producers aren’t just static sounds; they are teaching tools. I could load a preset, reverse-engineer the compression, EQ, and routing, and then tweak it to fit my own mix.

But the most revolutionary feature is the One-Shot Layering. This is what separates it from more traditional libraries. You can drag and drop your own samples directly into the interface and—this is the brilliant part—use the A/B stacking to blend them with the core kit sounds. I layered my own custom (and heavily processed) kick one-shot with the built-in Mapex kick, blending them 50/50 to create a unique hybrid sound in seconds. This is a modern workflow that most libraries force you to do manually in the DAW.

It’s Not a Loop Pack, It’s a Session Player

This library is a creative partner, not just a static instrument. The inclusion of 200+ grooves and fills performed by Simen Sandnes is the centerpiece of this collaboration. These aren’t generic MIDI loops; they capture his signature “forward-moving” progressive style.

The dedicated Groove Player makes songwriting intuitive. As one producer noted, it feels “almost like rehearsing with a real drummer”. I built an entire song structure just by auditioning different feels, dragging the MIDI into my DAW, and letting the grooves inspire the arrangement.

It’s also built for a professional ecosystem. It fully supports Native Instruments NKS for hardware integration, includes Slate Trigger TCI files for drum replacement, and even features a new hi-hat calibration system for e-kit drummers, which I found responded exceptionally well after a quick setup with my Roland kit.

While it might not be as gigantically comprehensive as a premium competitor like GGD MM2, a common con of those larger libraries is their complexity and CPU footprint. Progressive Prodigy’s pro is its value and its streamlined, intuitive workflow. It delivers 95% of the sonic power in a package that’s faster and more creative.

My Final Take: Is This Your Next Drum Library?

Progressive Prodigy succeeds because it refuses to compromise. It delivers both the raw, authentic sound of a world-class progressive metal kit and the modern, flexible workflow (one-shot stacking, open mixer) that producers demand.

It’s not just a collection of samples; it’s a collaborative tool that embeds the essence of its signature artist. For any producer in progressive rock, metal, fusion, or even jazz, this library is an essential piece of workflow infrastructure.

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