Sample Libraries

EastWest explore the world of traditional wind instruments with characteristic style in their latest sample library.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. Damage Guitars 2 continues the metal mayhem with a collection of leads, riffs, grooves, motifs, shredding licks and a host of extras.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.5/5 Stars. Unique, but designed to fit together, Westwood Instruments’ Novella series provides diverse toolkits for scoring and songwriting.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.5/5 Stars. Void & Vista’s latest release is framed as “an exploration of experimental sounds, prepared instruments and extended techniques”.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. Friends is a Kontakt‑based sample library that provides a collection of fairly conventional piano, keyboard, guitar, bass and drum options.

Soundpaint’s affordable wind instruments contain some hidden treasures.

EastWest get gritty with their latest Opus‑fronted virtual instrument collection.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars. Time Crystals pairs Emergence Audio's sampling technologies with the resonance of quartz singing bowls...

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. Elpiano covers a range of mechanical and electronic piano models that may then be processed via a choice of five different speaker cabinets.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars. 

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars. Emma Legato is a very simple and inexpensive vocal instrument that runs on the free version of Kontakt (version 8 or higher).

If you’re an EZ user with a hankering for fusion, Toontrack have got you covered.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. Bones is a ‘super sample pack’ containing over 400 loops, 800+ one‑shot samples and more than 100 drum stems.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. Actual angels who do vocal session work are hard to come by but Ethera Gold Odyssey can get you wonderfully close.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. This all‑in‑one library from Spitfire Audio brings together a broad range of orchestral textures in one easy‑to‑use package.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars. With the Iremia series, Bunker Samples get quiet, intimate, and very close to a solo viola and cello.

The latest addition to Orchestral Tools’ Berlin series of sample libraries shines the spotlight on the soloists.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars. With Soft String Soloists, Fracture Sounds provide an intimate solo violin, viola and cello recorded at Nave Studios and inspired by the Scandinavian sound.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. This tape-emulation instrument offers 230 presets pitched at media composers, but may well appeal to anyone working in ambient, lo‑fi, hip‑hop or electronica.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars. While the original Poiesis Cello was impressive, Poiesis Cello 2 takes things further while retaining the ethos of the original and still remaining affordable.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. Vessels presents a broad range of hardware synth‑based timbres alongside variously patinated and ‘distressed’ re‑amped and re‑recorded sounds.