Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars
Low End Toys is 10 Phantom Rooms’ third release in their Low End series of Kontakt instruments. Like Low End Strings and Low End Modular, the focus is deliberately on the lower end of the frequency spectrum but, as suggested by the title, the sample base in this latest release is built from a collection of acoustic, mechanical, and electronic toy‑like instruments including wooden and glass toys, toy robots, clocks, trains and cars, as well as toy pianos, guitars, flutes and synths.
This underlying +3GB sample set forms the basis of over 160 Kontakt Snapshot presets, each of which combines up to four sound layers. The Snapshots are organised into a number of useful categories — Bass Drones, Basses, Bells, Keys, Pads and SFX/Toy Stories — and while the emphasis is often of the lower note ranges, there are plenty of sounds here that can also be used to create melodic lines. In terms of sonic moods, I can imagine the sounds working in some more experimental and/or avant‑garde musical styles, but a more obvious role would be for film/media composers looking for some child‑like sound elements for their next creepy horror score. In that context, Low End Toys would make a great starting point.
The presets sound really good, but the Kontakt front end provides plenty of options for DIY sound design. You can, of course, create your own blend from the underlying samples, and a sound browser provides some tag‑based options when exploring these. However, what’s particularly impressive is the range of effects and modulation options, elements of which you can access from across the four main pages of the UI: Main, Mixer, Edit and Animate. By default, the mod wheel lets you blends between three ‘states’ of each Snapshot and, interestingly, you can tweak the preset’s settings and save these into one of the three states. You can also switch the mod wheel’s focus to the six macro‑style controls — Animate, Filter, Space, Echo, Drift and Time — if you prefer. The latter provide a rapid means of adjusting some of the deeper sound‑design options across the other pages of the UI. These include velocity, LFO and step‑sequencer‑based modulation of filter, reverb, echo and distortion. With options to also pitch‑shift individual sound sources within your preset ±12 semitones, there is plenty of potential for those that want to fully capitalise on what is a very cool and quirky sample set.
Low End Toys is no toy; it’s an ideal sound source for film composers needing to creep out their audience.
OK, so a sample‑based virtual instrument based upon toys is something of a niche product but, if you compose music in suitable styles, or have a more experimental streak, Low End Toys is an absolute joy to explore. It’s also very fairly priced. Low End Toys is no toy; it’s an ideal sound source for film composers needing to creep out their audience.
€99
€99