Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars
Tape‑emulation plug‑ins are very much a thing at present, and there are plenty to choose from. However, in the creation process for e‑instruments’ latest Kontakt‑based virtual instrument, the source instruments (64 in total and including pianos, strings, woodwinds, brass, guitars, keys, various pitched percussion and some classic synths) were actually recorded to four different types of tape machine — large reel‑to‑reel, small reel‑to‑reel, standard cassette and micro cassette. Then, they were resampled from those recordings with the tape playback slowed down to half‑speed. The intention was to enhance the character (including the imperfections) that each tape format offers and to bring out the lower frequencies within the original sources, to create a warm and organic sound. The end result — Slower — offers some 230 presets and, while undoubtedly pitched at media composers, may well appeal to anyone working in ambient, lo‑fi, hip‑hop or electronica.
If that process, while obviously an interesting experiment, sounds like it is a lot of effort when you could simply slap a tape emulation plug‑in on any old virtual piano, string or brass sound, let me place the cat firmly out the bag by saying Slower sounds absolutely fantastic. Pretty much every preset you load is full of character, depth and warmth. You get the essence of the original instrument but (presumably due to the tape speed reduction) something that’s rather beautifully different. Yes, e‑instruments have gone to the effort of using used real analogue tape so you don’t have to and the results are very impressive.
Oh, and then they have also wrapped all these sounds into an intuitive UI that provides you with plenty of additional sound design, modulation and effects options, letting you tweak the sounds in all sorts of additional directions. This includes the option to switch between the four tape formats (things get progressively more degraded as you move to the more compact) and, if you do want even more ‘tapeiness’ (that’s probably not a word, but I hope you know what I mean), you can add additional tape noise (actual tape noise from the recorders used) within the Sound page’s Special section; lo‑fi fans will love it. The presets come with three macro controls and the mod wheel configured for modulation but, via the Modulation page, you can dig pretty deep should you wish. This includes a step‑based modulator which can, if required, be used to ‘pulse’ the volume for more rhythmic results. Finally, the FX page provides a five‑slot customisable effects chain, with 27 effects to choose from including reverb and delay.
If you like the idea of adding something with genuine character to your sample library collection, Slower is undoubtedly worth exploring.
Hats off to the creative team at e‑instruments for both having the original idea and then the determination to follow it though to its very impressive conclusion. If you like the idea of adding something with genuine character to your sample library collection, Slower is undoubtedly worth exploring. Beautiful sound, beautifully done.