Slate + Ash Choreographs

Choreographs is not so much a Kontakt instrument as a perpetual motion machine.

Will Slater and Simon Ashdown, better known as the developer/composer and sound‑designer collective Slate + Ash, have always been known for extending the boundaries of Kontakt instruments. Their latest navigates a beautiful medium between steps and triggers, with multiple modulations.

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As a synth construct things appear relatively familiar, with three oscillators up front, feeding a low‑pass filter. The oscillator wave content is significant, with 427 sampled sources, ranging from the more common saws and squares generated by vintage synths, through to complex digital wave shapes generated by digital synths and modular sources. The 22GB download provides an idea of scale, but as Slate + Ash are in‑demand sound designers as well as composers, the quality is as assured as it is substantial. There are also drum and sound effects sources, adding to the palette.

These initial elements feed directly to some effects; a delay, reverb and impulse response engine are independently populated alongside the oscillator and filter. This might seem bizarre, but it ties into the modulation element...