Sample Libraries

Rating **** 4/5 Stars. If you need something to help you cook up dynamic drones, creepy cues or surreal synths, Timedrops has a lot to offer.

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. Vocalise 3 provides 7GB of vocal‑inspired sample data and runs in a dedicated front‑end within Kontakt 6.7.1.

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. Sampleson describe their latest release, Alienize, as a cinematic sci‑fi instrument with mouse gesture‑based modulation.

Spitfire Audio launch their new flagship series with an intensively‑miked drum collection.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. With Smack II, Big Fish Audio are clearly attempting to deliver the complete one‑stop shop for your body percussion needs.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Hybrid Studio Taiko library has a number of interesting design features compared to some of the obvious competition.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Aspire Modern Mallets introduces tuned percussion with a distinctly modern twist.

Does the latest iteration of NI’s Komplete music production suite provide all the tools you need?

Sonuscore transform the sounds of the orchestra into cinematic soundscapes.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Teletone Audio’s Ondine features treated and processed samples from popular analogue synths.

Toontrack and Hugh Padgham bring the drum sounds that defined the 1980s to Superior Drummer.

The addition of woodwinds, a third percussion collection and concert harp sees VSL’s Synchron Orchestra reach maturity.

Rating: 4/5 Stars. Waverunner aims to replicate the sound of classic analogue synths from the ’80s and ’90s...

Orchestral Tools expand their Berlin Series with a muted strings collection.

Rating: 4/5 Stars. With its roots in a medieval Jewish vocal culture, this library comprises long songs arranged by musical key.

Rating: 5/5 Stars. This library offers top‑notch acoustic drums with a dry(ish) sound that’s perfect for pop, hip‑hop, breakbeats or funk.

Sonokinetic’s new Kontakt library resurrects the sounds of the 1980s.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars. In addition to reverberant clangs and monumental industrial noises, Mercury also excels at quiet, eerie and mysterious textures.

EastWest go off world with a whole planet of screen‑friendly synth sounds.

Rating: 5/5 Stars. Large orchestral sections are augmented by a mixed choir, but in an unexpected twist this sample library also includes analogue and modular synths.

Rating: 5/5 Stars. This very affordable choral instrument from Spitfire Audio features a 50‑piece mixed vocal ensemble recorded at AIR Studios’ legendary Lyndhurst Hall in London.