Sample Libraries

As their name suggests, Twisted Tools specialise in sample packs with plenty of attitude, and this one is no exception....

Americana is an addition to the Toontrack expansion library portfolio for EZ Drummer and is best described as an American-sounding range of drum kits recorded 'honestly'...

You can forgive a funk band just about anything if they've got a shit-hot bass player, and in that respect Chris Pedley, bassist and co-founder of the Baker Brothers, is easily the biggest reason for spending money on this new downloadable loop library.

Desert Winds focuses on just four wind instruments, but does so in magnificent detail, each featuring up to six different natural legato types.

Film trailer/TV composer Dan Graham has created several sound libraries featuring small groups of players from the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Innovative 'remote control' adds new creative dimensions to a leading orchestral strings library.

DruMM is a drum module for Native Instruments' Kontakt software sampler that uses its own GUI within...

Over the last two issues, we've looked at two collections of instruments from new manufacturer Rhythmic Robot.

On seeing Nu Metal's artwork, my immediate hope was that the 1.1GB of content would be better quality than the skull drawing on the cover.

This unique library brings the USA’s top marching brass band to a computer near you.

The Anglo-Australian strings library returns with a radical version 2 upgrade.

Although very few of us will ever have top session musicians playing our music, sample libraries at least make it possible to create music using elements of their artistry.

Under review here is Keyboard Vault, which is made up of 24‑bit mono samples and requires a full version of Kontakt.

Tutti is a Kontakt-based library that Sonokinetic describe as an 'orchestral cinematic FX and textures' collection.

Rhythmic Robot are a small outfit dedicated to breathing life into the strange and the obscure via the medium of Kontakt.

Instant Orchestra aims to take the pain out of creating orchestral parts — but can such an affordable library still produce the goods?

The exciting thing about sample libraries that use words like 'ambient' and 'soundscape' in their titles is that you just can't predict what they are going to sound like.

This orchestral compilation focuses on full-range, multi-instrument ensembles, enabling you to play complete orchestral sections without having to laboriously program their individual components.

As a title, Beats From The East is slightly misleading, as this library's real focus is on delivering Western-style commercial loops for hip-hop, R&B, crunk, trance, techno and house tracks.

Big bangs, shattering impacts, unabated racket, sonic mayhem, deliberate destruction... Pass the earplugs, it’s Heavyocity’s new library!

Jazz Colors features 20 jazz-flavoured construction kits comprising over 3GB of sample data, spread across some 1400 samples.