Orchestral Tools x SLATE and ASH MIRRORS [KONTAKT]

Exploring the concept of sonic reflections and refractions, MIRRORS is the harmonious marriage of analog synthesis and acoustic orchestral performance. A collaboration with celebrated instrument creators SLATE + ASH, MIRRORS sends synthesized source material through an aural looking glass of orchestral ensembles, unearthing the symmetries of electroacoustic expression.

Synthesis meets orchestral grandeur

MIRRORS explores both experimental analog synthesis and traditional orchestral sampling. The collection originated from synthesized source material from our Bristol-based collaborators – glitched textures, fractured oscillations, and hyper-processed ambiances. Together, we then put these sounds through a prism of orchestral performance, recording their precisely orchestrated mirror images, all with unwavering attention to the minutest details.

As an object approaches a mirror, it becomes harder to tell where it ends and its reflection begins. Likewise in MIRRORS, synthesized sounds give way seamlessly to orchestral performances, resulting in a set of tools tailor-made for sparking your creativity, creating atmospheres, or setting scenes.

Sounds made to be reorchestrated

SLATE + ASH created the source material for MIRRORS under the guiding principle of making sounds that evoke a distinctly acoustic feel. With their labyrinth of patch cables, modular devices, and analog synths, they tapped into more organic soundworlds, sculpting breath-like fluttering, microtonal harmonics, and warm tones that evolve over time.

Hugh Brunt of the London Contemporary Orchestra then re-orchestrated these sounds for live performance, capturing all the minutae – every texture, swell, and flutter, and even the synthetic idiosyncracy of pitch stretching. This called for traditional strings, brass, and woodwinds, but also out-of-the-box instrumentation like verrophone, bowed crotales, or even rustling plastic bags. With Brunt conducting, and additional aesthetic guidance of composer-producer Yair Elazar Glotman, we recorded the orchestral ensembles at Teldex Studios in Berlin with our typical attention to detail and fidelity.

Notable collaborators

[spoiler]Hugh Brunt

Hugh Brunt, who re-orchestrated and conducted our recording session, is the co-founder of the London Contemporary Orchestra and has done arrangements for household names like Radiohead, Beck, and Imogen Heap. As a conductor, he’s worked on films such as The Master, The Matrix Resurrections, The Whale, and many more.

Yair Elazar Glotman

Yair Elazar Glotman is a Berlin-based composer and musician who wrote and produced the score for Reptile. In addition to his own music, he’s played contrabass or provided additional music for critically acclaimed films including Joker, All’s Quiet on the Western Front, and Mandy. For MIRRORS, he produced and guided the recording sessions.

Recorded at Teldex

In addition to recording the orchestral ensembles for MIRRORS at the storied Teldex Scoring Stage in Berlin, we amplified the source material on the scoring stage, recording it from the same microphone perspectives. This means, not only are the images and reflections in MIRRORS remarkably cohesive, they are also easy to blend with other Orchestral Tools collections.

Highlights– 45 pairs of synth and orchestral sounds
– Bespoke engine and interface
– 97 sound design presets, 232 Kontakt snapshots
– Evolving pads, long notes, and textures
– Three mixable mic positions with bleed control
– Source synth material made by SLATE + ASH
– Orchestral ensembles and synthesized source material sampled in Teldex

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