Bristol-based sound studio Slate + Ash has unveiled its latest release, an experimental guitar-based Kontakt instrument built on a library of recordings from six avant-garde players, including Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley.
Ruins' sound library is comprised of "loops, textures, resonances and mechanical failures" that "explore the outer edges of guitar performance", performed by drone-metal legend Stephen O'Malley, experimental musician Oren Ambarchi, and influential jazz guitarist David Torn, known for his work with David Bowie and John Legend, among others. Bill Horist, Ben Greenberg and Arjan Miranda also contributed.
"Each artist was chosen for their ability to push the guitar outside traditional musical roles — treating it less as an instrument and more as an interface for texture, gesture, and sonic ritual," reads a press release from Slate + Ash.
Ruins was curated and produced by Randall Dunn at his Williamsburg studio Circular Ruin. Dunn is a producer, engineer and musician known for his work with Sunn O))), Thurston Moore, Boris and Wolves in the Throne Room, alongside a variety of film and television projects.
Captured live with no MIDI or sequencing involved, the 4,636 sounds that make up Ruins' library are divided into single and multi-samples, and categorized by both the performer and the sound's tonal properties. All samples are provided as WAVs for you to use in your DAW or another sampler.
Each performance was recorded using multiple mic positions and treatments, spanning "a pristinely captured DI, an array of tube powered amplifiers, an eroded stereo spring reverb, and a cavernous re-amped signal recorded in Berlin’s iconic Funkhaus sound chamber", that can be blended using an XY grid.
Multiple samples can be combined using Ruins' dual-layer architecture and played back using Slate + Ash's sophisticated playback engine, a "multi-loop system that allows for asynchronous repetition, granular manipulation, and deep modulation".
As is the case with all Slate + Ash instruments, Ruins' playback engine offers a variety of options for shaping and manipulating its samples; sounds can be processed through a number of audio effects that includes delay, reverb, filter, modulation and tape emulation, while almost every parameter can be modulated via Ruins' LFO, step sequencer or MIDI CC.
While there's plenty of scope to create your own patches using Ruins' sound engine and sample library, the instrument arrives with a selection of 250 curated presets with which to get started.
Ruins is available at an introductory price of £179. The instrument is compatible with macOS and Windows and runs in Kontakt 7.10.7 or higher, or the free Kontakt Player.
Watch a preset demo below or find out more on Slate + Ash's website.
