cm mini reviews
A rapid-fire round-up of ROMplers, music gear and more…
Orchestral Tools
Umbra €79
Web orchestraltools.com
Gear Creative Soundpack
Best known for exceptional orchestral libraries – the clue is in the name – OT branched out into more diverse, yet cheaper themed collections last year. Umbra is the latest of these ‘Creative Soundpacks’. It runs within OT’s free SINE Player, like Kontakt. Subtitled ‘Shamanic ritual ensemble’ it contains all of the instruments within such a ceremony, eight in total, with up to 10 articulations and two mic positions. With vocals also an important part of the Shamanic ceremony, OT have also included a bass voice with what they describe as “arcane mutterings, and humming that morphs through multiple vowels”.