Orchestral Tools launches SINEfactory - Free subscription service for sampled instruments

Orchestral Tools has launched a free instrument subscription service SINEfactory. The initiative aims to provide a set of custom-built free instruments for Orchestral Tools' player engine, SINE.

The first three offerings are Ratio—a grand piano, Gearbox—a studio percussion set, and Helix—a simple string ensemble. Producers can subscribe to get all three instruments at the Orchestral Tools website. They will then be informed of subsequent SINEfactory releases by mail, and each new collection will be added to their SINE Player automatically. The service is, and will always be, completely free.

Here's what they say:

The goal of SINEfactory is to provide a genuinely useful and varied factory library for SINE. Instead of outtakes and stripped down versions of larger products, each SINEfactory release is a complete instrument in its own right. Producers who are just starting out can effectively stock up their library with essential sounds for free. More experienced producers will find the SINEfactory releases useful as sketching tools, but also as helpful additional instruments—although the instruments are free, they are meticulously recorded and don't sound out of place in professional productions.

Ratio is designed to be a character piano with deep lows and smooth mids. It's a sampled Steinway B grand with a sound that's intended for soundtracks, pop, rock, ballads, but can also work well in other contexts.

Recorded at Sunset Sound in LA, the piano behind Ratio has been played by legends such as Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Nicks, and Prince, as well as any number of contemporary artists.

Gearbox is a studio percussion set. Rather than replicate a regular drumkit, Gearbox offers a versatile collection of instruments such as bass drums, congas, udu, tambourines, and shakers, plus a selection of body percussion, claps, and finger clicks. The collection was expertly played and performed by multi-instrumentalist Aaron Williams and, like Ratio, was recorded in Studio III at LA's Sunset Sound studios.

Helix is a basic string ensemble. Taken from their Berlin Series, Helix offers playable sustains and spiccatos. Combining solo violins with violas, celli, and basses, this is a detailed and nuanced sound that can add an organic accompaniment to productions of all styles and genres.

People can subscribe to SINEfactory for free. Once signup is complete, and the SINE Player is installed, the first three SINEfactory collections will be available automatically in the SINE player. Subscribers will receive further SINEfactory instruments as they're released over the course of 2021 and beyond.