Rabbit Ears Audio has released Metal Machines, a sound fx library featuring recordings of train maintenance tools.

I visited a shop whose primary focus is repairing old steam locomotives and building replicas for use around the country (Thomas The Tank Engine is big business). This library features 11 pre-1950s tools that will get your motor running and add texture to your mechanized needs. I hired a machinist to perform the following mechanical masterpieces of the industrial age: Wheel Lathe, Metal Planer, McCabe Metal Flanger, Metal Shaper, Summit Engine Lathe, Summit Engine Rapid Traverse, Hendy Engine Lathe, Vertical Turret Lathe, Bridgeport Milling Machine, Large Air Needle Scaler, Small Air Needle Scaler.

All of the machines have such wonderful qualities that smooth computer-controlled contemporary machines don’t possess. Metal Machines is here to bring on the flap, whirr, grind and whine that your work needs.

Metal Machines pricing:

  • Hi-Res+ $70 usd – 24 Bit 192 kHz, 301 sounds, 4.07 GB content
  • Hi-Res $50 usd – 24 Bit 96 kHz, 301 sounds, 2.02 GB content
  • Std $25 usd – 24 Bit 48 kHz, 138 sounds, 661.1 MB content
  • Basic $9 usd – 16 Bit 44.1 kHz, 66 sounds, 291.6 MB content

A free pack of samples is available from the product page as well.

More information: Rabbit Ears Audio / REA004 Metal Machines