Orchestral Tools has announced Miroire, a modern sample collection that features period instruments plus voices inspired by an earlier era, all recorded with specialist musicians.
With an array of string, woodwind, brass, and choir samples, users can get exactly the right sound for period dramas or fantasy-themed TV shows, films, and games. But Miroire is also intended as an inspiring sound aesthetic that can evoke new ideas for any kind of creative music production.
Miroire features instruments constructed and played according to eighteenth-century traditions. Baroque violins and violas use gut strings and period bows for warm tonality with complex overtones. Five solo woodwind instruments—including Baroque flute and oboe, oboe d’amore, and oboe de caccia—provide a mellow, intimate timbre. Four valveless trumpet and horn instruments, all restricted to harmonic-series notes, deliver a powerful, direct sound. Miroire also includes a basso continuo section—with double bass, two celli, and a bassoon—for creating unison bass lines.
The Miroire choir offers the perfect vocal complement to the period instruments. Performed by an early music choir singing vowels from eighteenth-century liturgy, the samples provide pure, natural tones with little vibrato. Coloratura legato enables fast ornamentations. Distinct male and female sections enhance the flexibility for building choral parts.
All voices and instruments were recorded at A4=415 Hz—the most common tuning for performing Baroque music. Samples were mapped a half step lower to provide compatibility with modern tuning, though they retain their rich, slightly darker tone. Musicians were recorded in the main room at Berlin’s acclaimed Teldex Studio, enabling users to blend these sounds seamlessly with other Orchestral Tools libraries.
Running in the free SINE player, Miroire can be pre-ordered for 249 EUR until the product is released on September 2nd, 2021.
An introductory price of 299 EUR will be available from September 2nd through September 16th. The regular price for the collection is 399 EUR. Prices excluding VAT where applicable.
More information: Orchestral Tools
