The new LA Sessions sample library from Orchestral Tools features a wide selection of instruments recorded at the legendary United Recording Studio in Los Angeles. In something of a departure from the mostly exclusive orchestral content you might already know the company for, LA Sessions includes a complete studio production toolkit that delivers more band-oriented material like acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums, pianos and keys, plus extensive percussion, studio strings and backing vocals, together with a wide selection of preprogrammed drum grooves in MIDI file format.
There are 30 different instruments to choose from, with some quite unusual stuff like banjo, cajon and a drum kit played with hot rod sticks - not your usual sample library fare. Everything has been recorded in the same legendary recording room and sampled with multiple mic positions, the idea being that the sounds should all blend together perfectly when used together in a project.
Not only that, but because LA Sessions runs in Orchestral Tools' SINE player, you can opt to purchase just single instruments from the pack - individual instruments are available starting from €5, or you can go all in and grab the whole collection for €399 + VAT.
So with that in mind, we at Music Radar decided to put this toolkit through its paces and check out Orchestral Tools’ claim that LA Sessions puts everything you need to complete a full band arrangement beneath your fingertips. To that end, the track in the video above was made entirely from scratch with LA Sessions. None of the parts had any EQ or reverb applied at all - just a touch of individual compression to help with mix dynamics, plus a smidge of tape delay on a couple of the guitars.
For more information about this and other great Orchestral Tools libraries and instruments, check out www.orchestraltools.com.
