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The Crow Hill Company Releases Lo-Fi Strings, Free Tape-treated String Library With A Warm & Nostalgic Sound

Founded in 2023 by composer Christian Henson (formerly of Spitfire Audio) The Crow Hill Company is an Edinburgh-based developer of software instruments and sample libraries.

Launched in 2024, Crow Hill’s Vaults collection is an ongoing series of free sample libraries and virtual instruments. At any one time, six Vaults instruments are available to download: each month, a new instrument is dropped and one is archived. Archived instruments can still be accessed in return for a small charity donation.

The latest addition to the Vaults series is Lo-fi Strings, a string library with a nostalgic sonic palette. In developing Lo-fi Strings, Crow Hill processed clean string recordings through a vintage cassette deck in an attempt to bring the characteristic sonic imperfections of magnetic tape – compression, saturation, pitch instability and tape hiss – into the orchestral world.

Lo-Fi Strings shares the same basic interface as the other Vaults plugins. Two central dials control two main parameters: Timbre is a subtle volume and filter control while Dropout introduces additional imperfections to the sound, mimicking the dropouts that can occur in cassette recording. Four additional controls along the bottom of the interface can be used to tweak a high-pass filter, saturation circuit, reverb and stereo ping-pong delay.

Check out the demo video above to get a flavour of how Lo-Fi Strings sounds – it’s a gorgeous instrument with oodles of vintage charm that could come in useful across a variety of musical contexts. (If you’re scoring an indie rom-com and don’t have the budget for a real orchestra, it’s your lucky day.)

While you’re over at Crow Hill’s website, there are five other free instruments currently available, including a TB-303 acid synth, mallet piano, rubber bridge guitar and bodhrán, a traditional Celtic percussion instrument.

Lo-fi Strings is compatible with macOS and Windows and available in VST/VST3/AU/AAX formats.

Download Lo-fi Strings on The Crow Hill Company website.

WoO.1 is a pocket-sized sampler designed for endless on-the-go looping.

WoO.1, the debut instrument from Hong Kong-based Wunderkammer, has been previewed in a recent series of demo videos ahead of its imminent launch on Kickstarter.

The instrument – pronounced ‘woo one’ – is a pocket-sized, battery powered sampler designed to allow users to layer loops and patterns whenever and wherever creativity strikes. The WoO.1 could be described as a classic Casio SK-1 sampler on steroids.

With its thin, rectangular body and chunky, retro control panel, it’s tempting to compare the WoO.1 to Teenage Engineering’s cult classic OP-1. In reality though, its workflow and price point mean that WoO.1 has more in common with Teenage Engineering’s EP-133 KOII.

Much like that sampler, the WoO.1 can make use of samples imported via its USB input or recorded directly from its built-in mic. Samples can be trimmed using the instrument’s front panel controls, and then played chromatically and polyphonically using the button keyboard.

The WoO.1 is designed to work as a looper, letting users layer an apparently unlimited number of tracks to create compositions. These can be saved as grooves and chained to create longer arrangements. It will also offer simple resampling, making it easy to replay a loop at different pitches and tempos, as well as apply effects, with high-, low- and band-pass filtering and a pitch shifter on offer.

It appears that right now, each new layer is effectively baked into the loop – ie the layers are saved and exported as a single audio file – although in a reply to a query in the YouTube comment section, Wunderkammer has indicated it intends to implement individual stem export in a future update.

The device also features a variety of other tools, including an arpeggiator, MIDI output and a ‘music game’ mode, which promises to teach users to play along with 7 built-in songs in a variety of styles and tempos.

As well as allowing users to record or import their own sounds, WoO.1 will come stocked with 161 built-in sounds.

Features:

• Unlimited Track Looper: Layer unlimited tracks with different sounds.
• Save Function: Save your loops to Sample or Groove slots for further editing.
• Dynamic playing effects: Use the function knob to control the volume and add a dynamic touch to performances.
• Undo Support: “One-touch undo” let you fix mistakes instantly without interrupting your flow.
• Resampling Support: Resample stored loops from Sample mode to take your creations further.
• Single-track FX mixing: Mix and refine any individual track in your loop.’
• One-Touch Sampling: Capture sounds instantly and convert them into any of the 140 sample slots just by selecting your bank and instrument key.
• Resampling Support: Resample pre-saved clips easily into Loop mode to rearrange and create new tracks.
• Remix Instrument Sets: Copy your favorite INSTs into a SAMPLE bank in Sample mode and customize them into your own set.

WoO.1 is still in the prototype stage so we’ll be interested to see how it develops as it heads towards production and release.

Wunderkammer is currently yet to launch its Kickstarter campaign – due to launch 19 August – so we don’t have a confirmed price. The brand’s site invites interested parties to reserve a unit in the first run for a deposit of $3 though, which will also secure a discount of ‘35% off (save $150)’ – so we’d expect a final price a little below $450.

Those that sign up now are also promised access to a VIP community and ‘secret extra gift’. Head to the Wunderkammer site for more information, and keep an eye on the Kickstarter page for updates.

Frostmod Audio shared this quick video demo of Riffline, a four-voice synth plugin for the Korg Drumlogue.

Riffline is a four-voice, single-oscillator supersaw type synthesizer plugin in Logue SDK 2.0 format. It features ADHR amp and mod envelopes, switchable 2-pole hi/lo-pass filter and an LFO per voice.

For the video, all synth sounds come from the plugin.

Riffline is available now, using a pay-what-you-like model.