Slate + Ash Mirrors KONTAKT

June 4, 2025 0

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Slate + Ash Mirrors KONTAKTDeveloped in collaboration with Orchestral Tools, MIRRORS is an instrument that blurs the boundaries between experimental synthesis and expansive orchestration. It takes synthesised source material and reflects it through the prism of orchestral performance, unearthing the symmetries of electroacoustic expression.

MIRRORS was born from the collaborative ethos of two studios: SLATE + ASH’s dedication to an experimental approach, and Orchestral Tools’ expertise in symphonic sampling.
In Bristol, SLATE + ASH generated a synthetic foundation: analogue and digital textures designed as catalysts for orchestral performance. These were reinterpreted by orchestrator Hugh Brunt (Thom Yorke, Actress, Mica Levi), who meticulously translated the material for the classical ensemble. In Berlin, Orchestral Tools brought the reimagined scores to life, capturing them in full dimension at the Teldex Scoring Stage—where the space itself became part of the instrument.

The MIRRORS interface is a lens for merging synthetic textures with their orchestral reflections.
On one side: raw synthesis. On the other: acoustic response. At the centre, a blend node shifts focus between the two—shaping new forms, from bowed strings echoing FM dissonance to brass swells breathing through modular hiss.

Under the guidance of producer-composer Yair Elazar Glotman (Mandy, Last and First Men), the sessions approached the orchestra as a synthesiser—shaping each player’s voice into an oscillating ensemble.
Re-amplified in the same space and captured through Teldex’s historic array of vintage Neumann microphones, the synthetic material merges seamlessly with the orchestra—blurring acoustic boundaries into a unified sonic environment. Fed back into the MIRRORS engine, these recordings become raw material, ready to be shaped, refracted, and reimagined.