Orchestral Tools releases Spindle, a new upright piano library, as part of the FREE SINEfactory subscription.
We covered SINEfactory way back in February of this year, and it’s worth checking out if you haven’t already. There were three instrument libraries back then; now, there are eight with more to come in the future.
To reassure you, SINEfactory is a free subscription plan, two words that typically don’t go together, I know.
The latest addition, Spindle, is a Rösler upright piano with soft felt hammers. Rösler pianos (founded by Gustav Rösler) have a history dating back to the late nineteenth century (approx 1878). Rösler isn’t a brand that I’ve come across too often, so it would be interesting to know more about the model used to create Spindle.
Orchestral Tools recorded Spindle from four up-close mic positions for an intimate sound. The product page states that Spindle delivers warm/round low-end tones with a detailed high-end. It has three velocity layers with three round-robins per note and is described as well-suited for ostinatos and sparse arrangements.
I think that the short product description sums it up perfectly. It’s not the library I’d go to if I were recording some extremely complex solo piano piece, but that’s not to say it’s a one-trick pony.
I often reference media composition and film scoring when discussing libraries like this one. That’s because simple ostinatos, sparse piano lines, or simple but emotive chords are often the foundation of a good score.
Although the soft/warm and intimate piano sound is quite specific, it works for various emotions, like grief, guilt, fear, reflection, etc.
Of course, that sound can be just as useful in pop music.
There are more free pianos around, and it’s worth having a few for different uses. Check out Spitfire Audio’s LABS series and Steinberg’s LoFi Piano for a different character (beware of the convoluted activation process).
Spindle works with Orchestral Tools SINE Player, which comes in AU, VST, and AAX formats, and requires macOS 10.13 upwards or Windows 10.
Spindle is dreamy, melancholy, cinematic, and understated; it sounds lovely.
Download: Spindle (compatible with SINEfactory)
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5 Comments
Ike
onI love the Sine Factory stuff, its more useful even than LABS. What I don’t get. Since the last library release they changed the player to no longer support older Windows versions. Why?
Tomislav Zlatic
onI love using LABS, and I still haven’t had the time to test SINEfactory more thoroughly, but I’m looking forward to it. No idea why they dropped support for older versions of Windows, but it almost always has to do with lowering development costs.
Tomislav Zlatic
onThanks to BPB readers Артур, Szilard K. and Jay for the info about Spindle!
Caglar
onThis is great news, merry christmas everyone.
PureFire
onThanks again James, much love & appreciation 😊👍