Slate and Ash RUINS KONTAKT

GUITAR MONOLITHS
Recorded and curated by producer Randall Dunn at Circular Ruin Studios, RUINS deconstructs guitar textures into raw sonic material.
Built from the exclusive recordings of six experimental guitarists-Stephen O'Malley, Oren Ambarchi, David Torn, Bill Horist, Ben Greenberg, and Arjan Miranda-the instrument's engine disintegrates the source material via tape-loop-inspired playback, textural layering, and transformative effects processing.
SPACE, PERFORMANCE, SATURATION
The RUINS sessions were a series of controlled experiments, designed to explore the relationship between space, performance, and saturation.
To provide deep tonal versatility, RUINS offers multiple mic perspectives, including a pristinely captured DI, an array of tube powered amplifiers, an eroded stereo spring reverb, and a cavernous re-amped signal recorded in Berlin's iconic Funkhaus sound chamber. The built-in convolution engine expands this palette further, complete with a curated library of custom impulse responses leaning toward experimental sound design.
VOICES OF EXPLORATION
Each of RUINS' six experimental guitarists was chosen for their ability to push the guitar outside traditional musical roles-treating it less as an instrument and more as an interface for texture, gesture, and sonic ritual.
Each artist was given freehand to submit fragments: loops, textures, resonances, and mechanical failures. Their work is unified by a focus on texture, feedback, and raw materiality, forming the basis of an instrument designed to create new timbral languages that explore the outer edges of guitar performance.
GUITAR AS RAW MATTER
For immediate exploration, RUINS includes over 250 thoughtfully designed presets, spanning from subterranean soundfields and digital smears, to collaged rattles and tangled harmonics.
Each serves as a creative foundation that showcases the instrument's sound design potential. The multi-sample engine layers guitar phrases into rich, shifting harmonies, while asynchronous looping adds instability and life. The single-sample engine reimagines details-like string scratches or amp hum-into new rhythmic or tonal elements. All raw material is also provided as high-quality WAVs for use in any sampler or DAW.
ARCHITECT OF EROSION
With 30 years of experience working with guitar, Randall Dunn is known for his ability to cohere complex or heavy material for artists such as Sunn O))), Earth, and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson.
His work is marked by a performance-focused approach, aiming to capture an artist's core sound without blunting its emotional impact. As the producer, curator and engineer for RUINS, Randall was responsible for capturing the raw interplay of space, performance, and saturation that defines the instrument's sonic character.
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