Sonokinetic recently added Noir 2: Breathe and Colours String Septet to its already stellar lineup of Kontakt libraries, and I’ve had the pleasure of giving them both a try.
Both libraries are compatible with the free Kontakt Player 7.10 and above.
Even better news is that the boutique sampling experts are offering BPB readers an exclusive 25% discount site-wide.
You can claim your discount using the promo code “BPB_Sonokinetic_25”.
These new phrase-based libraries highlight what I like most about Sonokinetic (besides the outstanding sound quality).
Sonokinetic provides far more versatility and originality in phrase-based libraries than most through articulations, phrase variation, layering, and blending.
I also love the educational element brought by the score view; it’s an intuitive way to select phrases and a great way to understand voicings and arrangement better.
Noir 2: Breathe is the sequel to the popular Noir library. The brass and woodwind ensemble features flutes, horns, trombones, and clarinets.
There are twelve phrase fields, each with various adjustable parameters, including Offset, Crossfade, Pan, Volume, and Randomize. Fields with solo woodwind phrases are blue, solo brass fields are yellow, and combined phrase fields are pink.
You can assign each field a phrase from the following themes: Dynamic, Flurries, Frills, Harmony, Melody, Noir, Ostinato, Pads, and Rhythm. Additionally, you can sample any phrase before assigning it and view it (in any key) in the score view.
The color-coded interface continues with multiple key-triggering zones, and this is where Noir 2 becomes something special.
Blue – play major/minor triads or outline 7th chords; phrases will conform to that quality.
Orange – trigger one or multiple phrases from your phrase fields.
Yellow – trigger phrase variations (not all phrases have variations, but most do). The green key at the end triggers all variations simultaneously.
Green – harmonic shifting
If I’m honest, I expected Noir 2 to be good because I love the sound of film noir; it leans heavily into jazz, and the sample quality is world-class.
I didn’t expect to enjoy so much freedom when performing with it; it’s a media composer’s dream.
One of my favorite elements is harmonic shifting; while you can guide harmony with triads, harmonic shifting provides more dramatic movements, shifting the tonal center.
You can choose which fields shift and which don’t, and with multiple phrases triggered, you get some beautifully tense dissonance.
Another of my favorite features is the MIDI Drag function; you can drag MIDI data from any phrase into your DAW. This function opens up a world of versatility where you can have different instruments play Noir 2 phrases.
If you’re going for dissonance and lots of clusters, try adding Sound Dust’s Drift Free Bad Piano.
You can shape the sound into wide, lush textures or sharp, cutting clusters by mixing mic positions (Close, Decca Tree, Wide, Balcony – Far).
Colours String Septet semitonal textured patterns continue with the tense and dissonant feel in a streamlined package. The septet includes two violins, two violas, two cellos, and a bass (over 6000 samples).
The streamlined interface shares some features with Noir 2, like the microphone mixer, score view, and blue and orange key-triggering zones. It doesn’t have the harmonic shifting function, but it is not required to create tension with the phrases sitting right between tonal and atonal.
Phrases come from the following themes: Low End, Dynamic, Rhythmic, Atonal, Risers, Pad, and Melodic.
Each phrase (A1 – A80) has three articulation/technique variations.
The heart of the Colours String Septet is the Triangle Mixer, with each triangle point representing one phrase or variation. Blending different phrases creates some unique textures, but it’s blending variations of the same phrase that I love most so far.
If you’re scoring ostinatos and want to increase tension progressively, you can gradually introduce scratchy spiccato techniques or even harmonics.
It’s perfect for creating an underlying feeling of unrest, which is like gold dust in film scoring. Using the X/Y axis to blend techniques in real time is great, but my favorite feature is that you can automate movements over a specific number of bars.
Even seemingly random or chaotic scoring is typically exact, so I love that you can create precision movements over time.
The library includes release samples, a feature I think might get less praise than it deserves. But, if you cut a phrase short, you’ll always get a realistic end note.
Admittedly, I’m the stereotypical user of orchestral libraries, so I’ll always find positives. However, phrase-based libraries often lose their initial appeal rather quickly.
The flexibility and originality of Noir 2 and Colours String Septet have pleasantly surprised me; both can produce unique and realistic scores time after time.
Both libraries are NKS compatible, and parameters will be auto-mapped to NI hardware controls.
Please note that the 25% disount is valid sitewide, on any Sonokinetic product.
Check out the deals: Noir 2: Breathe & Colours String Septet (25% off sitewide for BPB readers using code “BPB_Sonokinetic_25” – free Kontakt Player 7.10 and above required)
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