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…