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The Web’s Largest Curated and Regularly Updated List of More Than 300 Carefully Tested, Reviewed, and Recommended Kontakt Sample Libraries for Kontakt (full version) and the Free Kontakt Player.
Finding free Kontakt sample libraries is easy. Just use Google or visit a forum and sift through tons of web pages. However, finding great, high-quality free Kontakt sample libraries is far more challenging. The web is filled with less than stellar free sample libraries. This list — which started as a thread at Cakewalk Forum — was created after many hours of trying out free sample libraries and compiled to provide others with a list of the cream of the crop. Each library has been tested and has a brief review provided before a link to download it. The list now has more than 300 great-sounding sample libraries for Kontakt full and Kontakt Player and we’re regularly adding to this list when new Kontakt instruments are introduced that meet our quality standards.
Updated November 5, 2025. Click here to visit the related forum and subscribe to updates. You’ll receive email alerts and site notifications when new instruments are added. Note that more than 300 libraries reflect that some of the below instruments are compilations of multiple sample libraries.
⭐= Highly recommended.
Kontakt instruments that use the free Kontakt Player will be noted in the listing.
PIANO KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
SRM Sounds Dark Mode (Piano)
This is a soft piano, Max Richter’s Steinway Concert Grand processed via a curated chain of filters and EQs, doesn’t have much in terms of dynamics, but it has a really great vibe that can pull you in once you start playing it.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://srmsounds.com/products/dark-mode
Wrongtools Tangent
The developer describes this library as “A 1930 Bechstein grand piano, with a complex architected cinematic sound. Recorded with help from a H8000, two tape machines and a stereo LA2A.” I think that’s very accurate. It’s drenched in reverb and is a one-trick pony. But if that is the sound you’re after, this library is certainly well done.
https://wrongtools.com/kontakt-instruments/free-soft-piano/
Fracture Sounds: Blueprint Series Textural Pianos
I’ll be very candid, libraries featuring looped piano tinkering aren’t my cup of tea. I prefer to play or have a collaborator play instruments in the music I make. I did find a few patches / layers that didn’t include piano being played, but were very beautiful, sound design type pads. But those are just my tastes and way of working. if you like what you hear, like every Fracture Sounds free library, it has impeccable quality and there is absolutely a beauty to the sounds.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-textural-pianos
8Dio Plucked Grand Piano – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐ NO LONGER FREE
This library features piano strings that were played with a pick and struck with a hammer and it sounds gorgeous. The hammered sounds remind me a lot of hammered dulcimer. 8Dio accurately describes some of the other sounds as “a hybrid between a harp, clavinet, guitar, lute, and the unforgettable sound of the harpsichord.” I concur. I’ve owned this library for quite a while. I bought it when it was for sale and I thought it was excellent then and it still is today — and the fact that it’s free is fantastic. It’s regular price was $98 US and it’s a really lovely library — for a paid library and for free it’s a complete no-brainer. 8Dio has a habit of giving away their formerly paid libraries for free, The developer is known for making highly detailed libraries — which makes a huge difference for acoustic instruments — which is the case here. Of course, 8Dio is trying to get you to try out their libraries for free because they believe that once you try the free ones, you’ll end up buying some paid ones too. I think it’s a smart strategy and an easy win for sample users.
https://soundcloud.com/8dioproductions/plucked-grand-piano-you-are?in=8dioproductions/sets/plucked-grand-piano
https://8dio.com/products/the-new-plucked-grand-piano?variant=41309992812744
Fracture Sound Blueprint: Epic Grand – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Kontakt Player (FREE) compatible
A Steinway Model D Grand Piano recorded in octaves that truly sounds epic. I love this library and immediately was inspired after first playing it. It only contains one patch, but it’s great at what it does and I would have been happy with the results had I paid for this library — it’s that good.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-epic-grand
Audio Ollie The Memoir Piano – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐ [NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
What I like best about the Memoir Piano is soft piano patch, the 14 sound design patches, and the multis. They are very geared towards cinematic music, but they’re lovely and well done. The developer states that the piano is six velocity layers, but it doesn’t seem like it. Requires the full version of Kontakt.
https://www.audioollie.com/sample-libraries/p/memoir-piano-prologue
Man Makes Noise: The Lobby Piano
This is a very interesting, appealing and unique sounding piano sample library created using “sound design trickery” (the dev’s own words). The library deservedly has a lot of fans on Pianobook.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-lobby-piano-playable-techniques/
Sterzov Sampling: The Felt Seiler Free Edition – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A very delicate sounding felt upright piano.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/the-felt-seiler-free-edition.html
The Real Piano
It took me a long time to decide if I wanted to include this piano library. Candidly, that’s because I don’t love the included presets. There’s just something about the way it’s EQ’ed that doesn’t appeal to me. But I spent more time with the piano, tweaking the factory presets, creating my own presets, and using external EQ and I can now say that I might use this in a project where I’m looking for a very vintage sounding character piano. The sampled piano is a 1903 Chickering grand piano. It is a Kontakt Player library, so you don’t need to own the full version of Kontakt to use this library.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.straightaheadsamples.com/the-real-piano
The Love Piano
This is a sampled grand piano with 12 velocity layers “between the soft to moderately loud dynamic range (no loud or “fff” dynamics here!) and also included hammer sounds pedal sounds (both of which can be added/removed) to give it even more persona.” It includes 18 reverb impulse responses. It sounds very nice when you’re in need of a piano for delicate pieces.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://vstbuzz.com/special/the-love-piano-kontakt-player-freebie/
Tatak Felt Piano (muted) – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I really love the character to this muted felt piano. I love the sound of this library. The samplist muted the piano strings of a felted piano. As he points out on his Pianobook page, the piano sounds best for single notes, not chords. The samplist muted the piano strings of a felted piano. As he points out on his Pianobook page, the piano sounds best for single notes, not chords.
https://soundcloud.com/tomfairbairn/tf-pianobook1-perc-strings-atmospherics?in=pianobook/sets/tatak-muted-felt-piano
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/tatak-muted-felt-piano/
Westwood Instruments Alt Piano Lite – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐NO LONGER AVAILABLE
A very nice sounding upright felt piano.
KeyPleezer Living Room Upright Piano
I have included some excellent grand pianos, but haven’t had much in the way of upright pianos. This is a very imperfect upright piano that has a quirky character that I like. When you want more of an unsophisticated, barroom piano sound instead of a very polished, sophisticated grand piano.
Note: This is a demo of the paid version of the library, but it gives you a good idea of how the free version sounds.
https://keypleezer.com/livingroom-upright-piano/free-edition/
Ivy Audio Piano in 162
A Steinway Model B grand piano was sampled for this library, made by a talented college student who also made Impact Soundworks Pearl Concert Grand library while in college. The Piano in 162 has two microphone positions (close & ambient), 5 dynamic levels, 2 round robins and sustain pedal on and off samples. I wouldn’t put it in the same league as 8Dio’s and SonicCoture’s pianos, but it is very nice and has a different vibe to it. Listen to the demos on the page linked below and go to the last demo, which is a ragtime piece. This piano sounds really good for that style.
https://ivyaudio.com/Piano-in-162
8Dio 1928 Scoring Grand – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
There simply isn’t another premium piano library with this quality and similar specifications for KONTAKT that is availabe for free anywhere else; the closest anyone comes is SonicCouture’s Hammersmith FREE, below. The 1928 Scoring Grand is a beautiful sounding, highly detailed sample library with extensive velocity layers, round-robin based sustains and round-robin based staccatos, two mic positions, some very nice convolution reverb IRs, 23 presets — and the presets are really good and include other samples that it layers with the piano that sound excellent including a marimba, a Rhodes electric piano, glasses, glockenspiel and more. There’s a sound design patch and a lite version patch too. There’s really not another piano library for free comparable to this one, and I suppose that’s because 8Dio took a piano library they had priced at $249 US (but I’ve seen it on sale for as low as $49 prior to their making it free). Normally commercial sample developers free pianos are cut down versions of one for sale. That’s not the case here. This library is also available for SoundPaint, but that version doesn’t include the additional samples for layering and the sound design patch. If the piano takes a long time to load, I’d strongly recommend doing a batch re-save in Kontakt.
https://8dio.com/products/1928-scoring-piano?variant=41309999792328
SonicCoture Hammersmith Free – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
IMO, the Hammersmith Free is a must have acoustic grand piano freebie (the only reason not to download and install this is if you own the full paid version). It’s not as extensively sampled as the 8Dio Scoring Grand, for a free piano sample library, before 8Dio released the 1928 Scoring Grand, there was no other free piano sample library for KONTAKT — or any other sampler — at the same quality and detail level of the Hammersmith Free. The sampled piano is a Steinway Model D grand piano. It lacks real sustain pedal samples and multiple mic positions, but it sounds great, and if you’re comparing it to other free piano libraries, you really won’t find any others except for 8Dio, with this level of detail. 21 velocity layers and 4.8 GB.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/p322-hammersmith-free/
Heaviocity Foundations: Piano* – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Like most free pianos, there aren’t many velocity layers, but it sounds good and what’s really good about this are the snapshots and the effects, like the built-in arpeggiator.
https://heavyocity.com/product-category/foundations/
Strezov The Creative Toolbox Piano – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A lovely Steinway grand piano.
https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/the-creative-toolbox-piano.html
Isolation Tubes and Tape Piano – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
One of my favorite piano sample libraries on Pianobook. A Steinway Model O piano was sampled for this.
[This library is no longer available. The link will be updated if the library becomes available again.]
Quarantine Piano – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautifully sampled Yamaha U3 upright piano.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/quarantine-piano/
The Woodland Piano – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A Yamaha Upright piano with 4 articulations: normal, felt, muted and plucked.
https://soundcloud.com/alexraptakis/woodland-piano
https://www.ockpii.com/instruments/woodland-piano
Dan Keen The King’s Upright – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A lovely, soft upright piano.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-kings-upright/
The Experience Yamaha S6 – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Clear and crisp with the bright tone Yamaha grand pianos are known for. This is a 7 velocity piano sample library, that, like the other Experience piano libraries sampled by Dore Mark are superb and rival — and in some cases, exceed — the quality of some commercial piano sample libraries.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-experience-yamaha-s6
The Experience Steinway & Sons – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful sounding, beautifully sampled Steinway & Sons Model B grand piano with performance and VR/ambisonic perspectives – and sympathetic resonance modeling.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-experience-new-york-ss-model-b
The Experience (Mason and Hamlin Grand Piano) – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Dore Mark has made a series of detailed piano sample libraries available on Pianobook that are at a very high quality level. But the character of this piano really just connects with me more than any of his others.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-experience/
Dore Mark Softify Piano – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Softify Piano is a character piano that has a very strong vibe to it. I find it inspiring to play. It’s one of those instruments that the first time I tried it, I couldn’t stop playing for quite a while. This demo doesn’t really do it justice, but it’s all that is currently available to give you an idea of the tone of the piano. This instrument is also available as an SFZ file.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/softify-piano-vol-1
The 88E
The developer tuned every piano note to “E” to create this epic sounding piano instrument reminiscent of the orchestral hit synth patch that was popular in dance music during the 80s.
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/the-88e
Home Piano
A humble, unpretentious upright piano with a felt patch.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/home-piano
WrongTools Smudged Piano
This isn’t a library you’d be using on most rock. It’s a gentle, sound design piano library. The developer refers to this as a “textural cinematic piano with a soft touch through a phenomenal reverb and tape echoes,” I think that’s fairly accurate. The developer used a vintage, 1930 Bechstein grand piano recording with a H8000, two tape machines and a stereo LA2A.
https://wrongtools.com/kontakt-instruments/free-soft-piano
PREPARED PIANO KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
Preparato Piano Free – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is an amazing prepared piano sample library. A reflection of how talented this young developer is. Great work and it’s truly surprising this is free. Try it and you’ll understand why I’m so fond of this developer (FTR, I don’t know him, I’m just a paying customer who loves his libraries and read about him at his site).
https://www.xperimentaproject.com/preparato-piano-free/
Production Voices Death Piano – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A superb prepared piano sample library. I really love this library, especially the reverse piano samples.
NOTE: Since this sample library made the list, the developer has changed it from free to donationware and now requires a minimum $1 US donation.
https://www.productionvoices.com/death-piano-le/
Strix Instruments: Toy Piano
There are a bunch of sampled children’s toy pianos, and this is one — oddly, a relic, made in USSR — of my favorites.
https://strixinstruments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Zvenigorod_Demo.mp3
https://strixinstruments.com/zvenigorod
ELECTRIC PIANO KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
Soniokinetic EMP Electromechanical Piano
A Rhodes Mark II Electric Piano. This is a decent sounding electric piano, that has a very lofi vibe to it. It’s tone is not as pleasing as some of the other choices below, like my favorite free electric piano, Fracture Sounds: Blueprint Electric Keys, but that’s a different model Rhodes, so if you want to have a larger palate of electric pianos, give this a try. It is compatible with the free Kontakt Player, so you don’t need to own the full version of Kontakt to enjoy it.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.sonokinetic.net/products/contemporary/emp/
Wavesynth Glow
Three Rhodes-like wavetable electric piano patches from a Sequential Prophet 6.
https://karanyisounds.com/product/wavesynth-glow-free-edition/
Fracture Sounds: Blueprint Electric Keys (KONTAKT PLAYER LIBRARY) – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful, 1969 Rhodes Mark I Electric Piano library that’s good enough to be a paid library. It allows you to adjust the key noise. It doesn’t have a bunch of presets, but it lets you choose between direct input and amped and has controls for stereo spread, reverb, chorus, and atmosphere. It’s pretty obvious to see the developer’s rationale for giving this away free. Once you use it, you’ll be interested in their other libraries.
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-electric-keys/
ETI Roads – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A very detailed Rhodes MKII electric piano sample library.
https://etiroads.wordpress.com/home_en/
https://etiroads.wordpress.com/home_en/
Lo-fi Wurly
Despite the name Lo-fi Wurly, this Wurltizer electric piano AKA Wurli/Wurly is a detailed sample library that sounds really nice, but unfortunately does have noise in it that a pro sample developer would have fixed.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15U99DL5BJdPAwj3SDOYvI2EPJ1_eaL8K/edit
Premier Sound Factory Wurly G
I want to put a caveat on this one, as I don’t love this sample library straight from the factory, however, I made my own user presets that I like a lot. So, if you spend a little effort, I think you can get some nice sounds of this, but I’m not in love with the sound straight out of the box.
https://premiersoundfactory.com/wurly-premier-g/
SonicCouture Rocksichord
Tony Banks used it on “Carpet Crawlers,” The Beach Boys, Dr. John, John Lennon, Sun Ra, Terry Riley, and Wilco all used it (in fact, the sampled instrument belongs to Wilco’s keyboardist and he recorded the samples).
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/p58-rmi-rocksichord/
The Electro Acoustic Piano
This sample library was made using an amped Fender Rhodes electric piano and an acoustic piano. That’s been done a lot, but this was very well executed and sounds great. The samplists on this are the very talented Dan Keen and Angus Roberts-Carey.
https://soundcloud.com/nemoralismusic/overcast?in=pianobook/sets/the-electro-acoustic-piano
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-electro-acoustic-piano/
MISC. KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS
The Blanchet Harpsichord and Small Italian Harpsichord
These harpsichord libraries are fairly old (in Kontakt 2 format), but they sound good and they work fine in the latest version of Kontakt.
http://sonimusicae.free.fr/blanchet1-en.html
http://sonimusicae.free.fr/petititalien-en.html
The Mither
This Kontakt instrument was once at VST Buzz. I can’t find a web page for it, but I found the Kontakt file and an audio demo. The instrument sounds similar to a dulcimer.
https://www.mediafire.com/download/a9yjmwodw7ojovo/The+Mither.zip
ORGAN KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
Wrongtools Salmesykkel Vintage Reed Pump Organ – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I absolutely love the sound of this pump organ (the developer refers to it as a harmonium, but the illustration on his web page is clearly for a pump organ. It’s a very mellow, warm and organic sound. There are several controls on the GUI, including adjustments for the click sound, that I really like a lot. This is one the free libraries where I can say with confidence this is as good as a paid library.
https://wrongtools.com/kontakt-instruments/free-pump-organ/
Wrongtools Trapeze Organ – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This has a very vintage vibe-y sound to it. Wrongtools took a vintage organ through stereo spring reverbs and a mini-Leslie speaker recorded it with vintage Studer 169 preamps connected to Larvy blue converters. To make it even more vibey, they parallel routed the organ sound to stereo spring reverbs and a mini-Leslie. It features close mic, room mic, and DI selections.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9G4xG0ALUI&t=29s
https://wrongtools.com/kontakt-instruments/trapeze-organ/
Fracture Sounds Blueprint: Church Organ – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Fracture Sounds puts out excellent free sample libraries and this is no exception. The library contains 4 patches, Mellow, Bright, Rich, and Full. This library offers features you don’t expect for free, like sliders for 3 mic position, close, mid, and far and a swell knob to simulate the swell pedal on the organ.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-church-organ/
Samplephonics Leeds Towhall Organ – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A very huge sounding 3.2GB church pipe organ sample set with 7 patches. Take me to church!
https://www.samplephonics.com/products/free/sampler-instruments/the-leeds-town-hall-organ
Sonokinetic Carousel – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This library nails the carousel organ sound. If that’s the sound you’re after, this is a must have. Very well done.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.sonokinetic.net/products/instruments/carousel/
SoundIron: Aquae Organ – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Aquae Organ is not a regular pipe organ sample library. It’s a sound design library and I really like it a lot. SoundIron created the library using a stereo pair of high-grade hydrophones recording two pipe organs in unison. They then altered the result using sound design techniques into something quite different and appealing in its own way.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://soundiron.com/collections/free/products/aquae-organ
Sonuscore Pipe Organ – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
“An E.M. Skinner pipe organ.”
https://www.sonuscore.com/shop/free-pipe-organ/
Hunter’s Tonewheel Foundations – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A well-sampled and beautiful sounding Hammond organ with a controllable Leslie speaker (I grew up the son of a piano/organ/guitar teacher and played piano/organ/drums and we owned an organ and a Leslie along with a Wurli, piano and other instruments so I fell in love with these sounds very early on in life).
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/hunters-hammond-tonewheel-foundations/
Hideaway Studios Tape Loop Organ
This is a freebie Hideaway Studios gave away more than a decade ago and it still sounds great to me. It’s a lofi, almost Mellotron-ish organ library.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7kl8d2aeax2xhle/Tapeloop%20Organ%20%28Hideaway%20Studio%29.zip?dl=1
Ash’s Harmonium
I love the harmonium and this is a lovely harmonium library.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/ashs-harmonium/
Orange Tree Samples Melodica – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Okay, this developer has been a client and is a friend, but Orange Tree Samples’ is also one of the most talented sample developers on the planet. If you like the sound of the Melodica, which is pretty popular for indie rock, this is a must.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.orangetreesamples.com/audio/JustALittleJazz.mp3
https://www.orangetreesamples.com/products/indie-melodica
Volker Funky Melodica – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A very cool sounding Melodica with a different sound and vibe than the Orange Tree Samples Melodica
https://www.christoph-hart.com/volker/audio/volker_solo.mp3
https://www.christoph-hart.com/volker/
Diato : a diatonic accordion
This free accordion library has been around for far more than a decade, but it’s really well done.
http://sonimusicae.free.fr/Sons/diato-demo1.mp3
http://sonimusicae.free.fr/diato-en.html
GUITAR & BASS KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
If you’re looking for the best quality free electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and electric bass available, it’s not for Kontakt, they’re Ample Sound’s VST instruments, and they’re on my other list (linked above).
e-Instruments Desolate Guitars Fragment
While this is qa bit of a one-trick pony and lacks multiple articulations, it has a really nice tone. The audio demos at the linked page represent the instrument well.
https://e-instruments.com/instruments/fragment/desolate-guitars-fragment
The Ambient Ukulele by Inventive Instruments – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Like this developer’s other free instruments, this sample library is an ambient, sound design library with only one patch, several layers, and GUI that gives you a lot of control. While I didn’t fall in love with the patch, once I started playing around with the different layers and making my own snapshots, I did fall in love with the library. I found it all quite inspiring and immediately started working on a song. Therefore, I have to give this library my recommendation!
https://www.inventive-instruments.com/free-ukulele-vst-the-ambient-ukulele
Fracture Sounds Blueprint: Bass Guitar – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This sampled Fender Precision Bass guitar was sampled direct input and through an amp and has great tone. It was meticulously sampled and has a simple but useful set of controls. It is my pick for the best-sounding free electric bass guitar sample library.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdduoK56ok0&t=2s
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-bass-guitar
Audio Ollie: Palm Mute Guitars
A small, but nicely done sample library of “ultra low tuned palm mutes” from acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, electric bass guitar, electric bass and more than 50 sound design multis. Well done. Not detailed, but high quality.
https://www.audioollie.com/sample-libraries/p/mute-1
Fracture Sounds Blueprint: Feedback Guitar – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A Gibson Les Paul based ambient pad with two articulations options. Sounds beautiful. Works with the free Kontakt Player too.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-feedback-guitar/
Jon Meyer Acoustic Guitar Plucks
This is a one trick pony library, but what it does, it does very well. I love the tone of the guitar. I’m struggling with giving this a recommendation. The only reason I’m not doing so is that it’s only plucks, not a more complete collection featuring regular sustained guitar notes. But I think it’s excellent for what it is.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/acoustic-guitar-plucks/
8Dio Songwriting Guitar – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
More than 1.3 GB of acoustic and electric guitar chord strums and licks. Very well recorded and eq’ed acoustic guitars, clean and distorted electric guitars.
https://8dio.com/products/songwriting-guitar?variant=41309930815688
8Dio Ambient Guitar – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
What it says on the tin. More than 2.8GB of multisampled, production ready ambient guitar and bass.
Various Free Acoustic and Electric Guitar Libraries
Pettinhouse has been making guitar libraries for Kontakt longer than most sample developers. The free libraries are pretty basic and older, but if you’re looking for simple guitar chords and well recorded, easy to play libraries, this is worth your effort. Guitar libraries suitable for rock, funk, and R&B.
https://www.pettinhouse.com/html/download.html
Klang: Guitar Harmonics
Harmonics sampled from an electric guitar. It sounds lovely and, like everything from Cinematique, it’s well sampled.
https://cinematique-instruments.com/pages_instr_KLANG/instr_gharm.php
Heavyocity Nylon Guitar*
A nylon stringed acoustic guitar. Very nice and delicate.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://heavyocity.com/product/foundations-nylon-guitar/
Shreddage 3 Status Free
While it’s limited to three octaves, for a free electric guitar library Shreddage sounds very good. I wouldn’t put the full product in the same league as Orange Tree Samples Evolution line or Ample Sound electric guitars, but for free, this is worth downloading. The guitar sampled was a Fender Stratocaster. The page asks for a $5 US donation, but it’s not necessary.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/shreddage-3-stratus-free-kp/
Shreddage 3 Precision Bass
A Fender Precision electric bass. Very nice.
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/shreddage-3-precision-free-kp
Pettinhouse Funky Guitar
A 450 MB library of loops and one-shots taken from a Fender Stratocaster. Three separate instruments: Funky Guitar, Funky Guitar Strum and Funky Guitar Muted. Several guitar amp models and effects are included.
https://www.pettinhouse.com/html/download.html
Samplephonics Ronrico
Temp-synced loops and one shots taken from a sampled Andean mandolin.
https://www.noiiz.com/sounds/free_packs/703
Strummed Mountain Dulcimer
A well sampled, strummed mountain dulcimer with controls for strum speed, style, and strings and reverb.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/strummed-mountain-dulcimer/
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/strummed-mountain-dulcimer
Hearth and Hollow Plucked Folk Ensemble Lite – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is a very different, but beautiful sample library. It contains seven acoustic folk instruments put together as a “fully arrange-able ensemble.” There is a paid version, but this free version is very much worthwhile.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/hearth-hollow-plucked-folk-ensemble
DRUMS & PERCUSSION KONTAKT INSTRUMENT
Project Sam Linedage Percussion – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is a cut-down version of the paid library, but it sounds great. It includes snare drums, congas, toms, roto toms, Kashishi, cymbals, and a “melodic ensemble.” I had a blast playing around with it.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://projectsam.com/libraries/lineage-percussion-pro
Deviant Drums Free- – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is a very well sampled, very good sounding acoustic metal/hard rock drum kit that is easily one of the best free acoustic drum kits you will find. It offers a mixer and editing beyond what you’ll find with most free acoustic drum kit libraries. I own SD3, AD2, and a lot of Kontakt drum sample libraries and I still could see using this for a song. It’s really good.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.chaostones.com/products/deviant-drums-kontakt-rock-drum-virtual-instrument
Analogue Drums Big Mono- – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Analogue Drums is a Kontakt sample library developer out of New Zealand specializing in acoustic drum libraries. They record drums using vintage analog hardware in their professional recording studio. They’re libraries aren’t ultra detailed, but they often are detailed enough. This is a small kit with a 60s/70s vibe to it. The kit is somewhere between early Bonham, Motown, and blues. It has a great vibe to it.
https://www.analoguedrums.com/drumkits/big-mono/
Darbuka
It sounds very good. If you’re looking for a darbuka, you found it!
https://soundprops.com/soundprops-darbuka/
Blueprint Drums – –A Top Pick⭐
A well recorded, very good sounding acoustic drum kit with some nice percussion. There are some cool effects included in the interface. Even more, there are multiple mappings, so if you want it mapped to general MIDI, you’re all set. That’s an option you usually don’t see if free kits.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-drum-kit
Prism Drums Lite – NOTE: FREE KONTAKT VERSION IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE
This is geared towards modern pop, hip, synthwave, etc. It doesn’t have a bunch of toms or a good acoustic drum kit. But it has some really good sounding kits for modern styles that I quite like. It’s compatible with the free Kontakt Player, so you don’t need to own the full version of Kontakt to enjoy this library.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://avamusicgroup.com/products/free-kontakt-drum-library
Hunter’s Percussion – World – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A collection of high quality sampled percussion instruments — djembe, conga, bongo, udu and the taiko family (o daiko, taiko, shime daiko).
https://soundcloud.com/user-612298561/plague?in=audioinc/sets/hunters-percussion-world
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/hunters-percussion-world/
Hunter’s Percussion – Orchestral- – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A collection of snares, toms, bass drum, and concert chimes that were deeply sampled with three mic positions from one of my favorite samplists on Pianobook.
https://soundcloud.com/hew-wagner/the-viking-hunters?in=audioinc/sets/hunters-percussion-orchestral
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/hunters-percussion-orchestral/
Jon Meyer Soft Drums- – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐ NO LONGER AVAILABLE
A 1960s Beatles style Ludwig drum kit played with Promark Broomsticks — similar to brushes but a little harder, so it sounds a bit different than brushes. The library sounds great. I only wish it was GM mapped. Other than that, I love it.
Noize Drumz 2
918 analog drum samples recorded from a Nintendo Gameboy. Useful for electronic genres.
https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/55-Kontakt-Instrument/474-Noizedrumz-Vol-2
Sonuscore Dhol – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A collection of dhol drum samples (a double-sided barrel drum played with a bare hand). Beautifully recorded. It’s a simple percussion instrument that sounds great.
https://www.sonuscore.com/shop/free-dhol-ensemble/
Drum Mic’A – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is an oldie but a goodie. A full acoustic drum kit with a mixer including built in EQ, transient designer, and compressor. https://web.archive.org/web/20200116200208/https://ru-ru.sennheiser.com/drummica
For Windows :https://assets.sennheiser.com/software/drummica.iso or https://sennheiser-assets.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/software/drummica.iso
Strezov The Creative Toolbox Drums and Percussion*
A full drum kit with cymbals, a drum machine and percussion samples. The drum kit is nice, but it sounds really small like a picollo snare. It would fit well for R&B and hip hop, but I wouldn’t use it for most rock situations.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/the-creative-toolbox-drums-and-percussion.html
DS RCS Essential Demo – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
It’s called a demo, but it’s a complete drum kit with cymbals and it’s a very good rock drum kit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7U2XYVwi0I
https://www.redpackdrums.com/dsdrum-kontakt
8Dio Cajon and Bongo
Check out the bank labelled “Bongos 4.” They sound really good.
https://8dio.com/products/the-new-cajon
Fruit Shake – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Contains four shakers. Very nicely recorded.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://insessionaudio.com/products/fruit-shake/
Red Room Audio Snaps, Claps, Stomps and Shouts
I have a bunch of sample libraries of snaps, claps and stomps, but I most often use this one. It’s epic!
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/snaps-claps-slaps-stomps-shouts/
Heritage Percussion
A very nice percussion library featuring 13 heirloom hand percussion instruments: shakers, claves, rattles, djembe and more.
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/heritage-percussion
Cinematic Synthetic Drums
Does what it says on the tin.
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/cinematic-synthetic-drums
LM Free
Beatoic’s plugin version of the LinnDrum LM-2 popular 80s drum machine.
https://beaotic.com/products/lmfree
Taiko
A nice sounding taiko drum instrument with some added features including an arpeggiator.
https://prismasounds.github.io/taiko.html
Thunder X3M Taiko Freebie
Another free taiko drum, but this one has more room and more of an epic, cinematic sound to it than the Primasounds library.
https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/THUNDER-X3M-Taiko-Freebie.html
Autodafe XoX Drums
Well done samples of iconic vintage drum machines, the Roland 606, 707, 808 and 909. https://www.autodafe.net/samples/kontakt-libraries/autodafe-xox-drums-for-kontakt.html
Cajon – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is an excellent cajon asmple library recorded using to two microphones (front, centered on the upper rim; back, towards the sound hole) and including bass, mid and slap samples for each hand and 8 round-robins for each hit.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/cajon/
Krimh Drums Free
Krumh Drums Free is a high-quality metal acoustic drum kit that sounds very, very good. If you do any metal projects or even hard rock, it’s a no-brainer.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://bogrendigital.com/products/krimh-drums-free
Basement Drums
This is a well-recorded acoustic drum kit that fits very well for roots rock and indie rock.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/basement-drums
Majetone A08
A recreation of Roland’s iconic 808 drum machine using fresh samples and processing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBANd7-FG6g&t=2s
https://pulse.audio/product/ac08-by-majetone
ORCHESTRAL / STRINGS / BRASS / HARPS KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
Fracture Sounds Blueprint Brass Ensemble – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A very good sounding brass ensmble library featuring sustain, stacatto, and performance patches. Features simple, but useful controls for dynamics, colour (I’m an American, but I prefer the British spelling!), stereo width, and reverb.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-brass-ensemble/
Christian Henson: Found Strings
Simple chromatic samples of a symphonic-sized string section. It’s basic, but it sounds great. https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/found-strings
Marcos Ciscar Chromatic Pan Flute
It’s tough for me to review a pan flute sample library, because I really don’t love the sound of the pan flute. But this is a pleasant sounding instrument. It is a small sample library with three dynamic layers. It’s free, however, you’ll need to sign up for the developer’s emali newsletter to receive it. Of course, you can always unsubscribe.
https://www.marcosciscar.com/chromatic-pan-flute
Embertone Ivory Wind – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
If you’re looking for a well-sampled recorder, look no further. With true legato, modeled dynamics and modeled vibrato, this formerly paid library is really nice.
https://embertone.com/instruments/ivory-wind/
Simple Samples Viola (move fast, this may return to a paid product for $79 US)
This vioa sample library normally sells for $79 but has been free for 4 months at the time of this post. It has been pitch corrected; the original version was quite detuned. This is a detailed sample library with 3.88 GB of samples, round robins for every note, and control over the vibrato.
https://simplesamples.co/products/simple-legato-viola
Straight Ahead Samples Vintage Harp – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is a well sampled, lovely sounding harp with 3 dynamic layers, 2x round robins, 5 mic positions with controls for stereo, mono, room, bleed, and mono tape. Controls for key and pedal release speed, reverb and delay. I would have happily paid for this.
https://www.straightaheadsamples.com/vintage-harp
Fracture Sounds: Blueprint #21: Textural Viola – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Like everything else from this developer, this library sounds beautiful. Just listen to the demo below.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-textural-viola/
Emergence Audio: Infinite Collection – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
10 lite versions of the developer’s Infinite Motion Series includes an upright piano, cello, violin, doube bass, clarinet, and vocal textures, a bird whistle, a synth, and piano texture library. These are all sound design libraries, and they sound great.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://emergenceaudio.com/product/infinite-collection/
Sonixenima Emoitve Brass – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful sounding 6-piece brass ensemble. It contains six patches that all sound very good. The gather is very cool.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.sonixinema.com/pages/emotive-brass
Fracture Sounds Blueprint: Textural Cello
Fracture Sounds accurately describes the library as, “A collection of four textural cello articulations and a unique Atmosphere Layer..” This isn’t a detailed sample library, but it sounds lovely and could be useful for ambient productions.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-textural-cello/
Inventive Instruments Brushed Violin (Pad)
It’s only one patch, a pad but it’s nice. it is, as the developer describes it, “angelic’ and “airy.” It is certainly a sound design library, ambient and not a straight violin sound.
https://www.inventive-instruments.com/brushed-violin-free-pad-vst
Ambient Cello by Inventive Instruments
Like this developer’s other libraries, this is an ambient sound design library. It has Guitara lush sound to it with layers.
https://www.inventive-instruments.com/free-ambient-vst-ambient-cello/
Sonixinema Whispering Woodwinds – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This 12 piece chamber woodwind ensemble weights in at 1.3 GB Installed and sounds gorgeous. It contains 4 presets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEqX_oQvMbU&list=TLGGQZwg4-n3pCIyODAzMjAyNQ&t=2s
https://www.sonixinema.com/pages/scorehub
Oboe
This isn’t a deep sampled library, but it sounds lovely. It has 4 dynamic layers, 4 sound modes (sustain, grace notes, staccato, trills that are, switchable from the Modulation controller, a expression knob, a reverb knob, auto key-clicks and auto breath noises (deactivable) for increased realism.
https://www.lootaudio.com/category/kontakt-instruments/hephaestussounds/oboe-kontakt-free
Sonixinema: Delicate Strings – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I’ve found that Sonixinema sample libraries sound beautiful; historically, their freebies tend to be skimpy. Consequently, this is the first entry on my list and this is a stunningly beautiful 14 piece chamber string ensemble library. The below video, the developer states that the library shouldn’t be free, and I don’t disagree. This, much like the free Blueprint series libraries that Fracture Sounds has been putting out are libraries good enough to have been paid commercial libraries. The arpeggiator is a really nice treat.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://sonixinema.com/pages/scorehub
Fracture Sounds Blueprint: Woodwind Ensemble – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
No sample developer has produced more high-quality, great sounding and playing completely free sample libraries than Fracture Sounds. This library is no exception. Woodwind Ensemble features piccolo, flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, and bassoon playing in unison. This gorgeous-sounding library and includes the ability to select close, mid, and far mic positions and includes two articles: staccato and an expressive sustain that is dynamically controlled using the mod wheel.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://soundcloud.com/fracture-sounds/1-sneaking-suspicion-benjamin?in=fracture-sounds/sets/blueprint-woodwind-ensemble
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-woodwind-ensemble
Norland Samples Solo Trumpet – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A detailed solo trumpet with true legato, sustains, staccato, staccatissimo and marcato articulations. Inlcudes modeled vibrato and 14 modeled mutes. Five microphones with adjustable volume.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.norrlandsamples.com
Fracture Sounds: Blueprint String Trio – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A string trio including solo violin, viola and cello in an ensemble patch. This is a gorgeous string library with a great sound. It includes a long sustain, staccato, and pizzicato.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://soundcloud.com/fracture-sounds/1-at-one-with-nature-dan-keen?in=fracture-sounds/sets/blueprint-string-trio
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-string-trio
Sonuscore The Orchestral Elements – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Thirty orchestral presets, with 4+ GB of “25 string-, 9 brass- and 12 wind-articulations, plus playable percussion and choir.” This sounds great and is a lot of fun to play with sequenced string and horn / woodwind parts. Developers often make free version of their commercial sample library lines and this is an example of a developer who hit it out of the park.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.sonuscore.com/shop/the-orchestra-elements/
Fracture Sounds Blueprint: Short Strings – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Fracture Sounds makes some excellent freebies and this library is no exception, a staccato string library. It sounds great.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://sites.fastspring.com/fracturesounds/product/blueprint-short-strings
Woven Strings – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐NO LONGER AVAILABLE
A beautiful sounding string library includes a collection of articulations, drones and phrases of violin, viola, and octave viola.
Sonuscore HD Orchestra Chords and HD Sustained String Chords – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Sonuscore’s free HD Orchestra Chords and HD Sustained String Chords sound beautiful and allow you to immediately get the sound of a very lush, orchestra or string section. It’s simply fun to play this and hear a beautiful sounding orchestra or string section.
https://www.sonuscore.com/free-orchestra-chords/
Embertone Intimate Strings – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A string quartet playing in unison. It sounds beautiful.
https://soundcloud.com/embertone/paul-amos-remember-intimate?in=embertone/sets/intimate-strings-lite
https://embertone.com/instruments/intimate-strings-lite/
Carpenter Trombone – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
The developer captured a very nice sounding trombone for this library. Features a legato patch.
https://ivyaudio.com/Carpenter-Trombone
Musical Sampling: Solo Trumpet – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A very well done legato solo trumpet. It’s 760 MB and sounds very, very good — far better than I’d expect a free trumpet library to sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbwwJ1lw7yk&t=2s
https://musicalsampling.com/trumpet-freebie/
Westwood Instruments: Roots Untold Strings – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is a extremely lush strings — specifically violas — library that sounds gorgeous to my ears. Only 5 presets, but they sound wonderful. Works in the free KONTAKT Player.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/18iE8aSjil8
https://www.westwoodinstruments.com/roots/
Westwood Instruments: Roots Drifting Winds – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Made from 5 solo woodwinds. Includes 5 presets.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JE9KDC-N8DI
https://www.westwoodinstruments.com/roots/
Pacific – Solo Cello Legato – Performance Samples – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A solo cello patch with slurred legato. This is a beautiful sounding cello library. “One dynamic with espressivo vibrato (the vibrato isn’t controllable).” Three mic positions – CL (close), SC (section), and AB (spaced far pair). 48kHz / 24bit.
https://soundcloud.com/performancesamples/cello-freebie-orig-rec-pre-alpha-demo?in=performancesamples/sets/upcoming-cello-freebie
https://www.performancesamples.com/pacific-solocellolegato/
Fracture Sounds: Gentle Strings – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Kontakt Player (FREE) compatible
A “chamber-sized string ensemble was captured in a large studio hall playing with mutes to produce a long con sordino articulation. The library includes three microphone signals and a bespoke atmosphere layer produced from the original samples.” This developer has been putting out some beautiful free libraries.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://soundcloud.com/fracture-sounds/these-shores-marcus-warner-blueprint-gentle-strings-mastered?in=fracture-sounds/sets/blueprint-gentle-strings
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-gentle-strings/
Fractured Sounds: Textured Violin – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
“There are four textural articulations alongside effects such as Delay and Reverbs which can be found in the full Trails library, allowing users to get a flavour of what Trails is about.” It’s lovely.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://soundcloud.com/fracture-sounds/mark-fabian-druid-dreams?in=fracture-sounds/sets/blueprint-textural-violin
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-textural-violin/
Project Sam: The Free Orchestra and “The Free Orchestra Part Two – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
From the developer: “16 free cinematic instruments ranging from soft strings to thunderous drums; Includes sounds from our acclaimed Symphobia series.”
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://projectsam.com/libraries/the-free-orchestra/
https://projectsam.com/libraries/the-free-orchestra-2
Heavyocity: Staccato Strings – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Love it and it has an arpeggiator that’s lots of fun.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://heavyocity.com/product-category/foundations/
Red Room Audio Palette Primary Colors – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Strings, woodwind, and brass ensembles.
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/palette-primary-colors/
Dan Keen: Soft String Spurs – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Dan Keen creates some of my favorite sample libraries on Pianobook and this is probably my favorite of his. Really, it’s just beautiful.
https://soundcloud.com/ashverjee/tuesday-after-a-long-time?in=pianobook/sets/soft-string-spurs&si=1dec98c0fb5d45eab2e353a0588e795f&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/soft-string-spurs/
Pocket Blakus Solo Cello – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I own a bunch of paid solo cello libraries, but end up using this freebie a lot. One of my all time favorite freebie sample libraries.
https://vstbuzz.com/freebies/pocketblakus-cello/
Dan Keen: Cello Spurs – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I’m a sucker for strings, especially the cello. And like everything else from Dan Keen, this sounds beautiful. Dan refers to them as ” evolutions that grow out of single notes!”
https://soundcloud.com/thebutlerdeclines/the-gift-of-giving-solo-cello-spurs?in=audioinc/sets/solo-cello-spurs
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/solo-cello-spurs/
Dan Keen: NFO Orchestra Swells- – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I discovered Dan Keen from PianoBook and I’ve found that everything attached to Dan is very high quality. He has a fantastic ear. This library was made from more than 600 combined recordings from over 40 players, performing swells strings and winds, and accents for brass. It sounds beautiful and fits well for ambient music.
https://soundcloud.com/nativevs/r379?in=audioinc/sets/nfo-orchestral-swells
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/nfo-orchestral-swells/
Strezov Afflatus Mimilist Violins – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful violins section sample library, Excellent.
https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/afflatus-freebie.html
Tokyo Scoring Strings
This string ensemble library includes two instrument sections (violins I and cellos) with legato.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/tokyo-scoring-strings-free
The Stroh Violin
This is not a typical violin library, but I find it very cool and it sounds good for very rhythmic parts.
A “self-amplified variation on the classic violin design with a resonating metal body and horn.”
My friend Ian Dorsch did a really cool demo for it that does a good job of showing what you can do with this library. I believe it uses the included sequencer.
https://d25hggb6yip4op.cloudfront.net/AudioDemos/The%20Stroh%20Violin/01%20Ian%20Dorsch%20-%20Aviation%20%28Dressed%29.mp3
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/the-stroh-violin/
Imperfect Viola
A lovely and different viola sample library. It features 4 patches, Viola Ensemble, Viola, Violin-esque, and Cello-esque. Just listen to the demo and I’m pretty confident that you’ll be downloading this library very soon.
https://soundcloud.com/chrdz/imperfect-viola-demo-3?in=pianobook/sets/imperfect-viola
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/imperfect-viola
Native Instruments Irish Harp – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful sounding, expertly sampled and scripted 34 string Irish harp. It features individual notes, scales, phrases, effects and controls. This easily could have been a paid library.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/spotlight-collection/irish-harp/
Heavyocity Foundations: Staccato Brass – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
If you’re looking for staccato brass, you found it! It’s big and the GUI keeps it interesting.
FREE Kontakt Player Instruments
https://heavyocity.com/product-category/foundations/
Tempest Sona / Chroma
If I’m going to be very candid, the GUI for this collection of sampled instruments is poor and amateur-ish. Some of the samples don’t sound great. But if you can look beyond the GUI and find your way to the collection of patches called “Sparkling Shorts” it’s actually quite a nice bunch of short string, brass, and woodwind patches. The collection patch called “Acoustic Inspiration” is a nice collection of sustained strings, brass, and woodwinds patches.
https://tempest.audio/sonachroma/
TUNED PERCUSSION KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
Fracture Sounds Thumb Piano – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is a lovely, well-sampled kalimba with a good deal of control that go beyond what one expects for a free sample library.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-thumb-piano/
Inventive Instruments Pixiephone Glockenspiel – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
The instrument layers 5 different mallets using different beaters: rubber percussion beater, the handle of that same beater, a timpani mallet, a drum stick, and a hairclip. There is only one patch. I made several snapshots out of it and scaled back the chrous and reverb and love it!
https://www.inventive-instruments.com/pixiephone-free-glockenspiel-vst-kind-of
Hephaestus Sounds Hang Drum – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I own a few paid deep sampled hang drum libraries, but I still find myself using this library a lot. It’s well sampled, it sounds beautiful and features 4 round-robin cycles.
https://www.lootaudio.com/category/kontakt-instruments/hephaestussounds/hangdrum-free
A very nice sounding 2.5 octave glockenspiel library with 4 velocity layers. https://falloutmusicgroup.com/products/gratis
Celesta Incogni – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
An absolutely beautiful sounding 5 octave celeste.
https://soundcloud.com/simon-fyffe/upward-spiral?in=pianobook/sets/celesta-incogni
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/celesta-incogni
Fracture Sounds Blueprint: Toy Piano – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
If you’re looking for a toy piano, look no further.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-toy-piano/
Fracture Sounds Blueprint: Greenhead Chimes – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful set of chimes.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-greenhead-chimes/
Hunter Rogerson: The Wildmother’s Dulcimer-Vol 1 and II – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful sounding hammered dulcimer library. And I’ll just be candid, I usually don’t love the sound of dulcimers, but LOVE the sound of this one and the sample libraries (there are two) are truly beautiful. If this were a paid library, I’d be very happy with it. Hunter didn’t merely sample typical articulations, but included unusual articulations for a dulcimer, included bowing. I find this sampelist is one of my favs on Pianobook. He’s very talented and there’s a magical vibe to many of his libraries. The first volume features 12 patches and the second volume features 7 patches (Hammer and Trem Combo, Plucked,
Plucked Harmonics, Bowed Tremolo, Cedar Splatterpaint, Meadow Chimes and Woodpecker).
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-wildmothers-dulcimer/
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-wildmothers-dulcimer-vol-ii/
Jon Meyer Schlumerich Handbells
A very nice sounding set of handbells that I’ve used in a final production.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/schulmerich-handbells/
Klang Spiel Uher
A taped music box recorded on analog tape.
https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/55-Kontakt-Instrument/6828-TAPED-Spiel-Uher
Klang: Bike Bells ⭐
Sampled bicycle bells that have been played around with until they sound like a glockenspiel. I really like it.
https://cinematique-instruments.com/pages_instr_KLANG/instr_bikebells.php
Rosenspiel
I’m a sucker for glockenspiel libraries and this is a different approach. It’s a glockenspiel played with a bow instead of a mallet. The developer said it pretty accurately, so I’ll just quote him: “The staccato samples sound like a celeste with a softer attack, while the sustains sound like a glass harmonica with slight bow noise. Very nice.
[This library is no longer available. The link will be updated if the library becomes available again.]
8Dio Copperphone – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I’m a sucker for percussion, tuned percussion, metalophones…I love the way this custom instrument sounds. It’s made from modified copper pipes and recorded struck with hard and soft mallets (some of the demos are gorgeous). This is a deep sampled, 1.36 GB library that easily would be worth paying for if they weren’t giving away free.
https://8dio.com/products/the-new-copperphone?variant=41310010278088
8Dio Polyphone (Music Box) – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
There are certain instruments that are just magical, the piano, acoustic guitar, mandolin, the Wurly, Hammond B3, Les Paul, celeste, Dulcitone, glockenspiel, hang drum…and music boxes. I own A LOT of music box libraries and this one still brought something new to the table.
https://8dio.com/products/polyphon?variant=41309927178440
Frozen Glock – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful glockenspiel library.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/frozen-glock/
Mister Rogers Celeste – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Yes, that trolly sound from Mister Rogers (if you’re an American and grew up in that era). But if you didn’t, it’s kind of a plain sounding celeste, but it has a certain charm.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://store.cinesamples.com/products/mister-rogers-celeste
Toy Xylophone
What can I say, I love glockenspiels, xylophones and all sorts of tuned percussion.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://store.cinesamples.com/products/createseriestoyxylo
Create Series Kalimba
There are a ton of free kalimba sample libraries on the interwebs. This is one of the good ones.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://store.cinesamples.com/products/createserieskalimba
Tongue Drum
Beautiful tone. But I do wish it was more than 1 octave. Still, I love it.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://store.cinesamples.com/products/tonguedrum
SonicCouture Music Boxes – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I’m a sucker for music boxes and this library contains two music boxes: one uses punched paper and the other an embossed metal cylinder.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/p43-music-boxes/
Soundiron Desk Bell – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Don’t let the fact that they sampled a desk bell fool you into thinking this library isn’t special, it is.
https://soundiron.com/collections/free/products/desk-bell
Jonathan’s Glockenspiel – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A well sampled, very nice sounding one and half octave glockenspiel.
https://www.mediafire.com/download/czjxokm4x6pmcfs/Jonathans_Glockenspiel_1.1.rar
Dave Hilowitz Reonator Glockenspiel – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
It’s a different sounding glockenspiel that contains resonator bells, like orchestra bells and vibraphones have.
https://www.decentsamples.com/product/resonator-glockenspiel-free/
8Dio Smiley Drum
This sounds like a tongue drum, and I think,technically, that it is a tongue drum. Noice!
https://8dio.com/products/smiley-drum
Deagan Vibraharp Vibraphone – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful sounding vibraphone that is nicely sampled by one of the most talented sample developers on Pianobook. It is as good as a commercial (paid) vibraphone sample library and I even like it better than some of the vibraphone sample libraries I’ve bought.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/deagan-vibraharp-vibraphone/
Shulmerich Handbells
A really beautiful set of Schulmerich handbells from samplist Jon Myer.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/schulmerich-handbells/
Music Box DLX
I’m a sucker for music box sample libraries and this is a very nice one that is as good as the paid music box sample libraries I own.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/music-box-dlx/
Splash Sound Music Box
The straight default music box sound on this is nice, but where this really shines is when you push the slider to double.
https://evainstruments.com/products/music-box/
Spring Chimes – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This library, which was created by combining 14 bells and metallophone libraries together (all free libraries from Pianobook) is pure magic. If playing this doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what will.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/spring-chimes/
Sleigh Bells
A collection of one shot and tempo synced samples perfect for holiday productions.
https://www.sonokinetic.net/sleighbells/
Swarming Music Box – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I am a sucker for music box sample libraries, and this one contains a straight music box patch plus swarming patches with a good deal of control over the sounds.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/swarming-music-box/
Celeste Kalimba
It sounds like a cross between a kalimba and a music box and I think that’s lovely.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/celeste-kalimba
Orff Chimes
Exactly as the name would lead you to believe, this is indeed an Orff Chimes library and it sounds beautiful.
https://soundcloud.com/nemoralismusic/spiced-thyme?in=pianobook/sets/orff-chimes
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/orff-chimes/
Orffestra – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A wonderful collection of Orff instruments with an arpeggiator.
https://soundcloud.com/simon-fyffe/sprinkles?in=pianobook/sets/orffestra
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/orffestra-by-sam-ecoff-and-obolig/
Array M’bira
A great sounding M’bira library.
https://soundcloud.com/tomfairbairn/tf7-pianobook-celesta-incogni-array-mbira?in=pianobook/sets/array-mbira
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/array-mbira
VOCAL / CHOIR KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
Sonixinema: Celestial Voices
Contains several very good sounding presets. It was created from their paid library, Sirens. I found their two gated (sequenced) patterns especially nice.
https://www.sonixinema.com/pages/celestial-voices
Splash Sound: Indie Voices
This isn’t a very versatile library and it’s uses are limited, but it’s good for what it is. If you’re looking for a pop choir enthusiastically singing “hey!,””wooh!,” “oh!” you found your library.
https://evainstruments.com/products/indie-voices/
Claire Solo
A voice library with legato featuring an award winning female opera singer.
https://soundcloud.com/kmlandre/undone-ivyaudioclarev2-demo?in=simon_dalzell/sets/clare-solo-v2-demos&si=48b9f370427e43d6afee73393b17681d&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
https://ivyaudio.com/Clare-Solo
Jacob Collier Audience Choir – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Jacob Collier recorded his audiences at various concerts singing (doing ahs, oohs, mmms, and various vowels, stomping, clapping. it includes finger snaps as well. This is a must have, IMO. It’s a small sample library, but a lot of fun.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/vocal/jacob-collier-audience-choir/
Heavyocity Foundations Emotive Choir – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
“Evolving, sustained vowels and textures paired with a layer of our signature sound design.”
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://heavyocity.com/product/emotive-choir/
SonicCoture Tape Choir – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
They nailed the choir sound from 10CC’s “I’m Not In Love.” Yes, you can buy the real thing, fairly inexpensively from SampleTekk, but this free version does the job well at no cost.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/18-exclusive-free-content/p170-tape-choir/
Micah’s Choir by Cordaro Rodriguez – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A beautiful, soulful solo male vocalist that you can play chords to make into a choir. I wish there was a commercial version of this. The developer (and musician) and singer are very, very talented individuals.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/micahs-choir/
Embertone Arcane – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐ NO LONGER AVAILABLE
This contains 5 small sample libraries, but the ones I like best are the vocal ones.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
Joshua Meltzer: The Quiet Choir – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A choir made from one man’s voice that sounds really lovely and gentle.
https://soundcloud.com/keith-theodosiou/the-quiet-choir?in=pianobook/sets/the-quiet-choir
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-quiet-choir/
Hunter Rodgerson: The Spellsinger – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Hunter is a YouTuber, and one of my favorite samplests from Pianobook. The library was made by a female vocalist and it’s a very different kind of choir library, and I love it.
https://soundcloud.com/hunter-rogerson-26088996/we-lost-something-to-daybreak?in=pianobook/sets/the-spellsinger
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/the-spellsinger/
St Helens Cantores – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A lovely sample library made using a school choir in a church. It features “mmms” and “ohs.” It sounds very angelic.
https://soundcloud.com/ashverjee/so-we-may-release-st-helens-cantores-pianobook-demo?in=pianobook/sets/st-helens-cantores
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/st-helens-cantores
ALSO SEE Project Sam: The Free Orchestra under Orchestral
SYNTH KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
Deigineor: Arrival
A collection of great sounding, atmospheric, cinematic and very thick pads and deep basses. The developer took these from patches he created in Arturia Microfreak.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/arrival
Fracture Sounds Blueprint Series: Electric Strings- – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is a superb free library and user interface. To use a very American metaphor, Fracture Sounds hit this out of the park. They sampled a vintage Solina String Ensemble synth and combined it with a great, straightforward user interface that has a variety of controls that are easy to use and achieve great results. It gives you 3 layers of patches to mix and match and apply control effects as you please. My favorite control of all is their Lofi knob that instantly gives you a very Mellotron-like effect. A lot of effects try to achieve that sound — and I’ve bought a lot of them — but this control absolutely nails it. I would love to put more sounds through this. If I were rating free libraries on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the best, this one would be a 10/10.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://fracturesounds.com/product/blueprint-electric-strings
Deigineor: Arrival – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
A collection of 8 absolutely gorgeous cinematic pads and soundscape patches created with the Arturia Microfreak synthesizer.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/arrival
Cassette Synth – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I am a sucker for Tron and lof-fi Tron-ish libraries, and this sample library is absolutely in that category. It’s wobbly and distorted in the most awesome of ways. Each of the included 12 patches was made by recording a Moog Liberation Keytar recorded onto a cassette tape. A lot of developers try to do these kinds of libraries, and either come close, mediocre, or completely fail. This developer is clearly bringing his A game.
https://wrongtools.com/kontakt-instruments/free-synth/
Analog Tales
A cut down version of a full release, this still offers some very cool vintage analog patches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXgSurNrMws&t=22s
https://karanyisounds.com/product/at-free/
Pistachiotone MR-65 from Chromatic Instruments – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Pure lofi goodness. More than 100 presets including pads, leads, effects, retro synth sounds, chiptune effects, vintage factory presets and waveforms. Lots of controllability. I love it!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=0aS-_aXcJRg%3Fstart%3D358%26feature%3Doembed
https://ko-fi.com/chromaticinstruments/shop
Vapor Keys Sakura
Lofi, retro, 80s-ish synth pads.
https://karanyisounds.com/product/vapos-keys-sakura/
Native Instruments Hypha – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This synth NI describes it as “A collection of hybrid acoustic and electric sounds inspired by nature,” sounds great and modern.
(Comes with Komplete Start)
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/hypha/
Moonlight CM – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
This is the developer’s attempt to imitate the Fairlight CMI. I wouldn’t say they nailed it, but it is still pretty good in its own right — especially when you start adjusting the controls.
https://soundprops.com/moonlight_cmx/
Synimer
A very synthwave sounding patch that sounds straight out of the 80s. There’s not much to it, but I like it and it’s free.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/synimer-3/
Output: Signal – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I wasn’t sure what category to put Output Signal under. It is a “pulse engine” that works in the full version of Kontakt, which is a series of looped phrases. I find Output is a lot of fun to play around with. The free version contains 25 presets — 2GB of samples — that are designed to motivate you to buy the full, paid version.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://output.com/products/signal-free
Stephen O’Connell: Mellow Saw – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Analog 80s type synth brass and strings with a twist, retro sounds, tape effect — I really like this. The samplist said he was channeling a Rick Wright, Pink Floyd vibe, I think he attained it.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/mellosaw/
Peter Flint: Dictaphone Loop Synth – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐NO LONGER AVAILABLE
This is a lo-fi synth library that captures a very Mellotron-esque vibe. The samplist made the recordings using an old dictaphone microcassette recorder. I really love this library and it made me a fan, which turned me into a customer.
Rhythmic Robot: Commodore 64 Sessions Deluxe – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
If you appreciate 8Bit sounds, Ryhtmic Robot’s Commodore 64 Sessions Deluxe is going to be right up your alley. I find it pure fun. Thirty patches.
https://www.rhythmicrobot.com/product/c64
Stephen O’Connell: Amalgam Analogue – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
If you love retro, lush layered analog synths, this should be right up your alley.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/amalgam-analogue/
Native Instruments: Analog Dreams – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
“Analog sounds from vintage synths of the ’70s, ’80s, and beyond.” This sounds really good to my ears and a lot of it has a very synthwave vibe to it, although it’s certainly not limited to that genre.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/play-series/analog-dreams/https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/play-series/analog-dreams/https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/play-series/analog-dreams/
Native Instruments: Etheral Earth
Great for very rich / lush pads.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/play-series/ethereal-earth/
Various Retro Synths from Hollow Sun
Like a lot of others, I suspect, I used to have these little friendly chats with the late Stephen Howell, the developer behind Hollow Sun. I was a customer, who sent him my bio and offered him free advice (not in exchange for NFRs, I just appreciated him as a developer I bought from and offered it completely free). Anyhow, we had a bunch of really nice chats and I thought he was a really nice guy who made some really nice synth libraries for KONTAKT back in the day. He gave away a series of synth libraries used by Gary Newman on his song “Cars.”
http://hollowsun.com/HS2/freepacks/index.htm
Super Audio Boy
This sampled Super Nintendo library is pure nostalgic fun to play.
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/super-audio-boy/
Wavetable Experiment Mini-Pack
Seven very good sounding 80s inspired wavetable synths.
https://www.decentsamples.com/product/wavetable-experiment-mini-pack-kontakt-6-free
Heavyocity Foundations: Synth Bass
If you like big analog synth bass, look no further.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://heavyocity.com/product-category/foundations/
Cinematique Instruments: Mociula
Mociula is “a bundle of synth instruments trying to work like a modular system. It consists of several different tools or modules such as synths generators, effects, filters, a sequencer, a sampler and some other useful as well as unique tools.” Listen the Frame instrument demo below and you’ll likely see why it made this list:
https://www.cinematique-instruments.com/pages_instr/page_mociula.php
Simple 8
Twenty-two cool retro patches taken from a ARP2600. Pure retro goodness.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/simple-8
KONTAKT ETHNIC KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
World Color Clar Duduk ⭐
A well sampled and beautiful sounding duduk.
https://www.evolutionseries.com/product/world-colors-clar-duduk/#:~:text=Welcome to World Colors Clar,a bit of worldly magic.
Jade Ethnic Orchestra Xiao Freebie
A beautiful sounding and sampled xiao (a Chinese vertical end-blown flute).
https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/jade-freebie.html
Balkan Ethnic Orchestra Duduk Freebie
Another beautiful sounding instrument from Strezov.
https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/BALKAN-Ethnic-Orchestra-Duduk-Freebie.html
Jaw Harp
There aren’t many sampled jaw harps. This is a small, simple, but nice little library.
https://evainstruments.com/products/jaw-harp/
Native Instruments Yangqin
A traditional Chinese hammered dulcimer. This is a beautiful sounding and beautifully sampled instrument that NI easily could charge money for.
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-start/
MELLOTRON KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
LT Mellotron – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I love the Mellotron and Chamberlain vintage samplers and this has a bunch of excellent Tron patches. My favorite patches are the cello, 8 choir, M300A 2 viloins, mixed brass, MKII flute, and MKII violins, The only patch I find not up to my expectations is the vibes. Otherwise, I love this library.
https://soundprops.com/lt_mellotron/
Tronsonic Expressive Tron – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I’m a huge fan of the Mellotron M400, and that’s what this developer sampled, originally recorded to analog tape with vintage gear, for this collection of libraries including flute, strings, cello, and male choir.
https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/55-Kontakt-Instrument/996-Expressive-Tron
Sinewavelab: Mellotron – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I am a sucker for Tron sounds and I own the M-Tron Pro, Sonic Reality’s various Tron libraries (from Dave Kerzner), UVI Mello and a bunch of Tron KONTAKT libraries and this freebie is still worth having. It contains unlooped, 7 second samples of the following libraries: Combined Choir, GC3 Brass, M300A, M300B, MkII Brass, MkII Flute, MkII Violins, String Section, Woodwind 02 and Cello.
https://sinewavelab.com/products/free-mellotron-library-for-kontakt/
ASSORTED KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
Audio Bro – Silver – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I don’t know what inspired Audio Bros to put together a Tongue drum, electronic drums, synth pads, hand played bowls, and synth bass, but it’s a nice collection of sample libraries, but they’re all very well made sample libraries.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://audiobro.com/silver/
SOUND DESIGN KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
Wavelet Audio Pulse Box
30 dynamic cinematic pulses. These sound really good. Even though I don’t compose cinematic music, I had a good time playing with these.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://wavelet-audio.com/pulse-box/
Triple Spiral Audio: Universe
I’m a sucker for the kind of lush pads, ambient sounds, and motion patches that Triple Spiral Audio is great at creating. This is a very large library, with 300 snapshots and 200 sound sources weighing in at 3.1GB compressed. But I find it beautiful and inspiring.
https://soundcloud.com/triplespiralaudio/tidal-swells-universe-demo-naked-by-brooke-mitchell?in=triplespiralaudio/sets/universe-demos
https://www.triplespiralaudio.com/product/universe-freebie-kontakt-library/?v=0b3b97fa6688
Beautiful Void Audio: Deep Conjuring 2 Free
42 presets of very lush sounds. The original sound sources include harps, flutes, violins, rain, tornado sirens, soft synths, and more. It’s the same kind of vibe as Triple Spiral Audio sample libraries, very lush, ambient and beautiful.
https://soundcloud.com/erickmcnerney/deep-conjuring-ii-free-demo-in-the-moment-short-undressed-erick-mcnerney?in=erickmcnerney/sets/deep-conjuring-ii-free-demos
https://www.triplespiralaudio.com/product/beautiful-void-audio-deep-conjuring-2-freebie-for-kontakt/?v=0b3b97fa6688
Textures
The developer of this library created it by sampling his guitar picked and bowed as well as sampling air, water, AC, etc.
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/packs/textures/
Pulsesetter Reverxis
I really enjoy reverse sounds. Reverxis is a collection of reverse electric guitar library multisamples. I especially enjoy the collection of pads and have used them on a couple of songs I have shared on SoundCloud.
https://www.pulsesetter-sounds.com/product/reverxis/
Klang: Frozen Pan – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Some sound design on pan drum samples that sounds great to my ears.
https://cinematique-instruments.com/pages_instr_KLANG/instr_frozenpan.php
Klang: Neon Buzz – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐ NO LONGER FREE
This is a synth-type patch that I really love, made by sampling a buzzing neon light.
https://cinematique-instruments.com/pages_instr_KLANG/instr_neontubebuzz.php
Sound Dust – Just get everything free – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
I’m a long time fan of Pendle / Sound Dust. Sound Dust makes really weird, wonderful libraries and they have a several little odd KONTAKT instruments for free that I think are pretty cool. They’re not for everyone, but I sure love their work and they’ve caught on with some big name artists / composers like .Trent Reznor and the folks at Spitfire.
https://www.sound-dust.com/free-stuff
KLANG by Cimematique Samples – – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! ⭐
Everything. I’ve downloaded all of their freebies and bought numerous paid libraries from the series and they’re just small sound design sample libraries that I think sound really good.
https://cinematique-instruments.com/collection/collection_klang.php
Sonora Cinematic Magnetica Redux
Beautiful lush pads and cinematic soundscapes. I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff.
https://soundcloud.com/sonoracinematic/lorenzo-emanuel-space-elevator
https://sonoracinematic.com/collections/free/products/magnetica-redux
Sonora Cinematic Aria Libera
Vocal textures, atmospheres and pads created from samples from a female vocalist processed through a granular modular synthesizer. It sounds lush and gorgeous.
https://soundcloud.com/sonoracinematic/lunar-eclipse-by-tristan-jakob-hoff?in=sonoracinematic/sets/aria-libera
https://sonoracinematic.com/collections/free/products/sonora-cinematic-aria-libera
SOUND EFFECTS – KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS
99 Sounds: Sound Effects
From the developer: “…cinematic braams and drones designed for use in movies to modern cinematic impacts, complex sonic textures, and various purely digital noises that can be used in any audio or video project.”
https://99sounds.org/free-sound-effects/
Miscellaneous
e-instruments Slower Fragment
Six sampled insttruments a piano, strings, sphere, two flutes, and a saw that let you put them through virtual tape machines. The result is anywhere from slightly lo-fi to Mellotron-like sound to mangled. I love it.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://e-instruments.com/instruments/fragment/slower-fragment/
Ink Audio Ondes Martenot
If you’re wondering what the heck an ondes martenot is, you’re not alone. From the developer: “It has keyboard and ribbon controllers, allowing players to manipulate pitch, timbre, and volume with hand gestures. Using vacuum tubes to generate sound, it produces a distinctive, ethereal quality, popular in classical and experimental music. Composers like Messiaen and Ravel have used it and it’s a symbol of innovation in electronic music.” It sounds strange and interesting and very low-fi, up there with the Tron for that very low-fi eerie kind of vibe that I like a lot. Check out the demo.
https://ink-audio.com/products/ondes-martenot?
Kontakt Factory Library (Komplete Start)
If you don’t own Kontakt, Komplete Start is a total no-brainer.This isn’t an ad or affiliate link, and I have no relationship with Native Instruments other than being a long-time paying customer; this is a sincere opinion. I have been buying every version of Native Instruments Komplete since probably the earliest version. I love it. Komplete Start includes dozens of great-sounding sample libraries for Kontakt and numerous plugins.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-start/
Sonokinetic Hurdy Gurdy
The folks at Sonokinetic sampled a traditional Dutch Hurdy Gurdy (also known as a Draaillier). The sample library contains more than 1,400 samples, obviously, a lot of work went into this free instrument.
FREE Kontakt Player Instrument
https://www.sonokinetic.net/products/classical/hurdygurdy/
Thanks to @Galacov for helping ensure that all links are working properly.