Halflight Sampling Collection KONTAKT

This massive collection contains 18 individual sound design libraries from Halflight Sampling. With an underlying tone of dread and otherworldly noises this collection is packed with useful sounds for creative projects, horror and sci-fi scoring or for adding an undertone to your music.

PACK 1 – DEATH BY DESIGN
Featuring 12 insane Kontakt instrument patches. Utilizing hundreds of samples from experimenting with modular synthesis and effects, this is a truly unique library set that will drive some people mad with inspiration, and others mad with irritation. Meant to be gritty, dirty, and organic. Not for the faint of heart. 1.14 Gigabytes uncompressed. All samples are included as well (in their respective Kontakt sample folders).

PACK 2 – DEATH RATTLE
Dark, low, menacing braam like sounds. inspired by both Hans Zimmer and Igor Stravinsky. Containing 65.1 MB of WAV samples, uncompressed. The Kontakt instruments are organized into 4 separate folders, according to the general feel and type of sound (Atonal, Dark, Distorted, and Misc). Layered synthesis was also used (a combination of Chromaphone 2 and Cybermath beta).

PACK 3 – DEEP CONJURING
Like something conjured up from a distant, forgotten dream, the patches included have the power to stir within us emotions and feelings deeply hidden and inexplicable. The samples used are strange, unique and imperfect. In total there are 66 instrument presets, which are derived from a set of 655 samples. All samples are royalty free. For the kontakt patches, I used the Photosynthesis Engine by Jeremiah Pena. Please note: The Full Version of Kontakt 5.6.8 is required to use the patches without limitation (the same applies to this entire collection). However, the uncompressed wav files are accessible, so you do not need full Kontakt to use the samples themselves. All of the samples total 996MB uncompressed.

PACK 4 – EXPERIMENTAL PERCUSSION BEDS
This is a truly unique collection of percussion loops, mapped to Kontakt. They were created using a complex FX chain, with the basis of most of the sounds being sculpted from NI’s Reaktor modular synthesis engine (not the extra instruments, however). Just going through the different Bed instruments will take you on a journey, perhaps causing you to recollect music from Radiohead (the more experimental side), early Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) and even Porcupine Tree. The samples are also included (in the Kontakt sample folders) so you can drag and drop them in your DAW or import them. The extra instruments included were very experimental and are not synced. They are not percussive and tend to be more cinematic and ambient.

Each loop is synced to 120BPM. However, many of them are syncopated, so may seem out of tempo naturally. The idea for the instrument originally came from the soundtrack to The Shining -that reoccurring pitch oscillation that stirs uneasiness in your gut. However, it the project has morphed into something completely different, and instead of being a cinematic library with sounds inspired by that reoccurring theme, I went in the direction of experimental percussion instead. These percussion loops are meant to be an underpinning, not necessarily at the forefront of a piece. They were meant to add brush strokes to a piece.

PACK 5 – GUITAR ELEMENTS
A large collection of unique and useful guitar patches. Including 40 Kontakt patches and hundreds of samples. Inspired by jazz, funk, prog rock and more. I even found a way to get two of my favorite movies in there (Vertigo and Taxi Driver). Their folders are "Vertigo Climb" and "Taxi Driving Music" respectively: they include strange, jazz like chord drones based on unusual chords and inversions. The song starter patches are useful for helping write music. There are at least 13 of the most common chords used for songwriting. Many of the patches automatically loop if you hold the key, but not all. Many of the patches are raw guitar, with no added effects (or very little) so that you can add your own virtual amp rigs per your desire. Last of all, Enjoy!

PACK 6 – IMPROMTU PIANO LOOPS
This collection is a window into my creative process, and I am providing them royalty free. I performed several loops, all of which were thought up on the spot. The final take was on either the 1st, 2nd or 3rd try, generally. I wanted to capture a spontaneous and unique quality. So the ideas themselves were all impromptu. This is generally how I write anyway. I did not use quantasizing and did not draw the midi notes to create these performances. There are 17 instrument presets based on 9 Multi sampled piano and music box phrases (189 samples). I sampled the phrases across at least 12 halftones, and mapped them to Kontakt. Therefore, you can play the loops in various keys.

There is also a folder of non instrument related samples. These are either additional piano loops, or heavily processed samples based on those loops. The processed loops will have a word in parenthesis giving a sort of nickname to the sound (I guess the feeling or idea that encapsulates the sound in my mind). There are a total of 97 of these additional, non Kontakt Instrument related samples. They are generally more syncopated (especially the processed samples) and range from dance like synth sounds, to crazy, bizarre machine like sounds.

PACK 7 – JANKY DRINK MUG
It may have started out as a joke, but some of the sounds coming out of this thing are strange and otherworldly to say the least. The "flutter harmonics" sound in itself was a pleasure to discover. There is absolutely no instrument on earth which sounds quite like this thing. Though that may be because there is nobody else strange enough or crazy enough to sit down an construct something out of an old plastic container -complete with a makeshift tuning peg and natural acoustic body.

PACK 8 – PARADOX LOST
A culmination of 10 years of experimentation and exploration. Using live recordings and layered synthesis, this is a truly unique set of Kontakt patches . Perfect for cinema, drone, trance and more. There are many patches especially useful in horror and science fiction. You will not hear samples like these anywhere.

Please keep in my that originality and uniqueness were the main goals. Many of the samples were derived from old recordings which had to be restored using restoration plugins. There is a certain, unmatched character about it. There are 47 total patches, with 47 total samples. Samples vary from 0:03 to 2:13 in length. Each sample was mapped to Kontakt using Jeremiah Pena’s brilliant Photosynthesis Engine. The samples were not simply dropped in, but tuned to map the appropriate notes in the traditional western, equally tempered tuning. Therefore, if you play a "C" note on the keyboard, the overall pitch characteristics of the Kontankt instrument will be a "C". This will make it easier for you to incorporate the sounds into your own compositions! However, due to the underlying nature of some of the samples (evolving textures, harmonic movement and layering), achieving this to perfection on all samples was quite difficult or impossible.

PACK 9 – QUANTUM DEATH TOY
A single toy was sampled on ultra low batteries. The result is creepy and unnerving. In quantum physics there is an idea that certain phenomena can create different results in each instance of change, and never repeat itself (for example, the static on an old television set). With very low batteries, the potential for unexpected things to happen increases.

PACK 10 – THE APOCALYPSE FROM A TO Z
A collection of 30 strange, dark and post apocalyptic drones, hums and pads. Perfect if you need a unique and gritty edge in your productions. Feel free to tweak the presets to you hearts content. I used Jeremiah Pena’s Photosynthesis engine to create the presets, based around 26 custom created samples (30 seconds each). There are 26 main instruments (presets) and 4 extra.

PACK 11 – THE FORESHADOWING
There is a great deal of variety in this collection. From ethereal, dreamy and post modern Explosions in The Sky and Sigur Ros inspired guitars, to an oriental-like ukulele pluck instrument, all the way to a cinematic, fierce, bowed electric bass guitar. There are 224 samples, coming in at about 1.4GB of samples uncompressed. All of the instruments were derived from these samples, and they feature no soft-synths or computer generated sounds – all from authentic, real sound sources. There are a total of 27 Kontakt Instrument Patches, and 9 Multis. There are numerous samples in the Bowed Sample Folder which were not used for the Kontakt patches, but which are perfect for sound design elements, cinematic productions and so on.

PACK 12 – THE HOLE IN THE WALL
A wall vent was sampled with a condenser mic and a violin bow. Using a variety of techniques, a unique set of textures were created.

PACK 13 – THE LOST PLAYGROUND
This is perfect for horror productions and more. A creepy, spooky collection of Kontakt instruments, including the haunting laughs and cries of children, and their lost toy instruments. Some instruments were warped beyond recognition, including the spinning wheels of a car made to sound like some kind of Dub Step instrument. The instrument "Pad of Tears" was derived from the cries of a child. The glockenspiel and toy percussion are the only instruments which remain pure and natural. The guitar was played with a knife, and the singing bowl (Carving a Bowl) was played by sharpening a knife on it.

PACK 14 – TWICE BAKED
A collection of unique and bizarre drone, pulse, soundscape, and effect samples. Their moods range from nostalgic, dark, intense, to strange and moody. This is mainly a sample pack, but almost all of the samples were mapped to kontakt patches, for either an instrument-like patch (like in the case of "Streamers (pad)") or just the samples placed for easy key triggering (like in the case of "Textures, Pulses and Effects, Oh My!").

PACK 15 – LOVELY MITTY
The perfect toy for the collector of all things rare. Right out of the box, this thing is an enigma. There is no on/off switch; you can only press the white keys (however, it’s tuned so awfully that you end up playing what would be black keys); there is no velocity sensitivity (and it’s so loud!!!). All I know is that it was made in Taiwan. I cannot find any other information about this thing, anywhere! I’m not even sure if it’s really called "Lovely Mitty," but that’s the sticker with which it came (at the consignment shop).

There was a lot of work involved in getting the tuning as close as possible to any semblance of proper tuning. Once tuned, it actually does seem to have a warm tone, suitable for chip tune style music, but others as well. With the staccato presets, I used some tricks with the microphones to create a sense of velocity layers, and created 4 total velocity layers. I still included the original tuning ("natural tuning") for your fun and pleasure. There were also some effects created by only pressing the notes slightly (right at the threshold of making a noise).

PACK 16 – NUCLEAR WINTER
Imagine a dark, destitute world, days after several nuclear blasts lay waste to the majority of the planet. This is the vision of the new sample library. No, it’s not pretty, nor is something we ever want to see in reality. However, we can live it through sound. The sounds derive from a variety of sound sources – from various types of digital synths (including Factory by Sugar Bytes and Loom by Air Music Technology) as well as acoustic sound sources (bowed instruments, pianos and more). Various noise effects were also used to process the samples (including vinyl and tape effects). Most patches have 3 velocity layers.

PACK 17 – OUT OF NIGHTMARES
The majority of these sounds were created from playing around with a soon to be released Divergent Audio Group instrument. However, 6 of the sounds were taken from the 800+ sample pool which will be included in the full release. With the exception of those 6 samples, these samples will not be available anywhere else. They range from nightmarish, strange, dark, to nostalgic and peaceful. All samples are 60 seconds in length, with most of them featuring a constantly evolving character.

I built 33 Kontakt patches based on the samples, with an additional 25 which are Round Robin versions of the 25 samples not included in the future release. Since they are 60 seconds in length, I created a loop point at unique 20 second segments for each sample. Therefore, every note for the RR version patch will have essentially 3 Round Robins (not multi sampled, however). This will at least give the ability to have more nuance in the sound. For the 6 samples taken from the future release I created 4 unique start points and loops (15 second segments). This essentially creates 4 Round Robins which again, allows for more nuance from the instrument. The WAV files are also included so that you can use them in other samplers or drop them into your DAW.

PACK 18 – BOWED SINGING BOWL
This is an experimental library wherein a violin bow is bowed on a Tibetan Singing Bowl in G. In some cases there were novel techniques employed which were able to create unique sounds, probably never heard before. This was not a planned library. I was experimenting with bowing what ever I had around the house, and thought this may be interesting. The result is breathtaking and at times mesmerizing.

Some instruments are deep and emotional, while others are strange and atonal. It is ideal for cinematic work, especially science fiction, psychological thrillers, emotional dramas, and I’m sure more (maybe horror?). I am planning to buy Tibetan Singing bowls in every key available, and do an extensive set of recording sessions with bowing and other techniques. I hope you will look forward to that!