Heavyocity release a free cinematic brass ensemble

Staccato Brass is the latest sample library to be featured in Foundations – the free Kontakt Player line of virtual instruments presented by Heavyocity.

What started in March of 2022 with a grand piano VST continues with another interesting library – a library that joins five other, in an ever-growing series of quality freebies.

The sixth installment to Heavyocity’s Foundations delivers a full, orchestral-style brass ensemble in just under 400MB of download (the actual disk space required is significantly less).

Focusing on rather short, staccato articulations, this library provides a Kontakt instrument that is full of highly usable aspects.

It has the fundamental necessities one would expect to see (effect-wise, like reverb and delay) alongside a few extra additions – some characteristic to the Foundations lineup, like the (amazing) arpeggiator and the also handy gate-sequencer.

Another feature that shouldn’t be ignored is the Punch effect. What it will do is apply saturation to the output sound, making it more bright, distorted and metallic while also giving the brass a shorter attack and a perceptually smaller dynamic range.

What the library also does is give you the option to mix the natural staccatos with what seems to be a processed version of them. The added layer of Texture Ambient – essentially a warm, reflection-based soundscape – goes quite well with the core brass samples, and definitely adds to the overall cinematic film score feel the library aims at. It combines some other sounds as well, such as a choral-like pad and some synth tones that help set the mood.

My conclusive thoughts on the Foundations Staccato Brass are positive for the most part. My only “complain” really is the lack of a dryer sound. Obviously, with the instruments being captured and recorded in a relatively large studio space (possibly a hall) a dry sound is practically impossible, but I still tend to prefer a raw, pliable material over a wet, sometimes overly-reverberated sound source.

Regardless of the above said, I have to admit that I do find this new Heavyocity library quite a decent brass ensemble that would certainly spice up a producer’s epic score.

The previous editions of this expanding free series include Emotive Choir, Synth Bass, Nylon Guitar, Staccato Strings and the already mentioned Foundations Piano.

Heavyocity Foundations Staccato Brass is available for Native Instruments flagship sampler, Kontakt (and of course the free Kontakt Player). In order to install it, you may need to register an account on the Heavyocity website. Then, after downloading it, you may proceed to submit your product serial number in the Native Access app.