Cracklebot is an unusual free virtual drum machine for Native Instruments Kontakt, crafted by Fairly Confusing Waveforms (aka Zombie Queen on KVR Audio) and featuring a unique collection of vinyl noises which are used to generate random rhythmic sequences.
We’re kind of used to getting cool sample packs and NI Kontakt freebies from Fairly Confusing Waveforms (for example, they’ve released an awesome chiptune synthesizer called Bleepman and a weird experimental soundscape generator called Scape-O-Matic), so it comes as no surprise that their latest release is yet another brilliant piece of freebie goodness. Cracklebot is somewhat similar to the concept of Scape-O-Matic, however it is is more of a virtual drum machine than a soundscape generator.
The instrument is based on a set of percussive vinyl noises which are being triggered by the randomized sound engine, resulting in some pretty neat and unusual rhythmic sequences. Cracklebot is a lot of fun to experiment with and I can definitely see myself using it as a rhythm/percussion track generator in the future. It’s one of those tools which you can use to help you come up with new musical ideas when you’re not feeling to inspired.
You will need the full version of NI Kontakt 4.2 in order to take advantage of the provided NKI patch and its handy custom user interface, however non-Kontakt users can still benefit from this freebie pack since it contains 115 individual percussive samples in WAV format. The WAV samples are certainly worth the download (it’s a bunch of vinyl pops, noises as scratches which work absolutely great as percussive elements), although the NI Kontakt patch is undoubtedly the central piece of this sample library.
It’s not really easy to describe how the NKI patch works, so the best way to understand what this freebie instrument actually does would be to take a look at the demo video which is attached below. Fairly Confusing Waveforms has also released an alternative version of the instrument called Cracklebot Red which features a slightly different sound engine. For more free vinyl noise samples, check out the Vinyl Noise SFX sample library by 99Sounds.
Video Demo
Check out the Cracklebot demo video:
Download
Cracklebot is available for free download via Fairly Confusing Waveforms (3.83 MB download size, RAR archive, contains 115 vinyl samples in 24-bit WAV format, 1 instrument patch in NKI format for Native Instruments Kontakt 4.2 or above).
2 Comments
SO wonderful to see this freebie, thanks for sharing it, Tomislav! I’ve long had an affinity for rhythmic microcrackles (example: https://soundcloud.com/otb-edm/torley-sfericornucopia-otb-premiere ) and I’m glad to see Fairly Confusing Waveforms’ research & development in this highly specific yet compelling area!
Tomislav Zlatic
onHey Torley, thanks for stopping by! :)
You should check out Fairly Confusing Waveforms’ other work, too. There’s some amazing stuff on their website!