Ability Instruments release Freetakt, a free alternative to Native Instruments Kontakt.
Kontakt has been the de facto standard for in-the-box sampling for quite some time. It’s a paid instrument, but there are dozens of free Kontakt libraries you can use with the free Kontakt Player plugin.
Recent years have seen promising newcomers like Decent Sampler and LABS, but nothing has replaced Kontakt as an all-in-one sampling package.
Freetakt may not be an absolute replacement, but it looks to shake things up in a positive direction.
In short, Freetakt is a freeware sample player plugin developed by Ability Instruments. The intended goal for Freetakt was to provide usable and high-quality tools to musicians of all stripes without breaking the bank.
Freetakt certainly has all the bells and whistles of a premium sampler. There are numerous tools for sculpting sounds, robust scripting capabilities, and a selection of effects for both audio and MIDI.
Included with the instrument is Live Stage 3, a library sampled from a Nord Stage 3 digital piano. I’m not a pianist by any means, but the sound of the included library is quite nice.
The timbre of the piano itself lends itself well to a fair few genres, and you can blend between a traditional piano and a Rhodes. I am a personal fan of the Rhodes, especially when paired with the onboard tremolo.
Live Stage 3 can also blend into a transistor organ sound, or you can use it solely as an electric organ. The quality of the organ’s sound is likewise quite nice and packed with a very soulful character that was not aided by my clumsy fingers.
Freetakt is certainly worth a download just based on this.
Judging by this early version, Freetakt could have a promising future ahead of it, provided developers and sound designers alike latch on board. Scripting tools are available within Freetakt, which are great for creating more robust instruments.
The included effects in the sampler are likewise of decent quality. You likely will use your own processors most of the time, but the onboard tremolo, plate reverb, and delay are all quality effects.
Freetakt is, unfortunately, available solely for Windows machines at this time. Your host needs to have VST2 support or the means of wrapping VST2 plugins for use in your productions.
The biggest question is whether third-party sample makers will provide enough sample content for Freetakt to rival Kontakt. What do you think?
Download: Freetakt
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