Boscomac devices for Native Instruments Reaktor are now FREE!
If you’re willing to put up with the Reaktor tax, there are some seriously cool effects and instruments to use. Native Instrument’s Reaktor 6 is a playground of synthesis and DSP, with a plethora of devices available readily for free.
For those unfamiliar with Boscomac, he’s a seriously talented developer who released 50 ensembles for Reaktor between 2012 and 2016. And now, you, my dear reader, can grab all of these for free!
I can’t cover every single one of these because we’d be here all day. Instead, I’ll focus on a few of my absolute favorites.
First up is The Chiller, which aligns with the string machine sound. This is inspired by the ARP Omni, which I have no clue how it sounds in comparison.
However, I love this instrument, especially when paired with a good reverb. The sound it puts out is lush, giving retro-tinged beds to harmonically ground your retro wave compositions.
Retape is another favorite and brings that touch of tapey goodness to a sound. The overall sound is very exaggerated, so this is more of a character plugin rather than a fastidious emulation.
If you’re looking for an affordable alternative to the RC-20 Retro Color, this gets fairly close in terms of wow and flutter.
Floodverb is a delightfully lush ambient reverb. Reaktor doesn’t get enough lip service for its free effects, but this is one seriously great reverb, especially for ambient works.
I’ve had fun running this in conjunction with generative patches drawn up in Reaktor or VCV Rack. You really can’t go wrong.
The Leader is another personal favorite, drawing inspiration from the Moog family of synthesizers. It’s got a pair of fat oscillators and a great filter. This is one seriously cool synth for the likes of basses and leads and makes a great alternative to Monark.
Finally, The Stabber brings some familiar Roland sounds to the fore. It isn’t explicitly modeled after a particular Juno, but the core concept of the sound is there. I’ve been a huge fan of this for polyphonic plucks and the like.
There’s no limited-time offer on these; they’re free for the foreseeable future. You can download any of these ensembles either through the Reaktor User Library or over at Boscomac’s official site.
Download: Boscomac Collection (FREE)
More:
12 Comments
Synthie Lauper
onOh, I love the Chiller and used it so much.
Thanks for the info.
Peter
onI very much appreciate you guys bringing Boscomac‘s excellent collection (back) to everybody’s attention.
All of his sounds and effects are of outstanding high quality, and even if there are sounds that I would not know where and how to use, the whole collection is worth checking out.
Peter
Mike
onI’d much rather pay the “Reaktor tax” than a Kontakt tax. Sometimes I look enviously at the cool Kontakt libraries out there but it’s nothing compared to the User Library, plus I’ve made some pretty wild devices myself. Reaktor is incredible and these are cool machines.
Per
onThe collection was always free and I have it for at least 6 or 7 years. However, it’s nice to bring it back to music producers’ attention from time to time, because some of the instruments are real gems both musically and visually. And one of them is the interesting emulation of Leonardo’s Viola Organista, as far as I know the unique in the world of virtual instruments.
Vinícius Lessa
onNice! With these freebies I’m getting introduced to Reaktor 6 indeed.
shane
onA wonderful collection.. great stuff!
Uriah
onUh, this collection was always free.
Numanoid
onAbout the Reaktor Tax. What I realized when I started using VST and plugins 15 years ago, sooner or later you will have to get Komplete.
There are tons and tons of excellent free soundware for both Reaktor and Kontakt. The investment in Komplete will pay back massive dividends. And for those liking building their own plugs, or utilizing own samples, it is even a bigger must to get it.
Komplete is regularly on half price sale, my advice is to buy into it.
Ronald
onThe nks version says it was made with a newer version of Reaktor (6.5) so it can’t play, but my copy of Reaktor (6.4.3) is up to date according to Native Access, anyone else experienced this? Moreover, the boscomac readme says it just has to be 6.3 so that’s confusing…
Martin
onReaktor’s current/latest version is 6.5. Are you using legacy Native Access 1 or the new Native Access 2?
Jeff
onSame issue as Ronald.
Wow, so Native Access 1 has an auto-update feature to update itself to the latest version, but does not update itself to Native Access 2. That’s some bad software development policy. How long have I been in the dark?
Looks also like they are trying to force Kontakt users into Kontakt 7. I have a bunch of the Play Series instruments, which I use in Kontakt 6, but I noticed that if you update those instruments, you have to use Kontakt 7 (I have the player, of course, but not the full version). Yikes.
Anyway, thanks Martin for the head’s up. This solved the boscomac problem for me.
Jim
onI emailed Boscomac to thank him. Here’s his reply:
____
It doesn’t bother me if you contact me by email, on the contrary I really appreciate your generosity in telling me about the appreciation you have for my Reaktor Work. Nothing is more satisfying than knowing that you are happy to use these ensembles.
I have always given them away, at first as donationware and now as freeware. There is nothing worse than censorship of money, things must be shared, it is the only way to truly progress in the world.