Today I’m checking out a new Kore pack from NI called Massive Threat.

It’s based on the Kore 2/Kore player concept and uses the MASSIVE engine.

This instrument collection was created in the full version of MASSIVE and all sounds can be used directly in MASSIVE.

But you don’t need MASSIVE to use these sounds, because they work in Kore 2 and even the FREE Kore Player.

Let’s check it.

So what is Massive Threat?

It’s a collection of 200 new cutting edge electronic synth sounds birthed from the digital dna that makes up the powerful MASSIVE synthesizer.

According to the website Massive Threat is made up of

“edgy, dynamic sounds of contemporary electronic music, taking its cue point from the dark, brooding atmosphere and raw, aggressive digitalism of dubstep, wonky and future garage”

sounds like a blueprint for an electronic eargasm if you ask me!

Quick Specs

• Content: 200 sounds (1600 variations)
• Format: Kore 2, Kore Player, MASSIVE
• Price: $59

So how does it sound then?

Massive! Hahahahaha…okay, that was a little corny.

Seriously, the sounds are huge, fat, aggressive, thick, and evolving.

I expected huge bass, lush pads, and fat leads….but I was totally caught off guard by the included loops/grooves.

The evolving soundscapes took me for a spin as well.  Both were very appreciated.

This kore pack is full of the thick and diverse sound that makes MASSIVE such a popular synth among electronic musicians.

I think this collection shows the depth of MASSIVE and fits in with esoteric film sounds and effects just as well as electronic music.

The variety of sounds in here makes this an all around power synth, and the 8 variations for each sound allow you to sculpt your own style even further.

Of course if you have the full version of MASSIVE you can really get deep with the tweaking.

So what’s the bottom line on Massive Threat?

Get it!

Seriously, if you like synth sounds, and want to add a whole new collection of sounds to your library without having to buy and learn a whole new instrument, this can’t be beat for 59 bucks.

If you already have MASSIVE then you know the power in it, why not refill it with some new and inspiring sounds?

I give this kore pack 4.5 out of 5 subs, I really liked the quality of it as well as the diversity.

I can honestly see this being used quite a bit by myself, the sounds are just “right”.

I’m totally a fan of Native Instruments and their Kore Pack/Kontakt Pack setup, it really allows people to get their hands on some amazing sounds without having to dish out the money for the full instruments, which many wouldn’t need.

If you like to tweak and create your own sounds from scratch, you definitely want the full instruments.

If you like to have a set of ready to go sounds that you can easily tweak without having to learn a new instrument, peep out the kore packs and use them with the free

Kore Player.

Checkout the Massive Threat over on NI’s website, listen to the demos…I find it hard to believe anyone will be able to justify passing this one up.

I know I been quiet for a few days but it was thanksgiving in the US and the holiday week got the best of me! Cooking, eating, cooking, eating and chilling with the family!

But we back at it this week!

To go along with the post I did about the Top 10 places to download samples legally, I wanted to take it in another direction.

When I first started making the switch over to software production, I didn’t quite have many plugins yet, so I would look around for the free stuff.

Let me just say that, while there is some good free plugins and instruments around, you really have to look, and do a bit of trial an error.

I don’t use every single free thing I can find, I just look for those that have the best sounds, are expandable, and have a nice appearance

I don’t go through the torrents and other dark corners looking for software, so if that’s you as well, then you’ll love this article.

The 5 dopest FREE workstations and samplers

Well, native instruments just keeps giving us musicians something to love.

Another addition to their high quality instruments, free for use, is the new kontakt player.

It’s similar to the kore player, it’s expandable via native instruments as well as third-party kontakt libraries.

That means it can play all “powered by kontakt” libraries.

You can buy any of the various available libraries from the hundreds of sound design companies that support the “powered by kontakt” format….or you can buy your sounds direct from native instruments.

Heck you can do both!

But…what if you’re like many “struggling” musicians?

Fear not! Native Instruments is providing you with some high quality instruments to get you started.

They call it the Kontakt Facotry selection and it gives you selected sounds from the full kontakt 3.5 library.

A collection of 50 instruments, 650 mb of high quality content. Again…it’s free!

I don’t know about you, but this is great news to me!  It means you don’t have to settle for low quality free vsts and samplers anymore!  With this, and the kore player, you have a very professional sound setup for no cost what so ever!

And when you’re ready to expand, you can do so via native instruments website or your favorite sound libray dealer.

The kontakt player doesn’t offer all of the capabilities of the full version of kontakt 3.5, but it offers enough to be a very serious instrument.

If you aren’t doing tons of sample editing and things of this nature, I don’t see why you couldn’t just use the kontakt player, and update your library as you see the need.

Oh yes, and you do get 18 high quality effects that come in the full version of kontakt 3.5

And just in case you want to know whatup with the full version, you get a demo included that runs for 30 minutes.

So, it’s a player, not a full sampler. No instrument editor, no wave editor, and it can’t play all third party kontakt libraries, only “powered by kontakt” instrument libraries, of which there are tons.

Many sample cds come exclusively in “powered by kontakt” format.

bottom line is this…you should go download it, it’s free, and gives you the quality of kontakt in your sound instantly.

go get it! Download the kontakt player

Okay, so you may know by now that I am documenting my journey to getting an openlabs MiKo LX5, so…I have started to pick out the software I plan to use on it.

I am installing it on my laptop to get used to it . No, that doesn’t make me crazy at all, who told you that?

Anyway

I love to look for good free vst synths and such man, it’s the bargain hunter in me!

But, I’ve learned that all synths and vsts are NOT created equal and many of the free ones suck donkey balls.

One of the dope ones though, is Native Instruments KORE.

Basically, KORE has the sound engines from all of Native Instruments big boy plugins like Absynth, FM8, Reaktor, and others.

Then, they created presets for it by using they engines together. They even released a little hardware controller for it.

Funk DAT!

Get Native Instruments KORE for FREE

What I found out is that they have a free version of the player, it’s totally free, comes with like 200 sounds AND you can buy new expansion packs for it.

I was gonna get the individual instruments, but I said funk it yo, I’m using this here!

I can get new sounds from the other synths for around 40-120 bucks, just by getting the expansion packs.

Man, what u know bout dat!

Step ya game up and get some!

I’m tellin you man, go download KORE Player and then look at the KORE Soundpacks. Them joints is actually dope man, and a great way to build up a nice sound library.

It’s free, you need this in ya life, it will make you feel warm and fuzzy…

Trust me.