Box Factory by Fracture Sounds
Fracture Sounds released a new Kontakt library for the free Kontakt Player. Box Factory is an unusual cinematic percussion library prepared for professional composers and producers alike, featuring a huge 40-piece ensemble of cardboard boxes, masterfully sampled in a concert hall.
Fracture Sounds assembled six performers and 40 boxes of different shapes and sizes in a concert hall and curated 13 unique ensembles ranging from large to small boxes with a range of stick types and performance techniques.
The sound of Box Factory is familiar, yet totally unique. It is presented in a way that will feel at home if you’ve used any other percussion library – you can approach it in the same way as you would toms, taikos, and snares – yet it offers a certain organic, raw, and tactile sound that is unlike any conventional percussion instrument.
Whether used as the sole percussion instrument in composition (as is the case with all the demo tracks on this page), or layered with other drums, the diverse tones and flexible sound-shaping controls offered by Box Factory will be an essential sonic ingredient for anyone looking to freshen up their percussion palette.
Box Factory Sound
Fracture Sounds returned to the same concert hall where they recorded Glacier Keys, Frozen Percussion, Dulciano, and many others. Using a selection of 32 top-shelf microphones from Neumann, Coles, DPA, and Sennheiser, Fracture Sounds captured the ensembles from multiple perspectives in the room. From these recordings, the company created four distinct mixes – Natural, Aggressive, Gritty, and Snappy – giving you a diverse palette of sounds to complement any musical style.
Natural – This mix is the closest sound to the source recordings. With just some gentle processing to enhance and polish the raw recordings, the Natural mix is perfect for those situations where an organic, un-hyped sound is required.
Aggressive – With a carefully selected processing chain, the Aggressive mix turns up the heat and adds some extra dirt and girth. The heavy compression and saturation in this mix bring out the ambiance in the room mics, and this can be manipulated further with the ‘Punch’ and ‘Decay Trim’ controls to yield a wide range of results.
Gritty – This mix chain uses some pretty unusual processes (including running the signal through a bass amp!), and offers a very powerful sound with some real mojo, and a particular emphasis on the mid-range. The Gritty mix is Fracture Sounds personal favorite.
Snappy – While the Aggressive and Gritty mixes are focused on hyping the raw recordings so they sound larger than life, the Snappy mix is the opposite. This mix offers short and snappy hits with sharp transients and a less roomy sound. With an emphasis on dynamic range, the Snappy mix is super responsive under the fingers and feels great to play.
Each of the four mixes includes three individual microphone perspectives (Close, Mid, and Far). These signals can be blended with ease using the ‘perspective’ slider, or controlled with greater precision using the separate microphone faders, letting you dial in the perfect amount of ambiance, whether you want a dry ‘studio’ sound or a spacious sound that sits at the back of a mix.
Rhythm Engine
The Rhythm page contains a step sequencer for easily creating tempo-synced rhythms. Velocity and lp/hp filter cutoff can be controlled per-step by dragging across the interactive tables. When the Rhythm Engine is engaged, pressing a key will play the inputted rhythm using the articulation assigned to that key.
Pricing and Availability
Box Factory is available now.
