Bioscape, for Kontakt Player

Field recordings merge together in a sonic kaleidoscope of found sound cinematics – from underscoring pads to drones, pulses and textures.

Bioscape is a 4.5GB Kontakt Player library that is based on field recordings and found sounds to create musical content, this gives you an unpolished, raw and organic dimension to your production.

Bioscape is particularly suitable for game and filmscore composers, but works extremely well with ambient music, music concréte, sound healing, music therapy or as a standalone experimental instrument. 

Bioscape contains hundreds of field recordings and found sounds from hydrophonic desert wind to abandoned factory drones, from ghostly ringing rocks to cracking icy rivers, all sorted in different sound categories.

Using the found sound material, a team of world renowned sound designers has crafted 600 presets sorted in categories from pulses to pads, textures, ASMR, drones, playables, effects and reverse.

Within its DNA is a multifaceted Kontakt instrument that on one side can sound as atonal and dark as you want and on the other side produce the most ethereal and light timbres.

Bioscape is a Kontakt Player library, made for and licensed to the free Kontakt Player so you do not need the full version of Kontakt to play Bioscape. It is fully NKS compatible and supports drag & drop, so you can use your own sounds and samples. It is installed directly in Native Access, just enter the serial number and click install.

Bioscape has been frequently updated since its initial release, adding new sounds and presets. These updates are free for all users, just download and install the update via Native Access. The most recent version 1.5 ‘Deep Earth’ enriches Bioscape with 60 new low-frequency geophonic sounds and 70 fresh presets. Explore the sounds from each update in the YouTube vids right below, and refer to the changelog at the bottom of the page for more information.

If you prefer a presentation with sounds and visuals, then head directly to the 2-minute Bioscape teaser (click) on YouTube and save the full length (click) 30-minute Bioscape vid to later.

Read more details, download the Bioscape PDF User Manual and explore the instrument before buying. There’s a German version of the manual available here Bioscape PDF Handbuch.

Bioscape $159

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Bioscape Reviews & Awards

Bioscape won the KVR Audio Readers Choice Award 2020 in the category Favorite Sampled Virtual Instrument. We are both humbled and honored considering the strong field of fine nominees from Spectrasonics, Spitfire Audio and Heavyocity. You can read an announcement and summary of all the winners in this post on KVR Audio click here.
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John Walden wrote a full 2-page review in the April 2021 issue of Sound On Sound and he concludes: “Bioscape combines a novel set of underlying samples sources with a well-designed front end and powerful sound design features. Well worth exploring by media composers looking for some fresh sonic inspiration..” Read the full review in the April 2021 issue click here.

In the 08/2021 issue of Beat Magazine, Bioscape received 5 out of 6 stars, quote: ”The 440 presets show what Bioscape is particularly good at: Spherical and ethereal sounds, lively pads, drones, and textures as well as effects and reverse sounds with an organic timbre, however, also melodically playable sounds. Through the extensive manipulation and modulation options, the sounds can be further customized. Bioscape feels particularly suited for film or game music, but also in ambient, downtempo or chillout…” – Read the full review in the 08/21 issue of Beat Magazine, July 2021.

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Bioscape made it to the Best of 2020 in the category Best Sound Design in Sample Libraries & Virtual Instruments which is an end-of-year list by Sample Library Review celebrating the best of virtual instruments, plugins and sample libraries. See a summary on the Best of 2020 page.
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Sam Burt did a very thorough and detailed review of Bioscape: “When a sound designing master meets superb sound recordists and leading preset programmers the result is the beguiling Bioscape. Created entirely from field recordings and found sounds, it creates a menagerie of sonic wonder.” – Sam Burt for Sample Library Review, October 2020. Read the full review click here.
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Chris Ankin runs a site for blind and visually impaired musicians worldwide, he writes: “Most libraries accessibility is seldom 100% perfect, but Bioscape is nevertheless probably one of the best I have seen in a while, particularly where without any criticism being intended, it was probably not part of the original design road map.” – Chris Ankin for KK-Access, September 2020. Read the full review click here.

The User Interface

Bioscape has two different interface sizes: The standard size and a bigger size suitable for larger screens. There’s an option to change color from default blue to a complementary green.

Bioscape is designed in a dual mode layout, with four active layers. Each layer can load one of the many field recordings and found sounds, from one of the fifteen different categories or you can use your own with drag & drop. Each layer has its own dedicated amp envelope and filter settings, with 24 different filters per layer.

You can adjust start and end position of the sounds by dragging the small handles below the waveform display and choose from various playback modes from forward loop to reverse loop, forward stop, reverse stop and a ping-pong mode too.

Sound sources can be set to follow pitch with keytracking, they can run freely or retrigger at keypress and there’s velocity and keyfollow for both the amplitude and filter.

Drag & Drop

Bioscape supports drag & drop so you can use your own samples. Just drag & drop a sample to the waveform display.

You can drag & drop single samples but not multi-samples. If there are loop points in the wave file, it will load the loop points too. User samples will automatically be mapped to root note C3 and located in the ‘User’ category.

Mutate

In the center of the interface you find the Mutate function. With this you can transform existing presets using two distinctive DNA types. The outcome of the transformation range from subtle to wild.

Mutate can make all layers play in reverse or turn different effects on, it can separately tune the layers, freeze them or make them shorter or longer or transform them into darker or brighter variations, change filter settings or activate different sequencing patterns or even randomly change the LFO speed. Experiment is the key and the best way to discover new sonic genotypes. The mutate function is a creative tool to change and destabilize the sound, creating unique breeds of existing presets.

Recording Motion

One of the key features in Bioscape is the recording automation – a creative tool where you can record motion to shape the character of the sound over time.

With this, you can create organic and dynamic movement to the cutoff, volume, pitch, panning and effects, from slow motion to fast and drastic changes.

To record: Click the record button next to the control you want to record, press and hold a key on your midi keyboard and move the control. Recorded motion data is saved together with the preset but it can also be saved separately as a motion data preset alone in the Kontakt Player library, this is done by the little menu above the XY pad.

You can set the speed of your recorded motion from normal speed to half speed or double speed and you can sync the motion to host tempo and make playback retrigger at keypress or run freely. The motion can even be set to various playback modes, from forward loop to reverse loop, forward stop, reverse stop and a ping-pong mode too.

Modulation

Bioscape contains four Step Sequencers and three LFOs. The modulation targets are selected from the Quick Mod in the main tab.

The Step Sequencers can be set from 2 to 64 steps and with creative settings, it can act as an extra LFO. The Rate value will always be in sync mode from 1/1 up to 1/32t. The sequencers can be free running or set to retrigger using the Retrig button.

The LFO waveforms are Sine, Triangle, Square and Saw. The Rate value can be set from 0.01 Hz to 21 kHz and can be synced with values from 12/1 to 1/256. LFOs can be free running or set to retrigger using the Retrig button.

The Randomize button at the top, randomizes everything in the mod tab from steps to rates, sync and LFO types. The only parts unaffected are the Modwheel and Aftertouch which are set at the bottom of the mod tab.

Bioscape is not optimized for use with sustain pedal.

Effects

Each dual layer part A-B and C-D has its own effect chain with Chorus, Phaser, Distortion, EQ, Timestop and Replika Delay effects. The Reverb is a global effect.

The Replika Delay effect is based on the dedicated Replika XT delay plugin, containing five high fidelity delay algorithms: Modern, Analogue, Tape, Vintage and Diffusion. Each algorithm has its own characteristic and details can be found in the Bioscape PDF User Manual.

The Reverb is a highly realistic convolution reverb, replicating acoustical behavior of classic hardware units mixed with special IRs from Bioscape sound sources. There are 38 reverb types included, from hardware emulations of classic units such as the L300 and the BRT7 to special reverb types deriving from the sound sources in Bioscape, from short reverse effects to long drones.

Bioscape Specs

✓ 4.5GB cinematic Kontakt Player Library
✓ Official Native Instruments third party library
✓ Installed directly in Native Access, just enter serial and click install
✓ 345 high quality field recordings and found sounds by professional field recordists
✓ Drag & Drop your own samples and field recordings
✓ 440 presets by world class sound designers
✓ NKS ready for Komplete Kontrol and Machine
✓ No need for the full version of Kontakt
✓ Made for the free Kontakt Player
✓ Loads in the full version of Kontakt v6.2 or later
✓ 20-page PDF User Manual (download here, click)
✓ Crossgrade to the full version of Kontakt and save $150!

Idea & Concept
Luftrum

Scripting
Paulo Nunes & Mario Kruselj

GUI design
Paulo Nunes

Cover art
Michal Karcz

Field Recordists
George Vlad, Thomas Rex Beverly, Nathan Moody, Magnus Bergsson, Marcel Gnauk, Alexander Hardt, Andrew Martin, Claus Gahrn, Jez Riley French, Luftrum, Felix Blume, Hendrik Walcher, Kostas Loukovikas, Michael Northam, Michael Peters, Stephan Marche and Buzby Birchall

Preset Designers
Arksun, Simon Stockhausen, Claus Gahrn, Adam Pietruszko, Empty Vessel, Luftrum, Sonic Underworld, Echo Season and Triple Spiral Audio

 

 

v1.5 – 2023-12-19

ADDED 60 new ‘Deep Earth’ samples featuring low-frequency sounds, from geophone recordings to deep drones, ground-shaking rumbles, and vibrating wires, to the sonorous echoes of abandoned structures and low-frequency tones crafted in a reverb chamber. All samples are located in folder XP Deep Earth.

ADDED 70 new ‘Deep Earth’ snapshots in folder ’10. Deep Earth’. The new snapshots are designed exclusively using the new samples added in v1.5.

v1.4 – 2022-03-07

ADDED 75 new Zen themed snapshots in folder 09. Zen. The snapshots are based on the world instrument samples added in v1.3 plus the new fretless guitar samples added in v1.4. The new snapshots requires Kontakt 6.6.1 or later.

ADDED 12 new fretless ebow guitar samples in the Bowed category, ranging from clean to distorted, with sustain, slide-in and slide-out. The samples are recorded by Mike Baugh.