Steinberg releases Colors Free, a free Cinematique Instruments sound library for HALion Sonic 7.
The only thing better than a deal on an instrument is getting one for free. Earlier this week, we detailed the announcement and arrival of Steinberg’s HALion Sonic 7.
Launched alongside HALion 7 Sonic was Colors Free, an instrument filled to the brim with sampled synths, textures, and a bevy of features.
So what exactly is Colors Free?
At first blush, it presents a rather eccentric interface, with a number of squares comprising what developer Cinematique Instruments calls a palette. That palette serves as an erstwhile preset browser. There isn’t a ton on offer here, but for the cost of admission, it is to be expected.
Colors Free can be layered together with four different sound sources in total. This is done through the Easel panel, and users can blend together sampled analog synths, white noise, and other textures to make their own lush sound beds.
This isn’t the sort of instrument you would intend for designing wild and crazy Neurofunk basses in, but it does make for a wonderful companion to your other weapons of choice.
Colors Free’s final section is the mastering section, which houses the various effects hosted in the instrument. These all sound quite nice and certainly complement the sound sources on offer.
The feature set is rounded out by the random preset generator, which guarantees inspiration won’t try up immediately after test-driving all the patches included.
Colors Free is a fun addition to Steinberg’s free HALion Sonic 7 virtual instrument. While it certainly isn’t a synthesis powerhouse, there is plenty to enjoy here for those looking for pads, arpeggiated sequences, and ambient texturing.
If you’d like to pick up Colors Free, it is, of course, free for all users. You’ll need a Steinberg account and their installation manager to use it.
System requirements are the same as Halion Sonic 7, with Windows and macOS machines being supported. Windows users have the option of VST3 and AAX. Mac users have Intel and Apple Silicon binaries available in VST3, AAX, and AU formats.
Download: Colors Free
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7 Comments
Numanoid
onIt is great that Steinberg seems to focus more on the free Halion Sonic, both the new 7 version and a free library released in a weeks time, those are nice gifts :-)
Federico
onI have Halion Sonic SE. Is it different from Halion Sonic 7? Should I install Halion Sonic 7 in order to use Colors Free?
Darren Jones
onHalion Sonic 7 is the new equivalent of Halion Sonic SE, being bumped up to version 7 alongside the full Halion.
Darryl Lim
onSounds great! Too bad Steinberg Download Assistant refuses to work on Windows 7. :(
Numanoid
onSteinberg is riding too many license solutions at this time.
I am running Dark Planet and Padshop Pro etc via my Physical Dongle, so I want to put the license of Colors Free on my physical dongle, but as far as I have tried I can’t do that on a separate machine using the Download Assistant :-(
Sascha
onand here from the manufacturer itself as NI Kontakt Instrument.
https://www.cinematique-instruments.com/pages_instr/inst_colors.php
Darryl Lim
onThankyou! Always nice to have more choices. :)