Native Instruments celebrates 25 years of its existence (established in 1996) this year (congratulations, NI!). So, they’ve launched a new limited-edition Anniversary Collection of their most popular hardware. They also released Twenty Five, a free Kontakt Player library encompassing over two decades of innovative sounds.
The 25th Anniversary Collection features classic NI hardware like the Maschine+, Maschine Mk3, Traktor, and Komplete in all-new colors – Ultraviolet and Vapor Gray.
You can get these limited-edition units from NI’s own site. They cost the same as their standard equivalents, so get your hands on them before they run out of stock (I know I will)!
Here’s a quick look at the limited-edition Native Instruments hardware.
However, the highlight of this new launch is the free Twenty Five instrument for Kontakt and Kontakt Player (Version 6.6.1 and higher). We always love a free Kontakt instrument, but one that covers everything from two decades ago? Perfect.
Part of the ‘Play Series,’ the Twenty-Five is like a time capsule of Native Instruments’ greatest hits – from GENERATOR and REAKTOR to MASSIVE and MONARK.
There are 150 presets available in this library, where 73 of them are resampled from iconic sounds. Here’s the full range of instrument presets:
- Bass
- Brass
- Flute
- Mallet Instruments
- Organ
- Piano & Keys
- Plucked Strings
- Sound Effects
- Soundscapes
- Synth Lead
- Synth Misc
- Synth Pad
- Vocal
For a free Kontakt library, this is pretty insane. It’s more than enough to instantly create some eye-popping melodies and beats.
As an NI fan myself, I knew I had to take this for a spin. I loaded it up in Kontakt Player and tried the Synth Lead preset ‘Stan Lee Cue Brick.’ I instantly got Space Odyssey feels.
Here’s an in-depth look into the sounds of Twenty-Five:
The interface is elegant, with a retro-futuristic design. There’s a range of controls at the bottom that allow you to adjust the sound. You can mix two sound sources together for some exciting variations.
What I love most is the ‘randomize’ button that allows you to quickly play around with different tones till you find the sweet spot. It inspires more musical creativity.
Twenty Five is fully compatible with the free Kontakt Player plugin.
And what’s more? Native Instruments is hosting a global competition on its Metapop platform. All you have to do is make some music using Twenty Five, upload it over here, and tell them which presets you used.
When one of the biggest music software companies in the world is offering you a free suite of legendary sounds, what are you waiting for? Download it, enter the competition, and drop some sick beats!
More info: Twenty Five / 25th Anniversary Collection
More article:
10 Comments
Tomislav Zlatic
onThanks to BPB readers Szilard, Wing, Arthur, and Jiri for the info about Twenty Five!
Jiri aka Rivermint
onYou are welcome Tomislav.
Rox Roll
onWOW,Twenty Five is even bigger than some of the play series,which are paid version.
Tomislav Zlatic
onIt is amazing, so many patches!
deobeatsmusic
onPlease I Missed This.
If Any one Has A copy Of the 25 Kontakt Library, PLease send to me @[email protected]
Ramesh
onSame
Mikey
onI too am way late to the party but would be greatly appreciative of a retro ‘invite’. info a t music4days c o m
Thanks in advance!
Edouard
onHi guys, unfortunately, 25 is not available anymore. Does anyone around have the installation file please? If you were to be kind enough to help a fellow musician and send me the 25 library ([email protected]), I’d sing songs about you to my cat every evening explaining how cool, kind and sexy you are :-).
MissedOut
onNI removed it on their website and unlisted the video 🤨
Waz G.
onHi
Did you find the installation file?)