Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars
The latest addition to Heavyocity’s Mosaic series is Mosaic Neon. Like its predecessors, Neon delivers a specific palette of sample‑based sounds alongside the impressively powerful Mosaic front end/engine, with its three‑part sound blending and plenty of options for sequencing notes, creating arpeggios and an excellent sound‑modulation system. Neon’s sound palette is based around vintage and analogue synth sounds and, if that’s already got you thinking Stranger Things or Blade Runner 2049 (or any of the multitude of other small/large‑screen hits that have also trended on the vintage synth soundtrack style), then you would be very much in the right ballpark.
The core library runs to around 3.7GB of samples that, in turn, provide 80+ individual sounds that can be mixed and matched within the three‑slot engine. When browsed within the UI, the sounds themselves are organised into five categories: Pads, Keys/Mallets, Chiptunes, Digital Noises and Attack Partials. As might be expected, the Pads include longer sustained sounds, while those within the Keys/Mallets category are generally shorter and more obviously useful as melodic or bass sounds. The Chiptunes sounds include some classic old‑school computer sounds but, in the main, are somewhat more grown up in nature (that is, not just bleeps and bloops). The Digital Noises are... well, noisy, while the Attack Partials are mostly short impact sounds; more on these in a minute.
Neon’s sound palette is based around vintage and analogue synth sounds and, if that’s already got you thinking Stranger Things or Blade Runner 2049, then you would be very much in the right ballpark.
To get you started, Heavyocity’s sound‑design team have create over 100 presets using the impressive feature set of the sound engine to fully demonstrate just what the core sounds are capable of. These Kontakt presets are themselves organised into categories: Arps, Pads, Playables and Rhythmic. Within the context of the underlying sounds, these actually cover a lot of ground. As with other Mosaic titles, given the depth offered by the engine, even a single preset can go a long way in terms of writing a single musical cue. In that context, the Arps are an instant hit; just hold down a three‑ or four‑note chord and slowly sweep the mod wheel for some hands‑on sound control, and it’s amazing just how quickly an idea can appear. The Pads offer plenty of evolving textures (great for creating tension), while the Playables sounds easily span mystery to magical and all stops between. The Rhythmic category is also impressive, and blending an Attack Partials with a short, down‑tuned synth sound makes a great candidate for creating arpeggiated pulse‑like rhythms.
If Mosaic Neon sounds like it might be right up your Stranger Things street, do check out Mosaic Leads as well. It’s within this same sonic territory and, once you have found your way around the sound engine, there are plenty of scoring possibilities to be explored in either title. Neon is a great addition to the Mosaic range, the sounds are fabulous and, as ever, the three‑part engine is both powerful and creative. A great choice for busy media composers wanting the sound of vintage and analogue synths but without the hassle of owning vintage and analogue synths!
$119
$119