Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars
SOS regulars will undoubtedly be familiar with Zero‑G and Stefano Maccarelli’s collaborations through the popular Ethera titles. Their latest joint venture is Kepler, part of the Elements series, and very much aimed at media composers. The Elements series is an interesting concept, with each title intended to provide composers with a targeted set of virtual instruments suitable for a specific type of, or ‘element’ of, film, TV or video game scoring. In this case, Kepler is inspired by the sounds and moods of film scores such as Dune, Tenet and Oppenheimer, and the aim is to give you a complete scoring toolkit within a single library.
That’s a suitably ambitious target, especially in a product at this very budget‑friendly price. So, just what does Kepler have in its toolbox? Kepler provides over 30Gb of 24‑bit/48kHz samples for the full version of Kontakt (v6.8 or above) and these form the basis of some 20 Kontakt instruments. These can be divided into three groups; the Core Designer, the Texture Designer and a series of additional individual instruments that span various drums, percussion, cinematic hits, whooshes and sound effects, various atmospheric vocals, and a bass instrument.
In use, the Core Designer and Texture Designer provide a UI that allows the user to blend three sound sources in various ways. They are, essentially, multiple instruments in themselves as both have underlying sample collections that can be loaded into their three‑slot UI, and each is supplied with well‑stocked collections of Snapshots (Kontakt presets) to get you started. The Core Designer presets cover an impressive sonic range, including some very cinematic drum/percussion‑based rhythms and designed sound loops. All the rhythmic elements will sync to your host tempo. In contrast, the Texture Designer is focused on playable instruments and contains a huge selection of epic pads, soundscapes, vocal and string‑based textures and a whole lot more. The straightforward but functional front ends provide plenty of tools to tweak the sounds, and a simple but effective arpeggiator.
The additional individual instruments provide some suitably atmospheric vocal tools but also some very useful hits, whooshes/risers, percussion and sound effects that would provide plenty of options in a modern drama or epic sci‑fi context. They round out the collection very nicely.
Verdict
Of course, there are plenty of sample libraries aimed at modern hybrid film or video game scoring so, while Kepler perhaps isn’t unique in aiming at that sonic target, it certainly isn’t out of place alongside some of the obvious competition. However, it does hit that target in a very accessible form; put together an instance of the Core Designer and Texture Designer, accent it with sounds from the individual instrument group, and you could easily have the basis for a complete musical cue. Repeat for 90 minutes, and you could have yourself a coherent film score. Elements Kepler delivers excellent value for money and composers at all experience levels could find something to enjoy here.
£106
$109.95