4 free KONTAKT libraries to lend your trap beats a unique, moody vibe

If you want your trap and hip-hop productions to truly stand out from the crowd, you need to be constantly on the lookout for interesting, original sample libraries – but you don’t necessarily need to spend any money to get hold of them. For this round-up, we’ve scoured the web to find five free KONTAKT instrument libraries that will take any basic trap beat in a darker, and altogether more interesting, direction.

You’ll notice that, with the exception of Trap Gods, our quality quintet doesn’t offer much in the way of 808s, boom-bap drums or any of the other head-nodding staples you might be expecting. That’s because we’ve collated them under the assumption that you’re already sorted for such readily available and ubiquitous sounds. Instead, we’ve got a more diverse and thought-provoking collection that best suited for layering on top of those fundamental elements. With that in mind – and noting that all of these instruments require the full KONTAKT and so aren’t compatible with the free KONTAKT PLAYER – let’s get started.

Soundethers Freefall

Built in Jeremiah Pena’s free Photosynthesis Engine, this 180MB collection of 14 spaced-out instrument patches and six multis focuses on textural drones and ambiences, produced using a combination of field recordings and synthesis, but also includes a couple of beats and ‘pulses’. Each NKI comprises up to three freely mixable sample layers, and the interface is packed with parameters and processors, including amp, pitch and filter envelopes; amp, pan, pitch and filter LFOs; amp and filter (pre and post-effects) step sequencers; and key-triggered insert and send effects. The Photosynthesis Engine is amazingly powerful, and Soundethers’ excellent samples really play to its sound-design strengths.