7 free must-have Kontakt libraries
for pop music

Crafting a hit pop song hinges on many elements, but the sonic palette you choose is crucial. The right sounds can instantly elevate a track, adding depth, character, and that essential modern edge that defines the genre.

Kontakt by Native Instruments is a software sampler that allows users to play, edit, and even build your own instruments using pre-recorded samples with a vast library of sample-based instruments from Native Instruments and third-party developers. A powerful tool for pop music production, Kontakt allows you to create melodies, and craft modern sounding tracks with ease.

In this blog, we’re making the sound selection process easier by exploring seven free Kontakt instruments that are excellent choices for pop music production using the free Kontakt Player or the full version of Kontakt.

Jump to these sections:

1. Minima 2
2. Impact Soundworks Shreddage 3
3. 8Dio Songwriting Guitar
4. Standalone Music Neverland Lead
5. Kontakt Factory Selection
6. The Creative ToolboX: Steinway Grand Piano
7. Memoir Piano (Prologue)

Follow along with this tutorial using the Kontakt Player inside the free Komplete Start bundle, a toolkit packed with professional instruments, samples, sounds, and effects to keep your music fresh.

1. Minima 2

Minima 2 by XPERIMENTA Audio is a free Kontakt library offering a diverse collection of acoustic and electronic instruments tailored for modern music production. Designed with a minimalist philosophy, it’s a free collection of sounds including strings, percussion, prepared pianos, flutes, vintage synths, basses and more.

Minima 2 offers a range of sounds for contemporary pop production and its combination of acoustic and electronic instruments allows for the creation of unique sound textures. The minimalist interface enables you to focus on creativity without technical distractions. Each of the sounds can be shaped with the 3-stage Smart Envelope, Smart Effects, and Smart Formant, allowing you to change the characteristics and the size of  the instrument. Minima 2 requires the full version of Kontakt.

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2. Shreddage 3 Stratus Free

Impact Soundworks’ Shreddage 3 Stratus Free KP is a remarkably versatile and high-quality electric guitar sample library for the free Kontakt Player, making it an easy pick for pop music producers.

Despite being a free instrument, it provides a deep-sampled Fender Stratocaster tone with essential articulations like sustains, palm mutes, and chokes, all within a 3-octave playing range. What truly sets it apart for pop is its comprehensive “Console” mixer and modular FX rack, offering over 30 effects and cabinet IRs. This allows for extensive tone shaping, from sparkling clean tones ideal for subtle pop textures and intricate funk rhythms, to warm, slightly overdriven sounds perfect for pop-rock anthems or indie-pop tracks. Its intuitive fretting and voicing engine, along with a dedicated strumming tab and Total Articulation Control Technology (TACT), enable users to create surprisingly realistic lead, rhythm, and strummed parts, bringing an authentic guitar feel to pop arrangements without needing a live guitarist.

Download Shreddage 3 Stratus Free

3. 8Dio Songwriting Guitar

Every pop song starts with a great chord progression, and an essential free Kontakt instrument for pop producers is 8Dio Songwriting Guitar.

It’s a sample tool made for producers who need authentic sounding guitar strums and licks. The Songwriting Guitar contains all the essential chords needed to create an entire song. The library contains three different types of guitars (acoustic, electric clean, and electric distorted) played in the four most common rhythms used for song writing, and features effects that can be triggered from a MIDI keyboard. The Songwriting Guitar requires the full version of Kontakt.

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4. Standalone Music Neverland Lead

If you’re looking for an EDM sounding lead for your pop, pop dance or EDM productions, look no further than the Standalone Music Neverland Lead. Created by KSHMR & 7 SKIES, this free Kontakt instrument is sampled from the original production of the same name.

There are three sounds that can be mixed in the Neverland lead, including the track’s two main leads, and a top layer that can be added. This instrument includes a filter, filter envelope and amp envelope to allow for more control of the sound.

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5. Kontakt Factory Selection 2

Komplete Start is a free music production software bundle from Native Instruments that offers a collection of instruments, effects, and other useful tools for music producers. Kontakt Factory Selection is included in Komplete Start, and offers an array of Kontakt instruments including Acoustic, Band, Beats, Synth, and Vintage categories. In these categories, you’ll find plenty of drumkits, guitars, synths, keys and more that can all be used to create pop music.

Kontakt Factory Selection includes new and exciting instruments like Leap, a creative sampler that transforms loops and samples. Kontakt 8 Player is included in Komplete Start, and you’ll need it to use Kontakt instruments. Kontakt Factory Selection is one of the best free all-in-one collections, as it offers a diverse range of instruments that will become your go-to-sounds for modern pop productions. You can listen to all of the different audio examples on the Komplete Start page.

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6. The Creative ToolboX: Steinway Grand Piano

The Creative ToolboX: Steinway Grand Piano is perfect for a wide array of pop styles, from delicate ballads needing a nuanced touch to energetic anthems requiring a powerful, punchy piano. With three distinct microphone positions (Close, Hall, and an ambient “Decca” mic), producers can sculpt the sound to fit any mix, whether it’s a tight, in-your-face pop track or a more spacious, atmospheric arrangement.

Get The Creative ToolboX: Steinway Grand Piano free

7. Memoir Piano (Prologue)

The Memoir Piano (Prologue) is a Kontakt instrument created by Audio Ollie. It’s described as a prologue to a larger 1923 grand piano collection, and features the rich tones of a Mason & Hamlin grand.

The Memoir Piano comes with two different folders of patches; Pianos is a collection of piano patches offering the different tones available from the Mason & Hamlin Grand Piano. It includes standard samples, soft, dark, felt piano and pedal noise patches – sounds that work perfectly in pop.

The second patch folder, Textures, offers a selection of beautiful and haunting pads and textures that sit perfectly behind the piano in any track. These range from silky and sparkling to foreboding and melancholy, and add texture and movement to any piece. The Memoir Piano requires the full version of Kontakt.

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Start creating pop music for free

Whether you’re just starting out producing pop, or you’ve a seasoned producer, these free Kontakt instruments inspire your next session. Download a few of them, along with the free Komplete Start bundle and commit to producing more pop songs this year – all it takes is a little time to install the instruments, and then you can begin to incorporate these sounds into your songwriting and production sessions.

Get Komplete Start free