Checking Out Kynema Percussion by Levitate with Sound
Light Weight, Intuitive, And Well Designed,Kynema Percussion Packs A Punch With It’s Hyper Focused Cinematic Playback Of Organic Acoustic Percussion
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Checking Out: Kynema Percussion by Levitate With Sound
Levitate With Sound, a new developer formed by the team behind Real Slow Motion (known for cinematic trailer work), introduces Kynema Percussion, a powerful and deeply sampled percussion library for Kontakt. Designed with performance realism in mind, this collection focuses on organic, thunderous percussive tones rather than over-produced impacts and hits. The result is a robust, expressive toolset ideal for scoring, cinematic composition, and dramatic sound design.
Kynema is divided into three main categories with Multi-Instrument NKIs offering a full kit mapped across the keyboard with hits and crescendo rolls. Single Instrument NKIs with very lightweight individual instruments for surgical use or smaller memory footprint. And set of Pulses NKIs with 20 animated, tempo-synced NKIs for driving bassline/melodic-percussive motion and scoring intensity.
The multi-instruments category is especially efficient for composition, allowing users to quickly sketch using the entire palette of acoustic percussion instrument. Each performance is presented consistently across formats, utilizing the same keys for triggering the percussion making for a streamlined workflow.
In my work flow I will most likely work with the Multi Instrument patch and then split the MIDI out to separate tracks and load in the Single patches for mixing and more control. Kynema’s sound is notably rich and natural. The close mics are crisp and punchy, while the matrix-style interface allows seamless morphing between mic positions and effects. The reverb is tasteful, and the delay and modulation parameters allow for ambient expansion without clouding the transients.
The engine features a tight button, which truncates the trnsients for performance and programing accuracy while. Removing the Tight Button will allow users to add a 41ms pre-roll and trigger of the transients for enhanced realism. This attention to detail helps Kynema percussion deliver depth and cinematic performances.
Additional performance controls include the Doubling option with Humanize & Stereoize controls to add depth and impact to performances.
For the Pulses patches, the library utilizes the Fusion engine (the same as their Sphere 1 library) with XY Pad Macros tied to LFOs or MIDI CC for expressive, motion-based effects. Note that the Pulses are also velocity-triggered shifting rhythmic subdivision from quarters to sixteenths depending on how hard you play.
While the library excels in expressive acoustic percussion, it’s not a one-stop shop for trailer hits, whooshes, or designed impacts as one might expect from a new developer with such high profile placements in the trailer world. Additionally, some composers may miss features like held suspended rolls that I would have loved to have included as a sperate instrument with mod wheel control for fully dynamic swells.
The inclusion of a Steinway D staccato low register is a nice surprise. Though simple in scope, it offers a unique texture for adding weight and harmonic grounding in cues.
Kynema Percussion is a beautifully recorded and thoughtfully designed percussion library that fills a unique niche. Instead of falling into the trap of overused cinematic tropes, it delivers expressive, organic power—perfect for composers who want depth and realism in their percussive scoring palette. Levitate With Sound makes a strong entrance with this release, setting a high bar for performance-based sampling.
Kynema Percussion normally sells for $249 from Levitate With Sound
Save $100 on Kynema Percussion and Spheres 1 bundle until May 23. 2025 from Levitate With Sound
Facts
Downloads as 18.03 GB (NCW 36.06 GB Content)
Recorded at 96 kHz with a 24-bit depth.
15 Sampled Percussion Instruments: Grand Casa, Sticks, Hard And Soft Mallet Hits, & a Low Steinway D Staccato Piano
10 Dynamic Layers & 16 Round Robins (per instr)
Crescendo Rolls & 20 Pulses Presets
4 Mic Techniques & Mixes
Run in FREE Kontakt Player v7.10.6+
NKS Compatible
Kynema Percussion normally sells for $249 from Levitate With Sound
Save $100 on Kynema Percussion and Spheres 1 bundle until May 23. 2025 from Levitate With Sound
