NOCTURNE BY SONORA CINEMATIC
KK-ACCESS REVIEW
Sonora Cinematic have been turning plenty of heads and delighting ears recently with numerous libraries such as their excellent Panorama Guitars and Panorama Acoustic libraries, both of which we have reviewed here on the KK-Access website.
Nocturne is the second in their new Select range of wallet friendly yet high quality libraries after the release of the first, Emma Legato hit the shelves.
This time it’s an atmospheric electric piano instrument with an inspired story behind it, more of which later.
TECH SPECS
Nocturne runs in Kontakt version 8.1 or higher, either the full or free Kontakt Player edition.
It is compatible with all versions of Komplete Kontrol hosting the above Kontakt specifications.
The library requires 2.2GB of disk space for installation, and uses the NCW lossless compression format for the samples.
There is one master Kontakt NKI preset, which is the basis for a further 25 Kontakt NKSN snapshot files, which are distributed among 4 categories which exemplify Nocturne’s capabilities.
DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION
Native Access will quickly and accessibly handle all of the download and installation process with no fuss, just paste in your post purchase serial number to register it, locate the product, hit install, and you should be golden!
Once completed, running an instance of Komplete Kontrol will add Nocturne to your factory browser, all ready for you to play.
FULL KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS PARAMETER MAPPINGS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THE REVIEW FOLLOWING THE MEDIA SECTION
ACCESSIBILITY
Sonora Cinematic have done a good job in making all of the components of Nocturne accessible.
To this end, the controls are deliberately simplistic and uncomplicated, which is the main ethos behind this Select series, allowing the user to instantly dial up a preset and play, or alternatively easily make any desired modifications quickly without the need to go looking for hidden parameters.
NOCTURNE – THE ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRIC
The story behind Nocturne is an interesting one, Sonora Cinematic owner Alessandro Mastroianni discovered and became instantly smitten with the sounds and playability of a seldom seen 70’s Hohner Model M electric piano.
After making the purchase and proudly placing it in his studio, his ownership of the keyboard was cruelly cut short after the electrical circuitry mysteriously caught fire, which totally destroyed the instrument, but thankfully not his studio as well!
Fortunately, a short time after, he managed to track down a very similar model in another studio, and was able to rekindle his electric piano love affair. This time though, he was determined not to be thwarted by fate again, so Alessandro set about carefully recording and sampling the piano in order to finally preserve it for posterity, and as a result Nocturne was born.
NOCTURNE CONTROLS – LESS IS MORE!
There are certainly no shortages of electric pianos on the market, however few have gone down the cinematic and atmospheric route, to add the extra dimension of creative flexibility offered by Nocturne.
The piano has been captured with 4 distinct signal variants,which give the user four mixable sound feeds to work with, Amp, Direct Input, Mechanical, and even a Vintage Tape Echo Reverb.
these 4 signals can all be blended, combined or effectively muted in order to obtain the sound you want,
In terms of effects, there is a global reverb adjustable via NKS, which gives us a wet or dry percentage, and further to this, we also have an additional secondary atmospheric reverb sound with 2 selectable presets, Blue & Pink, which you can optionally also include in tandem with the basic reverb, to enhance and add lustre to the main Piano feeds, which really does dial up Nocturne’s cinematic capabilities.
There is also a buss preset selector, providing users with a very nice choice of pre-assigned process signal chains, these can help to save time in creating your own multi effects, but you can of course still opt to turn these off entirely, and define your own selection by using additional empty Komplete Kontrol effect slots.
Lastly, the double track on/off toggle switch, takes the initially mono signal, and divides in into two sample sources, which with each source then continuously rotating it’s sample round robins, provides a effective double tracked stereo effect.
THE SOUND OF NOCTURNE
Whilst Nocturne can be played dry just like any electric piano, I think it truly comes into it’s own when adding the atmospheric reverb’s, and blending the 4 sound sources.
The amp and direct input for me at least, seemed to garner the most pleasing results for this genre, the mechanical source whilst is of course audibly wholly authentic, and definitely nice to have does add a more clunky feel when played, that’s not a criticism, just a personal preference.
Personally, I felt that Nocturne sounds at it’s best when played in a sparse and melodic cinematic style, with lashings of rich atmospheric reverb making this an ideal candidate for emotive scoring, or perhaps more traditional song ballads.
Be sure to checkout the walkthrough and links in the media section to hear Nocturne in action.
CONCLUSION
Nocturne truly hits a sweet spot on several fronts,notably, sound, playability and price point, and can work well across multiple genres and musical styles, particularly where some ambient melancholy is called for.
In terms of accessibility, the NKS controls offer full access to the user interface, with the uncomplicated controls placing the focus on rapid workflow rather than any need for over complex sound design or editing.
Nocturne by sonora Cinematic can be purchased directly from their website for an introductory price of £29.00 (regularly £39.00)
Nocturne Product Page:
Nocturne – Walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBXio_y99mA
KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS PARAMETER MAPPINGS
Page One – Mixer
Knob 1 – Amp Signal
Knob 2 – Direct Input signal
Knob 3 – Mechanical Signal
Knob 4 – Tape Echo Signal
Knob 5 – Reverb Amount
Knob 6 – Ambient Reverb Type: Blue, Pink
Knob 7 – Atmos Amount
Knob 8 – Buss Preset Selector: None, 1979, Ensemble, Genmove, moroyers, Nostalgia
Page Two – double Track
Knob 1 – Double Track On/Off
Knob 2 to 8 – Not Allocated
(c) Chris Ankin
KK-Access.com
23RD May 2025
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Disclaimer
The author can not accept any responsibility for subsequent purchase decisions made as a result of this review,or Any inaccuracies found therein. All opinions and product functions stated are based solely on information perceived as a blind user whilst using the product and/or gathered from official factual sources such as the developer, web or supplied product manual.
About the Author
Based in Buckinghamshire, England, Chris Ankin has worked as a freelance review writer and contributor with articles published in Sound On Sound, Home & Studio Recording and ST Format Magazines.
He has also successfully worked extensively in and around the music, recording, film Soundtrack scoring, Game & media composition, the creative arts, Charitable trusts,publishing, music streaming and property investments since 1982 whilst continuously and deliberately managing to evade any mainstream recognition under his own name by the use of various pseudonyms.
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