VELA WOODWINDS BY EMERGENCE AUDIO
KK-ACCESS REVIEW
Whenever I have the pleasure of reviewing a new Emergence Audio library, I have now learnt to expect the unexpected, this is because when any real world organic instrument is processed through their Infinite Motion Engine™ , the resulting output always manages to surprise and transcend my expectations in delivering something wholly unique, whilst still retaining the original natural tonal qualities of the source instrument.
This is once more the case with their latest release, Vela Woodwinds, where this time around the Bass & Contra Clarinet are the focal points.
Both instruments exude an abundance of natural breathy and velvety warm textures, and make ideal candidates for adding rich and deep bass tones to your compositions, and as ever through the wonders of the Infinite Motion Engine™ they can easily adapt to offer a wide, dynamic, imaginative and diverse palette of sounds, working so well for cinematic scores, soundscapes, ambient, experimental, game & media projects.
TECH SPECS
Vela Woodwinds requires Kontakt 8.4 or above, either the full version or free Kontakt Player edition.
It is compatible with all versions of Komplete Kontrol provided the above specs for Kontakt are followed.
3.93GB of disk space is required for installation, and the samples use the NCW lossless compression format.
There are two master Kontakt NKI preset files, one for the Bass Clarinet, and the other for the Contra Clarinet.
Additionally, we have 105 Bass Clarinet NKSN snapshots, and 81 snapshot presets for the Contra Clarinet.
These have been divided between up to five distinctive preset types.
As always, Emergence Audio have further included a collection of Kontakt multi NKM instruments, which are combinations constructed from single presets, and there are 18 of these.
DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION
Emergence Audio fully embrace the Kontakt Player platform, and as such the library can be entirely downloaded and installed using Native Access 2.
Just paste in your post purchase serial number, register, locate and install.
Running Komplete Kontrol will add Vela Woodwinds to your Komplete Kontrol factory browser and you are ready to go!
FULL KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS PARAMETER MAPPINGS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THIS REVIEW FOLLOWING THE MEDIA SECTION
ACCESSIBILITY
Vela Woodwinds features the same fully accessible NKS mapping template now used in all Emergence Audio libraries, which offers us peace of mind in knowing that all elements can be explored.
The library is also NKS2 compliant, so if using an S-Series Kontrol MK3, then page parameter groups can also be easily accessed from the top row of 8 soft buttons, as well as the usual page up and down buttons.
VELA PRESETS
The provided factory content includes five of the hallmark Infinite Motion Engine preset types, Infinite Pads, Infinite Drones, Pulses, Swells, Experiments, and of course do not forget to explore those bonus Kontakt multis!
INFINITE POSSIBILITIES
If you are new to the magic of the Infinite Motion Engine™ , then it is certainly worth checking out the walkthrough video linked in the media section for an overview of the basic concept of how it works.
In short, thanks to the Emergence Audio Non-Static Sampling™ technique, nothing here really remains entirely still, every preset has some form of motion, whether it be a constantly evolving envelope, animation of the stereo field, or LFO pulse, there is always some type of movement at play, subtle or otherwise, which all conspires together to invoke sonic interest, you are literally painting with sound!
COMPLETE CONTROL
I know the majority of readers here will all be Native Instruments keyboard users, but I did actually intentionally spell that last title header correctly, with no K’s in sight!
This is because Complete control is what the Vela Woodwinds NKS mapping effectively delivers for blind & vision impaired users.
We can adjust the crossfade between the two sound layers, Expression, LFO sync between Hertz or beat values, LFO Speed, along with intensity & LFO wave shape selection.
The randomise control (always my personal favourite), allows you to play the sound design lottery using the available articulations, and auto generate new presets with a high level of usability in their outcome, and if you take time to save and name the results you will soon end up with your own
collection of personal presets.
The per layer controls let you choose your sample articulation, adjust it’s volume, pan, tuning by plus or minus 1 octave, and also the ADSR envelope.
There are also low pass and high pass filters, with cut-off and resonance, again on a per layer basis.
EFFECTS
FX are also well catered for with Reverb, (with selectable presets), and Delay with sync options, both FX can be turned off completely if desired, and unusually it is possible to apply the Reverb & Delay to either an individual sound layer, or both simultaneously, thus avoiding that all too often muddy global wash!
Moving on, we have Distortion, Saturation, Lo-Fi, and Tape, each with their relevant controls, and again all of which can be applied to either single or both layers.
Finally, to round things off, there is a stereo width control, Rotator, Chorus, & Phaser.
VELA FLEXIBILITY
Vela Woodwinds does naturally excel at those very low woody tones, however with the use of the per layer octave controls the pitch can be altered to take things beyond the natural playing range, which can create some really useful other worldly timbres.
There is a varied range of sample articulations from which to choose, and likewise these can also render plenty of similarly interesting results, such as metallic scrapes and squeals, and you will find some good examples of these available within the ‘Experiments’ category.
I really appreciate it when a library is capable of being used for a diverse range of sounds, and Vela Woodwinds is easily able to straddle the border between light and dark, horror scores, supernatural, or ambient soundscapes and chillout, Vela Woodwinds can happily handle either genre without blinking.
Do take time to checkout the walkthrough video linked in the media section, and also the demo tracks on the Vela Woodwinds product page.
If you have not previously experienced any of the Emergence Audio products, then do pick yourself up a copy of the Infinite Collection, (also linked), which offers you the opportunity to try out a great cherry picked selection of their library presets for free, all with NKS compatibility.
CONCLUSION
Vela Woodwinds is yet another wonderful addition to the Emergence Audio instrument collection, which now offers any creative composer a vast wealth of tonal possibilities.
The intuitive NKS mapping means there are no real creative barriers for Komplete Kontrol & Maschine accessibility users.
Collectively, the Emergence Audio portfolio feels a bit like tipping out the sample library equivalent of an overflowing toy box, where you can rummage around for hours, exploring sounds, whilst engaging yourself in a thoroughly absorbing and totally compelling play session!
Vela Woodwinds is available from the Emergence Audio website for the introductory price of $84.00 (regularly $129.00)
Vela Woodwinds Product Page:
Vela Woodwinds Walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VHYKAT5N_Q
Infinite Engine 2.0 Walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl9WdBZnawk
Emergence Audio Free Infinite Collection Library:
https://emergenceaudio.com/product/infinite-collection/?srsltid=AfmBOoqMSycrmMMHYHR5sc390LvEF5HP41lpjxrrhtnQkZRt4zzDkVD1
- Quick Guide Manual:*
https://emergenceaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Vela-Woodwinds_Quick-Guide_MIN.pdf
KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS PAGE MAPPINGS
Page One – Master, Main Fx
Knob 1 – Crossfade (between two sound layers)
Knob 2 – Expression
Knob 3 – LFO sync On/Off
Knob 4 – LFO speed: In Hz or beat values dependent upon sync value
Knob 5 – LFO Intensity
Knob 6 – Main FX LFO Wave: Off, Sine, Triangle, Saw, Square, Random
Knob 7 – Reverb
Knob 8 – Random: On/Off – applies the randomiser to the currently loaded preset
Page Two – Layer 1 & Layer 2 settings
Knob 1 – Layer 1 sound Selection
Knob 2 – Layer 1 Volume
Knob 3 – Layer 1 Pan
Knob 4 – Layer 1 tune plus or minus 1 Octave
Knob 5 to 8 – As above for Layer 2
Page Three – Layer 1 & Layer 2 Envelope
Knob 1 – Layer 1 attack
Knob 2 – Layer 1 decay
Knob 3 – Layer 1 sustain
Knob 4 – Layer 1 release
Knob 5 to 8 – As above for layer 2
Page Four – Layer 1 & Layer 2 Filters
Knob 1 – Layer 1 Low pass cut-off
Knob 2 – Layer 1 Low Pass resonance
Knob 3 – Layer 1 High Pass Cut-Off
Knob 4 – Layer 1 High Pass resonance
Knob 5 to 8 – As above for layer 2
Page Five – Reverb
Knob 1 – Reverb On/Off
Knob 2 – Reverb Presets: multiple selections
Knob 3 – Dry/Wet Balance
Knob 4 – Pre-Delay
Knob 5 – size
Knob 6 – Low Pass
Knob 7 – High Pass
Knob 8 – Layer application: L1, L2, L1 & L2
Page Six – Delay
Knob 1 – Delay On/Off
Knob 2 – Dry/Wet Balance
Knob 3 – delay Sync: On/Off
Knob 4 – Time: Milliseconds or Beat values dependent upon sync mode
Knob 5 – Feedback
Knob 6 – Damping
Knob 7 – Delay Pan
Knob 8 – Layer Application: L1, L2, L1 & L2
Page Seven – distortion, Saturation
Knob 1 – distortion On/Off
Knob 2 – Drive
Knob 3 – Layer Application: L1, L2, L1 & L2
Knob 4 – Not allocated
Knob 5 – saturation On/Off
Knob 6 – Saturate level
Knob 7 – Layer application: L1, L2, L1 & L2
Page Eight – Lo-Fi
Knob 1 – Lo-Fi On/Off
Knob 2 – Bits: off, or selectable value
Knob 3 – Sample Rate: off, or a selectable value
Knob 4 – Noise
Knob 5 – Colour (tone)
Knob 6 – Layer Application: L1, L2, or L1 & L2
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated
Page Nine – tape
Knob 1 – Tape On/Off
Knob 2 – Gain
Knob 3 – Warmth
Knob 4 – Roll Off
Knob 5 – Layer Application: L1, L2, or L1 & L2
Page Ten – Extra Fx
Knob 1 – Stereo On/Off
Knob 2 – Width
Knob 3 – Rotator On/Off
Knob 4 – Amount
Knob 5 – Chorus On/Off
Knob 6 – Mix
Knob 7 – Phaser On/Off
Knob 8 – Mix
(c) Chris Ankin
KK-Access.com
5TH August 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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