OSCILLARYS BY OCEAN SWIFT

OSCILLARYS BY OCEAN SWIFT

KK-ACCESS REVIEW

The latest release from Ocean Swift opens the door for some very extensive sound design possibilities, with a huge collection of over 1,500 included oscillator samples, , covering analog & digital waveforms, organic and granular texture sources, all of which can be combined and subsequently processed across an intuitive 3 layer Kontakt interface.

With it’s workflow optimised for the Kontrol MK3 controllers, almost every facet of the sound design process is accessible directly from the MK3 keyboard hardware, and so for passionate Sonic Sculptors it’s a bit like having an unrestricted pass to your favourite theme park!

TECH SPECS

Oscillarys runs in Kontakt version 8, either full or free Kontakt player.

It is compatible with all versions of Komplete Kontrol when hosting the above Kontakt specifications.

Parameter editing is ideally optimised for the Kontrol MK3 keyboards.

Requiring 4.5GB of disk space for installation, the samples use the open Wav format.

There is a single Oscillarys master Kontakt preset, with a further 300 Kontakt NKSN snapshots contributing to a well stocked factory preset collection covering a large range of categories.

Ocean Swift have also thrown in over 100 Kontakt multi presets in a variety of categories.

DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION

Oscillarys has been created by Ocean Swift for Native Instruments as an official NI Partner product, and as such is downloaded and installed entirely via Native Access following registration of the post purchase serial number.

Loading up Komplete Kontrol either in the standalone application or within your DAW will autoscan the library into your factory browser ready to explore.

FULL KOMPLETE KONTROL NKS PARAMETER MAPPINGS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THE REVIEW FOLLOWING THE MEDIA SECTION

ACCESSIBILITY

We will naturally be digging a little deeper into how the Oscillarys Kontakt engine works during the course of the review, but suffice to say that every step of the creative chain is accessible.

It is of prime importance for any product of this nature, that the ability to choose the initial sound source for each of the three layers is available. These really are the essential building blocks for any serious sound design possibilities.

Unfortunately this access is a lot more restricted on the older Komplete Kontrol hardware, here the NKS mapping is limited to just two pages.

The parameters could still potentially be accessed through the parameter view of your DAW, however this along with some less obvious labelling makes the workflow less intuitive and slower in terms of the hands on experience, but might still remain an option for the more determined user.

With all this in mind, this review has been undertaken with, and assumes the use of a Kontrol MK3 keyboard in assessing the Oscillarys library.

OSCILLARYS SIGNAL FLOW

As mentioned we are crucially able to interact and select from the various sampled oscillator category banks, and any of the subsequent samples contained within them for each of the independent A,B, & C, sound layers of the Oscillarys engine.

All of this sample content is in open wav format, so there is no reason why you should not also use the material elsewhere if you wish.

As with other Ocean Swift products, the ability to use your own samples also exists, although the dreaded drag & drop technique required to do so generally still excludes screen reader users for obvious reasons.

The categories from which to start your the design process are as follows:

Cycles:

Here we find a variety of classic waveforms, Sine, Triangle and so forth, along with some less conventional offerings.

Analog:

These sources come from hardware synths & Eurorack modules.

Digital:

These tones present a collection of crisp digital sources from an eclectic collection of hardware.

Organic:

Here the sources consist of natural real world instrument timbres, some of which are processed in unusual ways.

Dystopia:

This section feature some cherry picked primary sounds from the truly excellent Ocean Swift Dystopia Diary, static bursts of radio static, white noise, Rain, ambiences etc.

Phenom:

Here we have some tributes to previous Ocean Swift products which were originally released before there more recent commercial re launch.

Shots:

These consist of short single tones, which are melodically playable, think basses, synth leads, & plucks.

Untuned:

Playable drones and sustained timbres, great as a foundation for which to add further material from other layers.

Eidorryn:

Some great mid and top layer content here, some quirky, some granular, but notably in most cases non-static in nature.

As you would expect, these sample selections are all identically available across each of the 3 layers, allowing you to combine, blend, & duplicate to your hearts content.

Similarly each section features the same extensive controls such as Volume Gain, Panning, Tuning, Sample Start, Poly, Mono, & Legato Modes, Pitchbend, Looping, Key Tracking, Key Range, ADSR for Amplitude, Filters, Modulation, Pitch, 3 fully assignable LFO’s with On/Off, Sync, Depth, Timing, Wave Type, Phase, Assignable velocity controls, Filters, Arp, & Delay.

When you have finished tweaking each of the 3 layers, they are then passed through two further filters, which can optionally be turned on or off, the first is a unique multi filter, again featuring ADSR & LFO.

The second filter is taken from Monarch, the Reaktor instrument, and again contains wide ranging control parameters.

Finally at the end of the signal chain, the 3 layers are able to be globally treated with the 4 slot, & fully configurable effects section, where you can choose from many of the familiar Native Instruments effects which dynamically update the NKS assignments to reflect the controls depending upon the effect choices you make. They also have any available associated fx presets mapped and offered via a dedicated NKS knob.

I did note that the manual mentions the ability to copy and paste the settings from one layer to another, but as far as I could discern, unlike their previous Myth Rhythm library, this option is not assigned through host automation, and as a consequence also NKS, a slight shame as this can be a real time saver, but invariably if it came to a choice between this feature, and those accessible layer samples, the latter would always be my first choice.

OSCILLARYS FACTORY PRESETS

certainly all of these options can be a little bewildering if you are attempting to sculpt a sound from scratch for the first time.

Thankfully Ocean Swift have got you well covered in this respect with a really nice selection of over 350 ready made presets, which for the little less adventurous can be used straight off the shelf, or alternatively simply be loaded as initial starting points for your further sonic adventures.

Speaking of initial presets, Ocean Swift have thoughtfully included a particularly helpful bank of initialised patches of different types which serve as great default jumping off points.

The included factory banks you will find are as follows:

Initial & examples
Bass liners
Dreamscapes
Kingdom Keys
Leading Poly
Leading Mono
Dystopic Fields
Poly Rhythmic’s
Signal Anomalies
Poly at Glows
Initial Oscillarys (single snapshot)

There are also over 100 Kontakt NKM multi presets which need to be loaded directly into Kontakt rather than Komplete Kontrol, and these cover the categories:

Arpeggios, Chords, Layers, Patterns, Phrases.

OSCILLARYS OSCILLATING OSCILLATORS!

Ocean Swift have consciously made a strong effort to create a library with a raft of modulation and animated sound possibilities, reminiscent of something like Absynth, except for us in this case, it is entirely accessible.

If you already have a certain sound in mind, it’s not too difficult to reach what is in your head just by scrolling through the samples to find yourself a near sounding match, from this point it’s a question of tweaking things further, it’s not always going to be an instant process,but that’s the joy and sometimes the pain of sound design, and as with anything practice will make a big difference to the outcome and also the speed at which you achieve it.

With such a diverse sample pool, there is plenty to wade through, Oscillarys is useful for creating ambient, experimental, and cinematic patches.

Just as an example, I recently needed to quickly add some natural water and flowing stream sounds for a clients ambient meditation track, so Oscillarys provided a speedy way to locate and create such a patch, without the usual route of having to hunt through folders of sound effect samples.

Admittedly in this particular case, I only needed something very simplistic and largely unprocessed in nature, but the ability to layer such material with such ease was useful and a real time saver.

The point is that Oscillarys is one of those Swiss Army knife type products that is flexible enough to earnestly contribute towards things like basic Foley, eclectic dystopian noises, simplistic as well as more complex waveforms, textures as well as a range of usable instrument types, all in one package.

Ocean Swift have also accompanied Oscillarys with a very extensive and accessible user manual, which describes in great detail the synth signal flow and effects chain options.

Do take time to grab yourself a coffee and checkout the walkthrough video to gain a little more insight into what is possible, and the sounds you will encounter.

CONCLUSION

This is yet another really worthy product release from Ocean Swift, the volume of included material both in terms of the selectable samples within the user interface, as well as plentiful factory preset content make it excellent value for money.

Add to this the flexibility and inspired levels of accessibility for Kontrol MK3 owners with an ergonomic workflow, and you have a winning combination that many sound artists will take great pleasure in using, as with Oscillarys the journey can often be as enjoyable as the end destination!

Oscillarys by Ocean Swift is available from Native Instruments at the introductory price of £41.40 (regularly £69.00)

Oscillarys NI Product Page:
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/nks-partners/ocean-swift/oscillarys/

Oscillarys – Deep Dive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiOyuK6ehPQ

Ocean Swift Oscillarys Product Page – Contains Detailed demos and tutorials:
https://oceanswift.net/product/oscillarys/

Oscillarys Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7harRFUo0g

KOMPLETE KONTROL NKS PARAMETER MAPPINGS

MK2, a-SERIES, & M32 NKS MAPPING (Classic View)

Page One – Layer A, B, C, FX

Knob 1 – Layer A, Tune
Knob 2 – Layer A, Gain
Knob 3 – Layer B, Tune
Knob 4 – Layer B, Gain
Knob 5 – Layer C, Tune
Knob 6 – Layer C, Gain
Knob 7 – Main Gain
Knob 8 – Effects Power On/Off

Page Two – Filter Multi, & Filter Monarch

Knob 1 – Multi Filter Type: Selectable
Knob 2 – Cut-off
Knob 3 – Resonance
Knob 4 – Depth
Knob 5 – Monarch Filter, Cut-Off
Knob 6 – Monarch Resonance
Knob 7 – FM
Knob 8 – Gain

Note further parameters may be available via a DAW parameter list

KONTROL MK3 S-SERIES AVAILABLE PARAMETERS (Extended View)

Layers A, B, & C

Gain, Sample Type (Category), Sample Selection, Osc Tune, Fine Tune, Pan, Sample Start, Lo-Fi Freq On/Off
Root Mode, Root Tuner On/Off, Root Octave, Low Note Range, High Note Range, Pitch (Fixed or Track), Pitch Bend, Loop Mode (Loop or One Shot)
Amplitude ADSR, Slope ADSR,
Filter ADSR,Slope ADSR, Modulation Depth,
Pitch ADSR, Slope ADSR, Modulation Depth,
LFO 1 Power On/Off, LFO Wave, LFO Re Trigger On/Off, LFO Sync On/Off, LFO Rate (Hz or Beat Values depending upon sync on/off), LFO Depth, LFO Phase, LFO Destination,
LFO 2 Power On/Off, LFO Wave, LFO Re Trigger, LFO Sync On/Off, LFO Rate (dependent upon sync status), LFO Depth, LFO Phase, LFO Destination,
LFO 3 Power On/Off, LFO Wave, LFO Re Trigger, LFO Sync On/Off, LFO Rate (dependent upon sync status), LFO Depth, LFO Phase, LFO Destination
Velocity Amplitude, Velocity Start, Velocity Lo-Fi, Velocity Filter LP Cut, Velocity Filter HP Cut, Velocity Filter FM,
Velocity LFO 1 Rate, LFO 2 Rate, LFO 3 Rate,
Pad Main Pitch, Pad Filter LP Cut, Pad Filter HP Cut, Pad Filter FM,
Pad LFO 1 Rate, Pad LFO 2 Rate, Pad LFO 3 Rate,
Wheel Main Lo-Fi, Wheel Main Pan, Wheel Filter LP Cut, Wheel Filter HP Cut, Wheel Filter FM,
Wheel LFO 1 Rate, Wheel LFO 2 Rate, Wheel LFO 3 Rate, Random Osc Pan, Osc Start, Filter LP Cut, Filter HP Cut, Filter FM, Random Amp Envelope Decay, Slope Decay, Amp Release, Amp Envelope Slope Release, Random Filter Envelope Decay, Filter Env Slope Decay, Filter Env Release, Filter Env Slope Release, Filter Env Depth,
Random Pitch Envelope Decay, Pitch Env Slope Decay, Pitch Env Release, Pitch Env Slope Depth,
A – Effects, Filter Power On/Off, Filter LP Cut, Filter LP Res, Filter HP Cut, Filter HP Res, Filter FM,
Stereo Power On/Off, Spread, Drift, Split, Mix, Gator Power On/Off, Triplet On/Off, Rate, Shape, Mix,
Delay Power On/Off, Time, Damp, Pan, Feedback, Wet,

B & C Layers (As Above)

Filter Multi
Power On/Off, Type, Cut, Res,
Envelope Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, Slope Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release,
Filter Multi LFO Power On/Off, Wave, Re Trigger, Sync, Rate, Depth, Phase,
Velocity, Keyboard Tracking, Poly Aftertouch, Wheel, Random,
Monarch Filter Power On/Off, Type, Cut, Res, FM, Gain,
Envelope Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, Slope Attack, Decay, Release, Modulation Depth
LFO Cut Power On/Off, Wave, Re Trigger On/Off, Sync, Rate, Depth, Phase,
LFO FM Power On/Off, Wave, Re Trigger On/Off, Sync, Rate, Depth, Phase,
Velocity, Wheel, Random, Filter Random,

Creative FX Power On/Off, Type Select, other parameters here are dynamic depending upon effect selection
Modulation Effects, Select Type, further controls are dynamic depending on chosen type
Delay Effects, Select Type, further parameters are dynamic depending upon type selection
Reverb FX, Select type, further extensive controls are varied and dynamic depending upon type chose

Main Mode Poly, Mono, Legato, Portamento, Gain,

(c) Chris Ankin

KK-Access.com

12TH February 2026

KK-ACCESS Our Transparency Statement

KK-Access believe in integrity, and through respect for our readers,that our product reviews should strive to be be honest and unbiased, and that any of our opinions should not be influenced by financial reward or other incentives from a plug-in or sample library developer for which a review of their wares may be a subject matter.

Therefore while offers are appreciated, we do not accept,, and will continue to decline any offers of affiliation links, for all products under review for publication on this website.

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.
E&OE