PANORAMA WHITEKIRK BY SONORA CINEMATIC

KK-ACCESS REVIEW

Panorama Whitekirk is now the third release in the Panorama series of Guitar libraries from Sonora Cinematic.

Here, the name Whitekirk in the context of the product title refers to the recording location rather than perhaps an obscure model of guitar, and more specifically the 12th century St Marys church which is situated in a small Scottish village of the same name.

The building happens to be blessed with some unique acoustics, for which Sonora Cinematic owner and founder Alessandro Mastroianni could hear the unique creative potential for the ambience, making it ideally suited for the next Panorama Guitar library.

Panorama Whitekirk actually includes two guitars, an electric, as well as a semi-hollow body model, and also features two atmospheric textural reverbs alongside a more traditional plate reverb, and the aforementioned authentic natural space of the location.

TECH SPECS

Panorama Whitekirk runs in Kontakt version 8.9 or higher, either the full or free Kontakt player edition.

It is compatible with all versions of Komplete Kontrol provided they are hosting the above specified Kontakt versions.

The library requires 2GB of disk space for installation.

There are two master Kontakt NKI presets, one for the Electric Guitar, and the other for the Semi-Hollow Guitar.

There are a further 33 Kontakt NKSN snapshot presets divided between the two guitars, both of which feature a Cinematic Ambient & Main Pedalboard category.

DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION

Panorama Whitekirk is downloaded and installed entirely via Native Access upon registration of the post purchase serial number.

Once finished, simply instantiating an instance of Komplete Kontrol either the standalone version, or directly in your DAW will get the presets auto scanned into your factory browser ready to use.

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

ACCESSIBILITY

The available NKS controls provided within Panorama Whitekirk are a little sparse if directly compared to the more detailed effects controls seen in the previous two Panorama libraries, as here they consist of just one page.

Using the Kontrol MK3 keyboard, I tried exploring different views, the standard Performance view, the Classic NKS view, and the NKS 2 Extended view, all of which yielded the same set of parameters in various orders, but all do still amount to a single page.

I am not sure of the reason for this sparsity, arguably all of the described parameters are available, the reverb atmosphere layers, the standard plate reverb, the crossfade setting, and the relative amounts for each, but somehow I expected a little more in the way of other effect controls to tinker with.

A quick look in the parameter list for my DAW, (Reaper) did not reveal any further hidden treasures that had been made available for host automation, so I need to take it on this occasion that this is the whole kaboodle!

Naturally we still do have the option to add our own effects to create an FX chain, which can be done by adding additional FX slots within Komplete Kontrol.

EXPLORING WHITEKIRK

Given this lack of parameters, the main aim with Whitekirk I think it’s probably fair to say, is to simply deliver an instantly great sounding and playable product without the complexities or the deeper detail found in other guitar libraries.

Conversely to this end, you will not find multiple amp models, Equalisation, filtering, keyswitch articulations, Strum Engines, Chord Engines or any of those fancy features.

Instead you get the out of the box immediacy of a nice sounding atmospheric cinematic guitar, that works well for filmic ambient tracks, or really any genre that demands those types of guitar based timbres.

The clean vanilla sound of both the Electric and Semi Hollow are well recorded , I could not find any specific information relating to the number of round robins, but the notes played consistently and I think I could detect a very slight occasional cyclic change to the articulation when a single note was repeatedly pressed, which by the way is a good thing!

In a contrast to the previous libraries,neither of the guitars appear to have pitchbend pre-assigned to the wheel, which is a bit unusual for a guitar library. As most will know, we do not have access to the Kontakt settings where this would get enabled, so you would perhaps need to do this manually via your DAW if required, probably using a third party plug-in inserted before the Komplete Kontrol or Kontakt instance, and it would certainly be useful to get this activated as standard in an update.

WHITEKIRK – THAT SPECIAL AMBIENCE

As mentioned one of the unique selling points of the library is the beautiful space of the Church in which it was recorded, and at around 900 years old it must have borne witness to an awful lot of history during that time!

With no additional reverb from either the plate or ambient verbs, and with the modwheel pushed upward, you get a fairly dry close sound from what is initially a wooden ceiling at the entrance, then as you gradually bring the modwheel downward, it then introduces the much larger ambience and reverberant bloom associated with the central nave of the stone walls and high ceilings of the church area.

WHITEKIRK TEXTURES

Panorama Whitekirk has three further options for ambience. The stock reverb is a more generic but carefully chosen and pleasing to the ear plate reverb, whilst the Blue & Pink named colour related ambiences, similar to those found in the Sonora Cinematic Refraction & Nocturne pianos, add much more in the way of texture and granularity to the mix, which is where the whole cinematic theme of the library truly makes its appearance.

The Blue atmosphere is one of those huge blackhole style spaces, with a long tail, making it just perfect for a wide playing style using sparse notes and chords, which leave the notes hanging in the air in a lingering dream like state.

The Pink atmosphere is more granular and textural in nature, and can thicken the guitar almost into a pad like timbre depending upon the balance of the mix controls and what preset is loaded.

WHITEKIRK PRESETS

Whitekirk includes a good selection of included presets which aptly display the various sound attributes of the library.

Cinematic Ambient mostly concentrates on those lush spatial sounds, with many still retaining the clarity of the natural guitar sound at their core. Others add more eclectic timbres presumably from the pedalboard set ups dialled in at the recording stage for some of the presets.

Presets like ‘Distant Call’ add almost a kind of Picado Spanish guitar playing technique to the sound as you play, where others like the excellent ‘Nightfall’ add a little darker menace, and ‘Twilight’ does a respectable job at almost taking us into hybrid string pad territory.

The Main Pedalboard presets provide perhaps just a little more by way of experimentation, notables like ‘Lost & Found, and ‘Particles’ are pleasant sounding patches that would not sound out of place in an upmarket spa, with ‘Reverse Delay’ & ‘Slow Verb’ also being great for those laid back and atmospheric chilled out vibes!

Do checkout the walkthrough video presented by Alessandro himself, where he discusses the Whitekirk recording location, and more detail about the library itself.

CONCLUSION

Panorama Whitekird introduces a slightly different dimension to the Panorama series, with the emphasis being on the ambiences and how they can enhance both the clean guitar sound as well as those produced from the pedalboard effects chain.

I would perhaps like to have seen more in the way of effects controls like those found in previous outings, although out of fairness in this instance, we are not to my knowledge missing out on any controls from the user interface that are otherwise only being enjoyed by sighted users. Also of course, enabling that pitchbend would be a useful addition that would make life easier without needing to find a workaround.

If you are looking for an inexpensive and uncomplicated route for adding cinematic guitar sounds into your productions, then Panorama Whitekirk is a worthy consideration to add to your palette.

Panorama Whitekirk is available from Sonora Cinematic for the introductory price of £39.00, (usual price is £49.00).

Panorama Whitekirk – Product page:
https://sonoracinematic.com/products/panorama-whitekirk?

Panorama White Kirk – Walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1YPva1TBCc

KOMPLETE KONTROL NKS PARAMETER ASSIGNMENTS

Page One

Knob 1 – Reverb Amount (stock plate reverb)
Knob 2 – Atmos Type: Blue, Pink
Knob 3 – Atmos Amount
Knob 4 – Unassigned
Knob 5 – Crossfade: Close/Far
Knob 6 to 8 – Unassigned

(c) Chris Ankin

KK-Access.com

15th September 2026

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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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