The Sculpture

A Sound Sculpture Like No Other

Sonuscore The Sculpture is far more than an ordinary sample library. Every sound originates from a single handcrafted metal sculpture, designed as a unique musical instrument. Struck, bowed, rubbed and played using a variety of extended techniques, it delivers a captivating palette of shimmering resonances, cinematic impacts, haunting drones and organic textures – authentically recorded and fully playable in the free KONTAKT Player.

Every sample comes exclusively from this remarkable instrument. No synthesizers, no additional layers and no external sound sources were used. The result is a distinctive sonic character that stands apart from traditional percussion libraries and synthetic sound design.

One Instrument – Endless Sonic Possibilities

Created by sculptor Klaus Gündchen, the stainless steel sculpture combines large resonant plates with delicate metal rods. Depending on how it is played, it produces powerful metallic strikes, long shimmering overtones, haunting bowed tones with an almost vocal quality, and intricate granular textures.

Different beaters, metal and rubber balls, brushes, fingers and even a violin bow reveal an extraordinary range of timbres. From subtle atmospheric accents to dramatic impacts and evolving cinematic soundscapes, The Sculpture offers a remarkably versatile sonic palette.

Four Microphone Perspectives for Complete Control

To capture every nuance of the instrument, the sculpture was recorded from four carefully selected microphone positions:

• Close – tight, detailed and highly focused

• Far – natural room ambience with added depth and width

• Contact – pure physical vibrations with maximum presence

• Blumlein Inside – stereo recordings from inside the sculpture, capturing its unique internal resonance

Blend the microphone signals to shape everything from intimate, dry performances to expansive, immersive soundscapes filled with rich metallic resonance.

Two Instruments in One Library

The Sculpture includes two dedicated instruments:

• Single faithfully recreates the original instrument, making it ideal for expressive performances, subtle cinematic scoring and authentic metallic resonance.

• Engine expands the source material with five freely configurable layers, including two playable voices, two arpeggiators and a granular engine. Combined with powerful built-in effects, it enables evolving textures, rhythmic sequences and complex cinematic sound design.

Designed for Modern Film Scoring and Sound Design

Whether you're composing for film, television, games, trailers or ambient productions, The Sculpture delivers metallic textures with unmistakable character. Cold resonances, shimmering harmonics, powerful cinematic percussion and evolving drones make it an outstanding choice for sci-fi, horror, mystery and contemporary orchestral scoring alike.

Because every sound is derived from a real handcrafted instrument, each note carries an organic depth and authenticity that is difficult to achieve with traditional synthesizers or conventional sample libraries.

Highlights

• Unique sound design library based on a handcrafted metal sculpture

• 100% authentic recordings – no synthesis and no layered sound sources

• Four freely blendable microphone perspectives including Contact and Blumlein recordings

• Wide range of playing techniques including mallets, bow, rolls, rubber ball, brushes and fingers

• Two instruments: authentic Single mode and an advanced five-layer Engine

• Granular engine, arpeggiators and integrated effects for modern cinematic sound design

• Ideal for film, TV and game scoring, trailers, ambient music and experimental productions

Requires KONTAKT Player version 7.10.9 or later.

This product requires the free Native Instruments Kontakt Player, the latest version can be downloaded through Native Access, Native Instrument’s download manager!

The minimum required Kontakt version for this product is stated in the product description or can be found on the manufacturers website.

System Requirements:

Mac:

• macOS 11, 12, 13
• 64 bit
• Intel Core i5 or Apple Chip
• RAM: 4GB (6GB recommended)

Windows:

• Windows 10 or 11
• 64 bit
• Intel Core i5 or similar CPU
• RAM: 4GB (6GB recommended)

Supported Interfaces:

• Mac (64-bit only): Stand-alone, VST, VST3, AU, AAX
• Windows (64-bit): Stand-alone, VST, VST3, AAX

Legacy Versions:

If you require legacy installers of Kontakt Player please refer to this Knowledge Base Article.