Described as a “re-imagined piano”, the latest addition to Sonora Cinematic’s line-up aims to offer something a little different to your average sample library. Refraction has been built using high-quality samples of a premium upright piano, but rather than aiming to faithfully recreate the acoustic instrument, it instead uses the recordings to craft an array of evolving pads and hybrid acoustic-electronic soundscapes.
Refraction’s engine captures the resonances of held notes, sustains them and passes them through a tuned filter bank that tracks incoming notes, resulting in a unique-sounding instrument that “blooms, sustains, and morphs in ways no traditional piano library ever could.” When switching to the software’s Resonator view, users are greeted by a set of sliders that make it possible to adjust the volume and panning of each generated harmonic, offering precise control over the resulting sound; the centre frequencies of the underlying band-pass filters are automatically assigned to the fundamental of the note being played and its first six harmonics.
A central Resonance Bloom control — which is mapped to a controller keyboard’s mod wheel by default — makes it possible to boost the output and resonance of selected harmonics, and because it’s independent of the instrument’s main mixer, it’s possible to mute the piano sound entirely and play just the generated resonance. The mixer then offers a choice of four microphone signals (Close Ribbons, Close, Back and Room) along with an Echo signal that was created using a vintage Roland Tape Echo loaded with an extremely worn tape loop. There’s also an onboard reverb processor based on the processing used in the company’s Nocturne Electric Piano instrument.
Key Features
- Spectral resonator engine for otherworldly textures.
- Multi-mic piano capture with phase-coherent mixing.
- Resonance Bloom control for dynamic expression.
- Three ambiences usable in combination for lush, immersive environments.
- 30 carefully crafted inspiring presets.
- Full NKS integration.
Compatibility
Refraction runs in Native Instruments’ Kontakt Player (or the full version of Kontakt) versions 8.1 and above, which are supported on PCs running Windows 10 and higher, and Macs running macOS 13 or later. VST3, AU and AAX plug-in versions are available, along with a standalone application. The library occupies 10GB of disk space.
Pricing & Availability
Refraction is available now, and is currently (17 December 2025) being offered at an introductory price of £70.80, reduced from its full cost of £106.80.
sonoracinematic.com/collections/all/products/refraction-by-sonora-cinematic
