An Impact Soundworks Sample Library
Designed for Kontakt 5
Lead Designer: Andrew Aversa
Additional Sound Design: Matt Campana, Eric Masi, Steven Burns, Jordan Aguirre
Editing: Iain Morland & Andrew Aversa
Kontakt Programming & Scripting: Mario Kruselj
Artwork: Constructive Stumblings
INTRODUCTION
We invite you to enter the world of Celestia: Heavenly Sound Design. This instrument was designed as a hybrid
composer's dream: hundreds of synthetic and acoustic sound sources, rich editing capabilities, synthesis
features, and endless ways to create unique variations. However, rather than focusing on dark, gritty, and heavy
sound design, we instead focused the sound library and presets on the lighter end of the spectrum...
The library of Celestia contains atmospheric pads, ambient textures, heavenly bells, airy choirs, soft plucks, cosmic
effects, and much more. In short, it is a wonderful tool for emotional scoring and ethereal soundscapes in most any
genre you can think of. Of course, thanks to its extensive editing features, it is by no means limited to only beautiful
sounds. In fact, the library also includes a number of patches and timbres ideal for electronic music and darker
cues as well.
More important than what we've created, however, is what you will create with Celestia. You will find a rich
selection of 500 highly-polished presets in 12 categories, which we hope will inspire your compositions. Beyond
that, the engine of Celestia was tailor-made to allow for editing and customization. Delve into either of the dual
layers to change filters, envelopes, pitch, panning, and modulation, add effects, enable arpeggiation, gating,
crossfading, and legato. You can even roll the dice and randomize some (or all!) of any patch.
If you don't know much about synthesis, you can still enjoy endless variations using the sub-preset system. Each
layer of the instrument, the effects section, rhythm section and performance options all have their own set of handmade presets. By mixing and matching between them, you can create a huge amount of variation even with a single
sound source.
We hope that you will enjoy Celestia and explore all of its infinite possibilities in your music!
INSTALLATION & SETUP
1. Install the Pulse application if you don’t already have it. Pulse is a cross-platform desktop app that lets you download and install
your libraries with blazing speed! Get it here: https://pulsedownloader.com/
2. Once Pulse is installed, open it and enter your Celestia download code. Follow the instructions to download and install the library.
3. Finally, load desired NKI patches in Kontakt. No activation is needed, as this is not a Kontakt Player instrument.
Optional: Please see our Kontakt workflow tutorial for information on adding instrument files to the faster Quickload window or the
Kontakt Database: https://impactsoundworks.com/optimizing-your-kontakt-workflow-part-1/
OVERVIEW
The factory NKI presets of Celestia are organized into subfolders within the Instruments folder:
Acoustic
Basses
FX
Hybrid
Leads
Pads
Rhythmic
Synth Poly
Textures
Some of these folders contain their own subfolders, such as Airy & Grainy Pads, Glassy Pads, etc.
Every preset has the same underlying engine - they simply have different settings for filters, sound sources, effects,
etc. To start from scratch, load the Celestia INIT patch.
UI - LAYER EDITOR
Celestia has a dual-layer architecture: two individual sound sources can be loaded at once, each with different
volume, panning, tuning, filters, envelopes, etc. All controls pictured above are unique to each individual layer.
Sound Source Selector
Use this section to select a new sound source for the current layer. Clicking a category button (Acoustic, Airy, Bells,
etc.) will load a new list of sound sources in the dropdown menu to the right.
Layer Presets Menu
Loads or saves the current layer preset, but does NOT load / save the sound source. Useful for auditioning various
filter + envelope settings on the same source!
Volume, Pan, Tune, Fine
These control the basic settings for the selected layer. Tune works in increments of 1 semitone, while Fine uses
cents (1/100 of a semitone).
Envelope - Amp/Pitch
The amplitude (volume) of the layer can be shaped with an envelope. The Depth slider controls how much effect
the envelope has. A setting in the middle means no effect. A/D/S/R stand for Attack (time), Decay (time), Sustain
(level) and Release (time).
These envelopes are independent of each other. e.g. Changing AMP attack will not change PITCH attack!
Sample Start
Controls the start point of the sound source. Constant sets a fixed location for the sound to play from, whereas
Random will choose a random range. For example, setting Constant to 5 would play the audio starting at about
5% through. Setting Random (in addition) to 10 would start the sample between 5 and 15%.
When manipulating sample start, it is recommended to increase the AMP attack time to avoid 'clicking'.
Monaural
Collapses the layer to mono.
X
This button enables layer crossfading - the large horizontal slider pictured below. Moving the black box from one
side to the other will blend between layers 1 and 2.
Cutoff / Reso
Controls the cutoff frequency and resonance intensity of the selected filter.
OFF / LP / BP / HP
Switches filter type between no filter, low pass, band pass, and high pass.
Mod Amt / Mod Rate
Controls the depth and rate of the filter LFO. Rate is always synced to BPM automatically!
Waveform Selection
Switches the LFO waveform between sine, triangle, saw, square, and sample&hold (random).
Envelope
An envelope applied to the filter cutoff. Depth must be increased (or decreased) above/below 50% for the
envelope to have an effect on the filter. Vel controls the effect of velocity on envelope depth.
Tracking
When enabled, the MIDI note played also controls filter cutoff.
Sequencer Section
When the power button is enabled, an arpeggiator (or gater) is enabled for BOTH layers. In the default arpeggiator
mode (gater mode disabled), playing any note will trigger the note sequence. The arpeggiator is monophonic - i.e.
the sequence is based on only the most recent MIDI note being played.
Steps
Controls the number of steps in the sequence.
Length
Controls the length of each step in the sequence, but does not affect the gater mode.
Pitch / Vel
Switches between the pitch (note) view and volume tables. These two tables correspond with each other. For
example, the Volume of the first bar (step) applies to the note placed in the Pitch table.
Gater Mode
When enabled, the sound is not retriggered (like an arpeggiator) and the Pitch table is not used. Instead, the sound
is gated with the Vel table. Very useful for rhythmic effects, and works polyphonically too!
Rate / Swing
Controls the rhythm of the sequence.
Sequencer Presets Menu
Loads or saves a preset for the sequencer section.
Effects Section
Here, various FX can be toggled and edited. Clicking on the title of any effect will show the relevant controls for that
effect. However, an effect is only active if it is switched ON. All effects apply to both layers, and are processed in
serial. For example, the amplifier is applied first (if enabled), followed by bitcrusher, EQ, etc.
AMP (Amplifier)
A modeled guitar amp & cabinet combo effect. Try turning down the gain and turning up 'master' to get more
loudness without saturating/distorting as much.
BITCRUSHER
A standard bitcrusher. Note that the 'noise' knob provides constant noise regardless of MIDI input.
EQ (Equalizer)
A multi-band parametric equalizer. Band frequencies AND gains can be selected, making this great for sculpting
your sound.
CHORUS
A simple chorus effect, useful for adding a unison-like quality to your sound as well as more stereo depth.
PHASER
A standard phaser effect. Manipulating the dry/wet knob in addition to depth/feedback can provide great results.
DELAY
A tempo-synced delay. Note that higher values of the 'damping' mean the echoes are damped more and not less.
The pan knob does not refer to hard left/right panning, but mono vs. stereo. Turning the pan knob right -> more
stereo.
REVERB
A powerful convolution reverb, complete with a number of custom impulse responses (IRs)! This effect alone can
dramatically change a sound. Some responses are thinner or more full than others - use the highpass and lowpass
knobs to alter the IR frequencies and sculpt the response further.
Effects Presets Menu
Loads or saves a preset for the entire effects section.
Perform Section
Here you can change performance settings for the entire patch.
Octave
Sets octave transposition. For example, "1" means MIDI input will be transposed up one octave.
Monophonic
Switches to mono mode - only one note will be played at a time.
(Monophonic) Mode
Switches between Retrigger, Legato, and Offset mode. In Retrigger mode, when two notes overlapped the sample
is restarted with each new note, along with all envelopes. In Legato mode, the new note will not replay or restart
the sound but instead just change the pitch. In Offset mode, envelopes are retriggered but the sample is not
retriggered from the begnining.
Portamento
Enables portamento gliding between notes.
(Portamento) Time
Controls how long it takes for notes to glide to their new position. Exaggerating this can be great for leads!
Unison
Enables multiple voices to be played for each MIDI note. This can get very CPU intensive! Also, when using
unison, the 'phase' of your layers can cause an excessive combing or phasing effect that may be undesirable. You
can get around this by using the Sample Start - Random knob for each layer.
(Unison) Voices, Detune, Spread
Voices controls the # of total voices. A value of "2" means two total voices, not two additional voices. Detune
controls how the voices are tuned apart from each other, and Spread controls their panning in the stereo field.
Bend Range
Controls the range, in semitones, that the pitch wheel controls.
Randomizer
Completely randomizes all controls of the patch, with the exception of sound sources and performance settings.
Lock Icon
Clicking the lock for any given section will protect it from randomization. Very useful in controlling the chaos a bit.
A N
OTE ON
Patches in Celestia can become potentially CPU intensive with lots of unison, effects, and modulation. By reducing
the max # of voices for each patch, you can reduce both CPU and memory overhead. If you are having CPU
overloads or memory issues, try this before changing Kontakt or system settings.
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REDITS
Lead Design: Andrew Aversa
Additional Sound Design: Eric Masi, Steven Burns, Matt Campana, Jordan Aguirre
Kontakt Programming & Scripting: Mario Kruselj
Editing: Iain Morland & Andrew Aversa
Artwork: Dickie Chapin (Constructive Stumblings)
CPU P
ERFORMANCE / MEMORY
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ROUBLESHOOTING & FEEDBACK
Have you used Celestia in a project recently? Got an awesome track you'd like to share? Drop us a line
(admin@impactsoundworks.com) and we might post it on our website! Or, tell the world at our Facebook page
here: http://www.facebook.com/ImpactSoundworks
We encourage all our users to share and promote their work. Word of mouth is the #1 way people find our
samples, so it also helps us to produce more great libraries for you!
For any technical support issues regarding the library, don’t hesitate to email support@impactsoundworks.com.
You can also visit our friendly user community and support forum on KVR Audio:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=176
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OPYRIGHT & LICENSE AGREEMENT
All sound recordings, performances, scripting and/or code contained in this product is the property of Impact
Soundworks unless otherwise noted, and remain the property of Impact Soundworks after the product is
purchased.
This license extends only to the individual who purchases this product, unless that individual is purchasing on
behalf of another individual, in which case it is the actual user of the product who is granted this license.
The licensee is entitled to the use and unlimited editing of the product within the scope of music production and
composition. The product may be installed on as many computer systems used by the licensee as desired, but in no
case does a single license allow multiple individuals to use the product.
The licensee may not use the product in the creation of other sample, sound effect, or loop libraries.
The licensee may not use sound recordings contained in the product as individual sound effects for sound design
work, unless the sounds are significantly processed, layered, and otherwise altered beyond recognition.
The licensee may use the product in the creation of music for production libraries.
Redistributing, reselling, electronically transmitting, uploading, sharing, or renting the product in any way, shape,
or form is prohibited by law. The licensee may create a physical backup copy of any digitally purchased and
downloaded product. This backup copy is subject to the same limitations as the original copy of the product, and
may not be transferred to any other individual for any reason.
Copyright © 2014 Impact Soundworks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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