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Contemporary Drama Toolkit

Contemporary Drama Toolkit is a broadcast-ready sound set, expertly curated to help you score to picture without the theory without compromising on emotion.

  • Overview
  • Listen
  • Walkthrough
  • What's included
  • Tech specs
  • Less theory — more feeling

    Contemporary Drama Toolkit is a broadcast-ready sound set, expertly curated and produced by award-winning composer Samuel Sim and our team of composers, to help you score to picture without the theory — without compromising on emotion. Across 72 individual instrument patches and 44 combinations, expression is baked into each sound, leaving you to focus on your music instead of software menus.

    Much like the massively successful British Drama Toolkit, CDT’s sound palette is thoughtfully curated. Originating in a masterful blending of its source material — mellow, chorus tones of a Juno 6, iconic MS–20 textures, vocalisations, and inspiring lead lines performed on guitar, electric cello, and electric violin — all processed via an enviable collection of analog effects, vintage pedals, and Eurorack modules. Everything from whispered textures and bold melodies blossom from the simplest variance in playing, unlocking a world of sound in every patch.

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    Includes Kontakt Player (free download)

    Compatible with NKS

    72 instrument patches

    1 mix signal

    Kontakt Player

    Listen to Contemporary Drama Toolkit

    Juno keyboard

    Less theory more feeling

    We wanted to create sounds where you could really connect to the performance of playing and truly engage with it as an instrument.

    Samuel Sim

    Composer (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Home Fires)

    British Drama Toolkit

    Your score in an instant

    Kontakt GUI of the overview panel

    The overview panel

    This is the main interface for melodic instruments. Its default view displays all available playing techniques, has a simple microphone mixer and includes the main feature controllers.

    Kontakt GUI of the general controls panel

    General controls panel

    This view allows further in-depth control of the instrument, showing all available signals and feature controllers, as well as the ability to purge techniques from memory to reduce system usage.

    Kontakt GUI of the velocity panel

    Velocity layer view

    This view shows the velocity layers of each note played in a patch. Some patches include Texture, Soft and Loud layers, while others create a rich sound from one or two layers. Unlock the potential of each patch by adjusting your playing dynamics.

    What's included

    Instruments

    • Combi Textural
    • Combi Pads
    • Combi Leads
    • Synths Textural
    • Synths Pads
    • Synths Bass
    • Guitars
    • Electric Cello
    • Electric Violin
    • Vocals

    Instrument patches

    Combi textural

    • Combi Textural - Fireflies
    • Combi Textural - Frozen Textures
    • Combi Textural - Haywire
    • Combi Textural - Highlands
    • Combi Textural - Life Support
    • Combi Textural - Maiden
    • Combi Textural - OneManBand
    • Combi Textural - Plucked Textures
    • Combi Textural - Rapture
    • Combi Textural - Rasping Bows Distorted
    • Combi Textural - Scratchy Pad
    • Combi Textural - Shatter
    • Combi Textural - Snapped Strings
    • Combi Textural - Transmission
    • Combi Textural - Windtunnel

    Combi pads

    • Combi Pads - Crispy Strings
    • Combi Pads - Dream Recorder
    • Combi Pads - Glass Cathedral
    • Combi Pads - Glimmer Pad
    • Combi Pads - Guitar Shimmers
    • Combi Pads - Haunting
    • Combi Pads - Neptune
    • Combi Pads - Piano Cloud
    • Combi Pads - Silver Lining
    • Combi Pads - Sinking Feeling
    • Combi Pads - Spirit Piano
    • Combi Pads - Steam Pad
    • Combi Pads - Waves

    Combi leads

    • Combi Leads - Dizzy Brass
    • Combi Leads - Dreamy Guitar
    • Combi Leads - Growl & Fizz
    • Combi Leads - Hissing
    • Combi Leads - Kotello
    • Combi Leads - Pan Guitar
    • Combi Leads - Paradise Plucks
    • Combi Leads - Piano Collapse
    • Combi Leads - Rasping Bows Full
    • Combi Leads - Rasping Bows Octave Distorted
    • Combi Leads - Rasping Bows Octave
    • Combi Leads - Rasping Bows
    • Combi Leads - Trembling Strings
    • Combi Leads - Warm Plucks
    • Combi Leads - Wobbly Rebow
    • Combi Leads - Wormhole Harmonics

    Synths textural

    • Synths Textural - Forest Textures
    • Synths Textural - Granular Air
    • Synths Textural - Granular Strings
    • Synths Textural - Peaceful Air
    • Synths Textural - Procedural Pad
    • Synths Textural - Procedural Textures
    • Synths Textural - Rain
    • Synths Textural - Soft Air
    • Synths Textural - Textural Air (Closed)
    • Synths Textural - Textural Air (Filter)
    • Synths Textural - Textural Air (High)
    • Synths Textural - Textural Air (Mid)

    Synths pads

    • Synths Pads - Electric Piano Granular
    • Synths Pads - Electric Piano
    • Synths Pads - Granular Synth
    • Synths Pads - Lush Pad
    • Synths Pads - Muted Piano Plucks
    • Synths Pads - Piano Black Hole
    • Synths Pads - Sawtooth Pad

    Synths bass

    • Synths Bass - Electric Piano Bass
    • Synths Bass - Saw Bass 2 Pulses
    • Synths Bass - Saw Bass 2
    • Synths Bass - Saw Bass 3 Pulses
    • Synths Bass - Saw Bass 3
    • Synths Bass - Saw Bass Pulses
    • Synths Bass - Saw Bass
    • Synths Bass - Short Saw Bass
    • Synths Bass - Short Sine Bass
    • Synths Bass - Sine Bass 2
    • Synths Bass - Sine Bass Pulses
    • Synths Bass - Sine Bass

    Guitars

    • Guitars - Long Acoustic Harmonics
    • Guitars - Long Acoustic
    • Guitars - Long Freeze Textures
    • Guitars - Long Frozen Harmonics
    • Guitars - Long Replucked Slide
    • Guitars - Picked
    • Guitars - Plucked
    • Guitars - Short Acoustic Harmonics
    • Guitars - Short Acoustic
    • Guitars - Short Freeze Textures
    • Guitars - Swells
    Electric cello
    • Electric Cello - Drops Distorted Loud
    • Electric Cello - Drops Distorted
    • Electric Cello - Drops Loud
    • Electric Cello - Drops Octave Loud
    • Electric Cello - Drops Octave
    • Electric Cello - Drops
    • Electric Cello - Long Distorted Loud
    • Electric Cello - Long Distorted Soft
    • Electric Cello - Long Distorted
    • Electric Cello - Long Loud
    • Electric Cello - Long Octave Loud
    • Electric Cello - Long Octave Soft
    • Electric Cello - Long Octave
    • Electric Cello - Long Soft
    • Electric Cello - Long Warp
    • Electric Cello - Long
    Electric violin
    • Electric Violin - Drops Distorted
    • Electric Violin - Drops Octave
    • Electric Violin - Drops
    • Electric Violin - Long Distorted Soft
    • Electric Violin - Long Distorted
    • Electric Violin - Long Octave Soft
    • Electric Violin - Long Octave
    • Electric Violin - Long Soft
    • Electric Violin - Long Warp
    • Electric Violin - Long

    Vocals

    • Vocals - Long Aah
    • Vocals - Long Hmm
    • Vocals - Long Nana
    • Vocals - Long Ooh

    Videos

    FAQs

    What’s in Contemporary Drama toolkit?

    The library features 72 individual instrument patches and 44 combinations. The combinations are a unique set of curated sounds that blend together perfectly. Featured sounds have sources including Juno 6, MS–20, vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, electric cello, and electric violin — all processed via an enviable collection of analog effects, vintage pedals, and Eurorack modules.


    Why is there no dynamics fader on this library?

    Instead of the usual dynamics fader which we use in the vast majority of our libraries, our Drama Toolkit libraries makes clever use of velocity to allow you to play with both hands instead of riding the modwheel/fader with one hand. If you wanted to you could use the expression control for some added control.


    What context is this library best used in?

    This library is perfect when you want to create modern dramatic scores with real emotional impact, and when you’re working to a deadline. Keeping your eye on the drama rather than the computer, and with one patch capable of a such a huge range of expression, you can respond instinctively to the story rather than get sucked in to what Samuel Sim calls “the vortex of the computer”. 

    Read more FAQs for this product

    Tech specs

    Mac system requirements

    Mac OS 11, 12 or 13 

    Both Intel and Apple Silicon/ARM are supported

    Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 minimum (quad-core), 8GB RAM

    Recommended: 2.8GHz I7 (six-core), 16GB RAM

    32-bit systems are not supported.

    PC system requirements

    Windows 10 or Windows 11 - (Latest Service Pack, 64-bit)

    Minimum: Intel 2.8 GHz i5 (quad-core) or AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM

    Recommended: Intel Core i7 6th gen and later or AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM

    32-bit systems are not supported.

    File size

    28.00 GB disk space required during install


    Kontakt player

    Kontakt or Kontakt Player 5.6.8 or higher

    Contemporary Drama Toolkit sounds great with…