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Refraction Black Friday pricing is $49.50, 50% off, until Dec 6, 2026, on Sonora Cinematic's Kontakt piano that turns the tail of held notes into evolving soundscapes.
The Refraction plugin starts with a premium upright piano, recorded through several microphones and prepared with an ultra-thin layer of felt. The felt keeps every note clear and defined.
The maker says the interesting part happens after you hit the key.
The engine captures the resonances of held notes and sustains them. It then passes them through a tuned filter bank that tracks whatever you're playing.
The result is a soundscape shaped from the piano's own sound, and you steer it with your playing. Sonora Cinematic says it builds on the spectral shaping from its Harmonic Bloom sound design tool.
The mixer has four main microphone positions plus an echo signal. They stay phase-coherent when you blend them:
The Resonator uses a series of resonant band-pass filters. Their centre frequencies lock to the fundamental of each note and its first six harmonics, polyphonically.
Sliders set the volume and panning of every harmonic. The Resonator works on the tail of held notes and can be driven by the close-mic submix or by the Echo signal.
Resonance Bloom sits at the centre of the interface and is mapped to the mod wheel by default. You can reassign it.
Raising it boosts the output of the selected harmonics and increases their resonance at the same time. The maker says it adds high-frequency content to the spectrum, so it does more than act as a volume fader.
The Resonator is independent of the main mixer. Mute the piano mics and you can play the resonance alone, which gives you pads made entirely from the piano's harmonics.
The ambience processing is a refined version of what Sonora Cinematic built for Nocturne Electric Piano. You get three ambiences, and any two can run at once:
The maker pitches Refraction at composers, producers and sound designers who want piano performances, evolving pads or hybrid acoustic-electronic beds.
Yes. The Refraction Black Friday deal is 50% off, bringing the Kontakt instrument to $49.50. The offer ends Dec 6, 2026.
It's a Kontakt instrument built on a recorded premium upright piano with a felt-prepared sound. Its engine captures and sustains the resonances of held notes, then runs them through a tuned filter bank that follows what you play.
The mixer has four main positions plus an echo signal. Close Ribbons use a stereo pair of Coles ribbons, Close is a KM 84 cardioid condenser, and Room is an AEA R44 ribbon. The Echo signal comes from a Roland Tape Echo with a worn tape loop.
Yes. The Resonator is independent of the main mixer, so you can mute the piano microphones and play only the resonance. That gives you cinematic pads built entirely from the piano's own harmonics.
Prices and end dates are checked at publishing time and can change, so confirm them at the store before you buy.