Native Instruments has unveiled Erosia, a new cinematic sound design instrument for Kontakt that pulls its textures from unexpected sources: friction, scraping, bowing, and materials under physical strain. Developed in collaboration with veteran sound designer Jeremiah Savage—the mind behind Kinetic Metal and Kinetic Toys—Erosia reframes the hidden energy of objects into evolving, cinematic layers.
Instead of starting with polished instruments, the foundation of Erosia comes from raw, often overlooked sounds. Think bowed bicycle spokes, sizzling dry ice on cymbals, glass vases under stress, rusted hinges, or cracked pianos. These elements are stretched, layered, and shaped into resonant tones that sit comfortably in film scoring, trailer design, or experimental music. The goal is to give composers tools that combine tactile detail with dramatic scale.
Sound Engines And Modulation
At the core of Erosia are three distinct playback engines. Grain fractures and animates textures for granular, shifting movement. Wavetable adds evolving harmonic content, letting sounds transform across time. Sampler preserves the raw realism of the original recordings. Each engine can be run individually or layered, and users can stack up to four sound sources simultaneously for complex, evolving timbres.
A large part of Erosia’s flexibility comes from its modulation system. LFOs, envelopes, and sequencers can all be routed to animate pitch, filter, or effect parameters. Creative macros tie multiple functions to a single control, making it easy to evolve a sound in performance or automation. For further shaping, the integrated FX section offers reverbs, delays, distortion, saturation, and modulation effects—each available per layer, not just at the master level.
To help users get started, Erosia ships with over 200 expressive snapshots. These presets serve as both ready-to-use sounds and as starting points for deeper sound design. Whether scoring tense moments in film or layering textures into a dark electronic track, the snapshots highlight the instrument’s range straight out of the box.
Capturing The Detail
The character of Erosia comes from its recording process. By pairing contact microphones with traditional close-miking, Savage and the Native Instruments team captured both the internal vibrations of materials and the natural space around them. This dual approach makes the sounds feel both microscopic and cinematic at once. For example, the contact mic on a bowed cymbal emphasizes metallic friction and resonance, while the room mic adds scale and context.
This combination of detail and breadth is what makes the library compelling for cinematic use. The textures feel grounded in physical reality, yet flexible enough to morph into something abstract. It’s a balance that reflects Savage’s past work, where everyday materials are transformed into playable instruments with surprising emotional weight.
At $149, Erosia sits in the mid-tier of Native Instruments’ cinematic tools, but its focus on friction-based sound sources sets it apart from orchestral libraries or traditional synth engines. For composers and producers looking for new ways to add tension, movement, or organic grit to their work, it offers an immediate and unusual palette.
Erosia is available now through Native Instruments and integrates fully with Kontakt.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
