Excite Audio has expanded its Bloom instrument series with Bloom Ensemble Mallets, a new sample-based plugin built around tuned percussion and layered melodic instruments. Released October 23, the instrument combines recordings of pianos, vibraphones, marimbas, glockenspiels, and bells with a sequencing system designed to make these sounds accessible within electronic music production. The full version is currently available for $39 through Plugin Boutique, with the introductory offer running until November 30.
Mallet instruments have an established place in electronic music, particularly in the work of producers such as Four Tet, Bonobo, Floating Points, and Pantha Du Prince. Their percussive attacks and sustained resonances give producers opportunities to introduce acoustic instrumentation into arrangements dominated by synthesizers, sampled drums, and electronic processing.
The challenge frequently involves arranging these sounds into convincing musical parts, especially when working with individual samples that require additional programming.
Bloom Ensemble Mallets approaches that process through playable samples, synchronized phrases, and a sequencer capable of creating layered patterns. Its 250 factory presets provide material ranging from individual instruments to complete ensemble arrangements, while the editing tools allow producers to replace sounds, modify sample playback, and create their own sequences. The addition of custom sample import also means the instrument can be used beyond its original factory recordings.
A Collection Of Mallets Designed For Electronic Music
Bloom Ensemble Mallets includes recordings from five instrument categories: piano, vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel, and bells. The sound library is organized into eight banks with 14 samples each, for 112 factory samples you can trigger and manipulate within the instrument.
The presets are arranged across seven categories, making it easier to find sounds according to their intended role in a production.
Full Ensembles combines several instrument types into layered arrangements, while Solo focuses on individual sources. High Energy and Low Energy separate sequences according to their rhythmic and musical intensity, and Melodic provides phrases that can be played across two octaves.
We’ve covered a related approach in our article on Excite Audio’s Bloom Ensemble Strings, which explored how the company organized orchestral recordings into playable performance layers. Ensemble Mallets applies that approach to tuned percussion, where individual notes, repeated patterns, and overlapping resonances can be particularly effective.
The Bloom Sequencer Handles Melodic Patterns And Layering
The main interface divides the keyboard into sample triggers and performance controls. White keys trigger individual sounds, while black keys can launch phrases and apply modifiers, allowing producers to combine samples and programmed sequences during playback.
Five factory modifiers provide half-time, double-time, reverse, octave-down, and octave-up playback options. Another five customizable modifiers can be assigned to sequencer functions.
These controls are particularly relevant when experimenting with rhythmic melodic material. Changing a phrase to half-time alters its relationship to the surrounding percussion, while reversing individual samples changes the timing of their attack and decay. Octave adjustments provide another way to move an existing phrase into a different register without rebuilding the original MIDI pattern.
The Edit Page contains the sequencer, which supports individual track step rates, swing, velocity, probability, timing adjustments, and retrigger controls. Producers can program patterns that remain synchronized with the DAW while controlling how individual samples are introduced.
Probability settings are particularly interesting for percussion-based melodies because they allow programmed events to occur inconsistently. A repeating marimba sequence could retain its principal notes while introducing occasional additional strikes, for example.
The instrument also offers modulation options for pitch, volume, filters, and effects, letting producers introduce changes across a sequence without relying solely on DAW automation.
This sequencing approach is familiar from other instruments in the Bloom series. In our earlier coverage of Bloom Drum Kits, we examined how Excite Audio incorporated sample triggering, probability, and playback control into a dedicated drum instrument.
Ensemble Mallets transfers many of those functions to pitched musical material, giving producers access to similar programming techniques for melodic arrangements.
There is a connection here to our coverage of Excite Audio’s Bloom Mura Masa, which incorporated material from the artist’s production sessions alongside the option to import original samples. The same flexibility matters for Ensemble Mallets, especially for producers looking to build their own instrument libraries.
The factory collection provides the initial material, but the sample import function substantially expands the instrument’s potential applications.
Pricing, Compatibility, And Availability
Bloom Ensemble Mallets is available now through Plugin Boutique and the official Excite Audio website.
The full version is priced at $39 during its introductory promotion, reduced from the regular $59. The promotion runs through November 30, 2026.
A Lite edition is available for $19 during the same period, reduced from $29. Existing owners of a full Bloom instrument can also access a $29 crossgrade offer, while customers upgrading from Ensemble Mallets Lite have a separate $20 upgrade option.
The full instrument supports VST, VST3, AU, AAX, and standalone formats on macOS, with VST, VST3, AAX, and standalone support on Windows. Minimum operating system requirements are macOS 10.15 or Windows 7, with 64-bit compatibility required.
For producers already using the Bloom series, Ensemble Mallets adds another category of acoustic instrumentation within a familiar interface. The sequencer, sample editor, and custom import functions align with the company’s recent approach to instrument design, while the factory recordings offer material specifically oriented toward melodic percussion.
The addition of mallets is particularly relevant to electronic producers working with layered melodies, short acoustic accents, and repeating instrumental sequences. With 250 presets and detailed editing options, the instrument provides several methods for developing those parts without requiring a separate sampled instrument for each source.
Bloom Ensemble Mallets is available now for $39, with introductory pricing continuing through November 30, 2026.
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.
