Harmonox Audio offers the BIRDS ($10) Kontakt instrument and WAV sample pack for free for a limited time via Pluginomat.
BIRDS is a collection of organic bird sounds designed for sound design, ambient composition, and anyone looking to add natural textures to their music. It includes samples from six different bird species and offers a total of 131 round-robin samples recorded at 48kHz/24-bit.
The bad news is that the library does require the full version of Kontakt 5.8.1+ to use the custom interface (it won’t work in Kontakt Player).
However, the good news is that you also get the raw WAV files, which means the sounds can be used in any DAW or sampler. That’s a huge plus, especially for those of us who like to layer field recordings with synths or drums in the sequencer to add an organic touch.
That said, if you do own the full version of Kontakt, you can take advantage of the included interface. It’s a pretty basic-looking GUI, but it lets you adjust tuning, reverb, and volume per sound.
There’s also a neat random pitch feature that helps add some natural variation and unpredictability. It’s perfect for creating more lifelike textures without manually changing the pitch. Or, you can go a bit crazy with it and play with extreme pitch settings to get unusual textures.
I’ve been leaning into sound design tools like this more and more lately. We recently featured a Decent Sampler library based on button clicks, and I love throwing these kinds of samples into my workflow to give digital sounds a more human feel.
BIRDS is right in that lane. It’s great for layering, mangling, or even using as musical elements.
The only real downside is that the interface could use a visual overhaul. It works, but a bit more polish and a user-friendly layout would definitely improve the experience. Still, for a freebie, especially one that includes WAVs, I’m not complaining.
To grab BIRDS for free, just head to Pluginomat and complete the checkout process. A valid email address is required.
BIRDS is available in WAV format (compatible with all DAWs and samplers) and as a Kontakt instrument (full version of Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher required).
The library is not compatible with the free Kontakt Player.
Download: BIRDS (FREE for a limited time, available for Native Instruments Kontakt, WAV files included)
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Last Updated on August 27, 2025 by Tomislav Zlatic.
