Handheldsound Offers Free Virtual Instrument Libraries During Brand Relaunch

Dec. 3, 2025, 7:04 a.m.

Tags: handheldsound

HandheldSound, a producer of high-quality sample libraries and virtual instruments for music producers and composers, is currently offering a selection of free instrument libraries as part of their brand relaunch. The company, known for their award-winning FlyingHand Percussion library, has made several professionally sampled instruments available at no cost to musicians and sound designers. These freebies include unique percussion and sound design tools that feature custom graphical user interfaces and scripting, providing authentic sonic replication of real instruments.

Company Overview and Product Philosophy

HandheldSound specializes in creating sample libraries and virtual instruments primarily for Native Instruments' Kontakt sampler platform. The company's approach focuses on "extreme sampling," utilizing a vast array of multi-sampled articulations and multiple microphone perspectives to create instruments that play and respond with authenticity. Their debut library, FlyingHand Percussion, received significant industry recognition, including the coveted Editors' Choice Award from Electronic Musician magazine for Best Sound Library.

The company's philosophy centers on producing "deep sampled instruments that play and respond with pure authenticity," enabling musicians to express their creativity with "unmatched realism" through their virtual instruments. This commitment to quality and realism extends to their free offerings, which maintain the same production standards as their commercial products.

Available Free Instrument Libraries

HandheldSound's current freebie collection includes six distinct instrument libraries, each offering unique sonic characteristics and applications in music production:

Mini Naal

The Mini Naal library provides raw ethnic Tabla-like sounds based on an instrument from HandheldSound's award-winning FlyingHand Percussion library. The free version includes several essential articulations and one microphone position from its larger counterpart. The Naal is an Indian percussion instrument considered the folk relative of the Tabla, characterized as a barrel-shaped drum with both treble and bass sides. While its playing technique and tones resemble the Tabla, the Naal possesses a more robust and raw character. This free instrument offers music producers access to authentic South Asian percussion sounds without requiring the full FlyingHand Percussion library.

PianoBoom

PianoBoom presents a distinctive collection of piano drones, impacts, and sound effects created by playing the strings of a Yamaha Grand Piano with large gong mallets. The resulting sounds range from deep cluster impacts to resonant drones, offering composers and sound designers unique textural elements for their compositions. The entire range of the piano was sampled for this library, with a variety of articulations carefully mapped based on playing style. The instrument's distinctive timbre—achieved by removing the piano's lid and striking the strings with unconventional implements—makes it a valuable addition for composers seeking unconventional piano sounds.

Table Drum

The Table Drum library captures the percussive potential of striking various tabletop surfaces, transforming ordinary tables into expressive percussion instruments. This library offers a collection of rhythmic textures and impacts that can add organic, everyday sounds to musical productions. The instrument's versatility makes it suitable for genres ranging from electronic music to experimental sound design, providing producers with unique percussive alternatives beyond traditional drum kits.

Claps'n'Stomps

This library focuses on capturing the human element of rhythm through sampled hand claps and foot stomps. The collection offers various intensities, velocities, and ensemble sizes of these fundamental rhythmic elements. These sounds are essential tools for producers across multiple genres, particularly in pop, hip-hop, and electronic music where human percussion elements add warmth and authenticity to rhythmic foundations.

Tin Can

The Tin Can library explores the percussive potential of this ubiquitous household object, transforming it into a versatile percussion instrument. By sampling various striking techniques and playing styles, the library offers a range of metallic, percussive sounds from subtle tinkles to sharp attacks. This instrument provides sound designers with unique metallic textures that can add distinctive character to compositions across various musical styles.

Metal Skewer & Cabasa

This free library combines two distinct percussion instruments: the metal skewer, which produces sharp, metallic scrapes and hits, and the cabasa, a Latin percussion instrument featuring a steel chain wrapped around a textured cylinder. The combination offers producers a diverse palette of metallic, scraping, and shaker-like sounds that can add rhythmic interest and textural complexity to productions.

Technical Features and Specifications

All of HandheldSound's free instrument libraries share several technical features that contribute to their professional quality and usability:

Custom graphical user interfaces (GUIs) designed for intuitive control and visual feedback
Custom scripting that provides flexible features and realistic instrument behavior
Real-time replication of live performance sonic nuance and instrument control
Carefully sampled articulations that capture the full expressive range of each instrument
Professional sound design with attention to detail and authenticity

These features ensure that the free instruments maintain the same level of quality and playability as HandheldSound's commercial products, making them valuable tools for music producers regardless of their budget.

Licensing and Usage Rights

HandheldSound's free instrument libraries are provided with usage rights that allow musicians and producers to incorporate them into their creative projects without restrictions. According to the company's information, these instruments are "licensed to you for use in any project," meaning they can be used in commercial releases, film scores, video game soundtracks, and other professional applications without additional licensing fees or royalties.

This generous licensing approach makes HandheldSound's freebies particularly valuable to independent artists, composers, and producers who require high-quality sounds but may have limited resources for purchasing commercial sample libraries. The ability to use these instruments in commercial projects without restrictions significantly enhances their value and practicality for professional use.

Brand Relaunch and Freebie Promotion

HandheldSound is currently undergoing a significant brand relaunch, which includes the introduction of their free instrument libraries. The company, previously known for their FlyingHand Percussion library, has rebranded under the official "HandHeldSound" name and has redesigned their website to showcase their expanded product catalog.

As part of this relaunch, HandheldSound has announced that "the first million to register will receive deeply sampled freebies," indicating that the availability of these free libraries may be limited or tied to the registration process. The company has encouraged interested individuals to "join our mailing list for discounts, offers and news" and to visit their website where the new site was scheduled to launch soon.

The relaunch also includes an updated version of their flagship product, FlyingHand Percussion v1.5, which has been significantly enhanced with new features including a redesigned user interface, better handling of round robin alternates, a single patch design with all microphone positions, a new Legato Drumming engine, dynamic muffling capabilities, and faster load times. While this is a commercial product, the freebie libraries serve as an introduction to HandheldSound's sampling quality and approach to instrument design.

How to Access the Free Instrument Libraries

Based on the available information, interested individuals can access HandheldSound's free instrument libraries by:

Visiting the HandheldSound website (www.handheldsound.com)
Registering for an account, particularly as part of the first million registrants who will receive deeply sampled freebies
Joining the company's mailing list to receive information about discounts, offers, and news
Navigating to the "Freebie" section of the website where the free instrument libraries are available for download

The company has indicated that the new website design would include a dedicated "Freebie section" where users can access these instrument libraries at no cost.

Compatibility Requirements

HandheldSound's free instrument libraries are designed for use with Native Instruments' Kontakt sampler, which requires the full retail version of Kontakt 4 or later to function. This means that users must own a licensed copy of Kontakt to use these libraries, as they will not function in the free Kontakt Player.

This compatibility requirement is standard for most professional sample libraries and ensures that users have access to the full feature set and scripting capabilities that make these instruments expressive and realistic. While this requirement may limit accessibility to users who already own Kontakt, it ensures that the libraries can deliver on their promise of authentic instrument replication and professional sound quality.

Quality and Industry Recognition

HandheldSound's commitment to quality is evidenced by the industry recognition their products have received. Their debut library, FlyingHand Percussion, was honored with Electronic Musician's Editors' Choice Award for Best Sound Library, a testament to the company's expertise in sampling and instrument design.

The free instrument libraries maintain the same production standards and attention to detail as their commercial counterparts, ensuring that even the free offerings meet professional quality benchmarks. This approach of providing high-quality free samples serves both as a marketing tool and as a genuine contribution to the music production community.

Applications in Music Production

HandheldSound's free instrument libraries offer diverse applications across various genres and production contexts:

Film and game composers can use these libraries to add authentic and unique percussion elements to their scores
Electronic music producers can incorporate the distinctive sounds into their tracks for textural variety
Pop and rock musicians can use the human percussion elements (claps, stomps) to add organic rhythm tracks
Experimental and ambient composers can explore the unique timbres and textures for sound design purposes
Music educators and students can access high-quality instrument samples for learning and composition projects

The versatility of these instruments makes them valuable additions to any producer's toolkit, regardless of their primary genre or production style.

Conclusion

HandheldSound's free instrument libraries represent an exceptional opportunity for music producers and composers to access high-quality sampled instruments without financial investment. As part of the company's brand relaunch, these freebies—including Mini Naal, PianoBoom, Table Drum, Claps'n'Stoms, Tin Can, and Metal Skewer & Cabasa—offer unique sonic characteristics that can enhance a wide range of musical productions.

The libraries feature professional-quality sampling, custom interfaces, and realistic scripting, making them valuable tools for both amateur and professional musicians. With generous licensing terms allowing use in commercial projects, these free instruments provide exceptional value to the music production community.

Interested individuals can access these libraries by registering on the HandheldSound website and joining their mailing list, particularly as part of the first million registrants who will receive the deeply sampled freebies. While requiring the full version of Kontakt to function, these libraries offer a cost-effective way to expand one's sonic palette with unique and authentic instrument sounds.

As HandheldSound continues their relaunch and expands their product catalog, these free libraries serve as both an introduction to the company's quality standards and a genuine contribution to the music production community.