Native Instruments has announced Kore Player, a free software instrument that adds full "ready-to-play" capabilities to the recently established line of Kore Soundpack libraries. Based on the innovative Kore 2 host system, the Kore Player enables musicians and producers to efficiently access and play any Kore Soundpack material in their host sequencer and as a standalone instrument - opening up a new and highly affordable way to use a wide range of inspiring high-quality sound material from Native Instruments in the studio and on stage.

Kore Player is based on the same six integrated sound engines as Kore 2, combining the sonic capabilities of Absynth, FM8, Guitar Rig, Kontakt, Massive and Reaktor within a straightforward and easy-to-use interface. By offering Kore-style preset browsing, with intuitive sound categorization based on musical attributes, Kore Player makes it easy to utilize the full potential of the Kore Soundpack collections, and find the right sound fast for any musical application and purpose.

In Kore Player, every sound can be tweaked and automated through conveniently pre-assigned parameter knobs, which in turn can be easily mapped to any connected MIDI hardware controller for real-time control. Kore Player also makes use of the innovative "sound variations" technology introduced with Kore 2, with seamless morphing between up to eight different versions of a sound. The software can be launched both as a plug-in in VST/AU/RTAS hosts and as a standalone instrument, making it universally usable in any computer-based music production environment.

With eight Kore Soundpacks initially available, and over a dozen more upcoming in 2008, the Kore Player can become the center of a powerful, personalized sound arsenal that is both highly versatile and affordable, all based on the sonic capabilities of Native Instruments' software instruments.

Kore Player will be available for free download on the Native Instruments website in March 2008, and will include a compact "get-started" Kore Sound library with instantly usable sounds.