Hauschka Composer Toolkit
Unique, inspiring sounds from an Oscar-winning composer
Unique, inspiring sounds from an Oscar-winning composer
A collaboration with Oscar-winning, world-renowned composer and soundsmith Volker Bertelmann, aka Hauschka (All Quiet on the Western Front, Lion, Adrift), this multifaceted toolkit has been designed for adding incredible depth, tension and texture to your scores.
Discover unique soundscapes ranging from industrial sounding percussive rhythms and thunderous bass lines to offbeat, atonal plucks and beautiful, shimmering pads. Performed on a Steinway grand with over 40 experimental preparations and expertly multi-sampled at Berlin’s legendary Voxton Studios, we have bottled Hauschka’s signature sound palette into a highly interactive and inspiring toolkit, ready for you to apply your own creative ideas.
Presented in our sophisticated Evo Grid and Mercury synth, mix and match multiple signal options, from Pedal FX, Distorted, Modular to Binson Echorec tape delay, or choose from 50 curated presets made by the Spitfire team, for endless combinations of instantly playable sounds.
In this page:
- Hard drive delivery available at checkout
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Spitfire Audio App required
Steinway D grand piano
50 presets
Kontakt Player
Listen to Hauschka Composer Toolkit
Features Spitfire Symphonic Strings and Spitfire Symphonic Woodwinds
I alter the piano in such a way that you hear many other instruments. I'd love people to use this library whenever they are stuck, and don’t want to use obvious sounds.
Berlin’s legendary Vox Ton studios (where we recorded our acclaimed Ólafur Arnalds Evolutions library) is the go-to recording space for some of Europe’s most renowned composers, from Jóhann Jóhannsson to Dustin O’Halloran. Each sound has been expertly recorded by the Spitfire team, led by producer Harry Wilson, with Vox Ton’s in-house engineer and Hauschka’s long-term collaborator, Francesco Donadello, who was instrumental in curating each sound. Though performed on a heritage Steinway D grand piano, most of the sounds are far removed from the original instrument. From conception to recording, we worked in close collaboration, perfecting and expanding on tried and tested preparations used in his existing works, capturing both standalone notes and rhythmic performances. Hauschka’s approach to writing and sampling is “randomness mixed with intent”: an adventure into the unknown. With this in mind, we allowed ample room for experimentation in the recording process, taking the piano to places it has never been before. Hauschka’s signature, multifaceted sound is born out of his endless fascination for the interaction between existing instruments and other materials and textures. Inspired by sounds in nature, Hauschka’s sounds are chaotic, unpredictable, and never the same twice, from jarring and noise-like to melodious and spine-tingling, the combination of which creates compelling results, in contrast to the minimalism of his predecessors.
When I started to prepare the piano, I wanted to create electronic sounding music with an analog instrument, without electronics or a computer. The first sound I came up with was a hi-hat sound created by a Christmas cake wrapper, which reflects the principle of my work — to stay as creative as possible.
I like the chaos. Music is a creative pursuit that has no limits. I give randomness enough space in my work, but also give it a deep purpose by incorporating it into a broader concept.
Uncompromising and unorthodox, Volker Bertelmann is a one-of-a-kind composer and pianist from Düsseldorf, best known under his stage name, Hauschka. He started playing the piano at the age of nine. He formed his first band as a teenager, and by the age of 18 was writing music for television shows. After moving to Cologne for university, Bertelmann and his cousin formed the hip hop crossover outfit God's Favorite Dog, immediately scoring a record deal and touring with German rap stars Die Fantastischen Vier. Volker started to create his own work, launching himself as a solo artist in 2004 under the moniker Hauschka. After three albums including The Prepared Piano, he signed to British Brighton based label FatCat Records, releasing a series of critically acclaimed albums. From 2007 to 2014, he played up to 700 live shows around the globe to establish his fanbase, constantly building on and developing his signature sound — distinctly more experimental than romantic.
“When I play shows, I always leave room for experimentation. I think people are fed up with always hearing the same stuff. I played 100 shows per year, and there was not one that was similar to the one before.”
His diverse musical output now ranges form solo albums to collaborative works with artists such as Icelandic cellist and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. In recent years, he has returned to his life-long passion: composing film scores. In 2017, Hauschka received an Oscar nomination for his and Dustin O'Halloran’s score for the movie Lion, and has also scored for movies such as Adrift, Hotel Mumbai and the TV series Dublin Murders. In February this year, Bertelmann released his latest solo album A Different Forest – a heartfelt, tender record, featuring just the piano.
General controls panel
This view allows further in-depth control of the instrument, showing all available signals and feature controllers, as well as the ability to purge techniques from memory to reduce system usage.
Mercury Synth
This ingenious user interface features a range of organic sounds and specially curated warped sounds. All of the controls are assignable to your control surface, giving you the ability to instantly make our sounds your own.
The Evo Grid
Based on the EMS VCS3 synth, this extraordinary and unique interface allows for instant gratification and customisation. With 1 or 2 clicks, you will be armed with something totally unique and inspiring. Scroll the Evo Grid to discover and activate Evos that are not visible. Pan and tweak each Evo for perfect blending. Punch in or out 3 useful modulators and effects. Mix your mic positions, all from the front panel.
What's included
Instruments
- Plug Hits Grid
- Plug Rhythms Grid
- Pad Sounds Grid
- Pad Hits
- Swells Grid
- Drum Kit
Plug hits
- 1 - Felt Wedges (Pure)
- 1 - Felt Wedges (Warp)
- 2 - Fingernail Plucks (Pure)
- 2 - Fingernail Plucks (Warp)
- 3 - Gaffer Tape Roll (Pure)
- 3 - Gaffer Tape Roll (Warp)
- 4 - Ping Pong Balls (Pure)
- 4 - Ping Pong Balls (Warp)
- 5 - Tealight Metal (Pure)
- 5 - Tealight Metal (Warp)
- 6 - Wood Mutes (Pure)
- 6 - Wood Mutes (Warp)
- 7 - Necklace (Pure)
- 7 - Necklace (Warp)
- 8 - Natural Piano (Pure)
- 8 - Natural Piano (Warp)
Plug rhythms
- 1 - Felt Wedges 90bpm (Pure)
- 1 - Felt Wedges 90bpm (Warp)
- 1 - Felt Wedges 120bpm (Pure)
- 1 - Felt Wedges 120bpm (Warp)
- 2 - Fingernail Plucks 90bpm (Pure)
- 2 - Fingernail Plucks 90bpm (Warp)
- 2 - Fingernail Plucks 120bpm (Pure)
- 2 - Fingernail Plucks 120bpm (Warp)
- 3 - Gaffer Tape 90bpm (Pure)
- 3 - Gaffer Tape 90bpm (Warp)
- 3 - Gaffer Tape 120bpm (Pure)
- 3 - Gaffer Tape 120bpm (Warp)
- 4 - Ping Pong Balls 90bpm (Pure)
- 4 - Ping Pong Balls 90bpm (Warp)
- 4 - Ping Pong Balls 120bpm (Pure)
- 4 - Ping Pong Balls 120bpm (Warp)
- 5 - Tealight Hits 90bpm (Pure)
- 5 - Tealight Hits 90bpm (Warp)
- 5 - Tealight Hits 120bpm (Pure)
- 5 - Tealight Hits 120bpm (Warp)
- 6 - Wood Mutes 90bpm (Pure)
- 6 - Wood Mutes 90bpm (Warp)
- 6 - Wood Mutes 120bpm (Pure)
- 6 - Wood Mutes 120bpm (Warp)
Pad sounds
- 1 - Damped Piano Swarm (Pure)
- 1 - Damped Piano Swarm (Warp)
- 2 - Necklace Pad (Pure)
- 2 - Necklace Pad (Warp)
- 3 - Ping Pong Balls Pad (Pure)
- 3 - Ping Pong Balls Pad (Warp)
- 4 - Scratchy Strings Pad (Pure)
- 4 - Scratchy Strings Pad (Warp)
- 5 - Tambourine Pad (Pure)
- 5 - Tambourine Pad (Warp)
- 6 - Tealight Metal Pad (Pure)
- 6 - Tealight Metal Pad (Warp)
- 7 - Unprepared Fingertip Pad (Pure)
- 7 - Unprepared Fingertip Pad (Warp)
Pad hits
- Damped Piano Hits (Pure)
- Damped Piano Hits (Warp)
- Scratch Hits (Pure)
- Scratch Hits (Warp)
- Tambourine Hits (Pure)
- Tambourine Hits (Warp)
Swells
- 1 - Mallet Swells Long (Pure)
- 1 - Mallet Swells Long (Warp)
- 2 - Mallet Swells Longest (Pure)
- 2 - Mallet Swells Longest (Warp)
- 3 - Mallet Swells Short (Pure)
- 3 - Mallet Swells Short (Warp)
- 4 - Mallet Swells Shortest (Pure)
- 4 - Mallet Swells Shortest (Warp)
- 5 - Octave Swells Long (Pure)
- 5 - Octave Swells Long (Warp)
- 6 - Octave Swells Longest (Pure)
- 6 - Octave Swells Longest (Warp)
- 7 - Octave Swells Short (Pure)
- 7 - Octave Swells Short (Warp)
- 8 - Octave Swells Shortest (Pure)
- 8 - Octave Swells Shortest (Warp)
- 9 - Single Key Swells Long (Pure)
- 9 - Single Key Swells Long (Warp)
- 10 - Single Key Swells Longest (Pure)
- 10 - Single Key Swells Longest (Warp)
- 11 - Single Key Swells Short (Pure)
- 11 - Single Key Swells Short (Warp)
- 12 - Single Key Swells Shortest (Pure)
- 12 - Single Key Swells Shortest (Warp)
Drum kits
- Drum Kit (Pure)
- Drum Kit (Warp)
- Drum Kit Full Range (Pure)
- Drum Kit Full Range (Warp)
Artist presets
- A Scanner Darkly (Grid)
- Bamber Boozler
- Blinding Fractals
- Bouncing Around (Grid)
- Breaking Up (Grid)
- Clusters (Grid)
- Constellations 90bpm
- Crystal Piano (Grid)
- Dark Drums
- Distant Hail (Grid)
- Dr Doomsday
- Drill Down 120bpm
- Drowned Plucks
- Earth Rumbles (Grid)
- Eerie Sub Winds
- Ethereal Shimmer
- Event Horizon
- Forgotten Past
- French Touch (Warp)
- Frozen Lake 90bpm
- Ghastly Intervention
- Ghouls on Hovercrafts
- Glacial Shifts Grid
- Glory 90bpm
- Hard Glitch
- High Swells
- In The Light (Grid)
- Industrial Grit
- Malletspace (Grid)
- Morning Stream 120bpm
- Nervous Strings 90bpm
- Nostalgia (Grid)
- Omicron
- Ping Kong
- Pluck A Day (Grid)
- Popped Corn
- Popping Up (Grid)
- Purity Seal (Grid)
- Repeaters Dream
- Reverse Piano High
- Reverse Piano
- Rolling Waves (Grid)
- Satan's Staircase
- Soft Air (Grid)
- Solar Winds
- Sun Flares (Grid)
- Sunrise Over Ararat
- The Abyss
- The Ether (Grid)
- Underwater Swarm
Signals
- Close - C
- Mix - Mx
- Pedal FX - P
- Distorted -Dt
- Binson Echorec - E
- Modular FX - Md
Videos
Testimonials
Where this toolkit earns its keep is the imaginative processing applied to the raw recordings, which take the piano out of this world.
FAQs
Why do I need Hauschka Composer Toolkit?
Curated by Oscar-norminated composer Hauschka, these unique sounds will enhance your compositions by adding depth and texture, and offering you endless inspiration, impossible to recreate live.
What libraries work well with Hauschka Composer Toolkit?
Hauschka Composer Toolkit works well alongside any of our orchestral ranges, as well as our smaller libraries such as British Drama Toolkit and Spitfire Solo Strings.
Once I have purchased Hauschka Composer Toolkit, how do I install it?
Once Hauschka Composer Toolkit has been purchased, you can install the library using our Spitfire Audio Installer Application found here. Log in with your Email and Password to begin the download process.
Read more FAQs for this productTech specs
Mac system requirements
Mac OS 11, 12 or 13
Both Intel and Apple Silicon/ARM are supported
Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 minimum (quad-core), 8GB RAM
Recommended: 2.8GHz I7 (six-core), 16GB RAM
32-bit systems are not supported.
PC system requirements
Windows 10 or Windows 11 - (Latest Service Pack, 64-bit)
Minimum: Intel 2.8 GHz i5 (quad-core) or AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM
Recommended: Intel Core i7 6th gen and later or AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM
32-bit systems are not supported.
File size
~15978 samples
24.5 GB download size
25.00 GB disk space required during install
Too large to download? Choose hard drive delivery at checkout
Kontakt player
Kontakt Full or Kontakt Player 5.6.8 or higher required