Claire - Avant by Native Instruments Kontakt piano instrument interface

Claire - Avant: Experimental Piano Instrument for Kontakt

Claire - Avant is an experimental piano instrument for Kontakt by Native Instruments, built from the lid-off recordings and unconventional playing techniques of the Claire grand piano.

REQUIRESKontaktHost player sold separately

KontaktWindowsmacOS64-bit

AVAILABLE ATPlugin Boutique

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01Overview

Claire - Avant is the experimental follow-up to the Claire grand piano, developed by Native Instruments in collaboration with Galaxy Instruments. Instead of standard piano tones, it focuses on sounds usually left out of traditional libraries: brushed textures, damped strings, flageolet harmonics and metal mallets. The instrument runs inside Kontakt and includes a Particles engine and a Pattern Tool that turn single key presses into evolving textures.

Best for

Film score textures
Experimental music
Evolving ambient pads
Prepared piano sounds
Generative pattern ideas

Developer: Native Instruments
Category: Kontakt Instruments
Requires: Kontakt
Store: Plugin Boutique

02Key features

What you get

Experimental piano tones built with preparations and unconventional techniques
Nine articulations: brushed, damped una corda, flageolet, plucks, mallets, muted strings
Up to 13 velocity zones and three round robins per sample set
Particles engine adds shimmering, evolving textures to every note
Over 40 Pattern Tool presets with randomization options
Integration with Kontrol S-Series keyboards for browsing and control
Developed with Galaxy Instruments, creators of Noire and Piano Colors

03In depth

Experimental Piano Sounds and Articulations

Avant is built on piano tones created with experimental preparations and playing techniques. Nine articulations give you access to brushed, damped una corda, flageolet, plucked, mallet and muted string sounds, so the same instrument can cover quite different timbres.

The recordings use up to 13 velocity zones and three round robins, which helps repeated notes avoid sounding mechanical and keeps dynamic changes detailed.

Particles Engine and Pattern Tool Workflow

The Particles engine adds shimmering, evolving textures to every note you play, which is the main tool for turning simple key presses into atmospheric material.

The Pattern Tool includes more than 40 presets with randomization options. These are useful when you want to generate new rhythmic or melodic ideas quickly rather than programming each note by hand.

Avant also integrates with Kontrol S-Series keyboards for browsing, performance and expressive control.

04Specs

Will it run?

Formats, systems and requirements as listed by Plugin Boutique. Missing details are left out, not guessed.

Developer	Native Instruments
Type	Plugin
Category	Kontakt Instrument
Requires	Kontakt
Formats	Kontakt
Operating systems	Windows, macOS
Architecture	64-bit

05FAQ

Questions, answered

What do I need to use Claire - Avant?

Claire - Avant is a Kontakt instrument, so you need Kontakt 8.2 or higher, or the free Kontakt 8.2 Player. The download is about 31.2 GB.

Which operating systems does Claire - Avant support?

It runs on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) and on macOS 13, 14 or 15. Windows supports ASIO and WASAPI, and macOS supports Core Audio.

What are the system requirements?

On Mac, you need an Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU, or Apple Silicon, with 4 GB of RAM (6 GB recommended). On Windows, you need an Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU with 4 GB of RAM (6 GB recommended). Both platforms need graphics hardware that supports Direct3D 11.1 (Feature Level 11_0) or higher.