This is Memos.
It’s a collection of 80 instruments, all recorded on phones. Not for the sake of nostalgia, but because that’s how a lot of us make music now—on the fly, wherever we are. In the car, on the porch, in the kitchen. The idea is simple: the best mic is the one you’ve got with you.
Phone mics have their own character—tiny electrets with built-in compression, baked-in EQ, and a sound that’s weirdly familiar. These weren’t recorded in treated rooms or under perfect conditions. They were captured in the moment: in stairwells, backyards, hallways, and living rooms with the windows open. Sometimes it was too close, or too far, just depending on what sounded cool in the moment.
There’s something magical about phone recordings—not just the tone, but the timing. They happen when the idea is fresh. I’ve lost count of how many times someone’s sent me a voice memo of a new song, and I end up sampling it into the final production. Because it feels like something. It’s raw, immediate, and often better than anything we can recreate later.
Memos isn’t genre-specific. The instruments are from all over the place—so when you combine them, you get happy accidents. I started building presets but realized it was more fun to just roll the dice and see what happens. That’s kind of the point.
Memos is messy on purpose. It's not about polish—it's about catching a moment and turning it into something new.
How it works:
There are two layers: A and B. Choose a sound from the dropdown, the arrows, or the dice. Then dial in your attack, release, speed, tuning, pan, and volume. You’ve also got global controls for bite, drift, punch, push, low pass, high pass, dirt, and verb. It's simple, but there's a lot of range.
Sounds:
Ac Gtr Soundhole, Accordion 1, Accordion 2, Bansuri Vib, Bansuri, Bass Fuzz, Bass Snap, Bass Reverb, Bass Palm Mute, Cello Bow, Cello Pizz, Chromatic Harmonica, Douglas Ave Piano, El Gtr Little Drive, El Gtr Swells, El Gtr Muted Chorus, El Gtr Deep Trem, El Gtr Rotary, El Gtr Destroyed, El Gtr Delay Feedback, El Gtr All Verb, El Gtr Muted Phase, El Gtr Octave Down, El Gtr Octave Up, El Gtr Unst Drive, El Gir Vib Space, Erhu, Euphonium, Fife, Glockenspiel, Grand Piano, Grand Piano Super Soft, Gut String Palm Mute, Gut String, Hand Pan, Jmaster Acoustic, Kalimba, Little Synth Simple, Little Synth Detune, Little Synth Awkward, Little Synth Blip, Little Synth Vib, Little Synth Swell, M Bass Harmonics, Mandolin, Marimba, P Bass Acoustic, Parlor Gtr Harmonics, Parlor Slide, Piano, Porch Banjo, Sitar, Steel String Palm Mute, Steel String, Terrible Keys Piano, Terrible Keys Reed, Terrible Keys Organ 1, Terrible Keys Organ 2, Trombone Muted, Trombone, Trumpet Muted, Trumpet, Uke 1, Uke 2, Uke Bass Acoustic, Upright Bass Bow, Upright Bass Pizz, Viola Bow, Viola Pizz, Violin Bow, Violin Pizz, Vox Male Da, Whistle, Xtuli, Xylophone
What you need:
Kontakt 8 Player (free)
6 gb of space on your drive.
After checkout, the serial number will be added to your account. Click 'show order summary' to get it and head over to Native Access to activate and download from there.