Native Instruments Kontakt 2.1 Manual Addendum
KONTAKT 2.1
Manual Addendum
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not
represent a commitment on the part of NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Software Synthesis
GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement
and may not be copied to other media. No part of this publication may be copied,
reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior
written permission by NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Software Synthesis GmbH. All product
and company names are trademarks of their respective owners.
And also, if you’re reading this, it means you bought the software rather than stole
it. It’s because of people like you that we can continue to create great tools and
update them. So, thank you very much.
Users Guide written by Markus Krieg
Editor: Brian Smith, Martin Jann
Special thanks to the Beta Test Team, who were invaluable not just in tracking down
bugs, but in making this a better product.
© Native Instruments Software Synthesis GmbH, 2006. All rights reserved.
Germany USA
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info@native-instruments.de info@native-instruments.com
www.native-instruments.de www.native-instruments.com
Table Of Contents
Welcome .......................................................................................... 4
Performance View .............................................................................. 4
Assigning a script to the Performance View ........................................ 5
Setting a background skin for an instrument ....................................... 5
Minimized View ................................................................................. 7
High Quality Interpolation Mode (HQI) .................................................. 7
New Limiter / Compressor / Gainer ....................................................... 8
Limiter ........................................................................................... 8
Compressor .................................................................................... 9
Gainer ............................................................................................ 9
Akoustik Piano and Bandstand Compatibility........................................10
Akoustik Piano ...............................................................................10
Bandstand .....................................................................................11
Kontakt Player 2 Compatibility ...........................................................12
New Sample Search Dialog (“Samples Missing”)
with Spotlight Support ....................................................................13
Host Compatibility ............................................................................15
Easier Cross-Platform Management .....................................................16
Kontakt Script Processor Updates .......................................................17
New Import Features .........................................................................17
Performance Enhancements ...............................................................19
New Options Functions ..................................................................... 20
Quickjump Menus ............................................................................ 25
Flexible Outputs (2.0.2) .................................................................... 26
Other Changes and Enhancements ..................................................... 28
Other Notes..................................................................................... 30
Sound Library ...................................................................................31
Documentation ................................................................................ 32
Appendix A: Advanced Modulation ..................................................... 33
Appendix B: Full List of Supported Import File Formats ....................... 34
KONTAKT 2.1 – 3
Welcome to this manual addendum for the Kontakt 2.1 update.
This document contains an overview of the new functions and features included
in all Kontakt updates since the initial release version 2.0.0. The descriptions
and explanations in this document complement the original printed manual.
The original manual can also be found as pdf le in the documentation folder
of the Kontakt installation folder (e.g. “Kontakt 2 Manual english.pdf”).
The Kontakt 2.1 update includes a large number of improvements, which
contain stability, performance, and compatibility improvements, as well as
new features. If you are interested in a detailed list of bug xes, please take
a look at the “readme” document in the Kontakt installation folder.
Performance View
Gone are the times when you had to dive into the complex world of the Kontakt
Edit view when you just wanted to tweak a modulator or change some FX
parameters! The new Kontakt Performance View introduces a revolutionary
concept of a dynamic GUI right inside Kontakt’s rack. The full power of
the KSP GUI controls and the new KSP access can be used with almost all
Kontakt parameters!
Just compare this to the static GUI of a typical software sampler. Kontakt is
the rst sampler that allows you to create custom GUIs for each instrument!
Several templates are provided to get you started.
In the following example you can see that you have immediate access to
typical synthesis controls (lter, envelope, LFO). With replaceable background
images, related controls can be visually grouped, greatly improving usability.
Controls can also be dynamically replaced so that you can spread them over
several pages and further simplify the GUI.
This instrument example can be downloaded from the updates section on the Native Instruments
website.
4 – KONTAKT 2.1
Assigning a script to the Performance View
You can make use of any existing instrument script as the Performance View
source. Just add the following line of code to the script’s “on init” section:
make _ perfview
Then click Apply and close the Edit view to see your new Performance View
for the current instrument in the Kontakt rack. Make sure that the instrument
view is maximized (the “+” button at the right side of the instrument header
in the Rack). Click on the instrument icon to show / hide the Performance
View in the maximized view.
Setting a background skin for an instrument
You can assign any 16, 24, or 32 bit TGA bitmap to the current instrument (32
bit recommended). The max viewable size is 635 * 201 pixels - bigger sizes
will be cut off, smaller sizes will be lled with black. Open the bitmap via the
Skin Bitmap setting on the Instrument tab in the Instrument Options dialog
(on the top left of the Edit view). The background skin will be visible as soon
as you exit the Edit view. The skin is visible only in the rack, not in the Edit
view. We have provided some sample skins for you in the Kontakt 2
wallpaper folder.
KONTAKT 2.1 – 5
\presets\
It is recommended to save your NKI (instrument) with samples after assigning a
skin. This way the TGA bitmap will be automatically saved inside a “Wallpaper”
subfolder in the samples folder. If you only save the NKI, the TGA will be
referred to with either a relative path or an absolute path just like with sample
les. Finally, skin TGAs will always be included in monolithic NKI les if you
chose this saving option.
Here are some examples of different performance views for instruments:
6 – KONTAKT 2.1
Minimized View
To get the most out of the new Performance View, you can now reduce the
size of Kontakt to see only the current instrument Performance View, with
or without the keyboard. Just click on the Minimize / Maximize button to the
left of the NI icon in the Kontakt header to select the minimized view. Click
on the button again to get back to full view. While in minimized view, use the
left and right button in the header to switch to the previous or next instrument
and use the keyboard button to show / hide the keyboard.
High Quality Interpolation Mode (HQI)
The new HQI mode allows you to select among three quality options when
using the Sampler mode or the DFD mode in the Kontakt Source module.
“Standard” corresponds to the old mode, whereas “High” and “Perfect”
increase the quality. Try this with a square wave sample that you transpose
both up and down by 2 octaves! HQI mode helps you eliminate digital aliasing
sounds which become particularly audible when you transpose sounds with
signicant high frequency content upwards. Note that this quality comes with a
price in the form of additional CPU load and thus a lower total voice count.
Important: Both modes “high” and “perfect” will use more cpu if the
transposition is higher. E.g. if you transpose a sample one octave, then
2 octaves, the cpu load will double every octave. So if you transpose
your sample many octaves higher, the cpu load might be very high.
KONTAKT 2.1 – 7
Of course, HQI can also be used in Ofine Rendering / Bounce mode. The
best news is that you can set the Bounce quality globally and independently of
the Source setting of each individual instrument! Thus you can save CPU load
during live play and get the best quality while rendering your song. This new
global setting can be found in the Audio Engine tab of the Options dialog.
New Limiter / Compressor / Gainer
The Limiter and Compressor are both available as Group Insert, Instrument
Insert, and Master effects.
Limiter
The limiter effect has the following parameters and value ranges:
Input Gain: ranges from -24 dB to 24 dB
Release Time: ranges from 10 ms to 1000 ms
Attenuation: shows the gain reduction
Output Gain: ranges from -∞ dB to 24 dB
8 – KONTAKT 2.1
Compressor
The new “Pro” compressor offers even better sound quality than the “Classic”
and “Enhanced” versions. It has the same parameters and value ranges as
the other compressor models. Just select the compressor quality in the dropdown menu on the left side of the Compressor module.
Gainer
The new Gainer effect is available as both Instrument Insert and Instrument
Send effect and serves two purposes.
As an Instrument Insert effect, you can boost the current signal relative to the
previous stage’s output gain as well as the next stage’s input gain. In other
words, it works like an additional amplier stage.
As an Instrument Send effect, you can pick up a signal from anywhere in the
Group Insert and Instrument Insert effect chains via the Send Levels module
like with any other send effect. Plus, you can adjust the gain like above.
However, the best part is that you can click on the “I” next to the Return
value (to the right of the Return knob) and send the signal directly to any of
the four AUX master send channels!
You can now send a different signal level from each group directly to AUX1
- AUX4 and save lots of CPU load by replacing regular Instrument send effects
which might be used more than once! On the instrument level, the new Gainer
effect allows you to pick up signals earlier in the Instrument Insert effect chain
than the regular Aux Sends in the rack.
KONTAKT 2.1 – 9
Finally, you can use the new effect output selection method with all other
existing send effects! Just think about the case where you want to use an effect
that is not part of Kontakt, e.g. a gate. Now you can send your Instrument
Send Reverb directly to an empty AUX channel and add the gate effect in
your host application. Add to this the many ways that Kontakt already lets
you route the regular outputs for each instrument and even each group and
you can really feel your head spin.
Akoustik Piano and Bandstand Compatibility
Akoustik Piano and Bandstand libraries can now be loaded in Kontakt. Note
that you have to install library updates (which will soon be available online for
registered users at www.native-instruments.com) for these two products in
order to make full use of the product features, like loading convolution reverb
impulses. If you use the Akoustik Piano 1.0 library or the Bandstand 1.0.1
library, patches will play back ne with the following restrictions:
• Convolution impulses will not load in Akoustik Piano patches
• Program change auto-load will not work in the Bandstand multi
• Convolution impulses will not load in the Bandstand multi
The libraries must be correctly installed and activated (authorized). If you
cannot load the Akoustik Piano or Bandstand libraries within their respective
applications, then Kontakt will not load them either. If you move the Bandstand
library to a different location, use the Bandstand Options dialog to change the
root path. Do not move the Akoustik Piano library since there are not options
to reect the new location.
Akoustik Piano
You can nd all the settings of the Akoustik Piano GUI in the instrument
scripts of the piano NKIs. If you are unsure of the use of these settings, please
use Akoustik Piano for editing and save your changes as a new preset. Some
settings are only provided for testing purposes (for example the “Test” tab of
the KSP module) and can be ignored.
10 – KONTAKT 2.1
Bandstand
For Bandstand, you can also see the instrument and drum set related settings
in the NKI scripts. NKI changes for Bandstand can only be saved in Kontakt
because Bandstand does not save NKI les.
You can even change the sample mapping, add new effects / modulators,
etc. and use the changed instruments in Akoustik Piano or Bandstand. This
is, of course, done at your own risk. Keep in mind that additional effects etc.
will be audible but not editable via the GUI of the other products. If you want
to create completely new instruments for either product, please use one of
the existing instruments as a template and do not remove any of the groups,
scripts, effects, or modulators. You can remove the existing zones and replace
them with new samples. Please ensure that you own the rights to any samples
that you add before sharing your instruments with others.
If you want full Bandstand functionality in Kontakt, you need to load a
Bandstand preset as a Kontakt multi (NKM) le either from the Default or
the Preset folders. You will not be able to edit the global settings via a script
GUI but will have to directly change, say, the master effect settings in the
respective part of the Kontakt GUI. You might consider creating a new preset
KONTAKT 2.1 – 11
via the Bandstand GUI and loading that into Kontakt. Bandstand auto-loading
(program changes) of NKIs and MIDI automation will only work if you use
MIDI port A in Kontakt.
Kontakt Player 2 Compatibility
Libraries of the newly available Kontakt Player 2 can now be loaded in
Kontakt.
The libraries must be correctly installed and activated (authorized). If Kontakt
Player 2 does not load the libraries for any reason, Kontakt will not load them
either. If you move libraries to a different location, use the Kontakt Player 2
Library Browser to change the root path.
If the libraries are locked, you cannot edit the instruments within Kontakt.
However, you can change any parameters in the Performance View and save
these changes just like in the Kontakt Player 2 GUI.
If the libraries are unlocked, you can go into the Edit mode in Kontakt, modify
the instrument to your liking (including the script for the Performance View),
and save any changes. You can then reload the altered patch into Kontakt
Player 2.
You need additional tools if you want to create new Kontakt Player 2 libraries
from within Kontakt based on an empty instrument. Please contact NI if you
are a commercial sample library developer and are interested in creating
libraries for Kontakt Player 2.
12 – KONTAKT 2.1
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