Native Instruments Kontakt 6.0 User Manual
Table of Contents
1. Disclaimer ................................................................................................................ 10
2. Welcome to KONTAKT ............................................................................................... 11
2.1. What is KONTAKT? ......................................................................................... 11
2.2. The Documentation ......................................................................................... 11
2.2.1. About this Application Reference ............................................................ 11
2.2.2. Other Documentation ............................................................................. 11
2.2.3. Document Conventions .......................................................................... 11
3. Setup ....................................................................................................................... 13
3.1. Stand-alone Operation .................................................................................... 13
3.1.1. Low Memory Warning on Start-Up ......................................................... 13
3.1.2. Audio Configuration .............................................................................. 14
3.1.3. Latency Optimization ............................................................................ 14
3.1.4. MIDI Configuration ................................................................................ 15
3.2. Plug-in Operation ........................................................................................... 16
3.2.1. Changing Outputs in Pro Tools .............................................................. 16
3.2.2. Changing Outputs in Logic 8 ................................................................. 16
4. User Interface Elements ............................................................................................ 17
4.1. Info Pane ....................................................................................................... 17
4.2. Knobs ............................................................................................................ 17
4.3. Buttons .......................................................................................................... 18
4.4. Drop-Down Menus .......................................................................................... 18
4.5. Scroll Bars ..................................................................................................... 19
4.6. Value Fields ................................................................................................... 19
4.7. Saving and Loading Presets ............................................................................ 20
4.8. MIDI Learn ..................................................................................................... 20
4.8.1. Assigning MIDI Controllers .................................................................... 20
4.8.2. Removing MIDI Controller Assignments ................................................. 21
5. KONTAKT: The Big Picture ........................................................................................ 22
5.1. Core Building Blocks ....................................................................................... 22
5.2. Tools .............................................................................................................. 23
6. The KONTAKT Window ............................................................................................. 25
6.1. Stand-alone Menu .......................................................................................... 26
6.2. The Main Control Panel .................................................................................. 26
6.2.1. Files Menu ........................................................................................... 26
6.2.2. Workspace Menu ................................................................................. 32
6.2.3. Minimized View .................................................................................... 33
6.2.4. System Performance Meters ................................................................. 33
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6.3. Options Dialog ................................................................................................ 34
6.3.1. Interface Tab ........................................................................................ 34
6.3.2. Engine Tab ........................................................................................... 35
6.3.3. Handling Tab ........................................................................................ 36
6.3.4. Usage Data .......................................................................................... 38
6.3.5. Load / Import Tab ................................................................................. 39
6.3.6. Libraries Tab ........................................................................................ 40
6.3.7. Memory Tab ......................................................................................... 41
7. The Rack Multi Instrument Mode ............................................................................... 44
7.1. Multi Instrument Header .................................................................................. 44
7.2. Instrument Header .......................................................................................... 45
7.3. Purge Menu ................................................................................................... 47
7.4. Instrument Header (Minimized) ........................................................................ 48
7.5. Performance View .......................................................................................... 48
8. The Rack Instrument Edit Mode ................................................................................. 50
8.1. Instrument Options Dialog ............................................................................... 54
8.1.1. Instrument Tab ..................................................................................... 54
8.1.2. Voices Handling Tab ............................................................................. 55
8.1.3. DFD Tab .............................................................................................. 56
8.1.4. Controller Tab ....................................................................................... 57
8.1.5. Snapshot Tab ....................................................................................... 58
8.1.6. Infos Tab .............................................................................................. 58
9. Loading and Creating Instruments ............................................................................. 60
10. Using Snapshots .................................................................................................... 64
10.1. Saving a User Snapshot ................................................................................ 64
10.2. Loading a Snapshot from the Snapshot Menu ................................................ 65
10.3. Loading Snapshots from the File System ........................................................ 67
10.4. Deleting a User Snapshot .............................................................................. 68
11. Loading and Creating Instrument Banks ................................................................... 69
12. The On-Screen Keyboard ........................................................................................ 71
13. The Master Editor ................................................................................................... 72
14. The Browser ........................................................................................................... 74
14.1. Libraries Tab ................................................................................................ 74
14.1.1. Loading and saving Instruments and Multis .......................................... 75
14.1.2. Function Menu ................................................................................... 75
14.1.3. Add Library Button .............................................................................. 76
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14.1.4. Library Activation via KONTAKT .......................................................... 76
14.2. Files Tab ...................................................................................................... 76
14.2.1. Upper (Container) Pane ...................................................................... 77
14.2.2. Middle (Objects) Pane ........................................................................ 78
14.2.3. Instrument Navigator Pane .................................................................. 79
14.2.4. Audition Strip ...................................................................................... 80
14.2.5. Refresh and Eject Buttons ................................................................... 81
14.2.6. The View Menu .................................................................................. 81
14.3. Expert Tab .................................................................................................... 82
14.4. Automation Tab ............................................................................................ 85
14.4.1. Assigning MIDI Controllers (alternative way) ......................................... 87
14.4.2. Removing MIDI Controller Assignments ............................................... 87
15. The Quick-Load Catalog .......................................................................................... 89
15.1. Building a Catalog ......................................................................................... 89
15.2. Loading Objects from the Catalog .................................................................. 91
16. The Outputs Section ............................................................................................... 92
16.1. Panel Controls .............................................................................................. 92
16.2. Working with Output Channels ....................................................................... 93
16.3. Working with Aux Channels ........................................................................... 94
16.4. Outputs in Host Mode ................................................................................... 94
17. The Group Editor .................................................................................................... 96
17.1. Control Header ............................................................................................. 97
17.1.1. Edit All Groups ................................................................................... 97
17.1.2. Group Selector ................................................................................... 97
17.1.3. Edit .................................................................................................... 97
17.1.4. Group Solo ......................................................................................... 99
17.1.5. Select by MIDI .................................................................................... 99
17.2. Group List .................................................................................................... 99
17.3. Voice Groups ............................................................................................... 100
17.4. Group Start Options ..................................................................................... 101
18. The Mapping Editor ................................................................................................ 103
18.1. Mapping Samples Manually .......................................................................... 104
18.2. Mapping Samples Automatically ................................................................... 105
18.3. Managing Zones .......................................................................................... 106
18.3.1. Editing Parameters in the Status Bar ................................................... 107
18.3.2. Editing Parameters Graphically ........................................................... 107
18.3.3. Editing Parameters via MIDI ............................................................... 108
18.4. Control Strip ................................................................................................ 108
18.5. Edit Menu .................................................................................................... 110
18.6. Batch Tools ................................................................................................. 112
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19. The Wave Editor .................................................................................................... 114
19.1. Tool Bar ...................................................................................................... 115
19.2. Status Bar ................................................................................................... 118
19.3. Waveform View ........................................................................................... 119
19.4. Grid Panel ................................................................................................... 120
19.4.1. Fix Mode ........................................................................................... 121
19.4.2. Auto Mode ........................................................................................ 123
19.4.3. Editing Slices Manually ...................................................................... 124
19.5. Sample Loop Tab ......................................................................................... 124
19.6. Sync / Slice Tab ........................................................................................... 127
19.6.1. Using the Beat Machine ..................................................................... 128
19.6.2. Using the Time Machine ..................................................................... 129
19.6.3. Mapping Slices Manually .................................................................... 129
19.6.4. Mapping Slices Automatically ............................................................. 130
19.7. Zone Envelopes .......................................................................................... 132
19.7.1. Assigning and Selecting Envelopes .................................................... 132
19.7.2. Adjusting Assignment Parameters ...................................................... 133
19.7.3. Editing Envelopes .............................................................................. 134
19.7.4. Utility Functions ................................................................................. 135
19.8. Sample Editor .............................................................................................. 136
19.8.1. Edit Operations ................................................................................. 138
19.8.2. Transform Operations ........................................................................ 138
20. The Script Editor .................................................................................................... 139
20.1. Loading a Script .......................................................................................... 140
20.2. Saving Script Settings .................................................................................. 140
20.3. Editing and Saving a Script ........................................................................... 140
21. The Source Module ................................................................................................ 142
21.1. Sampler ...................................................................................................... 142
21.2. DFD ............................................................................................................ 143
21.3. Wavetable ................................................................................................... 144
21.4. Tone Machine .............................................................................................. 145
21.5. Time Machine .............................................................................................. 147
21.6. Time Machine II ........................................................................................... 147
21.7. Time Machine Pro ........................................................................................ 148
21.8. Beat Machine .............................................................................................. 148
21.9. S1200 Machine ........................................................................................... 150
21.10. MP60 Machine .......................................................................................... 150
22. The Amplifier Module ............................................................................................. 151
23. Signal Processors in KONTAKT .............................................................................. 153
23.1. Group Insert Effects ..................................................................................... 154
23.2. Bus Insert Effects ......................................................................................... 155
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23.3. Instrument Insert Effects ............................................................................... 156
23.4. Instrument Send Effects ............................................................................... 156
23.5. Adding Modules ........................................................................................... 157
23.6. Deleting Modules ......................................................................................... 157
23.7. Editing Module Parameters .......................................................................... 157
23.8. Common Parameters ................................................................................... 157
23.9. Signal Processors in the Outputs Section ...................................................... 158
23.9.1. Output Channel Inserts ...................................................................... 158
23.9.2. Aux Channels .................................................................................... 159
24. Effects ................................................................................................................... 160
24.1. AET Filter .................................................................................................... 160
24.1.1. About Authentic Expression Technology .............................................. 160
24.1.2. Creating a Velocity Morph .................................................................. 161
24.1.3. Creating an Articulation Morph ........................................................... 163
24.1.4. Create AET Morph Layer Dialog ......................................................... 164
24.1.5. Morph Map Editor .............................................................................. 165
24.1.6. AET Filter Module Controls ................................................................ 166
24.2. Transient Master .......................................................................................... 167
24.3. Feedback Compressor ................................................................................. 167
24.4. Solid Bus Comp ........................................................................................... 168
24.5. Compressor ................................................................................................ 169
24.6. Limiter ......................................................................................................... 170
24.7. Tape Saturator ............................................................................................. 171
24.8. Distortion .................................................................................................... 171
24.9. Lo-Fi ........................................................................................................... 172
24.10. Saturation .................................................................................................. 172
24.11. Cabinet ..................................................................................................... 172
24.12. Skreamer .................................................................................................. 173
24.13. Twang ....................................................................................................... 173
24.14. Jump ......................................................................................................... 174
24.15. Van51 ....................................................................................................... 174
24.16. ACBox ...................................................................................................... 175
24.17. HotSolo ..................................................................................................... 176
24.18. Cat ............................................................................................................ 176
24.19. DStortion ................................................................................................... 177
24.20. Cry Wah .................................................................................................... 177
24.21. Rotator ...................................................................................................... 178
24.22. Surround Panner ....................................................................................... 178
24.22.1. Explanation of channel abbreviations: ............................................... 180
24.22.2. Controls .......................................................................................... 182
24.22.3. Surround Panner Automation ........................................................... 182
24.22.4. Host/MIDI Automation ...................................................................... 182
24.22.5. Internal Modulation .......................................................................... 182
24.23. Stereo Modeller ......................................................................................... 183
24.24. Inverter ..................................................................................................... 184
24.25. Send Levels .............................................................................................. 184
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24.26. Legacy Delay ............................................................................................. 185
24.27. Replika Delay ............................................................................................ 185
24.28. Chorus ...................................................................................................... 187
24.29. Flanger ..................................................................................................... 187
24.30. Phaser ...................................................................................................... 188
24.31. Convolution ............................................................................................... 189
24.32. Reverb ...................................................................................................... 190
24.33. Plate Reverb ............................................................................................. 191
24.34. Legacy Reverb .......................................................................................... 192
24.35. Gainer ....................................................................................................... 192
25. Filters .................................................................................................................... 194
25.1. Lowpass Filters ........................................................................................... 195
25.1.1. SV LP1 ............................................................................................. 195
25.1.2. SV LP2 ............................................................................................. 195
25.1.3. SV LP4 ............................................................................................. 196
25.1.4. Ladder LP1 ....................................................................................... 196
25.1.5. Ladder LP2 ....................................................................................... 196
25.1.6. Ladder LP3 ....................................................................................... 197
25.1.7. Ladder LP4 ....................................................................................... 197
25.1.8. AR LP2 ............................................................................................. 197
25.1.9. AR LP4 ............................................................................................. 198
25.1.10. AR LP2/4 ........................................................................................ 198
25.1.11. Daft ................................................................................................. 198
25.1.12. PRO-53 ........................................................................................... 198
25.1.13. Legacy LP1 ..................................................................................... 199
25.1.14. Legacy LP2 ..................................................................................... 199
25.1.15. Legacy LP4 ..................................................................................... 199
25.1.16. Legacy LP6 ..................................................................................... 199
25.1.17. Legacy Ladder ................................................................................. 200
25.2. Highpass Filters ........................................................................................... 200
25.2.1. SV HP1 ............................................................................................. 200
25.2.2. SV HP2 ............................................................................................. 200
25.2.3. SV HP4 ............................................................................................. 201
25.2.4. Ladder HP1 ....................................................................................... 201
25.2.5. Ladder HP2 ....................................................................................... 201
25.2.6. Ladder HP3 ....................................................................................... 202
25.2.7. Ladder HP4 ....................................................................................... 202
25.2.8. AR HP2 ............................................................................................ 202
25.2.9. AR HP4 ............................................................................................ 203
25.2.10. AR HP2/4 ........................................................................................ 203
25.2.11. Daft HP ........................................................................................... 203
25.2.12. Legacy HP1 .................................................................................... 203
25.2.13. Legacy HP2 .................................................................................... 204
25.2.14. Legacy HP4 .................................................................................... 204
25.3. Bandpass .................................................................................................... 204
25.3.1. SV BP2 ............................................................................................. 204
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25.3.2. SV BP4 ............................................................................................. 205
25.3.3. Ladder BP2 ....................................................................................... 205
25.3.4. Ladder BP4 ....................................................................................... 205
25.3.5. AR BP2 ............................................................................................. 206
25.3.6. AR BP4 ............................................................................................. 206
25.3.7. AR BP2/4 .......................................................................................... 206
25.3.8. Legacy BP2 ...................................................................................... 206
25.3.9. Legacy BP4 ...................................................................................... 207
25.4. Peak/Notch ................................................................................................. 207
25.4.1. SV Notch .......................................................................................... 207
25.4.2. Ladder Peak ...................................................................................... 207
25.4.3. Ladder Notch .................................................................................... 208
25.4.4. Legacy BR4 ...................................................................................... 208
25.5. Multi ............................................................................................................ 208
25.5.1. SV Par. LP/HP ................................................................................... 208
25.5.2. SV Par. BP/BP .................................................................................. 209
25.5.3. SV Ser. LP/HP ................................................................................... 209
25.5.4. 3x2 Versatile ..................................................................................... 209
25.5.5. Simple LP/HP .................................................................................... 211
25.6. Effect Filters ................................................................................................ 211
25.6.1. Formant I .......................................................................................... 211
25.6.2. Formant II ......................................................................................... 212
25.6.3. Phaser .............................................................................................. 212
25.6.4. Vowel A ............................................................................................ 212
25.6.5. Vowel B ............................................................................................ 213
25.7. EQs ............................................................................................................ 213
25.7.1. Solid G-EQ ........................................................................................ 214
26. Modulation in KONTAKT ........................................................................................ 215
26.1. Modulation Sources ..................................................................................... 215
26.2. Modulation Destinations ............................................................................... 216
26.3. Creating Modulation Assignments ................................................................. 216
26.4. Deleting Modulation Assignments ................................................................. 217
26.5. Assignment Controls .................................................................................... 218
27. Modulation Sources ............................................................................................... 221
27.1. Envelopes ................................................................................................... 221
27.1.1. AHDSR Envelope Controls ................................................................. 221
27.1.2. DBD Envelope Controls ..................................................................... 222
27.1.3. Flexible Envelopes ............................................................................ 222
27.2. LFOs .......................................................................................................... 224
27.2.1. LFO Controls ..................................................................................... 225
27.2.2. Multi Digital LFO ................................................................................ 226
27.3. Other Modulators ......................................................................................... 226
27.3.1. 32-Step Modulator ............................................................................. 226
27.3.2. Envelope Follower ............................................................................. 227
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27.3.3. Glide ................................................................................................. 227
27.4. External Sources ......................................................................................... 228
28. Keyboard Shortcuts ............................................................................................... 230
28.1. Global Keys ................................................................................................. 230
28.2. Browser ...................................................................................................... 230
28.3. Instrument Edit Mode ................................................................................... 230
28.4. Group Editor ................................................................................................ 231
28.5. Mapping Editor ............................................................................................ 231
28.6. Wave Editor ................................................................................................. 231
29. File Formats .......................................................................................................... 232
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Disclaimer
1. DISCLAIMER
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment on the part of Native Instruments 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 GmbH, hereinafter referred to as Native Instruments.
“Native Instruments”, “NI” and associated logos are (registered) trademarks of Native Instruments
GmbH.
Mac, macOS, GarageBand, Logic, iTunes and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners and use of them does not imply
any affiliation with or endorsement by them.
Document authored by: Adam Hanley, Hannah Lockwood, Jan Morgenstern, et al.
Software version: 6.0.2 (09/2018)
Special thanks to the Beta Test Team, who were invaluable not just in tracking down bugs, but in
making this a better product.
10
Welcome to KONTAKT
2. WELCOME TO KONTAKT
We at Native Instruments would like to thank you for purchasing KONTAKT — it’s because of customers like you that we can continue developing ground-breaking music software. We hope that
this application reference will provide you with all the information you need to make use of KONTAKT’s features to their full capacity.
2.1. What is KONTAKT?
KONTAKT is one of the leading sampling solutions in the audio industry. It allows you to play back
and process audio samples — but that does not even begin to convey the full range of its capabilities. With KONTAKT, you can create sophisticated sample-based virtual instruments, process their
audio signals with powerful DSP structures, build complex performance setups with extensive
modulation routings, and gain access to a huge number of third-party sample libraries.
2.2. The Documentation
A range of documentation resources has been prepared, covering all aspects of KONTAKT.
2.2.1. About this Application Reference
This Application Reference is the most important documentation resource. It provides thorough
descriptions of all the user interface elements, options, tools, editors, and sound processing modules of KONTAKT. You can use it as both a reference manual and as a thorough guide to working
with the application.
2.2.2. Other Documentation
Further documentation relating to KONTAKT 6 can be viewed or downloaded from the KONTAKT
website. When using the stand-alone version of KONTAKT, you can access the documents via the
Help menu at the top of the application window (Windows) or your desktop (Mac). In addition to
this guide, KONTAKT comes with the following resources:
• The KSP Reference Manual documents the built-in scripting language, which allows instrument creators to embed scripts that can dynamically alter MIDI data and playback parameters
in their patches. As such, it is targeted towards advanced users.
• The Creator Tools Reference Manual documents the suite of tools developed to support the
instrument creation process within KONTAKT. Here you will find scripting and binding references for the Debugger and the Instrument Editor.
2.2.3. Document Conventions
Document Conventions SW only
This document uses particular formatting to point out special facts and to warn you of potential issues. The icons introducing the following notes let you see what kind of information can be expected:
11
The speech bubble icon indicates a useful tip that may help you to solve a task more
efficiently.
The exclamation mark icon highlights important information that is essential for the
given context.
The warning icon warns you of serious issues and potential risks that require your
full attention.
Furthermore, the following formatting is used:
Welcome to KONTAKT
• Paths to locations on your hard disk or other storage devices are printed in italics.
• Important names and concepts are printed in bold.
• Square brackets are used to reference keys on a computer’s keyboard, e.g., Press [Shift] +
[Enter].
12
Setup
3. SETUP
Once the installation process has finished, you should find the KONTAKT 6 installation directory
on your hard drive. It contains the KONTAKT 6 application and the documentation resources as
described in the previous chapter.
Before you start KONTAKT for the first time, it is worth explaining that there are two fundamentally
different modes of operation. You have the choice of running KONTAKT as a “stand-alone” application, in which it will behave like any other program on your computer. Alternatively, you can use
it as a virtual instrument plug-in within your sequencer or DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) application. The most important difference between these modes concerns the way in which KONTAKT
handles MIDI and audio streams. In stand-alone operation, KONTAKT will address your MIDI and
audio hardware directly, which requires you to specify some details about your hardware and drivers. When using KONTAKT as a plug-in, these details will be taken care of by the sequencer host
application. The following sections will explain both modes in more detail.
3.1. Stand-alone Operation
When you launch the KONTAKT 6 application in the installation directory, KONTAKT will start as a
stand-alone program that provides its own application menu. In this mode, KONTAKT will receive
MIDI data from one or more ports of a MIDI interface and send audio signals directly to your audio
interface. This can be very useful if you don’t need the additional functionality of a full-blown sequencer environment, for instance when you’re using KONTAKT as a live performance instrument
or as a sampling host on a stand-alone computer. Also, when you are creating or editing complex
sample libraries yourself, using the stand- alone version is often easier than opening KONTAKT in
a DAW or sequencer.
When you start KONTAKT in stand-alone mode for the first time, both audio and MIDI will need to
be configured. In order to make KONTAKT receive MIDI notes from your keyboard and play sound
in response, you will first have to tell it which hardware it should use. This is done via the Options
dialog, which should appear automatically upon the first start.
Options button
You can also open this dialog at any time by clicking on the Options button at the top of the main
window. This is the central place for configuring all aspects of KONTAKT’s user interface and its
sample playback engine. In this chapter, we’ll describe only the Audio and MIDI tabs at the bottom; detailed explanations of the other options can be found in the section Options Dialog.
3.1.1. Low Memory Warning on Start-Up
Sometimes a memory warning is displayed when running several stand-alone instances of KONTAKT simultaneously. This “low memory” warning dialog appears when KONTAKT is running with
no admin privileges or if a second instance of KONTAKT is started and is requesting RAM which
the first instance has already reserved.
Hence, running several stand-alone instances of KONTAKT simultaneously is not recommended.
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Setup
3.1.2. Audio Configuration
In the Audio tab of the Options dialog, you can specify which audio device KONTAKT should use
for playback and adjust global playback parameters.
The dialog provides the following options:
Audio tab of the Options dialog
• Driver: With this drop-down menu, you can select which of your operating system’s device
driver architectures KONTAKT should use. Most professional audio devices provide ASIO, CoreAudio (Mac) or WASAPI (Windows) drivers.
• Device: This menu lists all connected audio interfaces that match the driver architecture chosen above. Use this to select the audio interface that you would like to use for playback.
• Sample rate: This drop-down menu allows you to set the global playback sample rate at which
KONTAKT will operate. Common values are 44100 Hz for music and 48000 Hz for film production. Note that this does not have anything to do with the sampling rate at which your samples
have been recorded — if the playback rate does not match a sample’s recording rate, KONTAKT will handle all necessary conversion steps transparently for you.
• Latency: The size of the audio playback buffer in samples. Small values will shorten the delay
between pressing a key and hearing the resulting sound (this is called “latency”), but may
cause drop-outs and stuttering when playing a lot of voices at the same time. Conversely, setting this to a higher value will make playback more reliable at the cost of more latency. Note
that this control is not always available, as sometimes the latency is handled by your hardware
drivers.
3.1.3. Latency Optimization
The load that typical digital audio calculations generate on your processor is often not constant
and predictable; parameter changes, additional voices or other processes can all cause momentary peaks in the load, which can result in drop-outs or other audio artifacts if not properly compensated for. That is why audio programs don’t send the audio signals they generate directly to the
hardware, but write them to a short buffer in memory instead, which is what is then sent to the actual hardware. This concept allows the program to bridge short irregularities in the stream calculation and thus be more resistant to processing peaks.
14
Setup
Of course, this “safety net” comes at a price — the buffering causes a delay, known as latency,
between the triggering of a note and the actual sound. This delay gets longer with increasing buffer sizes. Hence, it is vital to tune the buffer size in order to find a good compromise between latency and playback reliability. The optimal value depends on such diverse factors as your CPU,
memory and hard disk access times, your audio hardware and drivers, and your operating system
environment.
In order to find the optimal buffer size for your system, we recommend that you begin by setting
the Latency slider described in the previous section to a healthy middle value between 384 and
512 samples, and then gradually decrease the value during your normal work.
Latency Slider
When you begin to notice drop-outs, increase the buffer again by a small amount.
Generally, it is a good idea to have as few other applications running in the background as possible when working with audio software. Also, if you unable to get below a certain buffer size without
drop-outs, consult the documentation of your audio hardware to find out whether you can access it
via an alternate driver architecture, as some architectures allow more efficient low-level access to
the hardware than others.
3.1.4. MIDI Configuration
The MIDI tab of the Options dialog provides a list of all MIDI inputs and outputs that have been
found on your system. These are ports of physical MIDI interfaces connected to your computer,
but also any virtual MIDI ports that may be provided by drivers or other applications to facilitate
inter-application MIDI usage.
MIDI tab of the Options dialog
In order to make KONTAKT respond to MIDI data from the outside, you have to enable one or
more ports that appear in the inputs list of the MIDI tab. Make sure the Inputs button is highlighted
and identify the port(s) that you intend to use for MIDI input in the list. If the Status field on the
right side of an entry reads Off, click that value and assign one of the MIDI port identifiers (A-D).
15
Setup
This enables the respective port, which will later be identified by the selected letter throughout the
user interface.
3.2. Plug-in Operation
The plug-in version of KONTAKT allows you to use it as a virtual instrument inside your sequencer
or DAW. That way, you can run multiple instances of KONTAKT side-by-side along with your other
sound generators and effect plug-ins, trigger them with the data of MIDI tracks from within your
sequencer, and directly feed their audio output into the signal flow of your virtual mixer.
Depending on your operating system and choices upon installation, KONTAKT provides VST, Audio Units (AU), and AAX plug-in formats.
Refer to the documentation of your sequencer to find out which of these formats is the right one in
your case; if you have enabled the appropriate format at installation time, KONTAKT 6 should appear in the plug-in selection list inside your sequencer. If it does not, re-run the installer and make
sure the appropriate plug-in is marked for installation.
Note that AAX plug-ins are supported in DigiDesign hosts only. For other hosts,
check the documentation for which plug-in version to use.
The way in which virtual instrument plug-ins are integrated into the workflow very much depends
on your sequencer; consult its documentation to find out how to instantiate and work with the
KONTAKT plug-in.
3.2.1. Changing Outputs in Pro Tools
1. After changing the output configuration in Pro Tools, you need to close the session running.
2. Unplug KONTAKT. Quit Pro Tools.
3. Restart Pro Tools.
4. Plug in a new instance of KONTAKT. Reopen your session.
When setting the new output configuration for KONTAKT make sure to select this configuration as
default setting.
3.2.2. Changing Outputs in Logic 8
Make sure KONTAKT’s output configuration matches the channel setup chosen in Logic 8. Otherwise signals might be routed to the wrong Aux channel.
16
User Interface Elements
4. USER INTERFACE ELEMENTS
During your work with KONTAKT, you will discover that most elements that let you interact with the
program are being used consistently throughout the whole interface. The handling of these common elements is always the same, only the context in which they appear will vary. This chapter will
explain the basic types of elements that you will encounter, and what you can do with them. Before
we begin, though, there is a helpful function you should know about before all others, since it will
reliably serve as a reference whenever you’re not sure what a specific knob, menu or other interface element does: the Info Pane.
4.1. Info Pane
The Info Pane is an area located at the bottom of your KONTAKT window, just above the bottommost status bar.
To display the Info Pane:
1. Open the Workspace menu in the KONTAKT header.
2. Click on the Info option.
3. This toggles the visibility of the Info Pane.
The Info Pane, showing a description of the Options button in the Main Control Panel
On its right side, the Info Pane will display a short help text about whatever control your mouse is
currently hovering over. If you don’t know what a knob, button, menu entry, or in fact any other
user interface element does, just hover your mouse over it while the Info Pane is visible and a description of the control will appear there.
Setting the Language of the Info Pane
The Info Pane help is available in five languages: English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese. In addition, some other parts of the interface, such as the stand-alone menus, have also
been localized. You can set your preferred language via the new Language drop-down list in the
Interface tab in the Options dialog. You need to restart KONTAKT after selecting a new language.
If you select the language follows the language selection of your operating system.
4.2. Knobs
Knobs are the most frequently used interface element for adjusting numeric parameters.
Bipolar knobs like this one have their zero (and default) setting in the middle of their scale.
They’re designed to resemble real rotary controls that you can find on mixing consoles and other
equipment.
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User Interface Elements
• To change a knob value, click it and drag your mouse upwards to move the knob clockwise, or
downwards to move it counter-clockwise.
• Some knobs can be adjusted more finely if you hold down the [Shift] key on your keyboard
while moving the knob.
• You can reset a knob to its default value by clicking on it while holding the [Ctrl] key if you are
on a Windows operating system, or the [Cmd] key if you are on Mac OS X.
• Many time-related parameters throughout the KONTAKT environment can be synchronized to
your song tempo. Clicking on the unit that’s being displayed in the respective control’s numeric
readout will open a drop-down menu, which contains a number of note values; selecting one of
these, then dialing in the number of notes that you’d like to be spanned by one cycle, will synchronize the parameter to the current tempo. If you want to switch the parameter back to unsynchronized operation, just open the menu again and select its <default> entry.
• To create a new modulation assignment, which uses a modulation signal source to change a
parameter over time, right-click the respective knob and choose a modulation source from the
drop-down menu that appears. How KONTAKT’s modulation system and the assignment of
modulation sources work will be explained in detail in section Modulation in KONTAKT.
• Right-clicking on a knob can also allow you to set it to MIDI-Learn mode for quick assignment
of a MIDI controller to the selected knob.
4.3. Buttons
Buttons appear wherever a parameter can be switched on and off. Each click on a button toggles it
between those two states. The current state of a button is being indicated by its background color;
if a parameter is enabled, its button will be highlighted.
Active toggle buttons are highlighted.
4.4. Drop-Down Menus
These menus allow you to choose from a list of values. They look similar to buttons, but with a
small down arrow icon on their right side. Click them to open the menu; it will stay open until you
have either selected a new value or clicked somewhere else in the KONTAKT window, which
leaves the previous value unchanged. Some menus have further sub-menus; these will be indica-
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User Interface Elements
ted with a small right arrow next to their name. Moving the selection bar to one of these items will
open the respective sub-menu.
The drop-down menu of the Source Module mode.
4.5. Scroll Bars
Scroll bars appear at the bottom or right border of panes whose contents take up too much space
to be displayed in their entirety. Clicking on the position indicator bar and dragging it will scroll the
viewport across the content, while clicking on the empty space of a scrollbar will jump to the respective position. Some contents can also be zoomed in and out; this is indicated by “+” and “-”
buttons at one end of their scrollbar. Click “+” to zoom in, or “-” to zoom out. Some places in KONTAKT, namely the Mapping Editor and the Wave Editor, provide an alternative way of zooming that
you might find more convenient; you can read all about this method, dubbed “rubber-band zooming”, in the chapters of the respective editors.
Horizontal and vertical scroll bars in the Wave Editor.
4.6. Value Fields
Some fields contain editable — usually numeric — values without an additional control. These frequently appear in places that don’t provide enough space for knobs or other controls, such as rows
of tables that can shrink or grow. There are various ways to edit their value:
• Click the field and drag your mouse upwards to increase the value, or downwards to decrease
the value.
• When you hover your mouse pointer over the field, small up and down arrows will appear on its
right side. Click these to increase or decrease the value one step at a time.
• Double-click the field and enter a new value with the keyboard.
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User Interface Elements
Value field
4.7. Saving and Loading Presets
Whenever you have created a setting that you’re really happy with in any part of KONTAKT, you
might want to save it for later use in another context. The KONTAKT environment is split up into
modules, and most of these offer a preset drop-down menu that allows you to manage presets for
the respective module. Loading a preset in a module won’t affect the other modules in your Instrument — this modular approach lets you freely combine different presets into your own Instruments.
Presets are saved in files (file extension: .nkp) which reside in a series of sub-folders within a “presets” folder. KONTAKT creates two of these preset folders on your system: one contains the factory presets, and is located in a directory which is not writable by normal users; the other one resides within your home directory and will be used to store your own presets. KONTAKT will create
this user presets folder when you first start it up.
On Windows, the factory and user preset folders will be created in:
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Native Instruments\Kontakt 6\presets
• C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Native Instruments\Kontakt 6\presets
On Mac OS X, you can find the factory and user preset folders in:
• Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/Kontakt 6/presets
• Macintosh HD/Users/[username]/Documents/Native Instruments/Kontakt 6/presets
KONTAKT comes with a large number of ready-made presets for most of its modules. These are
good starting points for your own settings, so it’s worth browsing the Factory preset list of a module when you have a specific task in mind and don’t know where to begin.
As mentioned, preset management in KONTAKT takes place within each module’s preset dropdown menu. You can access this by clicking on the drop-down menu labeled Pre or Preset that is
located on the left side of each module. It contains all preset files that were found in the respective
preset folders on your hard disk, with further subdirectories (if any) appearing as sub-menus. The
Save Preset entry at the bottom of the menu will open a dialog, which asks you for a filename.
Enter a descriptive name and click Save — from now on, your settings will be available within the
User submenu of the presets drop-down menu. This will not work, however, if you change the path
in the save dialog, so it is recommended that you always save your presets to the default path.
4.8. MIDI Learn
KONTAKT features a MIDI Learn function for all sliders and knobs. Once you have assigned one
of KONTAKT’s controls to a knob or fader on your MIDI controller device, you can conveniently
access the corresponding parameter in KONTAKT via MIDI as well as from the interface.
4.8.1. Assigning MIDI Controllers
To assign any of KONTAKT’s sliders or knobs to a certain MIDI controller:
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User Interface Elements
1. Right-click the knob or slider you want to assign a MIDI controller to.
2. Select Learn MIDI CC# Automation.
3. Turn the knob or move the slider on your MIDI hardware controller.
The control should pick up the movement instantly.
You can add additional MIDI controllers (CC#s) to the same KONTAKT knob. You can also assign
multiple knobs or sliders to the same MIDI controller.
If you cannot assign MIDI controllers this way, see section Automation Tab, for an
alternative assignment method.
4.8.2. Removing MIDI Controller Assignments
To remove an assignment made to a specific controller:
1. In KONTAKT, right-click the knob or slider.
2. Select Remove MIDI Automation: CC#.
The MIDI controller assignment will be removed.
21
KONTAKT: The Big Picture
5. KONTAKT: THE BIG PICTURE
KONTAKT is an extremely powerful, complex, and capable instrument. Before getting into specifics, let’s take a step back first and describe KONTAKT in general terms.
The structure of most samplers, hardware or software, is similar to that of a synthesizer: at its
source, some kind of sound generator outputs unprocessed signals in response to incoming MIDI
notes; these signals are then processed in a variety of ways and sent to the output. The difference
is that the sound generator of a typical synthesizer creates its source waveforms entirely by electrical or mathematical means, often being limited to a range of well-defined waveforms, whereas a
sampler can use any kind of previously recorded audio data — sampled acoustic instruments,
sound effects, vocals, and (of course) any classic waveform known from synthesizers as well.
KONTAKT’s overall structure is not any different in this regard, albeit it is far more sophisticated
than a lot of conventional samplers. For instance, KONTAKT does not force any particular signal
flow structure upon your Instruments — it has an entirely modular approach to sound processing
and parameter modulation. Anything is possible, from triggering simple one-shot samples to building sophisticated virtual instruments that faithfully reproduce all aspects of their acoustic counterparts and respond intelligently to your performance.
However, this power comes at a price; while you’ll be able to load and play your first KONTAKT
Instruments right away, it will take some more practice to become a master at creating your own
Instruments. We hope this manual will help you achieve this; also, whenever you’re stuck, remember you can get helpful hints from the Info Pane described in section Info Pane.
Building Blocks
The full functional range of KONTAKT’s sampling environment is split up into smaller sections,
which allows you to concentrate on the task currently at hand without getting distracted by other
details. This functional division is also reflected on the user interface; most elements that belong to
a specific kind of task are kept within a separate pane, tab, or dialog window.
In this section, we’ll further distinguish two general types of building blocks: the core blocks, which
are hierarchically organized and make up KONTAKT’s chain of turning MIDI data into sound, and
the tools, which allow you to perform a wide range of peripheral management, configuration, and
monitoring tasks.
5.1. Core Building Blocks
Let’s follow KONTAKT’s path of turning simple audio files into readily playable instrumental setups,
starting from the smallest element and then working our way upwards:
• A Sample is a simple audio file on your hard disk. Samples may occasionally carry additional
metadata, but in their purest form, they don’t provide anything other than a recorded audio signal. An example of a Sample would be the digital recording of a single piano note. Samples
can appear in various formats, such as WAV, AIFF, or REX.
• A Zone is KONTAKT’s way of putting a Sample into a playable context. Think of a Zone as a
wrapper around a single Sample; in addition to the Sample itself, the Zone contains information
about which MIDI data will make KONTAKT trigger this Sample, at what pitch the sample was
recorded, and a few other details. An example of a Zone would be the aforementioned piano
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KONTAKT: The Big Picture
Sample, with the attached information that it should be played without any transposition whenever KONTAKT receives an F3 note with a velocity value between 64 and 95. As Zones don’t
contain much additional data, they only exist within a larger context and can’t be saved and
loaded separately.
• A Group is a container that allows you to combine a number of Zones. As every Zone belongs
to a Group (and only one), each Instrument will contain at least one Group; usually, you’ll add
several more Groups in order to combine your Zones by means of distinctive aspects — the
aspects you choose are entirely up to you, but there are some common approaches. All Zones
that belong to a specific Group will share a number of common parameters and signal flow
modules; for instance, their Samples will be played by the same sound Source Module. Consequently, if you want some of your Zones played by a Source Module with different settings,
you’ll need to separate them into their own Group first. In the course of this manual, modules
that pertain to a Group are being referred to as “Group-level modules”. A typical example of a
Group would be “all Zones in my Instrument that should be played at mezzoforte level”. Groups
can be saved and loaded separately as files with an .nkg extension.
• An Instrument is the entity you’ll encounter most frequently when you’re working with readymade KONTAKT libraries. As its name suggests, it’s the virtual equivalent of an acoustic instrument — when being played, it produces a specific range of sounds, possibly at different timbres, dynamics, and articulations. Technically, a KONTAKT Instrument is a wrapper for a number of Groups, whose output signals will be mixed and pass a common signal chain; the modules in this chain are said to reside on the “Instrument level”. A typical example of an Instrument would be “a piano”. Instruments can be saved and loaded separately; native KONTAKT
Instrument files have an .nki extension.
• An Instrument Bank is the only optional element of KONTAKT’s core hierarchy; in other
words, you don’t have to use this feature if you don’t want to. Instrument Banks allow you to
combine up to 128 Instruments into a container that responds to a single MIDI input channel;
you can then switch the active Instrument by sending MIDI program change messages on this
channel. This allows you to create General MIDI-compatible sound sets, or combine Instruments that contain various articulations of the same acoustic instrument into one slot. A typical
example of an Instrument Bank would be a number of violin Instruments that contain legato,
detaché, staccato, and pizzicato Samples, respectively, with the different articulations and playing techniques being switchable via program change messages. Instrument Banks can be
saved and loaded separately as files with an .nkb extension.
• Finally, a Multi lets you freely combine up to 64 Instruments into a production setup. The Multi
is the topmost element of KONTAKT’s core hierarchy. Each Instrument in a Multi responds to a
specific MIDI channel and will send its output signal to a specific Output Channel, where the
signals from all Instruments will be mixed and passed on to a physical output of your audio interface or, alternatively, to your host program. A typical example of a Multi would be “a jazz trio
ensemble”. Multis can be loaded and saved as files with an .nkm extension.
5.2. Tools
In addition to its core architecture, KONTAKT offers some tools that will simplify your everyday
work:
• The Browser is located on the left side of your KONTAKT window and can optionally be hidden to save screen space; it provides a convenient way to organize and access all KONTAKTrelevant files on your system, such as Instruments, Multis, or Banks. The Browser pane also
23
KONTAKT: The Big Picture
offers a number of additional utility functions; these will be described in detail in section The
Browser.
• The Rack occupies the largest amount of space in your KONTAKT window; it operates in one
of two different modes. In Multi Instrument mode, the Rack will provide an overview of all Instruments that are currently in your Multi, along with some general parameters. Clicking on the
wrench icon on the left side of an Instrument Header will switch the Rack into Instrument Edit
mode, which provides a flexible and adjustable view of the contained module panels, editors,
and modulation tables of this Instrument.
• The Outputs section is a mixer-style environment in which you can adjust output levels, assign Output Channels to physical outputs, and use signal processing modules that operate on
the output signals of all Instruments in your Multi.
• The virtual On-Screen Keyboard, the Master Editor, the Info Pane and the Options dialog
provide various utility functions and are being explained in detail within their respective sections
of this manual.
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6. THE KONTAKT WINDOW
Let’s have a look at KONTAKT’s main window during a typical session:
The KONTAKT Window
KONTAKT in action
The user of this session has currently set up a number of Instruments in a way that allows him to
play them via different MIDI channels. Let’s have a look at the visible main elements of the user
interface:
• At the top of the user interface, the Main Control Panel provides options that toggle the display of various optional interface parts, such as the Browser; it also includes the file drop-down
menu and access to the global functions and options, as well as some status meters.
• The Browser (left side of the user interface) provides functions for managing your collection of
KONTAKT-relevant files. In the screenshot, it’s currently switched to the Libraries tab, which
contains easy access to your KONTAKT libraries.
• The Rack, which takes up the largest part of the user interface, is currently in Multi Instrument
mode (Multi Rack); below its own header, it displays a number of Instrument Headers; these
represent all Instruments in the current Multi.
• Within the Multi Rack, the Instrument Headers are shown at normal viewing size; they contain
the Instrument’s name and various parameters, such as MIDI input channel, output level, panning position, and tuning.
• The Outputs section displays a channel strip for each configured Output Channel, plus four
Aux Channels.
25
The KONTAKT Window
• The Info Pane, which displays some details of the currently selected Instrument file below the
Browser, and a brief explanation of the control at the mouse position below the Rack.
• The Status Bar, where messages from running Scripts and, at startup, the Database loading
progress will appear.
Each of these sections is explained in detail within its own section of this manual.
6.1. Stand-alone Menu
In addition to the contents of the main window, the stand-alone version of KONTAKT provides a
system drop-down menu labeled Help. It’s located at the top of the desktop on Mac OS X, or at
the top of the KONTAKT window on Windows. The Help menu lets you launch Native Instruments’
NATIVE ACCESS application, access the additional PDF documents that are part of the KONTAKT installation and explain special topics, and point your web browser to the KONTAKT website.
6.2. The Main Control Panel
The Main Control Panel is the topmost row of elements in your KONTAKT window.
The Main Control Panel
Here you can enable and disable the main parts of the user interface, access various global menus, open the Options dialog, and view statistics about KONTAKT’s overall resource usage.
6.2.1. Files Menu
The Files Menu
This drop-down menu is the first element in the Main Control Panel; it is marked with a disk icon.
The Files menu contains the following functions:
New instrument: Adds a new Instrument to your Multi.
26
The KONTAKT Window
Whenever you create a new Instrument, KONTAKT will use a default Instrument file
as a template, which is usually empty. Overwriting this file with your own version allows you to define your own default settings. For instance, you might want new Instruments to contain a Send Levels module in their Instrument Insert Effects chain
from the get-go; just create a new Instrument, insert the module into its chain, and
choose the “Save as default instrument” command from the Save menu while the instrument is open for editing.
New instrument bank: Adds an empty Instrument Bank to your Multi. Instrument Banks are described in detail in section Loading and Creating Instrument Banks.
Load…: Opens a file selector dialog, asking you to locate and load any object that KONTAKT can
handle, whether it’s an Instrument (file extension: .nki), a Multi (.nkm), or an Instrument Bank
(.nkb).
Load recent…: This sub-menu contains an up-to-date list of files that you recently opened in
KONTAKT. Selecting one will load it.
New instrument from list: This submenu provides access to the contents of your Quick-Load catalog of Instruments as a hierarchical menu structure. Select an entry in order to add the respective
Instrument to your Multi. The Quick-Load catalog is explained in section The Quick-Load Catalog.
New instrument bank from list: Provides access to the contents of your Quick-Load catalog of
Instrument Banks.
Save as…: This function allows you to save any Instrument in your Multi to an .nki file for later reuse. When you move the mouse to this entry, a sub-menu will open, which contains a list of all
Instruments in your current Multi. Selecting one of them will open a Save dialog that lets you
choose a location and change the name of the Instrument. Note that the file name — without
the .nki extension — will be used as the Instrument name that’s being displayed in the Instrument
Header.
The Save Instrument dialog as it appears in Windows 10
Below the file selector, the dialog lets you choose how KONTAKT should handle the Samples that
are being referenced by the Instrument. When you have added these Samples to your Instrument
27
The KONTAKT Window
during your current session, they’re still in their original location, and the Zones in your Instrument
reference them via their full paths; the various options in the save dialog allow you to fine-tune this
behavior before your Instrument is written to disk:
While an Instrument is currently loaded in KONTAKT, never move its referenced
Samples to a different location manually. There’s no guarantee that KONTAKT will
keep all referenced Samples entirely in memory, so trying to save the Instrument
with Samples afterwards can result in corrupted Sample data in such a scenario.
• Patch Only will keep the Samples in their original locations and leaves the file references in
their current state. This creates very small files, as only the Instrument parameters will be
saved. Be aware, though, that this method can keep the relation between the Instrument and
its Samples in a rather fragile state; as soon as you move the Samples to a different location or
delete them, KONTAKT won’t be able to find them the next time you attempt to load the respective Instrument. In such cases, a “Samples Missing” dialog will appear, asking you in which
places KONTAKT should search for the Samples. The “Samples Missing” dialog and its options
are explained in section Loading and Creating Instruments.
• If you enable the Absolute Sample Paths checkbox below the Patch Only option, the Sample
files will be referenced by the Instrument with their absolute paths; this has the benefit that
KONTAKT will still be able to find them when you move the Instrument file to a different location. However, if you know that the Samples already reside in a folder that will always be
moved and backed up along with the destination folder of your Instrument, you can keep the
saved file reference relative to the Instrument location by disabling the Absolute Sample Paths
option.
• Patch + Samples will save the .nki file and copy the contained Samples to a new location,
changing the file references within the Instrument to the copies in the process. If you leave the
Sample Sub-Folder option below set to its Use Default value, KONTAKT will save the Sample
files to a “Samples” folder inside the destination location of your Instrument file; this folder will
be created if it doesn’t exist yet. That way, the Samples will be kept close to the Instrument,
which helps you keeping track of them when doing backups or moving directories. You can also
specify a different Sample location, though; for example, you might want to use a common
“Samples” folder that resides in the directory of your project.
• Monolith will combine the Instrument and its referenced Samples into a single, large file. This
is the safest option to choose in terms of keeping Sample references intact, as the Samples
cannot accidentally get separated from the Instrument later. This is also a good way to create
Instruments that should be distributed to other users of KONTAKT.
Should you choose to save the referenced Samples along with your Instrument data by selecting
either Patch + Samples or Monolith, you further have the choice to save them in a compressed
format by checking the box below the sub-folder field. In this case, KONTAKT will write the Samples using a proprietary, lossless audio codec that typically yields compression rates between 30%
and 50%. This will not only improve access performance when streaming the Instrument from disk,
but will also reduce its memory footprint, as KONTAKT will decompress the Samples on-the-fly
from memory with very little CPU overhead. The downside of using compressed Samples, however, is that you cannot use external wave editors to access them directly anymore.
28
The KONTAKT Window
It’s important to keep track of the ways the Sample and Instrument files on your hard disk relate to
each other; this protects you from unpleasant surprises when you move files around, delete them,
or recover KONTAKT data from a backup.
When you are using KONTAKT as a plug-in inside your host program and save your
session, all Multi and Instrument data will be included in this session file. Sample references will be saved in an absolute fashion, so you might get a “Samples Missing”
dialog when you open the session again after you have moved your Samples. If the
Samples reside below KONTAKT’s library path (which you can specify manually on
the Load / Import tab of the Options dialog), though, the references will be saved
relatively to this folder; this makes it possible to share session files with KONTAKT
instances across platforms. Hence, it’s a good idea to always keep your KONTAKT
libraries somewhere below the folder that you’ve specified as your library folder.
Save multi as…: This saves your current multi to an .nkm file on your hard disk. While the resulting Multi file will contain all Instrument data, KONTAKT will still need to take care of the Samples
that are referenced by the Instruments. Thus, the save dialog offers the same Sample management options as described in the Save as… paragraph above. Saving a multi will also save the
output routing options.
Save as default instrument: This command is only viewable when you are editing an instrument.
It saves the selected Instrument as your default one so whenever you create a new Instrument,
either via the New Instrument command of the Files menu, or by dragging Samples from the
Browser into the Rack, KONTAKT will use this Instrument as a template.
Save as default multi: This command will save your current Multi as a default template that KONTAKT will load at startup or when you choose the Reset Multi command.
Reset multi: This will restore the default Multi that’s loaded at start-up, removing all Instruments
from your current Multi in the process.
Batch re-save: As explained in the paragraph about the Save function, KONTAKT Instruments
that include references to external Sample files can cause problems if either the Instrument or the
Sample files are being moved to a different location. In such cases, you will be presented with a
“Samples Missing” dialog that asks you in which places KONTAKT should look for the missing files
(see Loading and Creating Instruments). While it’s not a big problem to let KONTAKT locate the
Samples of one or two Instruments via this dialog, and then re-save them afterwards in order to
make the changes permanent, the described effect will be worsened by an order of magnitude if it
occurs with a whole library. This can happen if you move the library folder or its contained subfolders around, and makes it very tiresome to access the library, as every attempt of loading an
Instrument will be answered with a “Samples Missing” dialog.
To fix the problem manually, you would have to load each Instrument, locate the missing Sample
files via the “Samples Missing” dialog, and re-save the Instrument to its original location within the
library folder. For large libraries, this is unfeasible. The Batch Re-save function automates this
process; when you select it, a selection dialog will appear, asking you to choose a folder. After
clicking Choose, all Instrument, Multi, and Bank files in this folder and its sub-folders will automatically be scanned for unresolved Sample references; if any are found, the “Samples Missing” dialog
29
The KONTAKT Window
will appear once, allowing you to specify which places should be searched to resolve the references.
As the Batch Re-save process will overwrite the Instrument, Multi, and Bank files
within your selected folder, it’s recommended to make a backup of this folder before
you execute the command.
Once KONTAKT has successfully located the Samples, the affected Instrument, Multi or Bank files
will be re-saved with corrected references, so afterwards, you’ll have a consistent library again.
Collect samples/Batch compress: If you are working with a library of nkis that are referencing
samples in multiple locations, or you wish to compress (or even de-compress) the samples of a
library, this function allows you to compile samples, instruments, banks and multis into a single location.
The Batch Compress dialog
When you select this option, a dialog box will appear. Here you must select a source folder (where
your nki, nkb and nkm files are currently located) and a destination to which you wish to have
these files compiled and copied to.
There are two different folder creation strategies:
One exception: When batch-compressing a source/library folder, if there is an Instrument in the library folder that references a sample outside the source/library folder
(and its subfolders), a "Collected Samples" subfolder will be generated in the destination folder and this sample will be saved there.
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