Vir2 Acou6tics User Manual

USER MANUAL

Produced by Vir2 Instruments

Vir2 Instruments is an international team of sound designers, musicians, and programmers who specialize in creating the world’s most advanced virtual instrument libraries. Vir2 is producing the instruments that shape the sound of modern music.

29033 Avenue Sherman, Suite 201 Valencia, CA 91355

Phone:661.295.0761 Web:www.vir2.com

USER MANUAL

Acou6tics/

CHAPTER 11

43 ADVANCED SETUP: CHORD SETUP

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 01

01 INTRODUCTION TO THE LIBRARY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 02

03 REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION

CHAPTER 03

05 USING KONTAKT

CHAPTER 04

13 GETTING STARTED W/ MIC & FX

CHAPTER 05

15 CHORDS

CHAPTER 06

17 KEYSWITCHES

CHAPTER 07

33 PLAYBACK

CHAPTER 08

37 ADVANCED SETUP

CHAPTER 09

38 ADVANCED SETUP: PLAYBACK SETUP

CHAPTER 12

45 ADVANCED SETUP: NOISE SETUP

CHAPTER 13

49 ADVANCED SETUP: PITCH BEND & VIBRATO SETUP

CHAPTER 14

50 ADVANCED SETUP: STRUMMING SETUP

CHAPTER 15

52 ADVANCED SETUP: FINGER SETUP

CHAPTER 16

53 ADVANCED SETUP: HUMANIZE SETUP

CHAPTER 17

56 ADVANCED SETUP: LEGATO SETUP

CHAPTER 18

60 ADVANCED SETUP: VOLUME & DYNAMIC SETUP PER

ARTICULATION

CHAPTER 19

62 ADVANCED SETUP: VOLUME & DYNAMIC SETUP PER

STRING & FRET

CHAPTER 20

64 LEGATO SAMPLE START SETUP

CHAPTER 10

41 ADVANCED SETUP: STRING SETUP

acou6tics

ACOU6TICS

CHAPTER 21

65 QUICK START

CHAPTER 01

Acou6tics/

INTRODUCTION TO THE LIBRARY

Thank you for purchasing Acou6tics.

Acou6tics is powered by the industry-leading Kontakt

engine. It is compatible with VST, AudioUnit, RTAS (Pro

Tools 9 and higher) and AAX (Pro Tools 10 & 11) plug-in

formats allowing it to work seamlessly within any major

sequencer, in addition to standalone use.

**A how to use ‘QUICK START’ can be found on page

Following in the footsteps of Vir2 Instruments’ award-

winning electric guitar virtual instrument “Electri6ity”,

CHAPTER 01 / INTRODUCTION TO THE LIBRARY

Acou6tics applies the same advanced technologies to

re-imagine the virtual acoustic guitar. Vir2 has

meticulously recorded six dierent acoustic

instruments: a steel-string guitar, twelve-string, nylon

string, ukulele, mandolin, guitalele and presents them

in astonishing detail. It features both plectrum and

ﬁnger picking, as well as Blumlein stereo recordings

alongside the piezo pickup perspective. Thousands of

samples across more than a dozen articulations were

recorded for each instrument including sustains, mutes,

releases, legatos, hammer-ons and pull-os, slides,

harmonics, and eects. Acou6tics also features virtual

room control with adjustable mic distance and

sympathetic resonance.

63 of the Acou6tics manual.

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CHAPTER 02

Acou6tics/

REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION

an instrument plug-in from within your preferred host application. Click on the Libraries tab from the Kontakt browser on the left side of the Kontakt interface. Just below “Libraries,” click on “Add Library.” A “Locate Folder” window will appear. Navigate to the Acou6tics Library folder, highlight it, then click “Choose”. Acou6tics should now appear in Kontakt’s library browser..

UPDATING

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

For Mac users, Acou6tics requires OS 10.7.3 or greater, an Intel Core Duo

2.0GHz or higher, a USB port, and minimum 2GB of RAM.

For Windows users, Acou6tics requires Windows 7 or 8 (latest s.p.), 32 or 64 compatible, an Intel Core Duo 2.0GHz or higher, a USB port, and

CHAPTER 02 / REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION

minimum 2GB of RAM.

The library requires approximately 13GB of disk space.

Vir2 Instruments strongly recommends more than 4GB of RAM and an 88key controller in order to use Acou6tics to its fullest potential.

INSTALLING

The installation of Acou6tics consists of two separate steps: the installation of the Kontakt engine, and the installation of the Acou6tics library.

In the Acou6tics folder, you will see the installers for Kontakt 5 and the Acou6tics library folder. Move the Acou6tics library folder to any location on your hard drive, then run the Kontakt 5 installer.

The Kontakt installer will install the Kontakt Player engine, its standalone application, all of its plug-in versions, and the Service Center authorizer program. We recommend the Easy Install and that the install locations for each component are left at their default settings.

The Acou6tics library is approximately 13GB in size, and can be installed on any available hard drive. For speed reasons, we recommend it be installed on internal or eSATA drives. A Firewire drive is also acceptable. An external USB drive may give somewhat less optimized performance. We also recommend 7200rpm drives or SSDs regardless of the interface used.

After installation, please make sure that you are fully updated to the most recent versions of the three components that make up the Acou6tics package: the library (which contains all the patch information and programming), the engine (which is powered by Kontakt), and the authorizer (Service Center). It is possible that any of these components may have a more recent version than shipped in your physical package, so you should check for updates to each of these three. You can do this by visiting the vir2.com web site and checking the Support area.

AUTHORIZING

After you’ve completed installation, Acou6tics will be working in demo mode, meaning it will only work for 15 minutes at a time. To fully authorize it, launch Service Center (found in the Applications folder on a Mac, or the Program Files folder on Windows) and follow its instructions. You will be prompted to enter your e-mail address and password that make up your Native Instruments account, or will be given an option to create an account if you don’t already have one. Once inside the Service Center, it will give you a list of all the Native Instruments and NI-powered products on your hard drive and give you the option to activate them. You are allowed to install and use Acou6tics on up to two computers simultaneously.

Service Center will guide you through the process for either online (instant) activation, or oine activation if the computer on which you installed Acou6tics does not have direct access to the internet.

Once Kontakt is installed, launch the standalone application, or open it as

acou6tics

CHAPTER 03

Acou6tics/

USING KONTAKT

HOW TO ACCESS THE ACOU6TICS LIBRARY FROM KONTAKT

CHAPTER 03 / USING KONTAKT

Acou6tics ships as a Kontakt-powered library, and Acou6tics is opened from within Kontakt, which can be run either as a standalone application, or as a plug-in hosted by any major sequencer on either Macintosh or Windows platforms. All these versions are installed by the Easy Install option of the installer.

Users who don’t own a sequencer, or would like to simply boot up and be able to play Acou6tics, can go to their Applications folder (Mac) or Program Files folder (Windows) to launch Native Instruments > Kontakt.

Users who wish to use Acou6tics for sequencing or recording should use it in plug-in mode within a host sequencer. Kontakt supports the VST, AudioUnit, and RTAS plug-in formats. Any host sequencer that supports these plug-in formats properly will be able to use Kontakt. Instructions vary slightly from sequencer to sequencer, but the general procedure is to instantiate Kontakt as a virtual instrument plug-in, then load an Acou6tics instrument in Kontakt, then route a MIDI track to Kontakt so it can be triggered and recorded.

The following instructions will help standalone and plug-in users get up and running quickly with a basic track of Acou6tics.

reasonably low for good latency performance. We recommend 256 samples or less. The lower the latency slider, the less latency (the split second between the physical playing of the note and the sound coming out of Kontakt) will be, but the harder the computer will have to work. Typical useful values range between 128 and 256, however very fast computers may be able to handle lower values, while very slow computers may need higher values. [01]

The MIDI page of the Options dialog box must be conﬁgured in order to let Kontakt know which MIDI device(s) to respond to. Kontakt will respond to up to four MIDI input ports (A, B, C, and D), so we recommend you switch one MIDI source on to Port A, as shown in the graphic below. [02]

More detailed information on the setup options can be found in the accompanying Kontakt manual.

Once you have completed Kontakt setup, jump ahead to the Getting Started with Acou6tics section below.

USING KONTAKT IN STANDALONE MODE

The standalone Kontakt application can be found in the Applications > Kontakt 5 folder for Mac users, or Program Files > Native Instruments > Kontakt 5 for Windows users.

After launching the Kontakt application for the ﬁrst time, you will be presented with a dialog box to set up your audio and MIDI settings. Settings will vary for each user according to the speciﬁc setup, but the important thing is to route the audio to a valid audio device, and to set the buer

acou6tics

USING KONTAKT AS A VST PLUG-IN IN CUBASE AND NUENDO

Users of Steinberg’s Cubase or Nuendo sequencers can use Kontakt as a VST plug-in. These instructions have been prepared in Cubase 5, although Kontakt may also work in earlier versions if the computer meets the system requirements.

Once the project is open, go to the Devices menu and choose VST Instruments: [01]

When the VST Instruments window appears, click in the ﬁrst available slot in which “no instrument” is listed. [02]

The Kontakt window will appear, and a MIDI track will be created, transmitting to Kontakt’s MIDI channel A-1. When it is record-enabled, it will send any incoming MIDI played on your controller into Kontakt.

At this point, you can skip down in the instructions to the Getting Started With Acou6tics section below.

USING KONTAKT AS A VST OR AUDIOUNIT PLUG-IN IN ABLETON LIVE

Users of Ableton Live can use Kontakt as a VST or AudioUnit plug-in, depending on the version. The functionality is the same. These instructions have been prepared in Live 7, although Kontakt may also work in earlier or later versions if the computer meets the system requirements.

Once the project is open, go to the left side and click on the third icon down to show the Plug-in Devices list, then scroll to the Native Instruments folder and locate Kontakt 5: [04]

A popup menu will appear; choose Kontakt 5.

An alert box will appear asking if you want to create a MIDI track assigned to the Kontakt 5 plug-in. Click Create. [03]

acou6tics

Drag Kontakt 5 into the central area where the text “Drop Files and Devices Here” is shown.

The Kontakt interface will appear, and it will already be actively transmitting to Kontakt’s MIDI channel A-1. When it is record-enabled, it will send any incoming MIDI played on your controller into Kontakt.

At this point, you can skip down in the instructions to the Getting Started With Acou6tics section below.

09 10

USING KONTAKT AS AN AUDIOUNIT PLUG-IN IN LOGIC PRO, LOGIC STUDIO, LOGIC EXPRESS, ETC.

Users of Apple’s Logic can use Kontakt as an AudioUnit plug-in. These instructions have been prepared in Logic Pro 8, although Kontakt may also work in earlier versions if the computer meets the system requirements.

At this point, you can skip down in the instructions to the Getting Started With Acou6tics section below.

Once inside your Logic project, go to the Track mini-menu (in the central area of your screen) and choose Track > New... [01]

USING KONTAKT IN GARAGEBAND

Users of Apple’s GarageBand can use Kontakt as an AudioUnit plug-in. These instructions have been prepared in GarageBand 5 (which shipped with iLife ‘09), although Kontakt may also work in earlier versions if the computer meets the system requirements.

The New Tracks dialog box will appear. Make sure Software Instrument is selected, then click Create. [02]

Once inside your GarageBand project, go to the Track menu and choose New Track.

[05]

A window with three choices will appear. Choose Software Instrument, then click

The new instrument track will be created. On the left side of the screen you will see the channel strip for that channel, including a fader, pan knob, and various insert slots. Locate the blank slot just below the letters “I/O” and above the output pair: [03]

Click there, and a list of available instrument plug-ins will appear. Choose AU Instruments > Native Instruments > Kontakt 5 > Stereo. [04]

Choose. [06] On the right side of the interface, the Browse tab will be showing. Switch to the Edit tab. [07] The Sound Generator will default to Piano. Click on Piano, and a popup menu will appear. Choose Audio Unit Modules > Kontakt 5. [08]

Note: GarageBand may default to inserting eects, such as a compressor and a visual EQ

this track. This will color the sound. If you don’t

want these eects used, you can remove

them.

Once Kontakt 5 is selected, the icon will change to the AudioUnit icon (the ball with

the sound waves radiating outward). Double-click

on the icon to bring up the Kontakt window.

[09]

The Kontakt window will appear, and a MIDI

track will be created, transmitting to Kontakt’s MIDI channel A-1. When it is record-enabled, it will send any incoming MIDI played on your controller into Kontakt.

acou6tics

11 12

USING KONTAKT AS AN AUDIOUNIT PLUG-IN IN DIGITAL PERFORMER

Users of MOTU’s Digital Performer can use Kontakt as an AudioUnit plug-in.

Once the project is open, go to the Track menu and choose New... [03]

These instructions have been prepared in Digital Performer 6, although Kontakt may also work in earlier versions if the computer meets the system requirements.

Once the project is open, go to the Project menu and choose Add Track > Add Instruments... [01]

In the dialog box that appears, choose the appropriate options, such as the following: create 1 new stereo Instrument Track in samples. Then click Create. [04]

Go to the Mix window and look at the channel strip for the instrument. At the very top is an area for Inserts A-E. [05]

In the resulting dialog box, click on the unassigned pull down menu, and choose Native Instruments > Kontakt 5. You can also change the number of

Click on the ﬁrst of the ﬁve slots, and navigate through the popup menu to choose multichannel plug-in > Instrument > Kontakt 5. [06]

MIDI tracks to be added, if you know you will want to use more than one.

[02]

At this point, you can skip down in the instructions to the Getting Started With Acou6tics section below.

USING KONTAKT AS AN RTAS PLUG-IN IN PRO TOOLS

Users of Digidesign’s Pro Tools (M-Powered, LE, or TDM) can use Kontakt as an RTAS or AAX plug-in. These instructions have been prepared in Pro Tools 8, although Kontakt may also work in earlier versions if the computer meets the system requirements.

acou6tics

The Kontakt window will appear. At this point, you can skip down in the instructions to the Getting Started With Acou6tics section below.

USING KONTAKT AS A PLUG-IN IN ANOTHER HOST

There are too many host programs to cover here in detail, but any modern sequencer that properly supports the VST, AudioUnit, or RTAS standards should be able to use Kontakt properly, and load Acou6tics within it. Consult the manual for your speciﬁc host to ﬁnd out how to instantiate the Kontakt virtual instrument.

CHAPTER 04

Acou6tics/

GETTING STARTED W/ MIC & FX

MIC & FX | MIC 1 | MIC 2 | PIEZO

CHAPTER 04 / MIC & FX

You can also change the volume and panning for each microphone on this page. By default, the stereo pair ‘Mic 1 + Mic 2’ is loaded. To load or purge any of the channels, simply click on the ‘Mic 1’, ‘Mic 2’ or the ‘Piezo’ button. When the button is highlighted, the samples are loaded. If it’s black, the samples are purged from memory.

NOTE: If you have performance issues, you can disable all mics except one (e.g. Mic 1), then later load all the other samples when doing the mixdown of your track. Also make sure to raise your buer size when having performance issues. With lower audio buer sizes, the Kontakt engine needs more and more CPU!

The page is split into two tabs: ‘Mic 1 + Mic 2’ and ‘Piezo’. Each tab has its own FX which can be turned on or o separately. You can switch the various build-in FX by clicking on the on/o button. To edit the FX parameters simply click on ‘Edit’ and to close the FX page, press ‘Edit’ again.

acou6tics

CHAPTER 05

Acou6tics/

CHORDS

CHORDS | USER VOICINGS | SAVE/LOAD USER CHORDS | FAC. RESET

CHAPTER 05/ CHORDS

If you have built yourself a library with custom chords and you now want to use them in all instruments - which have the same amount of strings and the same tuning, e.g. Nylon, Western & 12 String, simply press ‘Save User Chords’. If you want to change some chords for one session, but you decide to use your default library again at a later point, simply press ‘Load User Chords’. To reset all chords to their original voicing, press ‘Factory Reset’. This is also useful to completely start a new chord library from scratch.

Note: Adding a capo makes it necessary to learn your user chords again. All previously learned chords, without capo added, won’t be overwritten. Whenever you remove the capo all your user chords are back as they were before. You can create a user chord library for each fret you put a capo on.

On the Chord tab you can create custom chord libraries. To do so, simply activate ‘User Voicings’ by clicking on the button. If you now play a chord, you can select the voicing you’d like to hear, whenever that chord is played. To change the chord you want played, rotate the knob.

acou6tics

CHAPTER 06

Acou6tics/

KEYSWITCHES

KEYSWITCHES | PRESETS | DEFAULT KEYSWITCHES

CHAPTER 06/ KEYSWITCHES

The keyswitch page allows you to create or modify keyswitch banks. Through this page you can create your own keyswitch layouts that ﬁt your needs. To do so, simply press an already assigned keyswitch or any key outside the blue play range and select the type of the keyswitch (keyswitch, forced-keyswitch or trigger key) in the menu at the bottom of the tab.

You can save or load a keyswitch setup with the ‘Preset’ menu or you can copy or reset certain banks to quickly create variations of your default keyswitch bank.

Note: Keyswitch presets are compatible between all instruments. If you set up a bank with the Western Guitar and you want to later load this bank when working with a dierent guitar, for example, the Ukulele, this is possible. You might notice that some keyswitches won’t be available for the Ukulele that were available for the Western guitar. That is becuase not all instruments have all the articulations available but the engine takes care of this.

acou6tics

Bank Tab (Banks 1-8)

Here you can select up to 8 banks to edit.

Banks | Keyswitch

You can select the MIDI note that will activate the selected bank.

Banks | Play Range

Select up to 3 dierent play ranges:

• Full: The play range covers the full range of the instrument

• Reduced: The play range is reduced to make room for the maximum

amount of keyswitches or trigger keys.

• Minimum: The play range is set to minimum range to make place for more keyswitches or trigger keys, like e.g. the picking trigger keys. This is useful for chord picking or strumming, since you don’t necessarily need the high octaves in that case.

Banks | Play Mode

Select 1 of 4 dierent Play Modes:

• Polyphonic: This is the default mode, you can play chords and single notes in this mode.

• Tremolo: Plays in tremolo mode. You can play chords and single notes in this mode (strum related trigger keys will be disabled).

• Legato HO / PO: Plays in legato mode (hammer ons / pull os), strum related trigger keys will be disabled.

• Legato SU / SD: Plays in legato mode (slides up / slides down), strum related trigger keys will be disabled.

Banks | Chord Mode

Here you can choose how you want your chords played:

• Normal: Chords are played back immediately when played with left hand.

• Play bass only: Only the root note of a chord is played back when played

with left hand. Use the pick trigger keys for picking patterns or the strum keys for strumming the full chord.

• Play bass only and alternate bass: The root note and a second note of the chord alternate playback. Use the pick trigger keys for picking patterns or the strum keys for strumming the full chord.

• Silent chords: Chords are completely muted. Only the pick trigger keys for picking patterns or the strum keys for strumming the full chord.

+ 27 hidden pages

Vir2 Acou6tics User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual