Welcome to matsc:s Kontakt 2 tutorial.

This is all about the BASIC programming of Kontakt 2, how to do it.
I’m not in any way associated, employed or have gotten any form of payment from Native instrument. I have payed for all programs that I use including those from Native-Instruments.

 

Kontakt 2 is a great program!

The Kontakt version this tutorial is based on is v. 2.02 and I'm working on a PC.
I haven't worked much with Kontakt 3, but as far as I can see, most of what is in this tutorial can be transferred directly to Kontakt 3.

 

I haven't worked a lot with samplers the last 2-3 years. However I will do some serious sampling work this winter (2009) so there may be an updated Kontakt 3 tutorial out in the early spring If I get enough support

This may also have to do with the response on my new CD......buy it and you support me and these pages.

 

I use Kontakt because Its the most flexible sampler I know of. I would go as far as to say its not a just sampler its a sound manipulation instrument, an instrument of its own.

 

Kontakt 2 is not an easy program to work with, its very complex. It can do much more than any other sampler available today. So if you are in search of something easy to work with (just playing pre recorded sound) you should stop here.

 

In this tutorial I use Cubase SX as the host for Kontakt 2. Kontakt is used as a VST instrument in in my tutorials.

 

This tutorial has some very large videos.

You need Quick time to view the videos, download it here. The videos is integrated in the pages and will be downloaded with the page.

 

The videos are not heavily edited. They contains (to mention some):

- Bad grammar,

- its sometimes inconsistence

- The voice in the video has a terrible accent.

- And ther are even some fault.

 

The tutorial is almost 200 Mb, spread on 30 videos, some of them are long, over 8 minutes.

 

I really appreciate comments. I have gotten quite a few so far. I appreciate to hear from you all. Up to now only 10% gives feedback :-(

 

 

Dear viewers.

These pages are really meant for my students at the academy as a supplement to my classes.

I hope others will find them useful. In my classes there are so much more information (and fun:-) than the videos and text will ever tell.

 

This tutorial will take you trough most of the basic programming features of an "ordinary" sampler, and some of the more exciting features that is a part of Kontakt 2.

 

Sampler.

Kontakt 2 is a sampler. That means it can play back pre recorded sound when you play a key on your MIDI keyboard. It also mean that you can transpose a pre recorded sound just by playing "up and down" the keyboard. When you do this transposition, the sound also becomes slower or faster. Playing one octave up makes the sound half as long and playing one octave down makes the sound twice as long.

 

Kontakt 2.

Kontakt 2 is one of the most advanced sampler there is today ! It expands the primitive sampler options described above in all directions. It is more like an instrument of its own.

In this first tutorial we will explore the basics, how to use Kontakt 2 as a basic sampler.

 

In this first tutorial, Part 1 a and b, l will go through:

• How to prepare a recorded sound for a sampler
• How to import and map sounds on the keyboard.
• How to loop a sound.

How to program the amplitude envelop generator (volume modulation).

 

Building a sampled flute instrument.

This is something we (I) don't do much these days. When we needs a sampled flute its much more convenient to use the fantastic ( yes it IS fantastic) Vienna Symphonic Library.

It has almost every instrument in an symphony orchestra sampled and ready to use.

 

Even if we don't do much of this type of work any longer (sampling acoustical instrument) is a very good exercise to start with. You will learn much of f how a sampler can be programmed by doing this.

 

You can download the samples for this tutorial here. There are 12 all in all. Right click on the links and choose Save Target As
 

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12
 

• Open Cubase (your VST host) and create a new project and make a new folder on your hard disc.
• Add a MIDI track to the project.
• Open the VST instruments (F11)
• In the VST instruments open Kontakt2_8out.

Set the Out channel on the MIDI track to Kontakt.

 

Before you starts with building an instrument in Kontakt you have to edit the pre recorded sounds.

- You have to edit the start and end of the sound file so that there are no silence at start and that  sound
  file is not
  any longer then it have to be.

- It can be a god idea to adjust the volume of the sample.

- Maybe you need to do some “cosmetics”? Llike using a filter to take out unwanted sounds (like
 background noise).
 

We wont do that now even if we should.

You are probably eager to start learning Kontakt? I will come back to how and what to edit later in this tutorial. When you become a Kontakt/sampling pro, you will start the sampling/programming process with editing the sounds that you are going to use.

 

Import the sound, 1, from the folder Tutorial Samples, its a flute sound.

Look at the video below, is shows you:

 

 

Edit an instrument

How to edit an instrument.

 

• How to rebuild the database. This can be very important as Kontakt 2 had a serious bug here.
  You may se this window quit often if you have an early Kontakt 2 version (upgrade its free!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Edit a Map/Zone, edit a Zones range.
• Where is the "untransposed" sound, the sounds natural pitch.?
• How much can we transpose the flute 1 sample before it sounds funny?
• How to find the samples pitch.
• How to change the "untransposed" key.  often.
• How to find a sample and turn it to an instrument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting the range of a Zone.

• More about Zone range.
• Setting the proper instrument pitch range.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audition samples in the browser.
 

If this doesn't work as shown in the video, you have to rebuild of the database (to rebuild your database, look at  start of the first video).

 

• Make a new Zone, using an other sample
• Setting the range of the new Zone.
• Finding an new sound in the browser.
• Audition sounds in the browser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mapping the new sample.

• Make a new Zone.
• Setting the horizontal range and place using the mouse.
• Set the correct pitch of the Zone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final 3 zone/sample, one octave, instrument.

Make a chromatic flute.

Do as described in the video below, and Save the instrument.

How to save is described below.
 

• How to delete zones.
• Shortcut to map several samples at once.
• 
  
   

 

Save the instrument.

To save the instrument you click on the Load/save button. The "save edited instrument" menue then pops up. Click on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Save the instrument.

To save the instrument you click on the Load/save button. The "save edited instrument" menue then pops up. Click on it.
 

 

• In the save edited instrument you have to chouse were to save the instrument, look at Save inn at the top of the window.
• You have to name the instrument, in File name.
• You have to choose Save mode.
• I preferred patches+ samples . The instrument is then saved and all the sound files is copied to an new folder and saved in the same folder as the instrument.
• The monolith options is also a god choice. It saves the instrument and the samples in one big file. Even if that's sounds god it have messed up two of my instruments so I don't use this option any longer. You should try this out for yourself, it may work for you :- )

 

 

 

                                                                    

 

 

 

 

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