Kontakt

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The user interface of NI Kontakt
The user interface of NI Kontakt

Kontakt is a software sampler made by Native Instruments. It runs on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows platforms, available in standalone and plug-in formats (VST, AU, DXi, RTAS).

Contents

[edit] Concept

Kontakt was envisioned as a 'new-breed' software sampler, the original version pushing for a stable interface to work with pitched musical sound. Some say that Kontakt's main focus was interface design, enabling musicians to quickly and painlessly create their own instruments based on sampling sound sources.

Kontakt 2, released in 2005, extends on many features of Kontakt, and also includes a number of new sound-treatment algorithms, that enable one to stretch or tune a sound without altering pitch or time, respectively. One of the landmark features of Kontakt, however, remains the ability to control multiple voices via different MIDI channels, which reduces the memory and CPU load of having multiple instances of software allocated for multiple voices.

Kontakt 2 also features a full-fledged scripting language called KSP (syntax similar to Pascal) that enables users to build their own "MIDI Logic" plugins, using bits and pieces of Kontakt's GUI to create their user interfaces. Some of the community felt the need to express that the confusing nature of scripting would not appeal to the "non-tech-heads" while most of the Native Instruments community have expressed gratitude for further modification tools. Most KSP scripts are Open Source and keep nothing hidden from any user (their own, or factory provided) which provides a practical point of reference to facilitate learning. However, should one choose to hide their code, a password can be set to control access to the script's source code.

[edit] Features in detail

[edit] Main features

Similar to hardware samplers, there are three levels to Kontakt's functionality: Samples, Instruments, and Multis.

Customized sound mapping for the complete range of a MIDI Keyboard. Mapping is possible "per key" (assigning a sound to a key of your MIDI Keyboard) or "velocity range" (assigning sounds to different velocities of a single key).

Sampling Engines: Regular (pitch alters the speed of the sound playback), Time Machine (regardless of pitch, time remains constant via an application of Granular Synthesis), Tone Machine (FFT-based manipulation of formants, and pitch). Every sampling engine features artifacts with extreme settings thereof, in terms of audible noise (granular synthesis is known for soft clicks during the playback of 'chopped' sound with extremely low or high settings, tone machine's FFT algorithm may generate high-frequency noise due to digital applications of the transform).

"Hardware Rack" interface for effects and modules (vertical top-to-bottom architecture). It consists of Modulators (logic signal) and Effects (sound-altering algorithms, parameters of which may or may not be controlled by modulators). The Modulators consist of: Velocity, Release Velocity, Key Position, MIDI Controller, Poly and Mono Aftertouch, LFOs, Envelope, Glide, Envelope Follower and Step Modulator. There are 8 groups of effects: Filters, Distortion, Saturation, Lo-Fi (sound quality reduction), Compressor, Stereo Enhancer, Amplifier and "FX sends." While most of the above are self-explanatory, the filter bank is rather extensive. In particular, there are 17 filter types in original Kontakt: LP 1 pole, HP 1 pole, Bandpass (fixed Q), LP 2 Pole, HP 2 pole, 2x2 pole bandpass, 2x2 pole notch filter, LP 4 pole, HP 4 pole, LP 6 pole (36db per octave), 3x2 pole multi mode, 1 band parametric eq, 2 band parametric eq, 3 band parametric eq, Phase filter, Vowel A, Vowel B.

Kontakt supports the following file formats: AKAI S-1000/S-3000, Gigasampler, SoundFont (SF2), BATTERY, REAKTOR, LM4, AIFF and WAV (8 to 32 bit resolution), Logic EXS sampler instruments and Halion instruments.

[edit] Kontakt 2

The second iteration of software has fixed a few bugs, and added a lot more functionality to the program.

New "Loop Editor" (for both percussive drum-loop cut-ups and melodic looping). Functionality allows for multiple regions acting like unique samples that can be triggered separately (the functionality is very similar to Propellerhead's ReCycle package).

Sample Engine has been updated to support 192 kHz/32-bit. Sampling Algorithms has been extended to include Time Machine 2 (a time-stretch based algorithm) and Beat Machine, specifically designed to trigger percussion-based sound.

Sound shaping tools have also seen a major update. Any effect parameter can be modulated by LFOs (sinus, triangle, square, saw-tooth, random and multi waveforms with temposync functions), Envelopes (AHDSR, DBD as well as 32 breakpoint), Envelope Follower, 32-stage Step Modulators, Glide/Portamento, Attack Velocity, Release Velocity, Key Position, MIDI Controller (freely assignable and compatible with Host Automation), Poly Aftertouch, Mono Aftertouch, Release Trigger Counter. Effects themselves have been extended to 13 effects and 19 filters. The effects range from delay, reverb, distortion, overdrive, chorus, flanger, phaser, stereo modeller, inverter, lo-fi, compressor to a surround panner and convolution effect.

The filters included in KONTAKT 2 range from 1 – 6 pole low pass, band pass, notch and high pass filters to formant and multi-stage filters for the more sound design oriented applications. A new PRO-53 filter as well as 4 stage ladder filter are also included, the latter being modelled on the filters probably the most legendary analog synthesizer of all time.

Kontakt 2 file format support (from NI): GigaStudio, Akai, S-1000 / S-3000, EXS24, HALion, AIFF, WAV, .S, .SND, Emu EOS/E4B, EMU E3/ESi, SoundFont2, REX I & II, ACID, Apple Loops, Roland S-5x, S-7x, Akai MPC, Akai S-5000/S-6000, MachFive, Reason NN-XT, LM4, MKII, SDII (Mac) , Unity, Akai MESA, Pulsar + STS, Ensoniq EPS/ASR, Kurzweil, Reaktor Map, KOMPAKT, INTAKT, KONTAKT 1.x, BATTERY 1 & 2.

[edit] Kontakt 3

Kontakt 3 has been released on October 4th 2007.

Top Features include:

  • Six Instrument Collections – over 33 GB of sounds
  • Ready-to-rock "Performance View" for each of the 1000 instruments
  • Reworked Wave Editor with tools for intuitive looping, slicing and editing
  • Freely drawable envelopes per sample
  • Improved navigation: Modulation Quick-Jumps, Instrument Navigator
  • Over 18 high-end effects
  • Enhanced workflow for Scripts with tabbed views
  • Universal Import of virtually any sample format
  • MIDI loop drag & drop into host application
  • New Info Pane in the GUI, seven tutorial videos

[edit] List of third-party developers for Kontakt

Third-Party developers produce and distribute sampled instruments for use in conjunction with Kontakt's playback and programming engine. Developers record every note, in multiple variations and velocities, of a musical instrument. These recordings are then edited into separate files for each variation of each velocity of each note, known as samples.

The samples are then programmed into monolith files by the developers and sold as individual sampled instruments to composers and musical hobbyists.

A complete developer's list (as of July 2006) can be found in this PDF produced by Native Instruments.

[edit] Kompakt

Kompakt is a cut-down version of Native Instruments's Kontakt software sampler. It features a large sample library containing samples of a range of acoustic and electronic instruments, and a number of performance controls. It also allows the user's own patches to be created and samples mapped across the keyboard using a basic drag-and-drop technique, however there is no capability for editing patches - as such Kompakt is best-suited as a performance instrument for playing predefined sample libraries. Kompakt is not compatible with Intel Macs.