What is Reddit's opinion of
Kontakt?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
45 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
There are lots of "realistic-sounding" horn/brass VSTs out there!
One great one is, "Session Horns", by Native Instruments: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/orchestral-cinematic/session-horns/
Another pretty good one is the Kontakt 5 Player. Best of all, it's free. Make sure you download the FACTORY SELECTION library for it to get the horn sounds! http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/free-download/
But one thing to consider is MIDI. When you're writing the chords and notes in, it doesn't sound too natural when it's all quantized. Look into MIDI arrangement for acoustic instruments to get natural sounding MIDI to accompany the natural sounding instruments. Here's an article concerning this: http://makeshiftmusician.blogspot.com/2009/06/producing-natural-sounding-midi-notes.html
Have fun!
NI Kontakt is the product that immediately springs to mind.
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/
The factory library is pretty huge and they do sound pretty damn good. It's also an extremely powerful sampler in its own right.
http://www.kvraudio.com/ is my usual spot for free VSTs, but man, if you're getting into programming tunes with MIDI, Kontakt is the fucking jam. Their factory library alone has some awesome sounds in just about every instrument group/genre.
Absolutely. Kontakt 5 in my opinion is the single most dollar efficient purchase you can make for creating digital orchestral music. It has every instrument that would be in a normal orchestra (played a number of different ways - sustain, staccato, pizzicato, etc.) plus a number of other less commonly used instruments. The control over the sound is excellent and Kontakt 5 has a number of great sounding built in effects to boot.
If you're interested, look into the cross-grade option. Basically, you buy a product on their list and then you can purchase Kontakt 5 for $250 instead of $400 by attaching that product. I know off the top of my head that Zero-G Vocal Forge is around $70, meaning that you could pick up both Kontakt 5 and Zero-G Vocal Forge for $320 instead of just Kontakt 5 for $400. There are a number of other excellent products you can pair Kontakt 5 with. Also, if you can stand to wait a bit longer, they usually have a sale twice a year. Unfortunately you missed the summer sale by a few weeks, but everything will probably go 50% off around the end of November of beginning of December. PM me if you have any other questions! Good luck!
It's definitely more complicated than pressing the power button on your Privia and playing, but not incredibly complicated if you want to seriously get into electronic music and digital audio.
A basic set up is this:
Keyboard > USB cable > Laptop > Kontakt Player
Kontakt Player is a stand-alone software sample player. It responds to the MIDI signals triggered by the keyboard (and the pedal), and outputs the sampled audio. You won't need any additional software like a DAW, but if you want to, you can plug Kontakt directly into the DAW for recording. Native Instruments sells very nice sampled instruments of Bosendorfer, Steinway, and Yamaha grand pianos, along with some unique things like "The Giant": the largest piano in the world, Klavins 370i.
If you want to run the audio output of Kontakt or whatever DAW you use back into the Privia's speakers, you'll need to run a (1/8" to 1/4") cable from the headphone output of the laptop into the mono audio/line input of the keyboard. This is not optimal, but it works.
If you want the best sound, you'll need a separate audio interface, and preferably a pair of studio monitor speakers.
The ideal set up is:
Keyboard > USB cable > Laptop > Kontakt/DAW > Audio Interface > Studio Monitors
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/
I think Kontakt Player will work best for you. It's able to run standalone, so you won't need a VST host - and it's sounds are decent enough to start with. Be sure to get that free "factory selection library" listed on the page as well - that's where the actual sounds come from.
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/
Alicia's is pretty good for affordability as it's a great piano for $100.
You could download the free Factory Selection with the Free Kontakt 5 Player. I'm pretty sure there are some decent pianos on there!
You could go for the Kontakt 5 Player and download the free Factory Selection library. Pretty sure it has some wind instruments inside.
Perhaps Kontakt Player might be to your taste? It includes some free factory sounds (separate download) which might be up your alley.
Komplete 10: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-10/included-products/
Kontact 5: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/
So for $100 more, you get metric fucktons of additional software.
For something paid, 8Dio's VSTI guitars sound pretty good and they have a wide range depending on style. http://8dio.com/instrument-category/guitars/
For something free, you can get Kontakt Player and the factory library--the guitar sounds are not great, and IIRC they're only in standard guitar range (maybe they allow drop D, but not much in the way of lower tunings), but they should be better than the Guitar Pro engine. My current work flow is to sketch songs in Guitar Pro, export, use Kontakt while programming drums, and then go back and track the live guitars and bass. http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/kontakt-factory-selection/
For either of them, they probably have a lot of articulations that will make things sound better but that would require work on your part because they won't translate directly from the MIDI, but if you're just looking for something a little better to jam along to then maybe the unarticulated version will be fine.
Well, Kontakt is a VST, which you used to load libraries of different samples, often times to emulate real world instrument.
Komplete 10 ($499) is a collection of lots (and I mean a LOT) of Native Instrument's plugins and and libraries. Purchasing any version of their Komplete collection is almost universally considered a significantly better deal than purchasing any of their plugins by themselves. The link provided shows a list of the included plugins, which does include the full version of Kontakt and much, much more.
Native Instruments’ Kontakt 5 comes with a Factory Content Pack that has what I think you are looking for, plus a whole lot more. However, it does not come free. Here is the download/purchase link.
In my experience, free horns and strings always suck and sound super fake. Looks like you're gonna have to check out Kontakt.
Kontakt Libraries!
Sensual Sax: http://embertone.com/instruments/sensualsax.php
Session Horns:http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/orchestral-cinematic/session-horns/
Kontakt Factory Library: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/kontakt-factory-selection/
It's a player for sample based instruments, like a virtual piano, drum kit, guitar, etc. Take a look at the library of instruments: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/library/
If purchasing a copy of Kontakt is a problem, Native Instruments makes a free Kontakt Player that should play back any libraries made for Kontakt. I say this because there are a lot of good third party orchestral Kontakt libraries.
Kontakt is exactly what you want. Beautiful samples across the board, but check out the Choir section listed here.
EastWest Hollywood Strings is great, and Kontakt's Factory Library strings are suprisingly good.
If you're interested in just an acoustic piano, Native Instruments has a couple of really nicely sampled acoustic grand piano packages for the Kontakt Sampler, Maverick and Grandeur are Grand, and the Gentleman is an upright. $99(US) each, or $199 for all three...I've always been impressed with the sound of the sample libraries from NI. EDIT...you can download the player for free and it has a bunch of content you can download for free.
Download Kontakt Player and the Kontakt Factory Library. I believe you should still be able to use Kontakt Player as a stand alone plugin.
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/
Hello. I have a license for Kontact 5 and Razor from Native Instruments that I would like to sell. Once the license is transferred to you, you will be able to instantly download all the content from your Native Instruments account so there won't have to be any CDs transferred. I am looking for $200 for Kontact and $50 for Razor. These licenses give you the full product! You can check out the plugins at the following links. If you are interested please shoot me a message. Thanks!
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/ http://www.native- instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/razor/
I don't, at all, recommend using either Sibelius or Finale for sequencing, as that's not what they were originally created to do, though they can. Rather, use Logic, Digital Performer, Ableton, or any decent Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
That being said, you can load 3rd-party sound libraries into both Sibelius or Finale, but you have to use a Sampler plug-in like Kontakt. And, of course, change your instrument settings to using Audio, rather than MIDI playback.
If you have Producer edition you should have Sytrus which is a very versatile synth. If you're not willing to create new sounds yourself you can find lots of preset sounds available, both free and paid-for, with a little Googling. Searching for 'sytrus presets', the first page of results alone nets you 1,000+ of free presets which should keep a beginner producer busy for months.
DSK Music do a good 'basic' set of 690 real-world instruments for $25. Quality varies from instrument to instrument, but you can get a good feel for what's possible with each one. Once you know what instruments you use most frequently it might be worth investing in Kontakt and some higher quality versions of each one, although this can be expensive.
Also, Kontakt Player and a Factory Selection of sounds are also free (or maybe they always were, I don't know)
It's been a while, and I've since upgraded to Komplete, but when I first got Maschine I'm pretty sure it came with Kontact Player?
Regardless, Kontact Player is free for everyone and can be downloaded here, but you'll need your licence for The Gentleman to be activated in the service centre to be able to use it in Kontact Player.
Orchestral kinda depends on your budget. Vienna is the best, some like 8Dio, LASS has good strings. ProjectSam, Spitfire, Aria all might be worth checking. Komplete has nice strings and decent brass. For less cash I like Kirk Hunter.
This long link will give you some ideas... http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/additional-sounds/third-party-sample-libraries
It's this using the free Kontakt 5 player
Structure 2: http://www.airmusictech.com/product/structure-2#.VcH8U5WCOnN
Mach Five: http://www.motu.com/products/software/machfive
Kontakt: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/
Any sampler
I've tried sylenth1 but I never really got into it, I had a lot of other synths already on my plate to learn, though, and everyone I know who uses it swears by it's ability to do anything.
Like /u/ofoot says, serum is incredibly sexy.
Also, and I might get crucified for saying this, but nexus 2 is really handy, and although it's just a rompler you can make the sounds that come out of it your own by going into the system tab and turning on and off and tweaking the oscillators, this combined with layering and post processing and you can really make nexus patches into your own thing.
Oh shit! I almost forgot Kontakt Player which is free! and there are tons of instruments for it floating around the internet, some made by independent people and usually free, but the paid instruments for it like damage, aeon, scarbee, steven slate drums, are all freaking incredible.
If you have a Mac, Apple's MainStage software is quite cheap ($20 IIRC) and includes some built-in sounds that range from "okay" to "actually quite good". If you use Windows, cheap options are a bit more limited. You can look at Native Instruments' Kontakt Player (for Mac or Windows) as well.
And no problem — I'm always happy to help!
I've just started using my SP3 for live performances, only used it in rehearsals thus far but will be using it at a gig in a couple of weeks. I run a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 USB interface in to it, which I have a digital piano plugged in to via MIDI. The software I am using is Native Instruments Kontakt (http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/) which converts the midi signal in to samples and pushes it back out via the ASIO driver. Having no trouble with latency, works a treat.
I'm not currently running anything else through the SP3, as we have our instruments/mics straight in to a mixer however I am going to be looking at running my vocals through it some time so I can play with some live effects via Ableton Live.
A really easy way to play around with quarter tones if you have a midi-capable keyboard is to use kontakt factory library. You can download kontakt player and kontakt factory selection for free here. Select an instrument, click options on the bottom left, and then change tuning from equal tempered to quarter tone. Then you can jam out on your midi keyboard.
Native Instruments Kontact is the main tool for most digital composers. It comes with great instruments stock but there's loads of other sample libraries to choose from. http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/
$99 is for the upgrade? Full version is $399, see the official website: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/pricing/
No way OP price is legit, it's probably a bootleg/cracked copy as mentioned. How are you getting this for $100 direct from NI?
The free Native Instruments Kontakt 5 is pretty good. Its got a fairly diverse mix of acoustic and electronic samples however it is quite limited. I think you can buy more samples for it though, not sure of the cost. http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/
Agreed. Get some sample packs, FPC is great because you can just drag and drop from the browser onto the pads and make your own kit. Although I haven't looked into making velocity sensitive layers or whatever.
You could also grab the free Kontakt 5 player, I believe it comes with some drums in the free factory selection.
Try the free demo of Native Instuments Kontakt 5 Player.
If you like it, consider buying the Studio Drummer Expansion.
Look into Drummic'a, it's a free software (similar to addictive drums, ez drummer etc..) that is distributed by Sennheiser. You'll need to have Native Instruments Kontakt 5 Player to use it, which is also...FREE!
Yes, it's that good.
I'm not sure what the best solution here would be, this is meant to run in Kontakt which has a free player, but as far as I know it doesn't support unlicensed libraries like mine. It's worth having though, there's a nice little factory library they give out too. And if you do grab it, it might be worth trying to load mine up anyway to see how/if it runs.
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/
you want to get NI Kontakt.
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/
there is a setting in the sampler called "time machine pro" that allows you to play the sample pitched without changing the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F4cAL178BI
check it out!!!!!
If you are using a mac I would suggest using logic x as a DAW. I just got it and for the electronic stuff it's helping a lot, it has some features that have really helped my creative process. But along those lines other recommendations I'd give (i havent personally used em but have heard good stuff about em) would be Cubase, Pro tools, Reason, FL studio.
As for samples, I think the ones included with logic x would be a significant bump over the ones available with tabit. And if you have money to invest I would suggest starting with something like the Kontakt library. (Apparently it's available for free so check this link out. That would work with most DAWs. Once you get into the realm of working in your chosen DAW play around with midi velocities and what not. Can't find much on tabit but it seems like its a notation software which has its player. I would try and add dynamic markings (piano, forte etc) and see if the software maybe reacts to those. Let me know if you have any other questions im glad to help =D
THanks for the feedback! I was definitely looking to mix both worlds and im glad you can appreciate that. I actually love the fact that you mention videogame music since it's where I want to take my career! I understand what you mean about a climatic moment. For all my songs (starting about a year and a half from now) I use logic 9, more recently logic x (the transition really helped me) and I usually use the kontakt library for most acoustic instruments and lately most of my electronic sounds have come from logic's "retro synth" which i thought was a great addition to their synth arsenal and all sorts of processing with Logic's own plugins and some plugins from waves.
Thanks again for the feedback and don't hesitate to ask if you got any other questions =D