NMCKD! (New midi controller keyboard day) - Komplete Kontrol S61

[Mornats]

After being made redundant a few months ago I managed to get a new job (that started right after my notice period ended) so I treat myself to a nice shiny new Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol 61 with Komplete 10. I've been eyeing these up for a while now and have been doing research on all the features and how much I'd use it. I popped into my local PMT today and had a demo of one. So after being very impressed I asked if I could order the bundle in (their website had said none in stock so I was going to order it and pick it up after Christmas). Anyway, the great guys at PMT said they'd just give me the keyboard and the crossgrade for Komplete separately and charge me the same price as the bundle. Hurray for PMT! So I ended up popping home, grabbing the car and picking up there and then!

So I've set it all up now. I only installed the Komplete Select bundle to get up and running as Komplete 10 comes on 13 DVDs with a massive 130GB of sounds! I need to order a new SSD to install all of that on. So I have Massive, Reaktor Prism, Monark, The Gentleman (a lovely piano that I can see myself using a lot), Drumlab, Retro Machines Mk2, Vintage Organs, West Africa, Scarbee Mark 1 and Solid Bus Comp. Not a bad bundle at all really.

Three features that I was really looking forward to trying were the chord function, the arpeggiator and the light guide. They all work but only in the Komplete Kontrol software. I just discovered that I can load in third party VSTs into Komplete Kontrol and use those functions there. Hurray! The knobs on the keyboard all work on third party VSTs too! As an example I loaded up the standard drum kit in EZDrummer and the knobs controlled the effects in the mixer right off with no setting up. This is a really good feature to have an ensures the longevity and usefullness of the hardware in my opinion.

I love the chord function. Set it to the chord you want (C, G# etc.) and set the chord tones (I III V and so on with major, minor and all sorts of pentatonic, blues and other scales) and press one key. It'll then play the chord for you. It's cheating I know, but it's to fast-track me into creating something that sounds good without me having to google the chord all the time. Not a one for trained/experienced pianists or keyboard players and I'm sure some of them won't be happy that a keyboard is making playing the piano easy for people with no knowledge but for me, it opens up a whole world of playing that was just out of reach. I see it as a learning tool for me to get familiar with the chords and scales as I'm writing stuff. The lights on the keyboard light up to show you which notes are being played in the chord. Good stuff and a great help to my noobie keyboard playing.

The arpeggiator is similar to the chord tool except it plays arpeggios of course. It has a bundle of settings that make a lot of the arpeggiations feel and sound a little more natural than I was expecting. The "swing" dial in particular works well for this. They sound a bit less computerised.

The light guide is great. It'll light up the notes in the scale - and the root note of the chord you've selected in a brighter light than the other keys. There are two main modes. One will switch off the keys not in the scale so if you press them (accidentally presumably) they wont' trigger. The other mode will let you hit the incorrect notes but it will actually play the closest note that's in the scale. Easy mode for me Again, purists may have issues with this but it's a fantastic and quick way to lay down ideas without spending a while learning the scale. Plus as I said above, I'll be using this to help learn the scales so there may be a time where I won't need it.

What the light guide and chord functions don't do is let you choose a chord progression and have the software change the chord on the fly. That would be a killer feature for me but the dial to change the chord responds almost instantly and on slower pieces I can actually change the chord on the fly manually.

When these keyboards first came out they didn't send the chord or arpeggiated notes to your DAW but in a recent software update they now do.

The hardware looks and feels (and costs) premium and I really like it. I've not used the modulator and pitch strips much but they work really well from what I can see. They're touch-strips rather than wheels and from what I've seen in some videos you can really customise their functions. The LED displays for each of the knob functions are bright and really clear and easy to read. Everything responds instantly. The keybed is a FATAR one which is apparently a very good one and they keys feel nice with a good response when you play them. They do make a bit of physical noise when pressed hard so this probably isn't the keyboard for you if you're recording piano and your own vocals at the same time as you may pick up some of the key noise.

For ease of use it's fantastic. You can scroll through the patches from the keyboard browser controls quickly and easily so you're not constantly switching between keyboard and computer when looking for a sound (something that was a pain for me in the past). You can browse by tagged-keywords (pads, soundscapes, slow attack etc.) and this lets you find sounds from across the range of instruments - you can even add and tag your own presets). So no more loading up synth after synth looking for that soft ethereal soundscape.

So that's my summary so far. No doubt I'll spend a day over Christmas installing Komplete 10 (and figuring out if I can sell on any instruments I already have that are included...) and will come back and update with any new info. It seems there's a world of customisation available with this hardware/software bundle that I haven't even seen yet.

All in all, I'm very pleased with my new toy

Happy to try any features/integrations for anyone if you've got any questions about it. I'm using in Reaper at the moment - my DAW of choice - without any trouble. I need to figure out how to get the transport controls working but NI say it's possible using MCU settings. I need to look into that one.

Pics or it didn't happen:

[attachment=207664:DSC_0940.JPG]

[charic]

Congrats! Once I move my Krome on I'm looking into getting a decent controller to go along with my Kronos. I might have to see if there's an 88 key version of this

[xgsjx]

Very nice. I was looking at these and the Akai ones a couple of months ago. Both very sturdy & well featured controllers.
I don't think there's an 88 key version just yet. Arturia do a nice 88 key lab board.

[Mornats]

They released an 88 key version fairly recently: [url="http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keyboards/komplete-kontrol-s-series/"]http://www.native-in...ntrol-s-series/[/url]

I'm gutted that I don't have a new SSD yet for installing the full Komplete suite! I'm itching to get my hands on Absynth and the other new pianos! Then again I didn't expect to get one this side of Christmas so I can't complain.

I'm so chuffed that it works with third party libraries via the Komplete Kontrol software. For me this makes it extremely adaptable and doesn't tie you in to just using Native Instruments software. That and the fact that does now send the midi data from the chord and arpeggiator functions. When they first shipped they didn't come with these two features. And it's still fairly early days so I'm hoping that they continue to develop new features.

Edit: It looks like the 88 key version has hammer-action fully-weighted keys too which the 61, 49 and 25 versions don't have.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Mornats

[xgsjx]

Now that's very nice. Not cheap though at £680, but I suppose you're gonna get a great quality controller.

You'll find that most remote keyboards only have weighted hammer action from 73 key upwards. The reason being that most synth players are gonna go for 61 or less & prefer a synth action, whereas those who prefer to play piano are gonna want the longer keybed.

I've got a friend who's big into his analogue synths (has a Prophet 08, Analog Keys, Moog Phatty, TE op-1 & DSI MoPho among others) & his go to synth when he starts writing is NI Massive or an Arp 2600 Vst.
I'd love to get my hands on Massive. Maybe one day soon.

[Mornats]

I've been playing around with Massive a bit tonight and can't believe how versatile it is. I'm pretty new to synths admittedly but I can see why your friend likes it. It comes as part of the Komplete Select bundle that you get with all of their keyboard controllers now.

[xgsjx]

I was just looking at Komplete Select. If that comes with the controllers, then that makes the controllers a bargain! I need to get saving my pennies.

[Mornats]

Yep it does. I think even if you bought (or buy) the controller that didn't originally come with it then you get it anyway.

Edit: I managed to nip out to PC World and buy an SSD and I'm on disc 3 out of 13 of the installation now!

Edited December 21, 2015 by Mornats

[xgsjx]

Makes Logic's 55gb of content seem tiny! Have fun & I expect to hear some stuff from it in next month's comp!

[Mornats]

Haha yeah, mine will be the track with 6 synths, strings, horns, 4 drum kits and 3 pianos in it

[Skol303]

Congrats 'nats! A very cool new toy.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1450738490' post='2935453']
...I expect to hear some stuff from it in next month's comp! [/quote]

^ Ditto, there really is no excuse now

[Mornats]

Well I couldn't wait for the next comp challenge (although I'll be entering it in Jan for sure) so here's a little ditty that I made using only virtual instruments:

https://soundcloud.com/mornats/adventure

I started by playing around with the animator setting in Session Horns and found a nice funky phrase that I liked. Then I dropped in EZDrummer and found a suitable drum beat to match it. The one I chose was a little busy so I edited it to take out a kick drum beat or two using EZD's edit play style feature.

Next up came a synth sound from Absynth. Aerial is the preset. It seemed to fit with the horns without any editing - shame as I wanted to play around with editing it directly from the keyboard!

I then grabbed the midi track from the horns and moved it up an octave and set its position to play ever so slightly in front of the first horns track. The animators on both were now slightly out of sync, making for a nice pattern. Notice how the horns are in stereo with the bassier ones positioned on the left. This is built into Session Horns and sounds really nice.

I'd then planned to add in some piano as I love the sounds of the Maverick, Giant and Grandeur but none seemed to fit the theme of the music. However, Vintage Organs came to the rescue and have me some classic funk organ sounds. I used the chord function on the Komplete Kontrol to play these although the tune is in C and B so I could have simply played them. I just wanted to try the new feature Ditto with the scale light guide. I played the lead in the key of C (well, I hope I did!) so didn't need the lights.

Finally I dropped in some of my signature old movie samples from Loopmasters.

Effects-wise I used Reflektor on the Absynth track, and Reflektor and Format Filter and Delay from the Tractor's 12 effects onto the movie samples. The drums had Solid EQ on set to the overheads preset and Supercharger to add some ooomph and warmth. I usually split the drums out into separate tracks for each part and EQ/compress them individually where needed but they sounded ok as they were and this was just a quick tune.

Then on the master track I used the T-racks Classic EQ (not part of Komplete but I use this a lot on the master track), Solid Bus Comp on the mix bus preset to glue it together - something it does very very well out of the box - a touch of OldSkoolVerb (not from Komplete either) as a little more mix glue, Supercharger again to give it a little warmth and finally T-racks Classic Multiband Limiter to limit it all.

The whole thing took a couple of hours and the keyboard and software worked very well. It's definitely speeded up my workflow and allows me to get ideas down quickly.

[lurksalot]

that was great , sounded really fun to do as well

[ambient]

They make some nice stuff. I use Kontakt 5 for my Spitfire Audio sample libraries.That came with a whole host of stuff that I haven't gotten around to using yet.

[Mornats]

I've copied my post from January's composition challenge page as I talked a bit about how I used the Komplete Kontrol and Komplete 10 to create the track.

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Here's my finished track:[/font][/color]

[url="https://soundcloud.com/mornats/drops"]https://soundcloud.com/mornats/drops[/url]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I had intended to use the Lightguide feature on the S61 to help with the piano parts but I ended up learning the arpeggios for the chords myself so never needed the help. But as I had the Lightguide as a safety net I was more willing to give it a go. I must say that the action of the keys on the keyboard helped a lot with the piano. Also, playing piano is much harder than I had imagined. I had trouble getting the timing right along with the correct pressure on the keys. I was able to adjust the sensitivity of the keys in the software which helped a lot.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I'd originally intended for the track to morph into a bit of an industrial track (you can hear it with the synth that comes in near the end) and use my new telecaster for some guitar work but the piano bit took much longer than I expected and I would have missed the deadline. So you just have the same 4 chord sequence for now [/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I was also going to introduce the industrial part with some cinematic percussion effects but as complete as Komplete is (I don't have Ultimate) it doesn't come with any - or at least any that I could find. It's such a huge collection I'm not even scratching the surface of it yet. I'm looking at Evolve Mutations though (can't justify spending too much more on virtual instruments!)[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]So in terms of how the keyboard helped (as xgsjx is interested):[/font][/color][list]
[*]The key action is way better than my M-audio KeyRig 49
[*]The transport controls let me stay at the S61 all the time whilst doing takes
[*]The integration with Komplete is second-to-none. I could browse patches across instruments right from the S61.
[*]I can tweak parameters in my virtual instruments right from the S61 too.
[*]I'm no longer jumping between midi keyboard and computer keyboard/mouse. (I've already mentioned this but it made a huge difference to me.)
[*]I could control the sensitivity of the velocity of the keys to help with my ham-fisted piano playing.
[*]The whole thing is just so darn nice that it was a pleasure to use throughout.
[/list]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I also have to mention just how much I love Rounds (check it out: [/font][/color][url="http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/rounds/"]http://www.native-in.../synths/rounds/[/url][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]). It's the first synth that kicks in 52 seconds into the track. At the moment I'm just selecting presets and maybe tweaking them slightly so lots to learn and play with once I figure out how synths work![/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The full list of instruments, software and hardware used is in the track description. It almost didn't include a real bass line but I thought back to Bohemian Rhapsody and how John Deacon's brilliantly fitting bass gave Freddie's piano a real lift. (I shouldn't really mention that song or those two musicians in the same post as my track as they are absolutely worlds apart.)[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Much fun was had [/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I mentioned above that I was interested in grabbing some cinematic sounds. I was almost ready to pull the trigger on Evolve Mutations 2 (£89 but I have a £22.50 voucher from buying Komplete 10) but in the end I decided against it. I've got Miroslav Philharmonik which can provide a lot of cinematic/orchestral percussion and I've found that Massive is amazingly versatile. I followed a tutorial on how to create a dark cinematic soundscape ([/font][/color]http://www.adsrsounds.com/ni-massive-tutorials/making-dark-cinematic-soundscape/) and discovered that with a few tweaks I could really make it my own. I then grabbed a free sample of Massive patches from ADSR - this one in particular http://www.adsrsounds.com/product/freebies/thou-serpent-continuum-free-massive-presets/ and found that it can do a huge range of sounds that are suitable, including some rhythmic percussion. So I bought that instead (£20.90 including the 20% discount I got for grabbing the freebies and signing up to their newsletter). I'm going to follow some tutorials too as I reckon I can make the sounds I want and really learn the synth.

The Giant piano has a fantastic cinematic series of patches that sound nothing like a piano but are an amazing range of very usable sounds.

Also, having ran through some great run-throughs of the sounds in Evolve Mutations (from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmWhDPmyMso) I felt that they sounded very samey. You here these all the time in movies and TV shows and they lack originality when used straight out of the box.

[lowdown]

I have the Mutations series, and there is an awful lot more under the hood than in that video.
It is very versatile and with use of the mod wheel, there are
plenty of sonic options available. It is more than just an Arp generator.
It's a specific tool for a specific sound, and most percussion libraries are like that.

Here is a good rundown on some of the Cinematic Perc libraries that are popular.
http://themeforest.net/forums/thread/drum-libraries-and-vsts-of-your-choice/42404

Also Stylus RMX is worth a mention, it comes with a huge library,
and there are plenty of expansion packs in the Cinematic style.
You can also convert REX files for use.
Been using it for years and is my favourite percussion VST'i. I have about s dozen expansion packs.
https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/stylusrmx.php

NI Damage is another great tool.
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/orchestral-cinematic/damage/

Edited January 24, 2016 by lowdown

[Mornats]

Thanks for the links lowdown. I'll give Evolve Mutations 2 some more consideration then. Having played around with Massive a bit more this afternoon I can see how much scope there is beyond presets. Can you do a lot of tweaking in Evolve Mutations?

Stylus RMX is a tab pricey seeing as I've just splashed out on the keyboard and Komplete. I've got EZDrummer 2 so maybe, just maybe they'll bring out a cinematic percussion EZX for that.

[lowdown]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1453668410' post='2961636']
Thanks for the links lowdown. I'll give Evolve Mutations 2 some more consideration then. Having played around with Massive a bit more this afternoon I can see how much scope there is beyond presets. Can you do a lot of tweaking in Evolve Mutations?

Stylus RMX is a tab pricey seeing as I've just splashed out on the keyboard and Komplete. I've got EZDrummer 2 so maybe, just maybe they'll bring out a cinematic percussion EZX for that.
[/quote]

Yes, there is plenty of tweeking in Evolve.



If you want a good collection of Cinematic percussion (drums and metals),
Catalyst by ARIA Sounds is on sale at the moment for £24.00. It's for Kontakt.
Good value.
http://www.ariasounds.com/catalyst_kontakt_drums_percussion.html

Video demo.
http://youtu.be/JEMIMeb9log

[Mornats]

That's nice and cheap and sounds good! I may have most of those percussion elements amongst my Kontakt instruments and Miroslav Philharmonik so I think I'll go for one of the Evolve Mutations Packs.

One review that I read broadly summed them up as Evolve Mutations being more diverse and Evolve Mutations 2 being darker and moodier. As I tend to favour the darker and moodier aspect of this type of sound I was going to go for EM 2. However!! Today is payday - the first from my new job and I totally forgot that they're paying me for Jan and also half of December so I may go for the bundle and grab both. If you're gonna do something, do it properly I say Do you reckon that's a good plan?

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1453652239' post='2961409']
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]So in terms of how the keyboard helped (as xgsjx is interested):....[/font][/color]
[/quote]
Cheers

Unfortunately the S61 has shot up in price, so I'm considering the S49.
Going back to keys & wondering if 4 octaves is enough.

[lowdown]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1453749186' post='2962442']
Do you reckon that's a good plan?
[/quote]

Yep, tis a good plan.

That's what I did a couple of years ago on the NI 50% off sale.

[Mornats]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1453750903' post='2962473']
Cheers

Unfortunately the S61 has shot up in price, so I'm considering the S49.
Going back to keys & wondering if 4 octaves is enough.
[/quote]

I was happy with 4 octaves on my old midi keyboard but I thought that if I'm going for a premium keyboard it was worth the extra £50 for the 61 keys. If the price difference was £80-100 I wouldn't have even considered it. I'm not sure if I actually use the extra octave at the moment though.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1453751210' post='2962478']
Yep, tis a good plan.

That's what I did a couple of years ago on the NI 50% off sale.
[/quote]

Which got me thinking... I've got such a huge amount of new sounds right now that I think I'll wait for a sale.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1453838913' post='2963358']
I was happy with 4 octaves on my old midi keyboard but I thought that if I'm going for a premium keyboard it was worth the extra £50 for the 61 keys. If the price difference was £80-100 I wouldn't have even considered it. I'm not sure if I actually use the extra octave at the moment though.
[/quote]
Unfortunately the S49 has shot up in price too. Hoping that it comes back down.
Which DAW do you use?

[Mornats]

I did however just buy this:

http://www.heavyocity.com/product/vocalise/

I stumbled across it whilst researching Evolve Mutations. I always lack a vocal element in my tracks and this sounds lovely. Check out the run-through below (that's not me by the way).

I'll let you know how I get on and I'm sure you'll hear something in next month's composition challenge!

http://www.twitch.tv/hybridtwo/v/19598776

[Mornats]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1453841713' post='2963395'] Unfortunately the S49 has shot up in price too. Hoping that it comes back down. Which DAW do you use? [/quote]

Yeah, looks like it was a deal across all the keyboards with the Komplete bundle. If you get the keyboard by itself you do get Komplete Select - http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keyboards/komplete-kontrol-s-series/software-details/. A nice range of instruments with Massive being the shining star.

I'm using Reaper as my DAW.