Hi Frank,
I personally don't use dozens & dozens of different styles, I have a collection of favourites, and for those I went to quite a bit of trouble editing them , insofar as making sure I didn't have program changes, volume changes etc happening within the various style parts (unless absolutely neessary.)

Fortunately OMB has global settings for volume, program changes etc as well as being able to put these settings into individual tracks. Allowed me to easily identify in the stylemaker section of the program, where the program changes existed.

I then made sure all the intruments were uniform throughout the style ie piano's were just say on midi channel 13, guitar on channel 14 , strings on 15 etc I was the able to delete any superflous program changes embedded in the tracks and just use the global program change for each of the midi channels. Can be a fair bit of work, depending on the style. A lot of mine are commercial styles, and some converted styles and they needed a bit more work than psr styles. To me it was worth it though, should I ever change sound sources again.

May not help in your situation ,though.

best wishes
Rikki

Rikki, I can see you are very particular when it comes to styles. As you said, once the job is done you can jump to any GM sound source and play. Very flexible!!!

Yes you can. You must bring up all the instruments that you want in as a bank (ie: .nkb), and then you can call up any of the instruments in that bank from your keyboard.

(I just bought my copy of Kontakt 2 on Wednesday and just tried out that option today.)

Chony

BTW, what kind of computer are you using? I'm using a 1.33ghz G4 powerbook, and am having problems with it. Every time I hit my CPU limit my computer goes balistic until I click on something in the Kontakt screen.

Also, don't forget to upgrade to 2.01. There's a major improvement on the convovlution effect. I was unable to use my Steinberg D Grand (included in the Kontakt package) without significant latency (35ms), until I loaded this update.

I'm considering buying the Bosendorfer 290 grand. Do you have any experience with it? And how about Drumkit from Hell (dfh)?

Enjoy the program! I'm happy to know that there's somone on this forum to share information with on this program!

Sorry I just noticed that you worked it out without me.

Do you find that working off a computer is reliable for Live performances? In my three or four days with Kontakt I have had too many problems to rely on it solely. And I haven't been using 32GB of sound either! Even when I'm just on the Steinberg Grand (makes no difference if I use the full or lite version), I run into CPU problems (granted that I use up to 62 notes at a time). So I just can't understand how you're planning to trigger everything - up to 10 instruments it would seem - from your laptop.

When I bought my laptop half a year ago, it was the most powerful computer on the market, so I really hope that this problem is something I can solve. I don't want to have to wait for the G5.

Also, please give me the phone number to NI. I notice that you've been in contact with them, and I really must work out why I'm having unreasonable problems with my CPU. And once we're at it, how about the phone number to east west? I couldn't find it on their website.

Do you use an audio interface? Or do you just use the built in output from your computer?

I know I've asked a lot of questions in the last two posts, I'd appreciate if you get the chance to answer some of them!

Thanks a lot!

[This message has been edited by chony (edited 05-08-2005).]

chony, my hope is that you stay with it. It takes some effort to get each particular system up and running. Once you have done so you will find it very very very very reliable. I have no failures on my system for over a year. Keep in mind I use my music computer only for music.....and nothing else. This helps...I think.

Kontakt 2 still has some issues. Once we get the v2.1 in Q3 things will likely work a whole lot better. I will use Kontakt 2 as I did Kontakt 1.5, i.e., for my lead voices. I load 8 to 10 voices on separate channels and call up different instruments from my keyboard by just changing channels. My jazz setup might look like:

Channel l Organ
2 Flute
3 Trumpet
4 Sax
5 Strings
6 Piano
7 Vibes
8 Jazz Guitar

For the Auto Accompaniment I use LiveSynth Pro & modified sYnerGi GS wavetable.

My Computer is homemade standard PC:

3.02 GHz, 2GB RAM, 2 80GB 7200rpm HDs
2 sound cards Audigy 2ZS Platium (midi in/out) & Steinbergs VSL2020 (audio)
Windows XP

There are some members on the Kontakt forum experiencing similar problems as you have. I too occasionaly get hits where the CPU usage is up close to 100% but things settle down and I can play. I will use Kontakt 2 for live performances.....but it is not quite ready for prime time.....a little risky. I am not worried I just swing over to Kontakt 1.5 if things don't work out.

Here is NI's phone number but you may only get a voice mail box (not a live human):
323-467-2693.
East West Soundsonline: 310-271-6969

I find at this point they are not to willing to talk to customers. They don't have all the answers nailed down. Over time they will get it right. They have a whole lot of important rich customers....Hollywood.

I think one of the problems of CPU usage is their reverb (convolution). This can bring down even the most powerful PC/MAC. Try turning off the reverb. I use Cakewalk's Sonitus effects. They are not nearly as good but don't bring down your computer. Sonitus effects are a whole lot higher quality then what you will find in keyboards...even better than the best...Yamaha.

If you are using a laptop you need to use ASIO drivers to keep the latency down. An external soundcard and HD would be very helpful. You should keep all your samples/instruments on the external HD (8mb Cache & 7200rpm). You should beable to keep your latency to 2.9ms.....10ms or less is preferred. As I said ASIO drivers should help in this regard: http://www.asio4all.com/

Oh, it just occurred to me that another place where things can go badly wrong and that is with their Quick Database. Kontakt needs to set this up initially and most hosts don't wait around long enough and causes the whole thing to crash. Try running Kontakt as a standalone until it has the Quick Database setup (Files/Folders/Drives for the samples and instruments). I would just as soon they give up on this feature. I can find my instruments and samples on my own...quickly. GigaStudio had problems with this as well. I don't know whether Kontakt has a problem with this but when I started out it shut down my host pretty often.

I hope this helps. Just don't give up. You will be reward with magnificent sound. As an example of a perfect Jazz Combo:

Scarbee/Colossus Bass
Bardstown/Steinway D Piano
Bardstown Jazz Guitar
Colossus Drum kits

The Drum Kit From Hell are considered the among the best but they may not be GM compatible. I would give the kits in Colossus a try first. The Bardstown Bosendorfer 290 is just great...I use it all the time. The Steinway D which comes with Colossus is also excellent and I would stay with it for starters.


[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 05-09-2005).]

Thanks Frank,

I have no idea how you carry around a desktop computer to your performances. That's out of the question for me!

I'm hoping that Kontakt will manage to get their things in order soon. Any word on a possible release time for 2.1?

It makes it easier to understand that Kontakt works for you if you only use it for lead! So what program or format do you use for your styles etc?

I think I'm going to take your advice on an external harddrive though. My laptop only runs at 5400rpm! I've never had issues with it yet using Cubase and Logic, but I guess Kontakt understandbly puts a lot more stress on it.

I'm wondering if it would be possible to increase the processor speed of my computer by connecting it to another computer - say a Mac Mini, and using the CPU of both combined...

Thanks again, Chony.

chony, for my auto accompaniment (styles) I use LiveSynth Pro (not available anymore), Live - Styler (plays yamaha styles) and sYnerGi GS (modified 128 mb soundfont wavetable). There are other synths that are GM compatible and can load soundfont wavetables. If you want to get up and running quickly I would use sYnerGi GS given that it uses XG compatible drums. Any of the instruments you don't like you can delete and add those you like better.

It is not hard carting around my music PC. My Roland A37 controller keyboard and my PC weighs only little more than an arranger keyboard. Everything is marked and easy to connect. You can, of course, do all this with a laptop today. When I built my music PC a few years ago the laptops were not up to it plus the external soundcards and HDs were also not up to it. If I were to rebuild my system solely for live performances I would like go with the small liquid cooled PCs: http://sys.us.shuttle.com/ http://www.truespec.com/computersystems/daudio/shuttle/index.shtml

My second choice would be a laptop.


[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 05-08-2005).]

Chony, here are a couple of forums you wish to use for NI Kontakt (if you haven't already):
http://www.nativeinstruments.de/site/forum_us/forumdisplay.php?f=33 http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=14

Most of these members are professionals in their respective fields and know more than I do.

Thank you very much Frank,

I like that box computer - but I still prefer my laptop which has its own screen built in!

I've been reading through the Kontakt 2 manual and wow, it really seems like an exciting program. Can't wait to get my hands dirty!

Chony

Hi FLR,

I can't for the life of me work out how to create a group (ie: to select certain zones and then edit them together). I assume it should be easy. Can you help?

Chony