Routing Kontakt as a multi timbral instrument

[nigelpry]

Originally Posted by walt68

Thx Nigelpry, again the problem isn't the amount of tracks in Kontakt, it's that Pro Tools only give two outputs in the I/O section. I only have "st 1" and "st 2" so even if I have 8 tracks in Kontakt and 8 PT tracks, I can only route two PT tracks into Kontakt.

What do you mean by "route two PT tracks into Kontakt"?

I think maybe you are getting a little confused?

st.1 and st.2 (and any more that you create using the method I described previously) are OUTPUTS from Kontakt back into Pro Tools. They are not inputs to Kontakt from Pro Tools.

If you are selecting track inputs in Pro Tools, on Audio, Aux or Instrument Tracks, and you select 'Plugins' from the drop down menu, and then Kontakt 5 AAX from the next level within that menu, then at the bottom level of the menu those are the audio outputs from Kontakt. If you only see st.2 there, that is because you haven't yet created more outputs from Kontakt in the way I described. st.1 is always routed from Kontakt into the Pro Tools track on which Kontakt is instantiated.

You must create more outputs in Kontakt and they will become available as inputs in Pro Tools Audio/Aux/Instrument tracks.

As for getting data from Pro Tools into Kontakt, here we are talking about MIDI.

You can either use Instrument or MIDI tracks to send MIDI into Kontakt so that the MIDI data triggers the sounds you've loaded into Kontakt.

On MIDI tracks, you use the Output part of the i/o section to select which MIDI port, and which MIDI channel within that port, you want to send the MIDI data to. On Instrument Tracks, it's a bit different, because the Output part of the i/o section is for routing the AUDIO out of the track to your monitors.

You need to make Instruments view visible for Instrument Tracks in the Mix window. This makes visible a section at the top of the Mix window where you can specify the MIDI Output port and channel (among other MIDI related settings).

So let's say you set up multiple outputs in Kontakt and you load up some different sounds into Kontakt too.

You need to set each sound to respond to MIDI coming in on a different channel. This usually happens automatically, every time you add a new sound Kontakt increments the MIDI receive channel up by one.

You also need to set each sound to go to a different output in Kontakt. This DOES NOT happen automatically, it sets the output of newly loaded sounds to st.1, so you need to set each sound to go to the specific output you want it to.

You can have each sound respond to a different MIDI channel and go to a different Kontakt output, or, say if you want to create a complex sound by merging several sounds, combine multiple sounds together by setting them to respond to the same MIDI channel and go to the same Kontakt output. In this case, you would use the volume and pan faders for each specific sound to create the overall blend you want.

So, let's assume you want to have 4 sounds in Kontakt that you set to receive MIDI on Port A (from host), channels 1-4, and their audio set to go to Kontakt outputs st.1-st.4, and you want to use 4 Pro Tools Instrument Tracks to control this.

You create 4 Instrument Tracks and only instantiate Kontakt on the first track. You go to the Instruments view section for the Instrument Track in the Mix window, and set the MIDI output of each Track so each one sends MIDI data out on a different MIDI channel 1-4 respectively, having selected Plugin-Kontakt etc in each case before the MIDI channel.

Bear in mind that if you do not change the default MIDI output for the track you have Kontakt instantiated on, that Track will send to ALL 16 Kontakt MIDI channels. Set it to Channel 1 to avoid confusion.

You then go to the i/o section of the same Instrument Track in the Mix window. You can leave the input set as 'no input' on the first track, the one that has Kontakt instantiated. Pro Tools automatically receives audio coming from the default output of a Virtual Instrument (st.1 in the case of Kontakt) on the track upon which the Instrument is instantiated.

For the other three Instrument Tracks, select as the input in the i/o section st.2, st.3 and st.4 respectively.

Name the Instrument Tracks to something sensible that reflect the sounds you've loaded into Kontakt. Bear in mind that if you rename the track that has Kontakt instantiated, this new name becomes part of the menu system for selecting the MIDI channel you want the MIDI on the Instrument Tracks to go to, and the audio input that you want to set to be received in the Input part of the i/o section.

Now, if you hit the record enable button on each Instrument track in turn, any MIDI you play on your keyboard should trigger the correct sound in Kontakt (you should see sound level above the level fader in the relevant sound in Kontakt. You should also see sound level to the side of the relevant volume fader in the outputs section of Kontakt. You should also see level in the meter at the side of the volume fader on the relevant track in the Pro Tools Mix window.

Finally, if you've set the output in the i/o section of the Instrument Tracks in the Pro a Tools mix window to route to the audio interface outputs that your monitors are connected to, and your monitors are switched on, you should hear the sound you are triggering in Kontakt by playing your keyboard.

Hope that helps.

[walt68]

Thanks so much for the detailed answer. On the road so didn't get a chance to read it but will do so when I get home. Will let you know if it helps. I think you are correct though...I may be a tad confused!!

[walt68]

i thought when I created tracks in Kontakt, that would automatically create a stereo output, is that not the case?

[nigelpry]

Originally Posted by walt68

i thought when I created tracks in Kontakt, that would automatically create a stereo output, is that not the case?

When you load a sound from a Kontakt Library, its audio output is automatically set to the first Kontakt output pair, called st.1 unless you've renamed it to something else. All sounds you load up in Kontakt are routed to that same st.1 output unless you create more outputs and select the output you want for each Kontakt sound.

st.1 is not accessible to choose as an input (via the i/o section of the Instrument Track, because st.1 is automatically connected to the track in which Kontakt is instantiated.

So as shown in your screenshots, the only Kontakt outputs you can choose from as inputs to the track are st.2 and aux 1-4.

This demonstrates that Kontakt is still in its factory default state, with two stereo outputs (st.1 and st.2) and four aux outputs (aux 1-4).

Follow the steps in my previous posts to create additional st.x Kontakt outputs, and to setup the MIDI and audio routing correctly so you get MIDI routed into individual Kontakt sounds, and the audio of those sounds routed out of Kontakt to the correct Pro Tools Instrument Track.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by walt68

I understand that, that's why it should be easy to delete a comment but it's not possible.

You can delete comments (just delete everything inside a post) but not threads without help from a moderator.

[walt68]

Thx for your help folks, i saved the configuration and now it worked. This is what you were both telling me. Everything is working now! Mucho appreciated.
Cheers folks!

[nigelpry]

Glad to hear it's sorted now.

I was a little tempted to say RTFM originally, but I took pity on you ... it's all too easy to forget what a steep learning curve it can be when you've been using computers as part of music making for over 30 years ;-)

[walt68]

It's not always cut and dry. That's what these forums are for, to help each other out. Sometimes manuals can be confusing. Most people don't learn by reading manuals back to back. You learn by doing, watching and forums like this. And if you told me RTFM, I would have said FU!! :)

[nigelpry]

Originally Posted by walt68

It's not always cut and dry. That's what these forums are for, to help each other out. Sometimes manuals can be confusing. Most people don't learn by reading manuals back to back. You learn by doing, watching and forums like this. And if you told me RTFM, I would have said FU!! :)

Probably just as well I helped you out instead then ;-)

[walt68]

Yes sir! Thank u again.