KVR Audio

como baila · Post by **como baila** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:54 am

Hi ...

I just purchased StrumMaker IV and Delta Blues yesterday and am having my first go at them. I'm really liking them so far!

Question: It's probably a Kontakt thing ... but when I load Delta Blues after StrumMaker, the StrumMaker keyboard disappears behind the Delta Keyboard and I cannot find a way to get it back ... except when hitting the wrench. But toggle off the wrench and it disappears again.

Question: Kontakt states there is a file missing when loading StrumMaker: EAG&_SS_C#3_UP_2.ncw (or .now). Is this missing in the recent download?

Feature: The Strm Spd Hits has no graphic to tell which way increase the speed. That would be nice as it isn't always obvious.

Feature: I don't see and cannot find a read out/ value for the Swing parameter. It would be nice to show percentage of swing somewhere in the GUI.

Thanks for listening.

Como

tcollins · Post by **tcollins** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 2:57 pm

Hi Como,

Kontakt only displays one keyboard, and seems to share it among the loaded instruments in the Multi, depending on which instruments are active. I'm honestly not sure of the rules, but if you have 2 instruments loaded the keyboard will be active for the first one, but if you solo the second instrument the keyboard will switch to it. I hope that I'm understanding your question correctly.

I'm not getting missing file messages on our computers here. That is weird, because there is no sample with that name. Maybe you should try re-downloading just in case there was a problem. If anyone else is getting this message please let me know.

I debated over how much data to show on the GUI, and decided to try to keep things as uncluttered as possible, which is why the sliders don't show the data. However, your point is well taken, and perhaps the data could be momentarily displayed up in the KeySwitch display as you move the controls? That would be fairly easy to implement. I agree that seeing the values would be helpful.

The Swing parameter works like this; at "0", all Pattern steps are an equal distance apart. At 100%, every other step is moved to 2/3 of the way between its neighbors. This, too, could be displayed in the KS display.

Thank-you for the excellent suggestions,
TC

DarkStar · Post by **DarkStar** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 3:18 pm

tcollins wrote:Hi Como,

Kontakt only displays one keyboard, and seems to share it among the loaded instruments in the Multi, depending on which instruments are active. I'm honestly not sure of the rules, but if you have 2 instruments loaded the keyboard will be active for the first one, but if you solo the second instrument the keyboard will switch to it. I hope that I'm understanding your question correctly.

I'm pretty sure that Kontakt sends its virtual keyboard messages to the currently-selected instrument and any other instrument listening on the same MIDI channel.

como baila · Post by **como baila** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 4:21 pm

tcollins wrote:Hi Como,

Kontakt only displays one keyboard, and seems to share it among the loaded instruments in the Multi, depending on which instruments are active. I'm honestly not sure of the rules, but if you have 2 instruments loaded the keyboard will be active for the first one, but if you solo the second instrument the keyboard will switch to it. I hope that I'm understanding your question correctly.

I think you are ... and I think DarkStar explains it, that the gui selection defaults to the first instrument on the respective midi channel. I'm going to double check and see how order of loading and whether something is muted or soled affects the display.

tcollins wrote:I'm not getting missing file messages on our computers here. That is weird, because there is no sample with that name. Maybe you should try re-downloading just in case there was a problem. If anyone else is getting this message please let me know.

Hmmm ... could that file be from Delta Blues?

tcollins wrote:I debated over how much data to show on the GUI, and decided to try to keep things as uncluttered as possible, which is why the sliders don't show the data. However, your point is well taken, and perhaps the data could be momentarily displayed up in the KeySwitch display as you move the controls? That would be fairly easy to implement. I agree that seeing the values would be helpful.

For strum speed just a little '+' and '-' at the respective ends of the slider range would be adequate. And, FWIW, I did look in the KeySwitch display to see if there was a read out for swing percentage ... so I think that's an intuitive place for the data ... to maybe also show up if you hover over the handle of the slider?

tcollins wrote:The Swing parameter works like this; at "0", all Pattern steps are an equal distance apart. At 100%, every other step is moved to 2/3 of the way between its neighbors. This, too, could be displayed in the KS display.

Thank-you for the excellent suggestions,
TC

My pleasure! After all, I can only benefit from a listening developer.

como baila · Post by **como baila** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 4:26 pm

DarkStar wrote:
tcollins wrote:Hi Como,

Kontakt only displays one keyboard, and seems to share it among the loaded instruments in the Multi, depending on which instruments are active. I'm honestly not sure of the rules, but if you have 2 instruments loaded the keyboard will be active for the first one, but if you solo the second instrument the keyboard will switch to it. I hope that I'm understanding your question correctly.
I'm pretty sure that Kontakt sends its virtual keyboard messages to the currently-selected instrument and any other instrument listening on the same MIDI channel.

Thanks for this. I think I had one on omni and one on channel one. I'm also wondering how order of loading affects this if they are on the same channel. I'm used to stacking synths without keyswitches ... I suppose it doesn't make sense to stack keyswitching instruments on the same channel, so Kontakt makes some 'intelligent' decision which to select when they are on the same channel.

tcollins · Post by **tcollins** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 10:03 pm

DarkStar wrote:
tcollins wrote:Hi Como,

Kontakt only displays one keyboard, and seems to share it among the loaded instruments in the Multi, depending on which instruments are active. I'm honestly not sure of the rules, but if you have 2 instruments loaded the keyboard will be active for the first one, but if you solo the second instrument the keyboard will switch to it. I hope that I'm understanding your question correctly.
I'm pretty sure that Kontakt sends its virtual keyboard messages to the currently-selected instrument and any other instrument listening on the same MIDI channel.

Ahh- right you are. You select the instrument in the upper "Header" so it is outlined in orange, and the keyboard becomes active for that instrument. I think that I actually knew that once! Thank for clarifying, DarkStar.

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