I don't get Playbox.

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Brent Emerson
Brent Emerson Member Posts: 4 Member
in Kontakt

Admittedly I've only messed around with it for a little bit, but even after watching a few videos I don't get the value of PlayBox.

The videos show a person playing around with chords and sounds, but what do I do when I find a good sample and effect combination I like? How can I make use of the samples and the effects settings Playbox has stumbled upon? As far as I can tell I need to recreate the sound I liked from scratch from instruments and effect. If I'm looking for inspiration Playbox is a good tool. But if I can't get any useful output from it to help building my tracks what's the point?

Either I am missing some functionality of Playbox or I'm misunderstanding how it's meant to be used.

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  • shanecgriffo1
    shanecgriffo1 Member Posts: 1 Newcomer
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    you can use it as a starter idea or to add some texture and movement to other tracks

    What makes you say you cant get any useful output?

    The only thing i find not so useful is that you only have 1 octave on the keyboard to play with

  • Brent Emerson
    Brent Emerson Member Posts: 4 Member
    edited July 2023
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    Thanks shanecgriffo1. How do you use Playbox with your existing tracks?

    I've found that I can record custom chords into the chord panel (not limited to the C3-C4 range, which is just for triggering the chords). That helps. I knew importing was an option.

    I also found that I can simply record to my DAW using Playbox as an instrument (pretty straightforward I guess, should have tried that sooner!) I was imagining Playbox as a Tool "off to the side" of my DAW that would let me load assets when I found a good combination. Now I'm thinking its more like a regular instrument with a robust randomization feature and an unusual note-entering method.

    I'm still not sure how useful Playbox will be for me, but since it was one reason why I upgraded to 14 I was hoping I'd be as impressed as some in YouTube World are. (And with people like Robot Koch praising it I'm sure it has usefulness I haven't uncovered yet.) I haven't found a video or tutorial yet that shows how to use Playbox in the broader context of song creation and DAW integration, just people playing around with the settings. I'm just a hobbyist and need a bit more hand-holding I guess.

  • Monochrome
    Monochrome Member Posts: 1,139 Expert
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    Have you seen these videos?


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udjWW45phgU
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ead6R0j0SKM


  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 2,943 mod
    edited July 2023
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    Have you tried that extremely dreaded thing called a manual ? 😉 🙂

    https://www.native-instruments.com/fileadmin/ni_media/downloads/manuals/Playbox/PLAYBOX_Manual_English_2022_03.pdf

    https://www.native-instruments.com/ni-tech-manuals/playbox-manual/en/welcome-to-playbox

  • Brent Emerson
    Brent Emerson Member Posts: 4 Member
    edited July 2023
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    Jef Gibbons' video is very close to what I was looking for (and I share his attitude towards Playbox). Onesto's was very good but explained little re: workflow integration. Thanks for the suggestions, Monochrome.

    The manual is a description of features. I want to see (or read) how Playbox is integrated into a production workflow, not how it works as a standalone Kontakt toy.

  • Kymeia
    Kymeia NKS User Library Mod Posts: 3,785 mod
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    I’d like to be able to actually play it rather than just play with it

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