How do I change the keyswitch location in Kontakt and/or Komplete Kontrol?

Joe Patterson

Sometimes there are two to three octaves between the keyswitches and the keys for the instrument. I am only asking about NI products nothing else.

LostInFoundation

it’s because the range of the clarinet is on high octaves. Other instruments have also lower octaves and that’s why they put the keyswitches there.

As I told you, they are pre assigned and can’t be moved

djsdz73

Reviving an older thread here but I came upon this through a google search on this very topic. IMO it's just lazy programming, a lot of instruments have a small octave range so it's easy enough to program the key switches (KS) (starting on C which makes sense) 1 or 2 octaves below the lowest note depending on the number of KS and the lowest note of the instrument. That way a lot of the instruments and KS would easily fit a 61 key keyboard and even a 49 key keyboard at times.

I only just starting looking into this subject but found that not all KS are locked. I changed the KS on the flute of woodwind solo and it now fits my s49. Once you've changed the KS you will need to save it as a preset so you can load it up in future projects. You can't overwrite the original NI programming so you will need to load up the saved preset otherwise it just loads the original programming. Hope this helps some of you.

stephen24

You can easily change the location of a keyswitch with a simple multiscript. This transposes any note you play below the clarinet range, i.e. C below middle C (#48 - end of line 2) down 2 octaves (24 semitones, end of line 3). It'll affect all instruments in the multi, but you can put in another condition specifying the channel.

on midi_in
if ((($MIDI_COMMAND = $MIDI_COMMAND_NOTE_ON) or ($MIDI_COMMAND = $MIDI_COMMAND_NOTE_OFF)) and ($MIDI_BYTE_1 < 48))
set_event_par($EVENT_ID, $EVENT_PAR_MIDI_BYTE_1, $MIDI_BYTE_1 - 24)
end if
end on

Paste into multiscript slot (KSP button, top R of Kontakt window) and click Apply.

LostInFoundation

It’s not possible. They are pre assigned

Joe Patterson

Thank you for such a quick reply. I use the S61 and for an example,. I have the clarinet loaded. If I set my keyboard to have C1 on my left I can only use the lowest octave of the clarinet if I want to use keyswitchs. How can you "play" an instrument without articulations? Thanks again.

LostInFoundation

What library are you talking about?

In any case usually keyswitches are set outside the instrument range

Joe Patterson

The Clarinet in Woodwind Solos in the Symphony Series from NI. I have a S61 and when I put C1 at the lowest C I only have half of the clarinet range on the right. There are over two octaves of empty keyboard between the keyswitches and the beginning of the clarinet. It's very clumsy, I was wondering if there is way to change this setting.

LostInFoundation

it’s because the range of the clarinet is on high octaves. Other instruments have also lower octaves and that’s why they put the keyswitches there.

As I told you, they are pre assigned and can’t be moved

Joe Patterson

Got it, that makes sense. So basically to use all the instruments with keyswitches I would have to use a full 88, correct?

LostInFoundation

To have access to all all at once, probably ☺️

MyStudioOne

Even on the 88 (which I use), I sometimes have to shift down an octave depending on the instrument. But there is no way NI could map the articulations that would serve every keyboard size and instrument requirements. It is least troublesome on the 88, more so on the 61 and worse on the 49 and so on down the line. NI should make articulations shift-able up and down the keyboard like Spitfire does with the BBC Orchestra plugin. But the instruments are no doubt optimized for the 88 key which is why the setup is no so well suited to the smaller keyboards.

nightjar

One of NI poor design flaws...

Joe Patterson

Thanks My Studio One, I did find the YouTube video about using Spitfires orchestra for this problem. Fortunately I have both orchestras and switched to the Spitfire for now. Except to me there is a big difference in the instruments. Spitfire is a classical orchestra. The NI to me is a more “modern” sounding orchestra, not quite as lush as the Spitfire. But that’s a whole different conversation! Thanks again 👍🏻

djsdz73

Reviving an older thread here but I came upon this through a google search on this very topic. IMO it's just lazy programming, a lot of instruments have a small octave range so it's easy enough to program the key switches (KS) (starting on C which makes sense) 1 or 2 octaves below the lowest note depending on the number of KS and the lowest note of the instrument. That way a lot of the instruments and KS would easily fit a 61 key keyboard and even a 49 key keyboard at times.

I only just starting looking into this subject but found that not all KS are locked. I changed the KS on the flute of woodwind solo and it now fits my s49. Once you've changed the KS you will need to save it as a preset so you can load it up in future projects. You can't overwrite the original NI programming so you will need to load up the saved preset otherwise it just loads the original programming. Hope this helps some of you.

Joe Patterson

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/119221#Comment_119221

Thanks, now I have some playing around to do to check this out. Sounds like a great solution, other than NI changing their programming 😆

djsdz73

Yeah I wish NI would change this, I see no point in there being so much dead space between the KS and the lowest note other than perhaps the programming convenience of using a standard template.

No idea how many instruments have the option of changing the KS, session horns pro seems to be fully locked unfortunately.

Joe Patterson

It’s unfortunate though I have been using Spitfire products more and more because of this issue. However for guitars etc there is no substitute for NI.

MyStudioOne

But I am not sure what NI could do to address guitar plugins anyhow? They all seem to use pretty much my entire 88 keys unlike orchestral instruments that have so much dead space between range and key switches.

By the way, Spitfire just released an acoustic guitar plugin and I couldn't help myself, I grabbed it and it looks promising.