March 2024 – a community update from our Chief Product Officer
Comments
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Is Maschine+ included in the updates?
I really hope to see new features on it.
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Great that you are opening up and beïng more transparant about what's going on! It give us, the customer, a sense that we didn't invest in 'dead' platforms. Good luck with all the upcoming releases!
Is it possible to open up a little about the future of Maschine Plus?
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Hello @Simon_NI & thanks for this update.. and a quote from your initial post:
Later this year, we’ll significantly expand what's possible in Kontakt, our flagship instrument platform. We're excited about the new sonic opportunities this will enable for both instrument builders and music producers. I can’t say much at this point, but there’ll be new ways to import and manipulate sounds, enhanced capabilities beyond just samples, and innovative methods to help you play instruments, not just control them.
The expansion of Kontakt's capabilities is most exciting to me, I am happy it made your list of things to include in your March Update.
Kontakt going beyond sampling is something I've been advocating for a while now. The name itself "Kontakt" is conceptually perfect for the hopeful inclusion of physical modeling... virtual objects coming together to vibrate, resonate and inspire our sonic wanderings. And manipulating these virtual objects with an expanding family of Kontrol devices.... my musical heart beats faster just thinking about what might be coming.
Can you share just a bit more info about what's ahead for Kontakt? Especially what you mean by "enhanced capabilities beyond just samples"?
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Any news on Massive X?
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No, he can't share.
He probably means moving Kontakt more in the direction of Steinberg HALion or UVI Falcon - which are both Synth and Sampler workstations.
KONTAKT is pretty useless beyond being a repository for Sample Libraries, and the restrictions around using non-NKS Libraries is the only reason to care about Full Kontakt. It needs a reason to exist beyond "that."
Gather the Prayer Warriors.
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That’s not correct. You use only one aspect of it (probably the less important)
I know 99% of people use Kontakt to simply load premade libraries, but that is not what Kontakt is.
Kontakt is a very valid and powerful sampler (although a little dated in its forms). It has been made to CREATE those libraries. The fact we can even use them is because someone else used Kontakt at its full potential to build them.
The fact that the majority of people just use it to take advantage of someone else work doesn’t make of it “pretty useless”.
It’s a little bit like the issue we have now with the functionalities removed from KK. They decided to remove them because their data reading told them few people used them, but that removal will have impact on all the users who simply take advantage of others work to make NKS.
If they would do the same with Kontakt, we could forget to even have those libraries we like to use without having to do 0 work by just loading them. The work (with Kontakt full functionalities) has already been made for us by someone else.
Kontakt is not a repository. Eventually Kontakt player is. And this could be a road they could have taken also with KK: a version for people just wanting to use premade products and a more complete one for people going deeper.
It’s a little bit like saying that a carpenter toolbox is “pretty useless” because in the end you only need a screwdriver to mount the furniture you bought at the shop. But without the saw, hammer, polisher and all the other tools the real carpenter used to prepare the pieces you screw together, you won’t even find the furniture you want to buy in the shop
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- You cannot Live Sample into Kontakt.
- Kontakt is comparatively feeble in terms of Synthesis Power when compared to something like HALion or Falcon.
I'm not reading all of that because it's irrelevent and I know it's irrelevant because there's really nothing else to say on this.
Kontakt - in practice - is a rather limited tool that 98.6% of end-users use to load Libraries. It is practically a ROMpler. I'm not going to sit on the internet and argue about this when you can go to any producer's studio and see how they use the product.
I'm well aware that Library Developers will use it in other ways, and that people may want to drag in some samples to map across the keyboard - but that isn't anything the stock multi-samplers in several DAWs can't already do very well without having to buy an additional product.
Kontakt's entire value - at this point - is tied to it being able to load its massive ecosystem of sample libraries, and not much of anything beyond that.
Also, I didn't say it was "pretty useless." Don't put words in my mouth or misconstrue what I clearly wrote in the comment directly preceding yours. I said:
"KONTAKT is pretty useless beyond being a repository for Sample Libraries"
... and I stand by that. Clearly, I am speaking generally. A few exceptions do not make a rule.
Yes, I could force myself to "use Kontakt in a different way" so that I can get on the internet and scream "Look what I can do!" in F#6.
But, in practice, I will never do that. And almost no one I know or have seen use the product does it either. They load libraries. That's all they do. That's all I do, too.
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Ok. Points of view.
And I agree that it can be improved (and hopefully the things Simon is pointing at in this thread go in this direction)
I bought Kontakt to create instruments or edit the ones created by others. If you bought it to simply load others libraries, it’s ok. You could have spared using Kontakt player and just give up to those who required the full version (not the majority).
I can see you are not interested in its sampler functionalities (although saying any other DAW’s stock multi samplers have same functionalities is quite strange…they are improved a lot, but…).
But please don’t say I put words in your mouth.
"KONTAKT is pretty useless beyond being a repository for Sample Libraries"
It is A LOT useful beyond that. The fact you are not interested in those functionalities or you think you can achieve same results with other programs doesn’t make of it “pretty useless beyond being a repository for Sample Libraries".
If Kontakt has a “massive ecosystem of sample libraries” maybe there’s a reason. Libraries creators use it for a reason.
As I said, points of view. The guy buying a car just to use it to sit down on its chairs and never turn it on has all the rights to do so. But if then he says “the engine in it is useless and I can sit on any other cheaper chair” he will always have the ones turning the car on telling him “well…its principal function should be to drive you around”
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Simon,
Thanks for the update! I’m looking forward to the enhancements and new products. I’m most interested in Maschine 3 software. I’d love to see what NI is capable of to make the software all-encompassing (production, recording, mixing, etc.).
Once discontinued, the Maschine Jam gained even more popularity and was highly sought after. It’s a great piece of hardware that unifies the NI ecosystem. I wonder if there’s any chance that we’ll see new hardware this year such as a a Maschine Jam 2 or Maschine MK4.
As for instruments, I’d love to see NI release a saxophone product. Until then, keep up the great work.
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"But, in practice, I will never do that. And almost no one I know or have seen use the product does it either. They load libraries. That's all they do. That's all I do, too."
This is all I do with it. And now with Komplete Kontrol - not even wanting to see Kontakt on screen.
It is the most expensive ROMpler I use - by far.
VP
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Well…THIS could be a good argument: why some libraries should require the full potentiality of Kontakt sampler simply to run if you will never be interested in modifying them.
But I think the road they are intended to move on is more about giving Kontakt more functionalities like the ones iNate pointed at in order to make it more on pair on these aspects with others (like the aforementioned Falcon or HALion)
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I would say that it's more like : Who needs a Carpenter's tool box if you got a Carpenter ?
But I think that you are right that Kontakt ought never end up as just another 'end user' tool.
I would say that the better a tool for true creation that Kontakt becomes the more of an industry standard it would/will have the potential to become over time ! So Kontakt should always remain a tool for creators too and not only that but also a tool that most people, no matter how creative or not that the users use of Kontakt is, can afford to buy into both to use to create music in the sense of being a creative 'end user' but also in the sense as to be used to create 'libraries'/'instruments' !
Up until now then as I see it then the whole NKS and Kontakt system has been built upon the concept of 'live and let live' ! Reference , Quote N.I. : We believe in partnerships in the music industry, not competitors. , also illustrated by : NKS PARTNERS and opportunities for 'profit and platform sharing' : Kontakt Player: licensing .
So in my opinion then not only ought N.I. have Kontakt keep on being able to be used to create libraries by all types of users but N.I. ought if possible make it even more accessible and inviting to use for creators on all levels. Profit made by profit sharing is still a profit !
I think that N.I. 'brass'/leadership is far too smart to start ruining N.I. business for themselves by ceasing this general live and let live attitude ! And to start neutering Kontakt like what is in question here and worried about here in my opinion would be a major blunder even if N.I. should see some very shortsighted gain !
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I agree most people only use Kontakt to load sample libraries. Most people only use synths to load presets as well. The reason is because they are lazy and lack creative vision. All most producers do is complain how they can’t support themselves off their “beats” that are so easy to make AI will certainly replace them. That’s why MOST are irrelevant.
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Just to give some perspective to this thread : is Native Access working normally now ? Or is it still a gigantic mess ?
I'm patiently waiting for the end of the mess in order to upgrade my NA1 version the last NA version, but I lost the count of time...
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"I'm patiently waiting for the end of the mess in order to upgrade my NA1 version the last NA version, but I lost the count of time..."
NA2 (v 3.9.1 as of now) works perfectly (and always has been) for me here on Win 10 (22H2).
Also remember there is no "upgrade" path either - if you are still thinking NA1 is actually a good thing - there is already a number of NI products that have already disappeared from it and it's actual update capability will go darker and darker as we head to years end too.
Best to simply uninstall NA1 and install NA 3.9.x clean and move on.
VP
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