How to record keyboard playing?
I'm very new to this software synth :) So… how or what software can I use to record my playing on the Kontrol keyboard? Is there such software in NI library?
Best Answers
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The only one in NI portfolio with a piano roll where the midi can be recorded is Maschine.
But I wouldn’t say it’s the best option for what you want to do (its strengths are more in having a very good workflow and being an hybrid between a Groovebox and a DAW)
What you need is a full DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), which is made exactly to record (audio and midi) and arrange things in a song. You will load Komplete Kontrol inside of it and then use its features to record, edit and arrange.
There are many to chose from (Studio One, Cubase, Ableton Live, Reaper, Fruity Loops, Bitwig Studio, ProTools, Cakewalk, Waveform, Audacity,…) and many of them have free editions (sometimes limited in features, sometimes limited in number of tracks, sometimes not allowing the use of third parties plugins,…) or demos that expire after some time.
Make a research and find which one would be good for you (and if it has a free version, so you can start to record your stuff without spending money).
I would suggest you Presonus Studio One, which is the one I landed on after using all the others (and I still use them…everyone has his strengths)…but at the moment it doesn’t have a free version (they say they will bring it back…but who knows when?)
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Not stupid questions….just the ones from someone beginning and not knowing things 😉.
Try to think it like this, comparing to “real” world stuffs (even if, in facts, it is not correct…but it helps understanding):
Komplete Kontrol software (and other Virtual Instruments) is the instrument (even if it can load different sounds)
A DAW (which is a program on your computer) is the mixer that can receive the sounds of different instruments in its channels. And that then also have a recorder that can record these instruments and arrange them in a song.
Loading Komplete Kontrol software inside a DAW is like plugging an instrument cable into a mixer.
The DAW then can record in 2 ways, Audio and MIDI. That’s another thing to learn.
Always to try to make things basic to understand: audio is what we are used to. The sound produced is recorded like on a tape. Midi instead… you can think of it like a “performance recorder”. If you press the C key, it doesn’t record the sound produced, but the press of the key. Every time you play the recording back, it’s like if the key gets pressed again. Its advantage is that you can modify things afterwards in the pianoroll: you can move the C to an F or move the moment in time when that key is pressed…or its duration. But maybe it’s better to come to this later ☺️
No, your S88 is not a DAW. About that, you can think it like this: compare your S88 and Komplete Kontrol software “package” to a piano. The S88 is the keybeds, KK software is the hammers beating the chords which produce the sound.
I would suggest you to have a look around to learn how making music on a computer works (plenty of videos on YouTube…I’ll link to a basic not too long one at the end)Another suggestion could be to not hurry things and starting buying stuffs. Try to understand what you can do (and what you WANT to do) before starting to buy things that maybe later you’ll regret, because you will discover that what you effectively need is something else.
As said, there’s plenty of free stuff or demo versions you can start with before committing to buying something 😉
A brief introduction to what a DAW is and what it can do:0 -
That's great , congratulations on that , that's progress at least 😀
Feel free to pick which post(s) answered your question.
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Answers
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The only one in NI portfolio with a piano roll where the midi can be recorded is Maschine.
But I wouldn’t say it’s the best option for what you want to do (its strengths are more in having a very good workflow and being an hybrid between a Groovebox and a DAW)
What you need is a full DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), which is made exactly to record (audio and midi) and arrange things in a song. You will load Komplete Kontrol inside of it and then use its features to record, edit and arrange.
There are many to chose from (Studio One, Cubase, Ableton Live, Reaper, Fruity Loops, Bitwig Studio, ProTools, Cakewalk, Waveform, Audacity,…) and many of them have free editions (sometimes limited in features, sometimes limited in number of tracks, sometimes not allowing the use of third parties plugins,…) or demos that expire after some time.
Make a research and find which one would be good for you (and if it has a free version, so you can start to record your stuff without spending money).
I would suggest you Presonus Studio One, which is the one I landed on after using all the others (and I still use them…everyone has his strengths)…but at the moment it doesn’t have a free version (they say they will bring it back…but who knows when?)
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Thank you, but…
These concepts are confusing, I do have Kontrol Keyboard S88, is it a DAW?
What do you mean "load Komplete Kontrol inside it"?
The software is inside computer and DAW can use it, can it?
Sorry these stupid questions :o
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I do have Kontrol Keyboard S88, is it a DAW?
If you have S88 did you then not get Ableton Live Lite from N.I. when you bought the keyboard as new ? (Your S88 keyboard is a midi controller keyboard not a DigitalAudioWorkstation program , a DAW program is e.g. Ableton Live , Reaper , Cubase , Mixcraft , Bitwig Studio , FL Studio)
Getting Ableton Live Lite 12 (not sure if it comes other than with hardware) / Ableton Live Intro ? is most likely the easiest way since that support integration with the N.I. keyboards. Else then if you have bought the keyboard as second hand and have no DAW and use PC with Windows then I think that you can use Reaper as free and also I happen to have a spare Retrieval Code for Mixcraft 9 Recording Studio that I just found today and it might still work even if old by now , I don't know if the code still works or how well Mixcraft works with the keyboard but if you want then you can have the code for free to test if still works.
What do you mean "load Komplete Kontrol inside it"?
Komplete kontrol is both the name used for the keyboard previously , now mostly only called Kontrol , but it is also the name of the app that you have running on the computer to connect to the keyboard so that you can browse sounds on the Kontrol S-Series keyboards. The Komplete Kontrol app also comes in a VST3 version that you can use inside the DAW program to produce sounds.
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Not stupid questions….just the ones from someone beginning and not knowing things 😉.
Try to think it like this, comparing to “real” world stuffs (even if, in facts, it is not correct…but it helps understanding):
Komplete Kontrol software (and other Virtual Instruments) is the instrument (even if it can load different sounds)
A DAW (which is a program on your computer) is the mixer that can receive the sounds of different instruments in its channels. And that then also have a recorder that can record these instruments and arrange them in a song.
Loading Komplete Kontrol software inside a DAW is like plugging an instrument cable into a mixer.
The DAW then can record in 2 ways, Audio and MIDI. That’s another thing to learn.
Always to try to make things basic to understand: audio is what we are used to. The sound produced is recorded like on a tape. Midi instead… you can think of it like a “performance recorder”. If you press the C key, it doesn’t record the sound produced, but the press of the key. Every time you play the recording back, it’s like if the key gets pressed again. Its advantage is that you can modify things afterwards in the pianoroll: you can move the C to an F or move the moment in time when that key is pressed…or its duration. But maybe it’s better to come to this later ☺️
No, your S88 is not a DAW. About that, you can think it like this: compare your S88 and Komplete Kontrol software “package” to a piano. The S88 is the keybeds, KK software is the hammers beating the chords which produce the sound.
I would suggest you to have a look around to learn how making music on a computer works (plenty of videos on YouTube…I’ll link to a basic not too long one at the end)Another suggestion could be to not hurry things and starting buying stuffs. Try to understand what you can do (and what you WANT to do) before starting to buy things that maybe later you’ll regret, because you will discover that what you effectively need is something else.
As said, there’s plenty of free stuff or demo versions you can start with before committing to buying something 😉
A brief introduction to what a DAW is and what it can do:0 -
So…to resume in single sentences without all the bells and whistles that could confuse:
Komplete Kontrol software and all the other plugins are the instruments producing sounds.
A DAW is the Studio ( a mixer that can receive the instruments sounds, a recorder that can record them, an arranger to sequence them in a song,…).
A midi controller like the S88 is the physical device that allows to play those sounds.
That’s the very basic way to describe them. I’m sure that when you have learned how computer music works, you’ll laugh at the way I tried to explain it to you 😂😂😂0 -
Thank you so much.
I have played real keyboards (piano, organs, synths) for 40 years :o and I know MIDI :)
When I saw videos people playing NI with those magnificant acoustic instrument sounds so I decided to buy S88 and Ultimate 15, and I got them last tuesday :)
Even after such a short time, I am already convinced of these wonderful sounds that I can get out of my devices and even play them :) but using all that 800 gigs :) is challenging. 300 gigs are loaded and maybe enough.
The purpose is to save my playing to some format. The Ult 15 package had no Ableton….
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When I saw videos people playing NI with those magnificant acoustic instrument sounds so I decided to buy S88 and Ultimate 15, and I got them last tuesday :)
Congratulations , including on your very good taste 😀
Even after such a short time, I am already convinced of these wonderful sounds that I can get out of my devices and even play them :) but using all that 800 gigs :) is challenging. 300 gigs are loaded and maybe enough.
You do not need to download and install more content than what you want and need but you definitely ought to install the the Applications and all the plugins so that you have that to use. Also then while you ought to install Applications and plugins to system drive then Content you can install to a secondary drive or even to an external drive (fast drive using fast connection recommended) , where possible I recommend internal drive of type SSD. (NVME attached SSDs generally are a lot faster than SATA attached SSD)
The purpose is to save my playing to some format. The Ult 15 package had no Ableton….
The new Keyboard itself include Ableton Live Lite , please check your emails for the code (you should get those emails when registering the keyboard hardware serial in Native Access) and for how to redeem at the Ableton Live site.
Kontrol S-Series MK3 manual and DAW shortcut here. Also : Learn Kontrol S-Series (scroll down page to see all)
Also Ableton Live Lite Reference manual , Registering Live Lite (using code from N.I. email from when registering hardware serial).
You might also want to add the free N.I. Komplete Start to your account since that includes a couple of small things not included in the Komplete 15 Ultimate bundle
Also then since you got Komplete 15 Ultimate then you got the full version of Kontakt 8 and can use all the free unlicensed Kontakt libraries that is around e.g. :
Sonus Core have seven free items for Kontakt (only those that only says 0,00 is free the rest is trial versions)
Fracture Sounds : Blueprint Collection , 17 free Kontakt instruments that works with the free Kontakt Player. To get the 'Blueprint series instruments then you are required to subscribe to a newsletter to get the link to be able to buy the instruments at zero cost (no CC required) Every individual instrument in the collection require it's own key to redeem in Native Access and is a download of it's own.
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Good to know 👍🏼
So the part you have to learn is how a DAW works.
Or…if you want to keep things simpler…. you could do it the ol’ good way and use an audio recorder to record the sound of what you play (if you play keys instruments from 40 years, I suppose you are good at that and don’t need too many “corrections” 😉)
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thanks again guys,
I have made three more sweaty :D days of progress, got Ableton license and got it working. I just made my first recording (15 seconds) and played it back :D :D
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That's great , congratulations on that , that's progress at least 😀
Feel free to pick which post(s) answered your question.
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