Explain like I'm five how to get the sound of the instrument to play when i push the key

AstroCyclone71
AstroCyclone71 Member Posts: 5 Newcomer
in Kontakt

Hello all, i'm not a musician. I am a 3D modeller who loves to create audio tracks to accompany my cinematics. I'm working on a project for which a loop of some instruments mashed into a beat would go so well, and i purchased a Native instrument pack for the sole reason of hitting keys and hearing that sound.

I quickly realized it would be far from that simple.

I open up Kontakt, and i can't get anything but a piano to play when i hit the key (I want the Koto to play from the East Asian pack) but i can't figure out how to get that to play.

Google searching only lead me down the rabbit hole of complex DAWs that i have a hard time justifying learning for the sake of a few short notes of Koto played.

So please, dear community, explain to me like i'm an ADHD five year old, what is the EASIEST and MOST BASIC way for me to play a few notes of my chosen instrument i bought on here without the need for big, intimidating DAWs that take a lifetime to learn to use. Remember, i'm not a musician, so half the terminology is pure gibberish to me. All i want is a few short loops of instrument.

Thank you in advance, and have a wonderful day!

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Best Answer

  • stephen24
    stephen24 Member Posts: 460 Pro
    Answer ✓

    Turn OFF "Microsoft wave something" - that's output! (…to the Windows General MIDI, which is what you're hearing).

    Make sure you've set up Audio to go where you want, in the same settings. (to avoid possible complications, might be best to temporarily switch off all other programmes using Audio)

    Now you should be able to play sounds on the Kontakt master keyboard or the instrument's own keyboard in the Mapping Editor. Playing with a mouse won't be very satisfactory and if you want to play actual music you would probably be better to buy a MIDI keyboard.

Answers

  • stephen24
    stephen24 Member Posts: 460 Pro
    edited 12:57PM

    Not sure what your "key" is, but any neurodiverse 5-year-old will tell you that if you want a keyboard to control an instrument you must connect them together (File>Options>MIDI). Sounds as though your keyboard is driving your Windows internal General MIDI.

  • AstroCyclone71
    AstroCyclone71 Member Posts: 5 Newcomer

    Thanks for the reply. How do I change that? Every time I go there in the settings I have only one option, Microsoft wave something, gotta check properly what it is. But are you saying that I need an actual keyboard to make this work? (Keyboard as in musical one, not what I use to type?) when I open the program I can see a small little keyboard that I can click the keys on but it only sounds like piano not anything else despite selecting what I want to hear.

    I hope my question makes sense

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 7,233 mod
    edited 3:30PM
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/46078/explain-like-im-five-how-to-get-the-sound-of-the-instrument-to-play-when-i-push-the-key

    please, dear community, explain to me like i'm an ADHD five year old,

    You are kind of both asking the impossible but also skipping quite a lot here.

    One of the most basic problems often is the drivers settings and how to get sound. Therefore I personally prefer the Steinberg built-in ASIO Driver for non demanding use but also I usually suggests some tweak to Windows sound settings. But at least then you need to get a handle on the setting up of Midi and Audio in the standalone version of Kontakt / Komplete Kontrol :

    Setting Up the Stand-alone Kontakt Application

    Setting Up the Stand-alone Komplete Kontrol Application

    Else then what is your exact OS version ? and what is your keyboard make and version ? and what is your Kontakt version ?

    what is the EASIEST and MOST BASIC way for me to play a few notes of my chosen instrument i bought on here without the need for big, intimidating DAWs that take a lifetime to learn to use.

    Not all DAWs are equally poor when it come to being approachable.

    The learning curve when you want to learn to use a DAW is steep but Mixcraft got videos with introduction to most things which makes it rather easy to jump into, you can check it out here :

    Mixcraft 10 University 101 , Mixcraft 10 University 202 , Mixcraft 10 Videos

    Mixcraft have a free trial and where the intro entry offer at the moment is as low as $25 : Mixcraft 10.6 Home Studio

    .

  • AstroCyclone71
    AstroCyclone71 Member Posts: 5 Newcomer

    Thank you for the reply. So basically what i'm hearing here is that there is no way for one to load up Kontakt, hit a key on my typing keyboard and hear the instrument i want to hear.

    I need to either purchase an expensive MIDI keyboard that comes with a MIDI input i can set up in Kontakt, or get some sort of a DAW and sift through manuals, forums, and tutorial videos until i find the part that tells me how i can load my Kontakt as a plug in that lets me hit a key and hear the instrument i want.

    Is that right?

  • stephen24
    stephen24 Member Posts: 460 Pro
    Answer ✓

    Turn OFF "Microsoft wave something" - that's output! (…to the Windows General MIDI, which is what you're hearing).

    Make sure you've set up Audio to go where you want, in the same settings. (to avoid possible complications, might be best to temporarily switch off all other programmes using Audio)

    Now you should be able to play sounds on the Kontakt master keyboard or the instrument's own keyboard in the Mapping Editor. Playing with a mouse won't be very satisfactory and if you want to play actual music you would probably be better to buy a MIDI keyboard.

  • AstroCyclone71
    AstroCyclone71 Member Posts: 5 Newcomer

    @stephen24 OK i got it to work! I turned off Microsoft gs wavetable synth (that's what it was, my bad for not specifying) and when i selected my headphones as the audio output i was able to hear the instrument i wanted! however, i am still unable to hear anything over my actual speakers. But i at least hear what i want through my headphones. Thank you so much for the reply!

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 7,233 mod
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/231497#Comment_231497

    Is that right?

    No.

    I need to either purchase an expensive MIDI keyboard that comes with a MIDI input i can set up in Kontakt,

    No there is in-expensive keyboards too 😉

    Thank you for the reply. So basically what i'm hearing here is that there is no way for one to load up Kontakt, hit a key on my typing keyboard and hear the instrument i want to hear.

    I can help you get setup with using your typing keyboard , and my apologies for skipping that part and not be clear about that.

    For using your 'typing keyboard' then provided that you are using Windows then please check my FreePiano with loopMidi below here :

    1 : Download and unzip FreePiano

    2 : Download and install loopMidi

    3 : Restart computer

    4 : Start loopMidi if not started and make sure that you have aMidi port added

    5 : Start FreePiano

    6 : In FreePiano choose loopMidi port as instrument , and if you want turn on background input for the PC keyboard to work also when FreePiano is not in foreground.

    7 : Start Kontakt

    8 : In Kontakt Midi options turn on loopMidi port

    9 : Enjoy

    or get some sort of a DAW and sift through manuals, forums, and tutorial videos until i find the part that tells me how i can load my Kontakt as a plug in that lets me hit a key and hear the instrument i want.

    As I explained in the above then not all DAW are equally difficult. But if you do not want to try to use a DAW or trial of same and do not like the DAW advice then nobody is forcing you to anything.

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 7,233 mod

    P.S. Both the cheap DAW Mixcraft and DAW Ableton Live Lite support using your typing keyboard for midi input. I wrote about using Ableton Live Lite here. And info about using it with Mixcraft who refers to it as Musical typing can be found here.

    .

  • AstroCyclone71
    AstroCyclone71 Member Posts: 5 Newcomer

    @PoorFellow i really appreciate the detail of your reply, thanks! I'm starting to agree with your suggestion for a DAW because of the versatility, and one day down the line i will invest the time to properly learn one, for now though i was able to get what i originally wanted to work to a degree and for now i think it suffices my basic needs. In any case, thanks for all the support!

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