[NKS] Freelance Soundlabs 3rd Party NKS Libraries for Komplete Kontrol / Maschine

Info: Spectrasonics Keyscape Library Issue on macOS for VST3

This is just a quick note about some reported issues with the Keyscape library on macOS for VST3 loading the first preset but then subsequently causing KK to freeze when another preset is loaded.

The issue was deemed to be a plugin issue for macOS since it does not affect Windows users nor does it affect the same NKS files being opened in Omnisphere and I reported this through to Spectrasonics (who are awesome to deal with) and within a day they have indeed confirmed this is a plugin issue and will work on a fix for the next update.

So if you have hit this problem a fix from them should be on the way soon but if you have Omnisphere you can load all Keyscape presets within Omnisphere using the Keyscape bank in the NKS omnisphere library. Once a fix is issues there will be no need to update anything on the NKS side, just update your Keyscape software. I will post another update when a fix is posted.

No idea about why your post doesn't work.

Already aware of the info posted, i've read every post, tech note, watched the live stream, been in the Beta for the last few months and even poked around in the new NKS format itself, there are a few things to note tho.

NKS for plugins does not make use of KSP so that is only for Kontakt stuff.

The global map thing is all fine, but there still needs to be an exported patch anyway, it just makes it easier for devs to change the template without having to update every file. However what this doesn't cater for is cases like with UVI or something like Keyscape where different patches within the same instrument have completely different settings and mappings so need different maps created. I am sure this is possible but there are cases where it is desired to have a patch-by-patch mapping.

I think people sometimes get all caught up in the latest and greatest and tend to dismiss everything that worked before. While there are definitely some nice improvements there is still a good 90% of the functionality at the core that is the same between both formats from what I have seen so it's not, how the kids call it a "game changer" by any stretch, not as it stands, just a good and useful update to the standard.

Anyway, all that functionality is locked behind developer only accessible utilities under NDA and legal mumbo jumbo so currently, no chance we will see any of these features available outside of official NKS plugins any time soon.

I wouldn't say NI aren't serious, of course they are serious about NKS and the potential but there are a lot of hurdles to overcome to make it more mainstream and fact is, while NKS is great for us users it is really just another way to entice developers to sign up to the growing NI conglomerate so ideally this is what NI want to happen rather than us users to take away from that.

One issue is not all users out there have a careful attention to detail or follow standards so making NKS too open could result in it seeming to be a mess. I see some user created libraries with a bit of a mess of tagging and it can result in you seeing things like "Pad, Pads, Synth Pad, Synth Pads..." all as tags instead of all under a single tag. Sure this can all be fixed but from a user perspective when they download from random locations, put it all together as a pretty new user then go to use it the impression of how the NKS eco system works isn't good off the bat especially if things don't work or the control pages have not been designed correctly.

So NI like to have some quality control and not just me but several of the guys here making libraries take time and use their experience to make sure we follow the same NI guidelines as much as possible so things fit seamlessly. I also contact a lot of developers and have input from hundreds of users about suggestions which have shaped the templates and tagging over the years.

The other issue for devs is simply time and effort. No matter which way we look, NKS is still a niche area of the audio production field and even with the right tools it can still take considerable time for a dev to design, create, tag and have NI approve all their content for NKS not to mention there is code needed for official NKS that has to be coded into the plugin itself for things like lightguide to work, not all devs fancy having to do this. Trust me when I say I have spoken with many developers about NKS and not to forget 90% of the plugins out there are very small teams, they just do not have the time to manage it since it then has to be maintained and updated over time. Think of the headache devs had to endure going from VST2 to VST3 on top of having to make their plugins compatible with Apple Silicon.

Then there is simply the competition view. NI sell plugins that in some cases directly compete with the sales of other plugins and industry wide, NI haven't always had the best reputation, some devs just have very low interest to have to sign up as a partner especially when looking at the fact that very few over the last 10 years NKS has been out have jumped onboard and some of those that have only added NKS to a few of their plugins, likely due to the effort needed and likely to just test the waters or have their name on the vendor list for publicity. I will not mention names but I can assure you, there are at least 10 plugins I cover that are reasonably popular that will likely never see official NKS but things may change since it all comes down to demand, if enough people ask maybe it will be considered tho this has been run over many, many times in 10 years.

So really there are a lot of hurdles which I have actually spoken with NI about numerous times over the years and it is what it is. I would never expect every dev to jump onboard and I would also not expect NI to do all the work either. Akai tried with the Akai Advance and, well, look how that has ended up, basically abandoned now.

It's always a wait and see game but I like to just work with what I can so always suggest to look into what you can do now, place some hope for the future but never expectation.

Now Available: UVI Falcon Expansion Fluidity

NKS library for Falcons Fluidity now available. Falcon expansions are a pain to make libraries for, this one no exception. Each preset has a completely different set of controls and labels so each preset has been saved by hand with all controls labelled for each preset. Makes using expansions so much better.