I already told you why I love kontakt 3.5,  but I also told you I would follow up with a video showing some of the new features in Kontakt 4 when NI sent it over for review.

So here we are!

The reasons I love kontakt 4 even more than the previous version…

kore like browsing interface is now standard in pretty much every native instrument program…maybe with the exception of battery 3

yes, this categorizes all the tons of sounds in kontakt 4, making it easy to find what you want in their library.

you can also bring in and tag your own sounds for use in their database if you’re feel adventurous.

I like it, it’s simple, it’s easy, and you really don’t have to use the library browser for their internal sounds.

Good move.

It gives you a familiar interface for sound browsing across their entire range of instruments, they are not stupid, they know what they are doing….I smell a take over….hmmm….wonder if there are any subliminal messages hidden in the navigation and interface of their programs!

They also gave each “collection” of instruments a new interface, as well as adding a brand new choir collection, all the sounds from their Elektrik Piano instrument, some solo strings from Vienna, a collection of mellotron sounds in the vintage collection, and other gooodies.

Each one is a nice visual representation of the collections contents.

But it is also functional, allowing you to access all your desired parameters

directly from the front panel.

This is a vast improvement from previous versions, and the controls seem “simpler” if that makes any sense.

Everything you need, nothing you don’t, however you can go as deep as you want if you feel the need to.

They also updated the scripting and added some humanization/dynamic functions that allow for more realistic playing.  But I will tell you the truth, I didn’t mess with that much, I’d much rather just let it do it’s job.

My absolute favorite update…and this is the truth…is the new quick load browser!

Basically, you can setup your own “virtual” file system, no matter where instruments and samples are on your hard drive or external drives or even across the network!

You can put them in your own folder structure…and the files are not copied anywhere…it’s basically just links to your stuff.  This is very helpful, as the last quick load version just organized things based on how they were on your hard drive.

Now you can set things up exactly how you work…want a folder of sounds for a specific project? Go for it…you can have the same sound duplicated and triplicated lol..if that’s even a word!

I love it…this is my favorite feature and I use it all the time. I have tons of Kontakt instruments and libraries, and I always wanted to organize them MY way…now I can, this is the feature I’m most excited about and thing is the best addition…well, that and the ability to drag the kontakt window to adjust the size

Is it worth the upgrade? heck yeah… is it worth a try if you’re new to it? Heck yeah! But again…I would NOT buy it alone, at the price it cost just for Kontakt, the better deal is getting Komplete 6… real talk.

4 payments of 124.75 at zzounds is always a good deal for budget musicians lol.

If you just plan to get it all in one swoop, head on over to native-instruments.com

lemme know what ya think about it, any questions, or if you’re using it, let me know your favorite features.

leave me a comment below

Okay, today brought some major news from our friends over at Native Instruments.

After a short “outage” on the website…they busted out with some new goodies!

Komplete 6….

Yep, they are updating their massive synth and fx collection, come October 1 you can get your mitts on the new Komplete collection.

What I noticed immediately, the price! It’s retailing for $559!! What the! Yessssssssssssssssssss….Native Instruments is taking over, period.

They are making it pretty much a no brainer to get with them.

You get three new instruments in addition to all the mainstay classics from NI.

Kontakt 4…

Kontakt is pretty much THE standard when it comes to sampling nowadays. And even though I’m currently in my own review of Kontakt 3.5…it looks like we’ll just have to switch focus to the new Kontakt 4 which ALSO releases on October 1

One of the new features is the addition of Choir section in the sound library. Also something sexy called “Authentic Expression Technology”. Sounds fun!

They also added some solo strings from the Vienna Symphonic Library, all the instruments from their Elektrik Piano plugin are now there, a concert hall organ, and a mellotron.

They also updated the performance views for each collection in the library, and looks can be just as inspirational as the sounds themselves.  They also gave it an “attribute-based” browser…similar to Kore 2. I will definitely get you more updates as I find out more about it!

Absynth 5…

Absynth is pretty much the monster “other wordly” synth that is so flexible it allows you to come up with some absolutely stunning sounds.  I personally haven’t had a chance to play with Absynth yet, but the sound demos and videos look amazing.

I have ALWAYS heard great things about this synth, and if it gives off smooth, etheral sounding pads as well as ambient and atmospheric sounds…I’m all for it. I love that stuff.

It includes all the sounds from the previous versions plus 200 brand new synth sounds! Also includes 30 new fx…yes, absynth can also be used as a kick butt fx unit.

Something called an Aeitherizer is in there…, it basically “decomposes” your sound into tiny grains, and puts it back together if various ways…I don’t understand all the technology behind it, but it sounds like I can make some major sounds!

Speaking of that…what about the “Mutator” ? This is a sound design tool that allows you to create complex and crazy sonic masterpieces without ever having to go into the editor pages…just point and click…I REALLY have to try this out. Anything that makes sound design easier and fun is okay with me.

Bottom Line is that Native Instruments is not taking it easy on anyone!

As I was discussing with a few buddies earlier today, with their outrageously competitive pricing and new product line up, native instruments is making it hard for anyone to say no to what they have to offer.  I can tell you I’ve never been disappointed with anyting I’ve tried from NI, and I’m sure these new products will continue to carry on the legacy.

When I get something in my hands…you know I’ll give you the full scoop!

Well, native instruments just keeps giving us musicians something to love.

Another addition to their high quality instruments, free for use, is the new kontakt player.

It’s similar to the kore player, it’s expandable via native instruments as well as third-party kontakt libraries.

That means it can play all “powered by kontakt” libraries.

You can buy any of the various available libraries from the hundreds of sound design companies that support the “powered by kontakt” format….or you can buy your sounds direct from native instruments.

Heck you can do both!

But…what if you’re like many “struggling” musicians?

Fear not! Native Instruments is providing you with some high quality instruments to get you started.

They call it the Kontakt Facotry selection and it gives you selected sounds from the full kontakt 3.5 library.

A collection of 50 instruments, 650 mb of high quality content. Again…it’s free!

I don’t know about you, but this is great news to me!  It means you don’t have to settle for low quality free vsts and samplers anymore!  With this, and the kore player, you have a very professional sound setup for no cost what so ever!

And when you’re ready to expand, you can do so via native instruments website or your favorite sound libray dealer.

The kontakt player doesn’t offer all of the capabilities of the full version of kontakt 3.5, but it offers enough to be a very serious instrument.

If you aren’t doing tons of sample editing and things of this nature, I don’t see why you couldn’t just use the kontakt player, and update your library as you see the need.

Oh yes, and you do get 18 high quality effects that come in the full version of kontakt 3.5

And just in case you want to know whatup with the full version, you get a demo included that runs for 30 minutes.

So, it’s a player, not a full sampler. No instrument editor, no wave editor, and it can’t play all third party kontakt libraries, only “powered by kontakt” instrument libraries, of which there are tons.

Many sample cds come exclusively in “powered by kontakt” format.

bottom line is this…you should go download it, it’s free, and gives you the quality of kontakt in your sound instantly.

go get it! Download the kontakt player