# I've started making my first Kontakt Sample library! Any advice?



## jononotbono (Apr 12, 2021)

Feeling really excited. I've finally started making my first Kontakt Sample Library. Yesterday I had my first recording session and have many more booked. It's too early to share any specifics of what the library is going to be but I will say I am doing this with a good friend who has a great studio and live room and we can record there as much as we need to (when there aren't clients in there). I've already got a huge amount of pre planning done and the google sheets look scary with number of articulations, RRs, Dynamic Layers, One Shots, and much more.

Yesterday, as a first test for recording, I recorded an Octave of an instrument (with a specific articulation I chose for a test) and each note has 16 RRs (I'm adamant that details such as numbers of RRs need to be thorough), and 3 Dynamic Layers (3 to start with). More octaves will be added as I go but the workload doubles each time which is fine but I just need to find my feet first.

I'm a KSP noob and have bought David Healey's Xtant KSP Lesson 1 and 2 so I'm going to redo those (I did them over two years ago but life changed dramatically for me which stopped me going down this road). No doubt I will be frequenting this part of VI-C quite a lot from now on so I can definitely promise you I'm going to annoy with my questions! 😂

Anyone got any advice on making sample libraries? Any advice from experience that you learned from years of sampling? I'm very excited I'm embarking on this journey but also realise how little I know about actually sampling. Reading stuff isn't the same as actually doing stuff! 

Anyway, I guess I'm just sharing my excitement as I literally don't have many friends that would find any joy in this endeavour. Let alone be able to share this with anyone whilst in a Covid lockdown. Mainly because they have real lives! 😂

Jono


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## ReelToLogic (Apr 12, 2021)

I don't have any advice from a library developer standpoint, but as a customer I'll suggest taking a lot of care to edit all those RR's to ensure the timing is consistent. I just purchased a library from a first time developer and the timing was so off on some round robins that I ended up using another library, and it may make me hesitant to use it again in the future. Your probject sounds like a lot of work but very exciting! I'll be curious to see what you come out with. Good luck!


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## pulsedownloader (Apr 12, 2021)

Use a good delivery platform for your files


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## angeruroth (Apr 12, 2021)

I'm only a noob myself, but something I've learn is to not throw away bad takes. Sometimes it's nice to have a patch with weird stuff and noises from the same source.
Other than that (and all the info out there) time and effort are kings IMHO.


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## Land of Missing Parts (Apr 12, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> Anyone got any advice on making sample libraries?


Just be sure to everything perfectly or get an earful on VI-C.
Actually, you'll probably get it either way.


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## CT (Apr 12, 2021)

Don't just think about what you sample in terms of detail (dynamics, RRs), but also in terms of what will make life easier when you're in the programming phase, which means having a very clear idea of how you'll actually be building the patches from the start. Nothing worse than running into a problem with a patch that wouldn't exist if you'd planned the actual sampling a little better.


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## Bollen (Apr 12, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> Feeling really excited. I've finally started making my first Kontakt Sample Library. Yesterday I had my first recording session and have many more booked. It's too early to share any specifics of what the library is going to be but I will say I am doing this with a good friend who has a great studio and live room and we can record there as much as we need to (when there aren't clients in there). I've already got a huge amount of pre planning done and the google sheets look scary with number of articulations, RRs, Dynamic Layers, One Shots, and much more.
> 
> Yesterday, as a first test for recording, I recorded an Octave of an instrument (with a specific articulation I chose for a test) and each note has 16 RRs (I'm adamant that details such as numbers of RRs need to be thorough), and 3 Dynamic Layers (3 to start with). More octaves will be added as I go but the workload doubles each time which is fine but I just need to find my feet first.
> 
> ...


Well... As someone who has been developing a library for 5 years now I can tell you it's a nightmare!!! Other than that I wish you the best of luck!


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## d.healey (Apr 12, 2021)

It's like any art form. Start small. Build lots of mini projects to test each idea before you incorporate it into a larger work. 

As far as scripting is concerned don't stop at your first draft. It's like writing a book or a piece of music, you have to rewrite and refine it over and over to make it the best that it can be. Build on what you've done before, keep the good bits, rewrite the bad bits.


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## jononotbono (Apr 12, 2021)

Bollen said:


> Well... As someone who has been developing a library for 5 years now I can tell you it's a nightmare!!!


And why is it a nightmare? You just keep adding more and more and more and have no self control? 😂


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## doctoremmet (Apr 12, 2021)

Luke. Start with a preorder button on some website. I’ll bite - whatever’s the weird-ass Isle-of-Wight-y contraption you are recording at the moment.


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## Bollen (Apr 12, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> And why is it a nightmare? You just keep adding more and more and more and have no self control? 😂


Ha, ha, ha! Actually we did an extremely thorough and rigid plan. Then spent 4 years doing research which was very exciting, lot's of successes. But for the last year we've been building the prototype and realising that it's just insane!!! We're in the two digits on sample alone and my partner is going crazy with trying to script 4 types of legatos, infinite RR, 127 levels of portamento and over 40 different articulations and effects... We went a bit crazy with the design really... But it'll be the most complete and realistic instrument ever built!!!


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## storyteller (Apr 12, 2021)

Hey Jono! Best wishes on your endeavor. When I made my first Kontakt instrument, this blog was very helpful: https://blog.yummybeats.com/ksp-kon...ting-ksp-basics-ui_panel-explained-kontakt-6/


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## jononotbono (Apr 12, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> Luke. Start with a preorder button on some website. I’ll bite - whatever’s the weird-ass Isle-of-Wight-y contraption you are recording at the moment.


I will say this. There are some very weird and wonderful locations on the Isle of Wight and we are planning a lot of on location stuff. The first planned expedition into the field is to a few haunted toilets to capture the perfect sound of the islands most popular dogging spaces. 

Every good library has a good story. 😂


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## jononotbono (Apr 12, 2021)

Bollen said:


> Ha, ha, ha! Actually we did an extremely thorough and rigid plan. Then spent 4 years doing research which was very exciting, lot's of successes. But for the last year we've been building the prototype and realising that it's just insane!!! We're in the two digits on sample alone and my partner is going crazy with trying to script 4 types of legatos, infinite RR, 127 levels of portamento and over 40 different articulations and effects... We went a bit crazy with the design really... But it'll be the most complete and realistic instrument ever built!!!


Ok, you've now really got my attention! 😂


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## jononotbono (Apr 12, 2021)

storyteller said:


> Hey Jono! Best wishes on your endeavor. When I made my first Kontakt instrument, this blog was very helpful: https://blog.yummybeats.com/ksp-kon...ting-ksp-basics-ui_panel-explained-kontakt-6/


Thanks so much. I shall memorise it!


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## doctoremmet (Apr 12, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> I will say this. There are some very weird and wonderful locations on the Isle of Wight and we are planning a lot of on location stuff. The first planned expedition into the field is to a few haunted toilets to capture the perfect sound of the islands most popular dogging spaces.
> 
> Every good library has a good story. 😂


As long as this new new thing won’t hurt Jonoland The Game TM, I am all for it!


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## doctoremmet (Apr 12, 2021)

@Markrs Remember that livestream the other day? We should sample that weird audio loop of a thousand Lukes and sell it to 8dio as “The new Luke”


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## jononotbono (Apr 12, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> As long as this new new thing won’t hurt Jonoland The Game TM, I am all for it!


Nothing will hurt JonoWORLD. Except myself. The game is getting so advanced I think development time now has an estimated 38 years at this point. Gotta stop adding ideas. 😂


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## Markrs (Apr 12, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> @Markrs Remember that livestream the other day? We should sample that weird audio loop of a thousand Lukes and sell it to 8dio as “The new Luke”


The funny thing is initially the polyrhythmic sound as great, but then it started getting chaotic as more and more voice layered on top. Great fun though!


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## el-bo (Apr 12, 2021)

Advice?? Hmmm...Have fun


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## thesteelydane (Apr 12, 2021)

Test everything small scale from recording through to a rudimentary patch. What sounds great in the studio may not work well when programmed inside a sampler. You don’t want to realize that after you spent 600 hours editing 80 GB of material...

Become an RX ninja. And if you’re going to sell it, obsess over the details.


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## jononotbono (Apr 12, 2021)

thesteelydane said:


> Test everything small scale from recording through to a rudimentary patch. What sounds great in the studio may not work well when programmed inside a sampler. You don’t want to realize that after you spent 600 hours editing 80 GB of material...
> 
> Become an RX ninja. And if you’re going to sell it, obsess over the details.


I've just been playing around with RX. Such a wonderful tool! God, I'm already obsessing over yesterdays test samples.


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## FinGael (Apr 12, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> Feeling really excited. I've finally started making my first Kontakt Sample Library. Yesterday I had my first recording session and have many more booked. It's too early to share any specifics of what the library is going to be but I will say I am doing this with a good friend who has a great studio and live room and we can record there as much as we need to (when there aren't clients in there). I've already got a huge amount of pre planning done and the google sheets look scary with number of articulations, RRs, Dynamic Layers, One Shots, and much more.
> 
> Yesterday, as a first test for recording, I recorded an Octave of an instrument (with a specific articulation I chose for a test) and each note has 16 RRs (I'm adamant that details such as numbers of RRs need to be thorough), and 3 Dynamic Layers (3 to start with). More octaves will be added as I go but the workload doubles each time which is fine but I just need to find my feet first.
> 
> ...


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## Nils Neumann (Apr 12, 2021)

1. Create a smart naming scheme for your samples
2. Be consistent in EVERYTHING
3. Enjoy the process!


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## jononotbono (Apr 12, 2021)

My first test patch has got 799 samples in it. Might need to calm this down a bit! 😂


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## kgdrum (Apr 12, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> My first test patch has got 799 samples in it. Might need to calm this down a bit! 😂


Will this require a Mac Pro 5,1 with thunderbolt? 😜


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## Technostica (Apr 12, 2021)

Don't forget that the current Musicians Union rules require you to sacrifice a chicken for every thousand samples in your project. 
Plus a goat for every ten thousand. 
It's all voodoo really. 
Not sure what the vegan equivalent is? 
Fire the recording engineer if they wear leather trousers!


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## aaronventure (Apr 12, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> Anyone got any advice on making sample libraries?


Comment your code and be very descriptive, especially if you're just starting out (goes for all software, not just sample libraries). In the same manner, document your entire project—your processes and changes to them, context of decisions and changes, gear used, settings, setups... supplement with pictures and screenshots where possible. You think you can remember it all but with so much stuff going through your head on a daily basis, you'd be surprised how fast you forget what you did two months ago (and now you're wasting time on reverse engineering your own code), or how the recording setup looked the last time. Write. It. Down. 

Decide what purpose your library will serve and stick to that. It's very easy to fall into the feature creep trap. Think about how it will be used, and what does it offer that others don't.

Depending on how complex the project is, and how many instruments you have, making a vertical slice first is a good idea. Finish one instrument to completion first, that should have you dip your toes in all the processes involved, allow you to make changes to them, and give you an idea how long the whole thing will take (and cost), whether you need to scale back or can push even further etc.

Good luck!


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## EvgenyEmelyanov (Apr 12, 2021)

Do not forget to check your samples in the real mix. No matter how good your samples sound on their own, they should work great with each other. Together, *in the mix*. And I would recommend using Reaper as a DAW because it saves a lot of time


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## thorwald (Apr 13, 2021)

One advice I have is please keep in mind people who are unable to access the Kontakt-based UI via a mouse and add Komplete Kontrol support, either via making the library NKS-ready, or, if that's not feasible, at least map CC-based parameters to Komplete knobs, which your library does not need to be NKS-ready for. This makes a world of difference to blind and visually impaired people, for example, or for anyone who'd rather access parameters via their keyboard instead.

Please get in touch if you need more advice or testing regarding this, even if it is only relevant for the later stages.

Otherwise, I feel your excitement, and the very best for the rest of your adventure! ☺️


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## thesteelydane (Apr 13, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> I've just been playing around with RX. Such a wonderful tool! God, I'm already obsessing over yesterdays test samples.


In time you will come to loathe RX with a passion - I have spent thousands and thousand of hours in it over the years, and yes, it's an incredibly powerful tool, but it also represents the most boring, yet important part of the process. I'm about 140 hours into RX'ing the samples for Bunker Strings Vol. 2 and at this point I'd rather have needles in my eyes than spent another second in RX - but it has to be done, and it has to be done well. Spacing it out and doing more creative things in between sessions is my strategy - always helps to avoid carpal tunnel in my mouse hand, definitely starting to feel it in my wrist. 

You've probably already discovered this, but short articulations takes WAAAAAYYYY more work than longs - I always deal with the shorts first, so the project becomes easier as I get towards the end.


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## jononotbono (Apr 13, 2021)

aaronventure said:


> Comment your code and be very descriptive, especially if you're just starting out (goes for all software, not just sample libraries). In the same manner, document your entire project—your processes and changes to them, context of decisions and changes, gear used, settings, setups... supplement with pictures and screenshots where possible. You think you can remember it all but with so much stuff going through your head on a daily basis, you'd be surprised how fast you forget what you did two months ago (and now you're wasting time on reverse engineering your own code), or how the recording setup looked the last time. Write. It. Down.
> 
> Decide what purpose your library will serve and stick to that. It's very easy to fall into the feature creep trap. Think about how it will be used, and what does it offer that others don't.
> 
> ...


Thanks man. Yeah, already photographed first recording session positions of mics etc. Google sheets is a very useful tool for everything so far as well!

I made a test instrument with no scripting yesterday and although ropey, it’s making me feel excited to have something that works. Sort of works. Have much more to learn though and in making a test instrument, it’s taught me tons in what to look out for in the recording session next as well!


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## jononotbono (Apr 13, 2021)

kgdrum said:


> Will this require a Mac Pro 5,1 with thunderbolt? 😜


Definitely. 😂


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## jononotbono (Apr 13, 2021)

EvgenyEmelyanov said:


> And I would recommend using Reaper as a DAW because it saves a lot of time


I actually bought a couple of Xtant's KSP scripting lessons in 2018 because I decided then that I wanted to make some sample libraries. However, life can suddenly change drastically and I found myself moving out to New York so these plans have been on hold. I say this because last night was the first time I've used Reaper since 2018. And it took me a few hours to get into it but man, the batching of files, and audio editing for sample libraries creation are in a different universe to all the main DAWs out there. Being able to label so many audio files for RRs and not have to even bother with locators etc. Yeah, Reaper is an amazing DAW. Don't get me wrong, nothing is going to replace Cubase/Nuendo for me for writing music but Reaper is definitely the DAW of choice for this adventure! Love it!


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## jononotbono (Apr 13, 2021)

thesteelydane said:


> In time you will come to loathe RX with a passion - I have spent thousands and thousand of hours in it over the years, and yes, it's an incredibly powerful tool, but it also represents the most boring, yet important part of the process. I'm about 140 hours into RX'ing the samples for Bunker Strings Vol. 2 and at this point I'd rather have needles in my eyes than spent another second in RX - but it has to be done, and it has to be done well. Spacing it out and doing more creative things in between sessions is my strategy - always helps to avoid carpal tunnel in my mouse hand, definitely starting to feel it in my wrist.
> 
> You've probably already discovered this, but short articulations takes WAAAAAYYYY more work than longs - I always deal with the shorts first, so the project becomes easier as I get towards the end.


Yeah, my comment must have been misleading. I didn't mean I've only just started using RX as in "Wow! I've just bought it and discovered it". I mean't I just started having a play with RX on my newly recorded samples and I love how powerful it is. I've been using RX for quite a few years. It's probably the best tool and most important tool anybody that should ever buy. Unless they don't use computers for music.

Thousands of hours in RX? Then you must be a god with it. Way more time than myself! Have you got any RX videos online that you like or have seen? Always up for getting better with these tools.

I roughly edited a lot of short samples yesterday just to have something to play around with. Test stuff. Build a test instrument etc. Yeah they take a lot of work. Also a huge lesson in the recording process and I already have a lot of notes on what needs to not happen on the next recording session.


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## thesteelydane (Apr 13, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> Thousands of hours in RX? Then you must be a god with it. Way more time than myself! Have you got any RX videos online that you like or have seen? Always up for getting better with these tools.


Yes, not to brag but I’m a freaking RX ninja  As any ninja will tell you, there are no shortcuts to becoming a ninja, only putting in the practice day after day. Maybe get yourself some messed up recordings and practice on them. Removing unwanted noise without affecting the timbre and room tone can be very labor intensive and require lots of zoomed all the way in super detailed work. Get to know and understand the algorithms in Spectral Repair and what they do really, really well.

For Denoise always audition the "output noise only" to make sure you’re not removing any musical material. Learn the difference between broadband and tonal noise, and use the reduction curve wisely.

In the end working in RX is about listening really intently to what your edit does to the audio. Sometimes the right tool for the job is not what you would think. And it’s very easy to mess things up if you don’t learn to use it like a surgical scalpel rather than an axe.


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## jononotbono (Apr 13, 2021)

I am loving this adventure already! 😂


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## doctoremmet (Apr 13, 2021)

Can we do a Kickstarter to fund Kontakt Player compatibility? I want this artwork in my Kontakt Library too, to troll my Chris Hein, Native Instruments and Embertone “Player” libraries with a couple of Holodeck Luke’s playing guitar behind their backs.


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## doctoremmet (Apr 13, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> Can we do a Kickstarter to fund Kontakt Player compatibility? I want this artwork in my Kontakt Library too, to troll my Chris Hein, Native Instruments and Embertone “Player” libraries with a couple of Holodeck Luke’s playing guitar behind their backs.


At least do a Photoshop hahaha


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## Will Blackburn (Apr 13, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> Perfect for an Epic Choir Library


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## jononotbono (Apr 14, 2021)

YouTube is so amazing. There is a guy David Hilowitz who has a channel and teaches so much about Kontakt sampling. Explains things so well. One of the best resources I have found for sure! It's eye opening and how specific functions I didn't think would be possible for me to learn how to script is probably going to happen now!

Anyone got any other recommendations for YouTube channels teaching this stuff? Spitfire have released a few which have been useful too and I am just catching up with the whole Pianobook thing as I've not really had the time over the past 2 years to pay attention to it! Pretty amazing stuff that's going on!


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## Ross Sampson (Apr 14, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> My first test patch has got 799 samples in it. Might need to calm this down a bit! 😂


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## jononotbono (Apr 14, 2021)

Ross Sampson said:


>


You are correct. I'll report back when I get to my 100th recording session.


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## davidnaroth (Apr 14, 2021)

Congrats! This forum has plenty of great people and kontakt wizards kind enough to give advice. I did a similar thing last year, I had always built my own little instruments over the years, and always had a great time doing it, so I figured why not start something. It's always fun to step into something new. Organizing and forming an LLC did give me a headache though ha.


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## Noeticus (Apr 14, 2021)

Luke,

My only advice is that if there are Legato patches, then expect people here to go nuts complaining about them even if they are perfect.


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## jononotbono (Apr 14, 2021)

Noeticus said:


> Luke,
> 
> My only advice is that if there are Legato patches, then expect people here to go nuts complaining about them even if they are perfect.


Well there are so many types of Legato with all these developers. Performance Legato. Legato Performance. Magical Power Legato. The list goes on.

Mine will be called Imperfect Legato. 

If people still complain, I'll make sure there's a complaints box on my website and promise that there will be as much chance as me looking in that box as there is of Santa Clause reading their letters at Christmas. 

Couldn't be fairer than that now could I?


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## Will Blackburn (Apr 15, 2021)

Noeticus said:


> Luke,
> 
> My only advice is that if there are Legato patches, then expect people here to go nuts complaining about them even if they are perfect.



Hmmm i think they have a valid point though. The most playable Legato i have tried is still from LASS First Chairs and that is roughly a decade old? Nothing since then has come anywhere close to that imo. The bar was set and everything since then has fallen short.


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## jononotbono (Apr 15, 2021)

Will Blackburn said:


> Hmmm i think they have a valid point though. The most playable Legato i have tried is still from LASS First Chairs and that is roughly a decade old? Nothing since then has come anywhere close to that imo. The bar was set and everything since then has fallen short.


One of the main libraries I have never bought is LASS. I've always been so tempted but as time has gone on and newer libraries have come out I've found myself waiting for LASS 3. Is LASS 3 Modern Scoring Strings? Or Is that a different library?

Also talking about legatos. You say nothing has come anywhere close to LASS but what about CSS? People absolutely love CSS. 

Anyway, I'm not making a library with String legatos so I'm safe. From that specific scrutiny anyway. 😂


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## Noeticus (Apr 15, 2021)

LASS 3 and MSS are not the same library. MSS is out now.

LASS 3 might come out later this year... maybe.


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## jononotbono (Apr 16, 2021)

And the brain melting continues. I've got myself a low and high pass filter each with resonance controls, scripted no repeat round robins and now, on to ADHSR. Obviously just using default generic knobs and stuff as I learn this but learning custom GUI stuff comes soon for sure!


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## Lindon (Apr 17, 2021)

I've spent nearly 20 years building Sample libraries, and built many hundreds of Kontakt libraries for myself and for customers, my advice to you would be.... dont do it in Kontakt.


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## Noeticus (Apr 17, 2021)

Lindon said:


> I've spent nearly 20 years building Sample libraries, and built many hundreds of Kontakt libraries for myself and for customers, my advice to you would be.... dont do it in Kontakt.


Why not?


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## Will Blackburn (Apr 17, 2021)

Lindon said:


> I've spent nearly 20 years building Sample libraries, and built many hundreds of Kontakt libraries for myself and for customers, my advice to you would be.... dont do it in Kontakt.


Would like to ask why as well. Could you PM if not wishing to express publicly? I don't see any alternatives out there at the moment with the install base that makes it viable.


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## d.healey (Apr 17, 2021)

Noeticus said:


> Why not?


I'm guessing the reason is HISE...


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## jononotbono (Apr 17, 2021)

Lindon said:


> I've spent nearly 20 years building Sample libraries, and built many hundreds of Kontakt libraries for myself and for customers, my advice to you would be.... dont do it in Kontakt.


How come?

You've spent 20 years building sample libraries? That's a long time! Many hundreds of Kontakt Libraries? That's a lot! 

Why not? What have you learned? Have you written any music with the 20 years and hundreds of libraries you've built?


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## jononotbono (Apr 17, 2021)

d.healey said:


> I'm guessing the reason is HISE...


Why?

You writing great music with libraries using with HISE? Is anyone?


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## jononotbono (Apr 17, 2021)

Noeticus said:


> Why not?


YES. Exactly. Why? Imagine actually making a library with a sampler many people use? 😂


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## d.healey (Apr 17, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> You writing great music with libraries using with HISE? Is anyone?


Of course! All my music is great.

Hexeract, PercX, NeoSoul Keys, Felt Instruments, Sampleson, https://www.mntra.io/series/ultrasonic-death-whistle (Mntra Instruments) - these are all built with HISE. I'm sure someone is using them. I've sold quite a few myself, I hope they're being put to good use!

They're just plugins, the tool that is used to make them doesn't really matter to the end user.

Kontakt is a locked down proprietary system, HISE is open source, you can add anything you want to it (well almost). I wouldn't recommend HISE unless you have a lot of time to invest in building your libraries. If it's just something for your own use or a small quantity of sales then use Kontakt or SFZ or another sampler, it will be much faster and easier. If you're in this for the long haul, you don't need time stretching, and you want to make plugins (not NKIs) then check out HISE, the learning curve for non-programmers is steep but worthwhile.



> YES. Exactly. Why? Imagine actually making a library with a sampler many people use?


HISE isn't a sampler for the end user. It's a tool for making plugins, they don't have to be sample based, they don't even have to be instruments, you can make effects with it too.


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## proxima (Apr 17, 2021)

d.healey said:


> Hexeract, PercX, NeoSoul Keys, Felt Instruments, Sampleson, https://www.mntra.io/series/ultrasonic-death-whistle (Mntra Instruments) - these are all built with HISE. I'm sure someone is using them. I've sold quite a few myself, I hope they're being put to good use!


Ah, I was curious what platform PercX was built on, since it's a rather unique UI (sometimes a little too unique - I go long enough between using it that I have to figure it out a little bit each time). Still, it's certainly a strong endorsement of HISE's ability to make a really interesting VST/AU.


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## Lindon (Apr 18, 2021)

So why not? :
Well I'm sure many people will hold different opinions (which are all valid I'm sure) but:

1. Kontakt's scripting language (KSP) is (I have come to think) not fit for purpose, you will spend many many long hours of frustration with it. Hours that could usefully be spent elsewhere.
2. Kontakt is a closed shop product - I will agree that it has a very large customer base (tho of course no where near the size of the VST, AU and AAX plugin base), but NI only make changes they want and need - and dont listen to you the 3rd-party developer
3. Its expensive to get to a larger audience. Sure I can build my product and get NI to encode it for me so it works on the Kontakt Player - but that's not cheap (for multiple product releases - including versions of your single product; version 1.01 costs you as much in encoding as 1.0) and requires yet-another-download (the player) for your users...
4. It's "just" a sampler - sure it's a powerful sampler and well worn in, but I cant build anything other than things that use wav files - so I cant leverage my KSP expertise in to synths or effects.
5. If I'm not paying NI for the player-based privileges then my audio data is easy to access and steal

Have I made music with these hundreds of Kontakt products? Yes - but I stopped making (a very poor) living from making music long ago - I make my living building audio products -initially in Kontakt, and now (as David points out) in HISE. 

So after 20 years of doing this - as a living - I eventually found a realistic viable alternative platform to build products on, and to make a living selling either those products or my development services ( these days its mostly this gun-for-hire stuff if I'm honest). 

I'm sure there are many people here who find Kontakt perfectly acceptable as a platform, and good luck to you, I've been here in this sub-forum for a very long time and spent a long time using and abusing Kontakt, so I used to be in this group of people. 

But if you want to make a living (or have any sort of shot at it) building audio products, I offer you my advice - skip the Kontakt-built products step - do some research, there are better platforms to invest your efforts in.


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## Lindon (Apr 18, 2021)

Before we all head off into a comparison between HISE and Kontakt - there's this:






For Those of Us Considering Jumping from Kontakt to HISE


A little background: HISE is an open source framework for creating sample libraries. It seems to have the usual mapping, scripting, and other sampler features we'd see in Kontakt or Falcon or Halion, although probably requiring more effort, since it's designed for developers rather than users...




vi-control.net





Some of its a bit out of date now - as HISE has moved on (as usual at a much quicker pace than Kontakt) but it will give you a flavour...


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## jononotbono (Apr 18, 2021)

Thanks for all your advice. I’m going to use Kontakt for now. I’ve only just started, I’m excited about making something that works and I own and use Kontakt. Maybe in the future I’ll look into HISE but right now I’ll stick with Kontakt.


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## Noeticus (Apr 18, 2021)

I think perhaps the problem with HISE is that far too many people have never even heard of it.

Until this thread, I had never heard of it, but have heard of UVI, but only because of Virharmonic.


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## d.healey (Apr 18, 2021)

Noeticus said:


> I think perhaps the problem with HISE is that far too many people have never even heard of it.


Unlike Kontakt, HISE is not an end user application. It's a developer tool for making plugins. Users don't need to know anything about HISE in order to use a plugin that was built with it.


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## Jrides (Dec 11, 2021)

thorwald said:


> One advice I have is please keep in mind people who are unable to access the Kontakt-based UI via a mouse and add Komplete Kontrol support, either via making the library NKS-ready, or, if that's not feasible, at least map CC-based parameters to Komplete knobs, which your library does not need to be NKS-ready for. This makes a world of difference to blind and visually impaired people, for example, or for anyone who'd rather access parameters via their keyboard instead.
> 
> Please get in touch if you need more advice or testing regarding this, even if it is only relevant for the later stages.
> 
> Otherwise, I feel your excitement, and the very best for the rest of your adventure! ☺️


This. Always this.


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## Fredeke (Dec 12, 2021)

Be sure to go for a walk, get some sunlight and exercise every day.


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## Lindon (Dec 12, 2021)

Fredeke said:


> Be sure to go for a walk, get some sunlight and exercise every day.


..very good advice....


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