Paradigm shift for me:Gig Performer, Komplete Kontrol

[EscapeRocks]

As you all know, I am a huge proponent of Mainstage and VST use in general for my gig rigs.

 

Using Mainstage these last few years and learning all the tricks for successful use of a computer based rig, has really helped me make my rig solid.

 

Gig Performer:

During this time, I have slowly been adding several 3rd party libraries such as Kontakt, PianoTeq, and Arturia.

 

One thing about these is that while they are excellent, they can get CPU heavy when running several of their respective instruments.

 

In the shadows, I have been running Gig Performer since its Beta Test days. It has really come into its own.

 

I have been recreating my concerts in Gig Performer using my three library sources above.

I can see why the Bidule proponents love Bidule. Being able to quickly add blocks and connect them makes setting up a patch EASY!

 

Here's an example of a patch, using Arturia's Jupiter 8

 

Three instances of Arturia in one patch: CPU never goes over 20% with large sustained chords.

 

Komplete Kontrol:

 

Seeing as I am now using a lot of Kontakt instruments, and my Arturia and PianoTeq are fully NKS compatible, I bought a new Komplete Kontrol S61 MK 2 last week.

 

Should have done this earlier!

 

 

The keys are wonderful: what I consider full sized.

The action feels in between synth and semi-weighted.

Using Midi Monitor, I also found the aftertouch to have great implementation. I could get very nuanced pressure controlling the amount being transmitted.

 

The pitch and mod wheels are solid, and all the knobs and buttons feel solid. So far, so good.

 

Komplete Kontrol Software:

 

Now we get to the really good stuff (for me, at least).

 

Once you register the keyboard, you then go to your Native Access, and in a couple minutes, all your free Komplete Select 12 instruments, as well as Komplete Kontrol software is ready to install.

I clicked "install all" then made lunch

 

After everything is installed, you need to launch Komplete Kontrol in stand-alone mode.

 

(you also do this anytime you add new NKS instruments)

 

It then takes a couple minutes to scan your system for all Kontakt, and other NKS compatible instruments. In my case it scanned all of my Arturia V-Collection 6, as well as my PianoTeq 6.

 

 

I am ready to go!

 

I fire up the S61 Mk2. It boots up quickly, senses I am hooked up to Komplete Kontrol, and is waiting for me to choose a library.

 

The left screen now looks like this. As you can see it is showing some Kontakt and Arturia instruments. I scroll thru all the instruments and select Monark.

 

 

It brings this up on the board's screens. Notice the parameter names above the knobs at the bottom.

 

 

Here's what I really like. I can hit the "browse" button on the keyboard, and it then lists every preset currently in Monark.

 

I can then scroll thru all of them with the big knob on the board. Best part is that is plays a quick demo of each sound as you scroll to it.

 

In just the couple days I have had this, it has really upped my game in finding sounds. Instead on scrolling on the Macbook, then playing a note, this allows me to easily hear when searching.

 

 

It works the same for any NKS instrument, including giving you a sound preview. Here's the Arturia Jupiter 8, with all parameters mapped to knobs properly

 

 

Where all of this really helps me, is in taking the starting sounds and modifying them to my needs. Having everything pre-mapped is making it very easy for me to sit down and dig in.

 

Komplete Kontrol Midi Mode:

 

Using the S61 MK2 in the live rig.

 

The Komplete Kontrol software can also run as a plug in inside your host or DAW.

 

In most cases, I will run in MIDI mode. MIDI mode lets the user define the functions of all the assignable knobs and buttons. You use the Komplete Kontrol software to do this, right down to naming the parameter.

 

I have already created a few

These are all of the common parameter, so far, I might use.

Up top I have my Patch Prev and Next, playback start/stop, and Panic buttons set.

Then I have a general volume knob, and chorus knob (that controls my blue cat audio chorus depth amount).

 

 

The software lets you change the MIDI channel and CC# being sent by a control. I still have a few more to program.

 

At anytime, I can hit the "Plug In" button on the keyboard to take me to the pre-mapped page of any particular instrument. Then I just hit the "MIDI" button to go back.

 

My work flow, so far, is that I use Komplete Kontrol in plug-in mode to create all my sounds in the various instruments.

 

Then live, I will be in MIDI mode. Since I am using Gig Performer, those top row of buttons are programmed to the corresponding GigPerfomer function.

 

Any knob is "learned" as needed by the particular instrument in use.

 

Other:

 

The board has two pedal inputs that can be assigned anyway you desire.

 

The software even let's you flip the tip and ring! I tested this with my Yamaha FC7. No more adapter or other jury rigged cable attachments.

 

The software also has a calibrate function. I used this, and I get a nice smooth and linear movement from 0-127 with the FC7.

 

The USB-B jack is recessed into the board. This in effect gives you a housing around the USB cable housing to prevent whacking the end off, and it is a very stable connection.

 

Conclusion:

All in all this was the proper time, for me, to delve into this new stuff.

Knowing what I know now about VST use on stage, I wouldn't have started here. I needed the very visual, hands on approach to learning that Mainstage facilitates.

 

The reason I have adapted so quickly to the new board and software is because of all the trials I've gone thru to get a solid machine setup.

 

Mainstage is still excellent, IMHO, I am just branching out to new sounds and new ways to improve my workflow.

 

I am even sampling some of the Mainstage sounds I created so I can have them at hand.

 

The fact Komplete 12 Select comes with the purchase of the board is a bonus for me. There's tons of cool stuff under the hood.

 

 

Okay, back to sound programming.....

[hardware]

Nice and Kompact too.

I recently discovered I could run a seperately instance of each instrument in. Kontakt and finally maxing Out 2 Cores of a Quad CPU.

Dont know if Gig or Main allows this, but if you start running into troubles thats a way around CPU issues.

Omni and Zebra2 are core locked PianoTeq 6 can spread amongst Cores, but I couldnt get 4 Cores equal to save my life.

Everyone said get a Hexa Core but Live I just dont see the use since Ive got 6U worth of Analog synths.

 

Nice rig boss.

Thought Id share my recent discovery in the quest to maintain low latency, and core efficiency.

[EscapeRocks]

Thanks Hardware!

 

I always like sharing info and discoveries here.

 

[tfort]

Now you have to try out Camelot Pro, coming out on the 12th. And I'm hoping for an iPad version of MainStage coming out at NAMM (iPad version of Camelot also comes out of Beta on the 12th...).

 

[nursers]

Great stuff David - I've been drooling over the NI keyboards for ages but can't rationalise buying one really - though you've made that harder with your great overview

[EscapeRocks]

Now you have to try out Camelot Pro, coming out on the 12th. And I'm hoping for an iPad version of MainStage coming out at NAMM (iPad version of Camelot also comes out of Beta on the 12th...).

 

Yeah, Ive been following along the development. It looks like it will be a good thing.

 

Im full up, though

 

With Mainstage and my two MacBook Pros, and Gig Performer thy can run Mac OS or on Windows, Im good.

[EscapeRocks]

Great stuff David - I've been drooling over the NI keyboards for ages but can't rationalise buying one really - though you've made that harder with your great overview

 

Ive always liked the concept of the Komplete boards. It took me a long time to finally pull the trigger, for the reasons stated in my original post.

That, and the release of the Mark 2 version did it for me.

 

 

[NewImprov]

Cool and informative post! I've been seriously considering replacing my Novation SL61 MK2 with the Komplete board. I don't know if I'm ready to give up Mainstage yet, and have been curious about how well the Komplete software runs within MS.

[jeffincltnc]

Outstanding write up, David! I, too, am excited to get started on my journey (no pun intended) with the Komplete Kontrol S61 MK2, Komplete Select and V Collection.

[StevieDeepD]

Wow, you have me reconsidering my setup. Thanks for a thoughtful, informative post.

 

- S

 

[hardware]

Apologies for a post from some crappy auto spell phone.

 

I was trying to say I was always maxing out 2 Cores and no way around that since my synths are Core locked.

PianoTeq spreads itself over Cores really well.

Omni, Zebra2 HZ (because of the Matrix) are Core locked.

Kontakt seemed to ALWAYS jump in with Omnisphere or Zebra2 HZ, so 2 Cores were being hit fairly hard, the other 2 barely used.

 

For each Kontakt instrument, give it a seperatel instance, for example the dll. with 8 outs.

This is what makes all 4 Cores stay around 30-40%. Thats with a Xeon E3-1275G @ 3.8GHz.

 

Hope this makes sense.

 

And again sweet rig, rapid deployment. FOH guys love simple.

 

[Stokely]

Still am not willing to go there live (for our simple little gigs especially) but I am aiming to get Komplete the next time there is a sale. I mainly want Kontakt to be able to use various instruments out there that require the full version...and if I shell out for that, it's not all that much more to get Komplete, and there are some goodies in there. Reaktor alone can do a ton, also would love to play with fm8, massive x (upcoming) and absynth among others...

 

Not cheap so I'm researching a bit on the cheapest way. In the past, getting Komplete select (via hardware bundle or alone) and then waiting for an upgrade sale saves you a fair bit vs just getting Komplete. NI does NOT make their product lines simple, argh....

[nursers]

Still am not willing to go there live (for our simple little gigs especially) but I am aiming to get Komplete the next time there is a sale. I mainly want Kontakt to be able to use various instruments out there that require the full version...and if I shell out for that, it's not all that much more to get Komplete, and there are some goodies in there. Reaktor alone can do a ton, also would love to play with fm8, massive x (upcoming) and absynth among others...

 

Not cheap so I'm researching a bit on the cheapest way. In the past, getting Komplete select (via hardware bundle or alone) and then waiting for an upgrade sale saves you a fair bit vs just getting Komplete. NI does NOT make their product lines simple, argh....

 

You are so right on this. Another frustration: if you buy the full Komplete, there's no ability to buy one of their keyboards except at full price. I fully understand why but even a few bucks off to recognise loyalty would be a good move....

[Nathanael_I]

Nice writeup! I switched to Gig Performer a year ago. Works great. Just like I weaned myself off of Logic and switched to Cubase and cheaper PCs, I want the flexibility to do the same with laptops or a rack mount PC - either of which I can get with better specs than Apple offers.

[EscapeRocks]

Thanks for all the comments and thoughts.

 

As I have always said in my posts about my software gig rig: There's no right or wrong. You do have to have a little faith that very first time you venture out with a controller or two, and your laptop.

 

I've had issues...mostly user created

 

One thing I really like and have found with Mainstage and Gig Performer is that they give you the basics workspace, and it's up to you to create a setup they way you want it.

 

The way I have my concerts designed may be, and are most likely, different than the way you might set your up.

 

 

This thought just occurred to me: I now have backup concerts in my laptop.

 

If for some reason Gig Performer itself decided to take the night off, I can easily launch Mainstage

 

With 1TB of SSD space, there was no need to remove the Apple Sound libraries, and the Kontakt, Arturia, and PianoTeq are the same libraries for both.

[Al Quinn]

Great writeup David! Thanks

[Rod S]

Thanks for the post. I have been thinking about getting the keyboard. Very useful getting such a detailed first hand account from somebody putting the time to integrate this in their workflow.

 

Always wondered how useful and practical the screens, and how much the time invested in it will provide benefits on the long run. YMMV, as in any type of setup.

 

[burningbusch]

Question. Back when I tried to use MainStage (quite a while back) one of my frustrations is that it blocked incoming MIDI Program Changes for its own use, so you couldn't set up a soft synth that responds to MIDI program changes and pull up sounds directly. You would have to create individual instances for each sound. With the NI Keyboard, can you directly pull up those NKS sounds within MainStage? (I'm thinking the NKS system might not rely on MIDI program changes).

 

Does Gig Performer allow you to use MIDI Program Changes to change patches within a synth?

 

Busch.

[johnchop]

Thanks for sharing this!

 

Gig Performer, when I demoed it, ran FAR more efficiently than MainStage on my laptop. I've been following its development and appreciate all the care and attention they've brought to it.

 

Meanwhile, my beef with Komplete Kontrol is that despite the great hardware, the software is not multitimbral--or rather, not multi-VSTi. I wished for a rebirth of the Kore software, but we got this instead. Enh.

 

So, for that reason, I'm still sold on VIP, both as a standalone and plugin host solution:

 

http://www.akaipro.com/products/new-products/vip

 

Of course, it's PURELY a VST (2.x) instrument host, and won't process audio inputs, run MIDI plugins, or do any routing to external MIDI modules.

 

But for many, that may not be a problem. It's the functional equivalent of a hardware workstation that runs 8-part multi-mode (with effects inserts and busses to boot), but otherwise doesn't talk to the outside world. If you don't want to worry about wiring things up, and just get into layering/splitting sounds, creating setlists, adding knob tweaks, and organizing patches, it's fantastic! It sticks to the VST spec, too, which is great when plugin developers also stick to it. YMMV. No other "standards" needed.

 

VIP's controls are mappable to any MIDI keyboard, although the on-keyboard display of "VIP hardware" like the Akai Advance means less mousing around. I have the out-of-production M-Audio CTRL49, which is... fine? Some quality niggles, for sure, and it sure doesn't have nice NI features like the calibrate function or the recessed USB jack.

 

Fingers crossed that they continue to develop the VIP software and integrated hardware, although my track record with this sort of thing (Kore 2, Muse Receptor) really sucks. They'll need to look hard at support VST3, for starters, and perhaps allow at least some rudimentary audio input processing.

 

Welp, this ended up being a longer post than intended, but you inspired me with your enthusiasm.

 

-John

 

 

 

 

[EscapeRocks]

Hello Busch.

 

I haven't really delved into that too much...yet.

 

NOw that I am using Kontakt and Arturia, I will do some experimenting and let you know.

 

I've only had the Kontrol S61MK2 board for 4 days, so I have just scratched the surface. There's a ton of Komplete Kontrol parameter software I haven't touched yet

 

 

[AnotherScott]

VIP's controls are mappable to any MIDI keyboard, although the on-keyboard display of "VIP hardware" like the Akai Advance means less mousing around.

I would have seriously considered that if they made a 7x key version.

[Gig Performer]

If for some reason Gig Performer itself decided to take the night off, I can easily launch Mainstage

 

Gig Performer doesn't take the night off :-)

[Gig Performer]

Does Gig Performer allow you to use MIDI Program Changes to change patches within a synth?

 

Busch.

 

Yes --- but you're at the mercy of the plugin to respond properly (and quickly). Most do, some don't.

 

We wrote a blog article on this topic a long time ago that explains the pros and cons of using program changes rather than switching rackspaces and (for those who really want to use program changes) instructions for how to do it.

 

https://www.gigperformer.com/rackspaces-vs-program-changes

[EscapeRocks]

If for some reason Gig Performer itself decided to take the night off, I can easily launch Mainstage

 

Gig Performer doesn't take the night off :-)

 

I know.... I m just a worse case scenario person.

 

Seriously, I am learning quite a bit how deep the programming is in GP. Good stuff!

[Gig Performer]

For what it's worth, when I tour, I carry two laptops. I'm never concerned about GP crashing on stage (that stability was a major goal for us) but I always worry about having a problem with the laptop itself (e.g, data corruption, OS won't boot or some other hardware issue)

[Gig Performer]

 

Seriously, I am learning quite a bit how deep the programming is in GP. Good stuff!

 

Glad you're happy with it --- you might want to take a look at this for a sneak peak of just one of the many significant features coming very soon (hint - NAMM)

[erik_nie]

I now use mainstage controlled from DMC-122. Works great.

CPU below 25% on my macbook pro 2012.

Mainly my own samples in sforzando and a few mainstage synths.

My bottom keyboard has concert based sounds that are always available and my top keyboard has the different patches.

When switching patches I'm able to keep playing my bottom keyboard (mainly all piano sounds).

We don't work with setlists live.

Is this possible with Gig performer (or can i easily start 2 instances)?

Mainstage is stable, but since the recent bad update with very bad CPU increase, i'm afraid to update....

Another thing is that I like some Mainstage synths and use quite some patches that I will need to replicate...

 

I tried Bidule (I use it for a very long time), but the issue is that I can only get it to work on one core, my macbook not strong enough for that....

 

Gig performer sounds like a nice alternative...

[Synthaholic]

VIP's controls are mappable to any MIDI keyboard, although the on-keyboard display of "VIP hardware" like the Akai Advance means less mousing around.

I would have seriously considered that if they made a 7x key version.

 

I just clicked johnchops link and had the exact same thought. I dont understand these companies. They make a 25 key and a 49 key, but no 76 key, which would open up their market to more pros and stage use. Is there any reason why a 49 key is needed when they offer 25 and 61?

[EscapeRocks]

 

Seriously, I am learning quite a bit how deep the programming is in GP. Good stuff!

 

Glad you're happy with it --- you might want to take a look at this for a sneak peak of just one of the many significant features coming very soon (hint - NAMM)

 

Well that is awesome news.

[AnotherScott]

Is there any reason why a 49 key is needed when they offer 25 and 61?

Yeah, I think they have different appeals. I bought a Yamaha MX49 even though there was a 61, because for my purposes for it, the smaller size was preferable... but I would never have bought a 25, which I find too small to do just about anything. But apparently 25s have appeals to some people too.