The only problem with my laptop is that it tends to get pretty warm when I'm running it close to the max. It has even shut down on me a couple of times. The good news is that I would never need to push it that hard during a live performance. I only need a few basic effects, a soundfont, OMB and a few softsynths in that scenario.

Even so, the liquid cooled cube seems like it might be an even better solution, but whatever I do, I want to build my next system from scratch, with the most minimal amount of Windows apps that I can get by with .

AJ

chony, I am not certain what you mean by editing a group. I assume you mean you wish to change the characteristics of some of the samples within an instruments. If that is the case you need to go into to the edit mode which shows the samples displayed across the keyboard. Once there you highlight (pressing the left mouse button) and looping the samples in question. Now you can take whatever actions on these samples you wish to take. I think the actions can be displayed by placing the mouse over the highlighted area and pressing the right mouse button.

The help file that comes with kontakt is fairly good. Also making use of the forums I have indicated can sometimes be helpful. When you get no response usually that means noone knows the answer and you may need to go to NI for advice.

Another approach I find useful is just to launch Kontakt, take a simple (small) instrument and go thru all the buttons on the GUI and see how they work. It is very hard for me to describe how to use Kontakt via the Internet unless it is a straight forward issue.

[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 05-11-2005).]

Thanks FLR,

It was a straight forward issue and you answered it for me. I right clicked on the selected zones in the mapping editor and selected "move selected zones to empty group" and that did the trick.

(I use a Mac and for some reason the people at apple refuse to build their machines with two buttons on their laptops. Our options are to buy another two button mouse, or press the option key as we click...)

Thanks for your help!
Chony

Chony, lucky for me.

Frank,
How is Kontakt 2 with respect to Program Change and Bank Select messages?

Vquestor, I still can't get it to work properly. I have talked to others who have had better success. I will keep at it.

My goal is to convert everything over to Kontakt and use Colossus GM Wavetable for my auto accompaniment and use top of the line instruments for my lead or melody voices. I am close but no cigar.

Hey Frank, if you don't consider the $1000 Colossus to be high grade good enough for lead voices, what do you use? Seems like a lot of money for "accompaniment" voices.

Tom

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Bigger is not always better

Tom, I guess I am on a bit of a crusade and like tinkering with technology and music. You are absolutely correct in that Colossus is more than what one would need for live performances. In a studio one may notice the higher quality of a 2.5GB Bosendorfer Sampled Piano. In a Jazz Club a 70MB piano may well be enough. In fact, I am getting so old and frail that I can't tell the difference between someone hitting a bath tub or snare drum.....its real bad.

So I have no real justification other than its an exciting hobby for me. Now it is not to say that when people listen to me play they are overwhelmed by the quality of the sound (not my playing). This to keeps me going.

My current challenge is to make Colossus & Kontakt flawlessly accept program and bank changes. This will increase the quality over what I have been using for auto accompaniment (LiveSynth Pro and modified sYnerGi GS Wavetable).

Doc-Z, LiveSynth Pro and Kontakt are sample players. Kontakt is a high quality sample player often used in professional studios and live performances. LiveSynth Pro is no longer available. I used it initially so I could load a GM/GS/XG wavetable and play Yamaha styles (auto accompaniment). You could use a GM wavetable but you would need to modifiy the Yamaha styles (drums and other voices).

To play large samples you need a high quality sample player (Kontakt) and a computer with a 7200 rpm drive and a 8 mb cache. The way this works is that a small portion of each sample is loaded into memory and as you hit a note the rest of the sample is streamed from the hard drive. You need a hardware & software system with low latency (less than 10ms). I run my system at around 2 to 3ms --- not hard to do with todays computers and good sound cards.

If your objective is to get as close as possible to the live sound of acoustic instruments then this is the way to do it.