Hey experts,

I just bought Kontakt 2 and have NO idea what to do with it! I'm so inept I can't even figure out how to load VDL2 into it... (yes, I'm a moron; yet another thing to remind me of that)

I was wondering if any of you have seen the Tutorial DVD and could tell me if it starts ";early enough"; to give someone like me a fighting chance. Or would it all be over my head?

I'm really just wanting to use VDL2 with it and access the sample library sounds, but I'm up for learning how to use it to its fullest.

Thanks,
ER

Hi Eric,

I've been wanting to make a basic ";how to use VDL2 within K2"; tutorial, but just haven't had time. It's actually very easy. You just need to get used to the idea of not working within the simple bare-bones VDL2 player interface.

The NI tutorial DVD is probably a lot of things you aren't going to be interested in. Much of Kontakt gets pretty technical and geeky and you may not need to spend the time or money with it.

My first suggestion would be to register the program (if you haven't already), so you can download the latest updates from NI. The version that came on the disk isn't likely current.

There are probably a few ";basic"; things you'll need to learn to do in order to get up and running:
-Loading VDL2 instruments into the Kontakt rack.
-Loading VDL2 instruments in an instrument bank (so for example, you can swap out one instrument for another on the same midi channel by way of program change messages).
-Saving Multis
-Streamlining your VDL2 instruments and DFD for best performance.

Perhaps using the above list as a basic outline, we can start a dialog on this topic to help walk you (and others) through it. It's not nearly as intimidating as it probably looks.

Eric,

First bit of advice.  Don't mess with any settings within Kontakt yet except using your virtual midi cable to access sound from your notation program.  After you do that try finding your VDL samples on your hard drive and dragging them into the rack and lining the channels up.

K2 looks very intimidating but once you start working with it, it becomes easier to manage.  Let us know along the way where you get stuck and we will helpyou as best as we can.

Gabe

Thanks for the advice on the Tutuorial DVD. I can see how that could get pretty involved really quick.

One of the initial problems I'm having is loading the sound library that came with Kontakt.

I installed Kontakt, then inserted the first library disc, created a desktop folder and dragged and dropped the files into it. Then I did the same thing with the second disc (going into the original folder). When I booted Kontakt, it asked me where the library files were and I pointed it to that folder. It halfway works -- it only loads sounds from the first disc and not the second disc.

I played around with loading VDL:2 sounds but was unsuccessful. I wasn't able to use the Load/Save button, I just tried through the browser on the left -- but to no avail.

I don't know if my having not registered the programs has anything to do with this or not, so that might or might not be pertinent information (I'll register everything when my home internet connection is live this Friday).

Any thoughts?

Man, I LOVE this forum!
ER

Using the browser on the left you should be able to locate any file on your computer, not just .nki files.  I would try deleting all of the disc 2 files and recopying them into their own folder.

The load button refers to loading a multi, I believe.  I am away from my computer so I am going from memory.  Using the browser on the left, you should be able to just drag the instrument into the main pane.

Keep us updated.

Gabe

Regarding registration - You should still be able to load instruments in Kontakt if you haven't yet registered it.

However, loading sounds from a third-party NI library (like VDL2) may not work until you've launched the actual VDL2 player once, and (perhaps) registered it. Registering the VDL2 product will more or less ";unlock"; it for permanent use. Since Kontakt will allow you to customize those VDL2 instruments to your liking, it may want you to register it first if you haven't already.

Please view the new tutorial for loading VDL:2 sounds into Kontakt 2 (separately, as well as in instrument banks) here:

[b][url=https://www.tapspace.com/vdl2/tutorials/LoadingVDL2inK2A.mov]VDL2 in K2 tutorial[/url][/b]

The latest version of Quicktime is recommended to view this video.

Gabe,

I was able to load sounds after your suggestion of reinstalling the library. Thanks!

It still won't let me load VDL:2, but it's giving me a message that I need to register VDL first.

Thanks,
ER

Eric - once you've had the chance to register VDL2 on that machine, be sure to run the VDL2 Kontakt Player at least once before attempting to load those sounds into K2. Let us know if you're still having troubles.

Okay, here's where things stand:

I've been able to load all of my VDL:2 sounds in to Kontakt and Save them as a multi (pretty cool). I've set up Sibelius with Midi Yoke and can get it to play using the sounds through Kontakt, but I'm having a strange playback issue with vibes, marimba and rack combo (?). The battery plays back correctly and timpani does as well, but the keyboards and rack combo have strange release or decay sounds.

The part in question is a vibe part that plays back very faintly and doesn't quite keep up with Sibelius. Some of the notes will trigger on time, then echo, then occasionally get back on the beat and repeat the process...

Here are all of the things I've tried from searching the database:
1. Removed all of the reverb from each instrument, then saved.
2. Tried about twenty different DFD settings, but to no avail (I have 2 gig of ram).
3. Selected any combination of all or some instruments to be played back with the Sampler setting or the DFD setting.
4. Updated my Kontakt to 2.0.2 (not 2.1 because of all of the reported problems) - however, that was the last thing I did before I went to bed, so I haven't tried anything since upgrading.

I really tried to find every suggestion that had been made from previous threads, then try those before posting this plea for help! Any other suggestions anyone can think of?

Thanks again!
ER

Eric,

Sorry to hear about the strange problems. The main thing that confuses me is why you only see this behavior on certain instruments and not others. I'll be anxious to hear if the 2.0.2 Kontakt upgrade helps you. There was a similar topic about similar sounding things just recently which was also someone using an earlier version of Kontakt. There were some glitchy things in the earlier releases of K2 (which unforunately is what you end up getting on the disk). My guess is that this should help. Be sure to let us know.

Good luck!!

Okay. That did it! I kinda feel sort of foolish for not trying the update before posting, but at least I know now.

Thanks for the help, Jim and Gabe, I definitely appreciate it.

ER

Sort of -- I spoke a little too soon. The Med Vibraphone Lite was sampling very oddly, and I tried tweaking it a bit, but finally resorted to loading the full version of the sound and it is playing back fine.

Not sure why, but I'm going to save the multi and not tempt fate...

Since you're just starting to mess with K2, I'd also recommend NOT saving instruments, but rather only saving MULTIS. If you save your instruments in their current VDL2 Library folder (i.e. overwriting the old .nki file) you will be unable to reload those instruments in the original VDL2 Kontakt Player.

For safe measure you might consider making a duplicate of your VDL2 Library folder, and renaming it ";VDL2 for K2"; or something like that. Just in case you decide to make any drastic edits to the instruments themselves.

Don't worry though, if you do make the mistake of overwriting the original instruments, you can always re-install just the library from the VDL2 DVD. Just kind of a pain.

If you want help with the Med Vibraphone Lite, PM me with a detailed description and I'll do my best to help you with it.

Glad to hear your (mostly) back on track!