Note that the Pulse downloader defaults to the previous installation path. You will want to create a new path for Sketchpad. I have a Kontakt Instruments folder on my E: drive, so I set the install path to:
Sketchpad has some really useful features, for use in both the standalone and plugin versions of Kontakt. If you have Kontakt full v6.7 or later, I recommend taking a few minutes to check out Sketchpad.
If you are not a regular user of Kontakt, then this MIDI recorder offers nothing that you can’t do with GP’s MIDI recorder. Of course, purchasing Kontakt just to use this free MIDI recorder would be beyond stupid.
If you are a regular user of Kontakt, then this freebie may be useful. It’s name is a possible clue to how it differentiates from GP’s MIDI recorder. Because it loads as a Kontakt instrument, you can create a multi and save it. When that elusive inspiration strikes, you can run the standalone version of Kontakt, load the multi, click on record and you’re off to the races. If your MIDI controller can be configured for splits on different MIDI channels, you can set Sketchpad to OMNI and two or more Kontakt instruments to individual channels (1, 2, etc.). Playback using those instruments would have to occur in a DAW since Kontakt doesn’t flow MIDI from one instrument to the next.
Sketchpad has a MIDI file drag-and-drop feature with a text field for selecting the file name. You can drag the MIDI to the desktop or directly into a DAW track. With Sketchpad recording MIDI Omni and running in the plugin version of Kontakt, you can use it to merge multiple MIDI performances into a single MIDI file.
Sketchpad’s recording length limit is a Kontakt limit, 1,000,000 MID events: Note On, Note Off, CC messages, etc. It currently does not support recording polyphonic aftertouch.
Here’s a 90 second Quick Start video if you don’t have 15 minutes for the Walkthrough video.
So, can GP’s MIDI recorder be used as a sketching recorder? Sure. Can Sketchpad do something useful that GP’s recorder can’t? I don’t know. I’ve never used GP’s MIDI recorder. I posted this because someone here might find it useful, and I like to support small, independent high quality devs. Just like I did when I first picked up GP v2 and posted references to it on some of the other music forums I’m a member of.
