Is it Komplete Kontrol or Kontakt that is needed to use NI sounds in GP

I’m sure this is a very newbie question :slightly_smiling_face:

However; I have never used anything from Native Instruments.

Thx in advance!

1 Like

Ni has different Instruments, Not only Kontakt
And komplette kontrol is Not Needed in Gig Performer

So Kontakt is categorized as an instrument?

Then it’s Komplete Kontrol that is needed to choose a NI sound from GP?

Just wonder what I shall download from NI if I want to play a third party NI sound.

Kontakt is a sampler

Ok. But I need some kind of NI software to get hold of sounds in their format from GP?

Fm8 and massive Are Normal vst instruments
No sample Library needed.
There are More like Reaktor and Abbys

Each component of the NI-bundle (Kontakt, Massive X, Reaktor…) is usable as a plugin for itself (as well as the effects plugins) you can just use them in GP as you like.
Komplete Kontrol is something like a container - it is a plugin which can contain other NI-plugins and can add additional options and features like combining or splitting those others.
You can use it in GP, but it’s no “must”.
I dare to say that the possibilities which GP offers to you and your imagination of how to use all the separate NI-plugins by far exceeds the capabilities of this Komplete Kontrol container.

2 Likes

Okay. So the Kontakt Palyer is a plugin which is needed to indirectly reach some sounds from GP, like when the description for Bulldog Sax is;

For Native Instruments Kontakt full range samples for realistic playing! Sampled from a real sax.
You will be able to reproduce in your Kontakt the whole class and the beauty of the sax!

We recommend Kontakt 5.5 for this library.

N.B. Kontakt 6 users can use this sound bank but not as a library, just manually select the .NKI file.

Think of Kontakt as a car. It doesn’t do anything by itself. It needs a driver. The sample libraries are the drivers of the sounds. They are played by Kontakt. You buy sample (instrument) libraries from Native Instruments or third parties. There are also a LOT of free Kontakt instruments out there. Kontakt isn’t cheap. In fact, it’s rather expensive. But it’s the best supported sampler out there. There are some good libraries for Samplitude from IK Multimedia, but nothing like the support for Kontakt.

GP is a VST host. It doesn’t provide any sample libraries on its own (except for a couple freebies, like Lost In 70s), that are used in the demo gig files that come with GP.

Kontakt Player (free) can only play licensed Kontakt libraries. There are almost NO free licensed libraries due to the cost of NI licensing. The Heavyocity Foundation series is an exception. Most Kontakt libraries require the full (paid) version of Kontakt.

You might want to take a look at Spitfilre LABS. LABS is a free sample player and Spitfire has released a lot of free instruments for it.

Spitfire LABS

5 Likes

It seems that your actual question was “What do i need to use ‘Bulldog Sax’?”
Their site and how to use/install instructions say clearly that you need Kontakt, which is the best known and most often used sampler plugin.
Kontakt is an instrument plugin by itself, but it needs those (sample) libraries which then contain the digitalized sounds which then will be played through Kontakt.
@themaartian explained the rest very well. :+1:
(No idea why you first asked about Komplete Kontrol though…)

1 Like

As said initially; Very newbie question :slightly_smiling_face: Just made an account at NI.

I know understand that to use some rather inexpensive sounds, what you need is the full version of Kontakt.

2 Likes

No problem… it just confused me bit. :beers:

1 Like

It seems like the full version is discounted at the moment, 199 Euro. It also seems that you can get a crossgrade price of 125 Euro if you own an offical third party Kontakt library, which can be a free one.

So; It seems the route to follow is

  • Install the free Kontakt version
  • Install a free third party Kontakt library
  • Buy the crossgrade to the full version

Do you have any experience with that? Am I right in my understanding?

I apologize in advance for adding to a topic that has a solution but felt it important to add a bit more information on Komplete Kontrol.

As mentioned by others, Kontakt is a software based sampler and plugin for various instruments/sample libraries and has both a free (Player) and paid version.

Komplete Kontrol on the other hand is a hub of sorts and an easy-to-use tool that cleans up your workflow. It organizes all your instruments, effects, presets, loops, and samples, smartly mapping everything to your hardware so you can find, play, and tweak all your sounds in one place. This free plug-in runs in any DAW and works seamlessly with any MIDI controller – or your trusty mouse and keyboard. However, it’s main power IMO is it maps perfectly to KOMPLETE KONTROL keyboards - it is literally plug and play. It also maps to other devices that comply with NI’s NKS standard - something that isn’t exactly mentioned that often in the discussion. If your keyboard - like my Innovation Impluse - doesn’t use the NKS standard then KK isn’t going to work with it. To the best of my knowledge, unlicensed libraries and some third-party libraries that are incompatible with Kontakt Player (e.g., require the full version of Kontakt) won’t run in Komplete either unless you also have the full version of Kontakt…

WRT using it with GP, both are plugins and work fine in GP. Kontakt lets you load multiple instruments and sample libraries in one instance of the Kontakt plugin. This does reduce the resources needed by multiple instances of the Kontakt plugin - e.g. you could have one instance of Kontakt loaded with three instruments, or thee instances of Kontakt with one instrument each.

Komplete Kontrol on the other hand will only allow one instrument at a time to be loaded, but you can add and do all sorts of other things in a chain as well as control and manage other devices. In other words, there is a bit of overlap between the two but they really are separate tools, so it depends on what you need to do. Note - there is a newer version of Kontrol out and I haven’t tested that, so maybe things have changed since I last used it.

Hope this helps you choose the tool that best works for you.

2 Likes

Thx for elaborating!

I downloaded and registered Embertone Arcane, registered it, and have just bought the full Kontakt version with a crossgrade price of only 125 Euro.

As I understand it, both the free and full Kontakt version works well with GP, so it should be a good solution.

2 Likes

@Musichandyman_Oscar - Yes, both Kontakt Player and the full version of Kontakt load and operate seamlessly in GP. I use both, but my main go-to is Kontakt, and I often build instruments or use it for specific samples/sample libraries that I make myself. It’s pretty wonderful, but then again there are many other tools out there that have their niche too. The most amazing and wonderful thing of all is choice, and GP sits on top of the pyramid because it seems to work with everything.

2 Likes

Will have to look closer into making my own samples.

1 Like

For what is worth, here is an example: Gig Performer | Using SampleRobot to import sounds from proprietary plugins to a sampler for use with Gig Performer

1 Like

Thank you!

I have a question related to this discussion.

I’m owning NI Komplete Bundle (13) and I normally add a KompleteKontrol plugin in GigPerformer when I want a Komplete instrument, as it is very easy to audition sounds from the KompleteKontrol plugin.

However, I wonder if it would be a good idea, after having found the correct sound, to replace it for the dedicated (mostly) Kontakt plugin/sound.