Make your own ensemble?

Frankkk
Frankkk
First Comment
in General

Warning: this is probably a stupid question

I've recently purchased Studio Strings, which I'm happy with, but it doesn't have ensemble patches, so I was wondering... Would it be possible to load up the section patches (violins1, violins2, violas, celli, basses) on a single Kontakt player instance on a single track to create a sort of ensemble patch, so that you can then play and record the strings as an ensemble?

(I told you it was a stupid question)

Comments

  • Andrew Ernst
    Andrew Ernst
    Second Anniversary 25 Likes 10 Comments

    You might want to look into https://pluginguru.com Unify. It allows you to load multiple instruments into a single playable track with multiple controllable layers. That software offers a bit more control for routing specific keys to the patches (if you're using the Legato patches, for instance). I believe if you created a multi in Kontakt, it's not easy to route specific key ranges to specific patches.

    There's a bit of an overview video at

    https://youtu.be/IHhaOVtMCng


    I'm just a happy customer who does this quite a bit (layering Olafur Stratus with other pianos as one singular patch is typically how I use Unify)

    | youtube | soundcloud |

  • Angus
    Angus admin
    100 Answers 500 Likes 500 Comments First Anniversary

    @Frankkk a good option here would be to use the Kontakt Multi feature. Double click on each instrument you wish to load (up to 8 slots available for x16 output) and then set the MIDI Channel in the patch settings to "Omni". This means that each instrument will play out of the same channel/ track.

    Only things to watch out for using this method is the fact that instruments will overlap so will be thicken is some places on the keyboard, and Legato will still be monophonic- so switch to Longs for Polyphony.

    Screenshot 2021-08-05 at 16.33.49.png


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  • Frankkk
    Frankkk
    First Comment
    https://community.spitfireaudio.com/discussion/comment/4666#Comment_4666

    Thanks Angus! i tried it and it works. As you say there's some inconsistency across the keyboard given the sometimes overlapping ranges of the instruments, which makes sense, and I guess is impossible to avoid. It seems that using a soft articulation like flautando makes the thickness issue a bit less conspicuous.

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