KVR Audio

ryangtanaka · Post by **ryangtanaka** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 12:43 am

Hi all,

I'm about to purchase a new keyboard that has a USB MIDI input but no sounds in themselves. Would need to connect it to a soundbank or laptop then out to a speaker system of some sort before any sounds could be heard.

I do a lot of improvisations in my playing, so it'd be nice to have quick access to a lot of sounds, similar to what you might do with a keyboard with a built-in bank. (Including layers, splits, etc.) Is there any way to replicate this using other tools with a minimal amount of setup? Would like to avoid having a messy setup if possible -- I'd just use the normal Casio that I have but the one I'm getting is more specialized so it doesn't have that option.

SoundGoddess · Post by **SoundGoddess** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 12:49 am

Which keyboard are you planning on purchasing? That might help narrow it down.

ryangtanaka · Post by **ryangtanaka** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 12:53 am

I'm actually getting an early release of a Seaboard Grand.

https://www.roli.com/seaboard/

It's unusual but the output is MIDI so it should be able to work with most standard products. But it doesn't have built-in sounds in themselves, so I'm going to have to figure out some other setup to get it going.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 12:54 am

By avoiding "a messy system" I presume you mean keep it simple. You could look into VSTHost or SAVIHost to get started. These are free VST hosts ... you will need to download some Plugin Instruments in order to make any music. There is a vast amount of quality free instruments out there. What kind of sounds are you looking for? Mac or PC?

Another simple option is standalone plugins ... a workstation kind of setup mebbe? Another thing to consider is an audio interface with ASIO drivers for low latency when playing.

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 1:02 am

Well I think the perfect product for you would be Omnisphere: thousands of sounds and lots of performing options, up to 8 layers and splits.

Apart from that Kontakt might to the trick.

SoundGoddess · Post by **SoundGoddess** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 1:07 am

The Seaboard looked quite impressive from the videos I saw. I'm a bit jealous actually

I'd recommend Arturia V-Collection or Komplete:

http://www.arturia.com/products/analog- ... n/overview
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/pr ... mplete-10/

Either of those gives you a thousands of highly expressive sounds to work with. They also offer standalone players for live playing.

If you want to record and arrange midi tracks, you'll need to invest in a DAW. The best ones I've found are Bitwig Studio, Reaper, FL Studio, and Ableton Live. They all have demos, so I recommend installing all of them and seeing which one seems most intuitive to you.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 1:13 am

ryangtanaka wrote:I'm about to purchase a new keyboard that has a USB MIDI input but no sounds in themselves.

That will be a MIDI output , yes?

SoundGoddess · Post by **SoundGoddess** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 1:15 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruz4ST0HlXg

ryangtanaka · Post by **ryangtanaka** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 2:26 am

Yep -- MIDI output, not input, my mistake.

I'm looking for simple as possible. The Omnisphere looks pretty decent, though I only really need it for its patches and not so much for its looping functions.

Hmm, if I get a cheap iPad and run the Omni TR off of it would I be able to get what I need? I'm willing to go the extra mile if it means not having to lug my laptop around!

Thanks for the responses so far!

ryangtanaka · Post by **ryangtanaka** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 2:43 am

Oh wait, taking a closer look -- the ipad just connects wirelessly to the Omnisphere already running on the computer itself. Guess there's no avoiding having to bring a computer.

Could some of these software theoretically run on a cheap netbook of some sort? From my understanding is that I won't really need anything too intensive for what I want to do. (Live performance, mostly.)

Rajah · Post by **Rajah** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 3:12 am

You can Try the line of Sampletank 3.... Even the 'free' one...

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sampletank3free/

Edit..

Or Sampletank Ipad..

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sampletankipad/

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 4:54 am

ryangtanaka wrote:Oh wait, taking a closer look -- the ipad just connects wirelessly to the Omnisphere already running on the computer itself. Guess there's no avoiding having to bring a computer.

Could some of these software theoretically run on a cheap netbook of some sort? From my understanding is that I won't really need anything too intensive for what I want to do. (Live performance, mostly.)

There arent many products for what you need, Omnisphere is one of the very few. I dont get what you say about its looping functions, its a synthetizer which happens to use samples, thousands of them, to create thousands of sounds of really high quality. I think ir is one of the few instruments that will make justice to a Seaboard since it has such a broad palette of sounds, all between acoustic and electronic.

All the other solutions are more specialized, maybe Halion5 by Steinberg is as rich as Omnisphere.

Kontakt doesnt have synthesis, it just plays samples but there are a lot of them for it, from acoustic pianos to cynematic effects.

ryangtanaka · Post by **ryangtanaka** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:13 am

Ok -- looks like the Omnisphere is what I need to get. Seems the most intuitive to use out of all of the things I've seen too.

Thanks for the help!

Looking for an easy to use sound bank for my new keyboard.