Aftertouch In Kontakt 2

[brandondrury]

I'm still trying to get my head around the concepts of aftertouch so that I can then go about figuring out how to control it in Kontakt 2.

The way I understand it, aftertouch means the pressure of a note can be essentially controlled real time so if I'm using a violin sample I can sort of "fade out" myself instead of the fixed velocity sustain thing that really sounds fake and unexpressive.

My questions is this. What exactly does aftertouch control (when dealing with the convention synth)? Is it velocity? Is it just the output volume?

Then in terms of a violin samples in Kontakt 2, if aftertouch was to be used in the conventional way (I've read that it control just about anything) to simulate a natural performance would it be simply adjusting the volume downward (if I was to back off note pressure) or is there a way to actually trigger the softer samples without it sounding like I hit a new note.

Brandon

[richiebee]

Aftertouch is a separate controller, usually commanded by your keyboard. But, not all keyboards have aftertouch, and most old ones don't.

If your keyboard supports it, it usually works by the pressure you hold on the keys. So, when you first hit the key you send a note on message and velocity. While holding the key down, you're sending aftertouch information... the more pressure you put on the keys, the higher the aftertouch value. Most keyboards only have a single aftertouch that affects the whole keyboard. Some (I've never seen one) have poly aftertouch in which all keys react to their own aftertouch levels.

What aftertouch is would depend on the patch. I program my own usually to give a brighter timbre and louder sound with higher aftertouch levels. In Kontakt there is also a delay function that helps to smooth out aftertouch. It can be really tricky to get nice smooth crescendos and decrescendos without it.

You can assign any controller in Kontakt, so if you don't have aftertouch on your keyboard, you could assign it to, say modulation or any sliders/knobs that you have. Or you could draw in controller lines in Cubase.

[brandondrury]

Thanks. I've got the basic gist of what aftertouch is. I guess I'm interested to see just how to best use it. I'm guessing it really only applies to sustained instruments as I can't think of a reason that holding a snare drum key down would matter, for example.

I program my own usually to give a brighter timbre and louder sound with higher aftertouch levels.

This makes sense. I guess I need to look into other options. I'm very interested in varying the velocity with aftertouch. Is this possible?

Brandon

[richiebee]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

This makes sense. I guess I need to look into other options. I'm very interested in varying the velocity with aftertouch. Is this possible?

You can't change the velocity with aftertouch, because they are both simply controllers. Neither one actually does anything specific, they just send values. That said, almost all sample patches will have velocity data already programmed, and not that many will have aftertouch programmed.

But more to the point, mapping aftertouch to velocity would also be pointless since the point of aftertouch is to affect the sound AFTER you've hit the key. Velocity affects the sound WHEN you hit the when.

So, forget velocity and aftertouch specifically for a moment... what you really want to do is have a controller to affect your sound. Well, that can be done, and there are plenty of controllers to choose from. That's not important. What is, is figuring out what it is you want the controller to do. If you really want it to affect the velocity, you could either map a controller to velocity in Cubases logical editor (as a transform insert on a midi track), or create a patch in Kontakt using groups and group start options. The former is simpler, but would require setting up every time you need to use it. The latter is harder, but allows you to create a savable patch that's always ready to go. In other words, if its a one off thing, do the former, if its something you're likely to do often, do the latter.

Both are good practice for you to delve deeper into your software. The logical editor, if you haven't used it, can appear daunting. I would recommend starting by picking a preset that looks like it might be relatively close to what you want to do. From there its often easier to see which parameters you need to change to suit your specific requirements.

Going the Kontakt way is an exercise in organization and patience unless you have a library that's already really well organized! Good luck.

Oh and by the way, yes, aftertouch would more typically be for sustained sounds, unless you're into unusual sound design, in which case you could probably get something funky out of it.



Rich

[brandondrury]

o, forget velocity and aftertouch specifically for a moment... what you really want to do is have a controller to affect your sound. Well, that can be done, and there are plenty of controllers to choose from. That's not important. What is, is figuring out what it is you want the controller to do. If you really want it to affect the velocity, you could either map a controller to velocity in Cubases logical editor (as a transform insert on a midi track), or create a patch in Kontakt using groups and group start options. The former is simpler, but would require setting up every time you need to use it. The latter is harder, but allows you to create a savable patch that's always ready to go. In other words, if its a one off thing, do the former, if its something you're likely to do often, do the latter.

Awesome. I'll try this when I really want to get my hands dirty and have nothing going on.

The logical editor, if you haven't used it, can appear daunting.

I use it all the time when programming drums. It's fairly second nature for me from my php programming days.

Thanks for the help, dude!

Brandon