NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KORE

Aug 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY JASON SCOTT ALEXANDER

Lots of companies claim to start a revolution with new products. In some cases, it's a brave new hardware protocol or audio standard they're trying to champion across an entire industry. For others, it may be a heady breakthrough in DSP design that aims to change the very face of in-the-box studios as we know them. Still, others dazzle us with next-generation synthesis or signal processing that our ears just can't live without. So, how does a product like Kore — one that doesn't actually generate any sound of its own, adds no DSP power or increased CPU speed to your current computer and doesn't aim to toss what you already own into obsolescence — have the right to lead a revolution? One word: convenience.

UNIVERSAL MUSIC

In what Native Instruments calls the first Universal Sound Platform, Kore allows you to operate all your software instruments and effects from within a single, uniform interface and essentially focus on the sound rather than the source — or the intricacies of achieving a truly complex sound from multiple instrument and effects sources. Kore completely changes the way you think about and use virtual-synth and effects plug-ins. In fact, it can take a while to get your head completely around the greater concept.

Kore runs in stand-alone mode on Mac and PC or as a plug-in within any Audio Units, VST, RTAS or DXi compatible host. In either circumstance, Kore in turn behaves as host to any VST or Audio Units software instruments or effects plug-ins. As a plug-in, Kore is an intermediary layer between your instruments and effects and your sequencer, whereas the stand-alone version adds a very cool Performance layer that targets the special demands of playing live.

Much more than the virtual rack applications that have been around for some time, Kore attempts to bring order to the overwhelming number of presets and operating concepts that your various instrument and effects plug-ins offer. It does so by first introducing a new KoreSound (.ksd) file format, which stores information describing a preset's musical characteristics and sonic attributes. The format also specifies the construction of any multi-instrument sound you might design from your various plug-ins, including key splits and layers, effects routings, controller assignments and more. The real beauty behind KoreSound is that it's universally compatible and transferable between different songs, sequencers and computer systems. As long as you and a buddy have the same instruments and effects plug-ins on your systems, you can share KoreSounds as easily as sending an e-mail.

In addition to its software component, Kore comes with a hardware interface that not only provides hands-on control of the plug-ins, but also fuses the operations of each plug-in into a single perceived instrument.

All the presets included with NI's separately-sold Komplete 3 and Komplete Sound 2 products — more than 11,000 patches total — have been categorized and configured as KoreSounds with their most important parameters preassigned to the controller. Kore also includes 200 new presets based on multiple instruments included within Komplete 3. Further, all the NI instruments now have easy-access pages built into Kore, all with the same intuitive layout. That means you'll always be able to find the most important parameters in exactly the same place for any instrument.

I installed Kore on a Pentium 4/3.2GHz machine equipped with 2 GB of RAM and Windows XP Pro running Nuendo 3 for host-VST testing. During installation, Kore sets up the USB driver and searches the VST folder for any NI plug-ins you have, replacing them with newer versions that are compatible with Kore. Since that procedure will only replace found plug-ins, it's a good idea to already have your instruments or Komplete 3 collection installed so they can be updated.

Though not a requisite to its use, the combination of Kore and Komplete 3, or at least a good helping of NI instruments that have already been prepped for the KoreSound platform, ensures a well-integrated kit to get started. Fully incorporating third-party plug-ins and presets within Kore, though a simple affair, does take considerable time and effort.

HARD KORE FUN

Sleek, lightweight and durably built for travel, Kore's hardware leads a multipurpose life, acting not only as a tightly integrated tactile control surface to the software but also as a 24-bit/96kHz USB 2.0 Core Audio/ASIO and 1×1 MIDI interface, ideal for gigging with a laptop. The unit receives four audio channels from the computer, forming two independent stereo signals; the first pair is sent directly to balanced TRS outs while the second is routed to a phones jack, particularly useful for prelistening. A coaxial S/PDIF digital output mirrors the main stereo outs but cannot be used as an auxiliary pair. Inputs include dual ¼-inch unbalanced audio, expression pedal and two dedicated footswitch jacks. Main-panel controls adjust the level of incoming and outgoing audio signals with attenuations conducted in the analog domain.

Bidirectional communication with the Kore software provides immediate overview in the 64-by-128 pixel, context-specific red backlit Transflective LED display; though clear and bright, I found it tricky to read from anywhere but straight on. The high-bandwidth of USB 2.0 also allows the eight endless encoders 500 steps per revolution — a far greater resolution than would be possible with a MIDI controller — delivering an ultrasmooth analog feel to parameter adjustments on the software side. The knobs are touch-sensitive; lightly tapping them will show their name and value in the display without having to alter their state. The only better alternative would have been to use LCD scribble strips alongside the knobs, though that would probably have been prohibitively costly.

Each knob is surrounded by a dimly glowing red selection ring (nonvalue-scaled) that merely shows whether a knob is currently assigned a control. It then illuminates brightly when the knob is touched or a value is clicked on in the software. Also, each knob has an accompanying Controller Page toggle button that lights when selected on the controller or from software. Located below the display are four-way menu navigation buttons and a simple Stop/Start/Record transport section with a prelisten button. To their right, and surrounding a large control wheel, is a cluster of buttons for frequently used screens and modes within Kore. Those are curiously clumsy feeling for buttons that will undoubtedly get repeated use through the course of a session or gig. Their downward travel is squishy and short and somewhat difficult to activate.

You can use the controller in conjunction with your current audio interface, but sadly it is not USB 1.1 compatible and receives power from a USB 2.0 bus only, requiring a sufficiently hefty computer power supply or self-powered hub if you have many other USB devices leaching off the system. It also acts as the dongle to the Kore software, allowing you to install the application on your studio computer as well as your gigging laptop, for instance. The controller's functions do not currently transmit over MIDI and can therefore not be used to control any of your outboard gear.

BRINGIN' IT TOGETHER

Without plug-ins that you have installed on your system, Kore produces no sound. Having the ability to mix and match instruments and effects any way you wish totally frees you from the tedious management of plug-ins and their presets, as well as their differing interfaces.

The stand-alone version of Kore is essentially focused around two layers of operation: Performance and Sound. The first contains the Performance Mixer with provisions for source, send and group channels to host any number of Kore's 14 built-in effects plug-ins and KoreSounds. Opening a KoreSound here takes you to the Sound level which, again, hosts its own mixer containing source, send and group channels. It is at the Sound level that you host your VST/Audio Units plug-ins and actually create KoreSounds. The number of possible Performance and Sound channels and plug-ins assembled is limited only by your processor. The Performance level and its associated mixer are not available when Kore is working as a plug-in within your host DAW. In that case, you load Kore into one of your sequencer's instrument or effects channels in the same way you would load any other plug-in.

The Sound Browser is a pane at the bottom of the screen that allows you to search and manage all your current plug-in presets via a single interface; you can search by name, keyword and user-defined comments or according to freely definable musical attributes such as timbre, style or articulation. Alternatively, you can search your plug-ins' folders for instruments and effects.

To create the initial KoreSound, I dragged NI's Absynth, Pro-53 and FM7, as well as some third-party effects each to a horizontal rack space in the Sound mixer and began tweaking presets and setting volume and panning levels between the synths. I also set key split and layer parameters in the Mapping Manager. What's really cool here is that you can even import a MIDI file into the KoreSound that automatically triggers certain chords or patterns, and it will be saved as part of the .ksd file. Subsequently, double-clicking on the saved KoreSound will load all used plug-ins and MIDI files into Kore — routings intact — just as easily as loading a preset in basic plug-ins.

A large degree of Kore's appeal is its powerful database, and newly created KoreSounds or newly imported third-party presets require that you put some thought into adding the necessary attributes to their files in order for them to become fully searchable. Of course, entering five categories of sound descriptors and keywords for hundreds or tens of thousands of sounds can prove to be quite a yawn. Thankfully, basic file-name searches work regardless, and NI is encouraging sound developers to offer their libraries in the KoreSound format.

Any parameter — both of Kore itself and of plug-ins loaded into Kore — can be automated in host DAWs and manipulated from the controller. Assigning third-party plug-in parameters is as simple as clicking on the onscreen controls of the plug-in's interface and turning a knob on the controller. If you want to dig deeper, the Controller Pages within Kore allow you to completely customize and unify the interface of different instrument and effect plug-ins. You can assign several parameters from different plug-ins to the same knob on the Kore controller, and you can even adjust scaling, value range and polarity for each assignment. In that way, Kore truly does lasso and standardize every plug-in you own, and the onscreen interface and hardware controller always mirror each other, resulting in an extremely dynamic workflow. You can also use external MIDI controllers to supplement the Kore controller via the MIDI Learn function within Kore.

What I found most exhilarating about running Kore on a Mac (Intel-based Macs supported) was that it finally allows natively hosting VST and Audio Units plug-ins within Pro Tools (RTAS), or VST plug-ins within Logic Pro 7, without needing to “wrap” them first. Yes, finally you can run a combination of native formats within otherwise discriminatory DAWs; that is huge!

But at what cost? I was knocked out to discover that a single instance of Kore within Nuendo consumed only 3 percent of the CPU with one mixer channel open and no KoreSounds loaded. Stand-alone operation was even more negligible at only 1 percent. Plug-ins loaded into KoreSounds posed no greater hit to the processor than on their own, and latency never became an issue. This is amazing performance.

ROAD CREW

Kore is a live player's dream system. In stand-alone mode, you can save Performance presets consisting of multiple channels of KoreSounds and switch between them on the fly. It's no problem to set up a typical rock keyboard rig consisting of B3, Rhodes and a solo synth, each with its own MIDI channel with independent effects processing, and then seamlessly switch between those sounds either manually or automatically, thanks to the Live View mode.

Live View is essentially a song list with accompanying performance presets listed in sequence, where you can set transitions to occur on a specific beat, include fade-in and fade-out times and so on. Toggled from the main Performance mode, Live View forces your monitor display into full-screen mode, so all information appears larger than normal, ensuring that you can see what's happening even if your laptop is several feet away.

The performance-mapping manager lets you assign MIDI channels and adjust the Velocity curve, ensuring that everything plays smoothly no matter which keyboard you use. Kore also supports all MIDI filter functions included in professional master keyboards and can be synced via MIDI to other gear. An update also promises support for OSC, a high-resolution network protocol that enables parameters to be synchronized and controlled better than MIDI.

The Kore controller lets you play a complete gig without having to touch the computer. I found the integration pretty solid, and Easy Access pages for a wide range of software instruments from Arturia, Gmedia, Korg, Spectrasonics and other manufacturers are provided. KoreSound's universality means that sounds produced on a large computer in the studio can transfer easily onto a laptop for stage use — though for that to work, you must have all plug-ins authorized and running on both systems.

IN ESSENCE

Native Instruments deserves a huge ovation for taking the brilliantly simple concept of uniting all soft gear and adding intuitive yet deep possibilities for demanding sound designers, producers and performing musicians. Not simply another tool, Kore is a methodology that may forever improve your sound.

The more software we buy, the more we tend to part ourselves from the art of creating music; instead, we chase our tails to find presets from the ever-growing sound libraries or try to mentally recall patch combinations and effects chains. Kore's power comes in the form of convenience: the flexibility to do what you're already doing only bigger, faster, easier, more efficiently and in entirely new, fun and exciting ways. Kore is a revolution that should quickly become a standard.