jkleban
John,
As far as I know you can not use KONTAKT to record and edit samples.... you can program pre recorded and pre edited waves or other audio sound file formats but technically speaking it is not a sampler. Unless they changed these features you still need another program to record and edit the one hit samples.
A true sampler allow you to record, edit and program the sound sets. Kontakt only provides the programming of the pre recorded samples.
Now, if you believe that KONTAKT can do all three functions of creating samples, I am unaware of these features in KONTAKT. I make some kontakt programs for sale and I need to use SOUNDFORGE to accomplish the recording and editing of the raw samples but then I use KONTAKT to lay them out so others can trigger them.
I don't mean to disagree with you but I believe a sampler needs to be able to accomplish the entire process of making sample programs, not just lay them out. As Glyn so gallantly stated, I think I know what I am doing but perhaps there are features in Kontakt that I am unaware exist?
Again, just my humble opinion.
Jim
True you can not record but you can edit with Kontakt. It can edit the wave file and it can edit the layers and cut offs. The only thing it can not do is record. As you say it can also program. It can also make loops.
Vsampler had the same abilities and without the ability to record. Heck I made my own instrument in Vsampler. A software sampler does not need the ability to record.
The following is from the Kontakt Application Manual page 167.
17 The Wave Editor In the previous chapters of this manual, we explained how you can use KONTAKT to turn
Sample files on your hard disk into playable Instruments. A subject we have yet to touch,
though, is the question in which ways KONTAKT allows you to do anything on the Sample
level itself – building Zones, Groups and Instruments out of ready-made Samples is fine by
itself, but if you want to really get into creative sound design,
you'll sooner or later want a
tool that lets you work directly on the waveform of your audio material. As you might have
guessed already, the Wave Editor is this tool. Let's have a look at what you can do with it:
▪ View and audition Samples. This sounds trivial, but it's sometimes helpful to listen to a
Sample in its “raw”, untransposed form instead of playing it via the keyboard right
away. Also, there are some problems that that can be hard to spot by listening alone,
such as DC bias, inaccurate Sample starts, or excessively long silence at the end of
your Samples; such issues are easy to notice when you're looking at a graphic representation
of your waveform.
▪
Create and edit loops. Ever since digital sampling became feasible, sound creators
have used looping as a means to render the maximum playable note length independent
from the actual sample length. In the days of sampling libraries that routinely exceed
the 10 GB mark, this might not be the predominant reason for looping Samples
anymore; KONTAKT's looping facilities go far beyond the traditional concepts,
though, and open up a whole range of creative sound design applications.
▪ Slice Zones. Slicing is a method that lets you deconstruct drum and percussion loops
or musical phrases into their rhythmic “atoms” and trigger these either from the outside
or using an internal sequencer. This makes it possible to change the tempo of a
drum loop or phrase without the sonic artifacts associated with conventional timestretching
algorithms. It also allows you to reconstruct your loops into entirely new
patterns and process their elements separately. As slicing your Zones provides KONTAKT
with information about their rhythmic structure, you can also align most selection
and processing operations to the rhythm pattern by making them snap to Slice
markers.
▪ Create and edit Zone Envelopes. Just like you can use envelope generators as a source
for parameter modulation on the Group level, KONTAKT also provides envelopes that
operate on separate Zones. The most striking aspect of Zone Envelopes, apart from
the added flexibility, is that you can edit them right on top of the Sample waveform;
this makes it possible to create precise automation curves in perfect sync to your audio
material.
▪ Perform destructive Sample editing. KONTAKT offers a range of operations that modify
your Samples permanently on the hard disk; this is useful for editing tasks that prepare
your Samples for smooth operation within KONTAKT, such as clean editing of
start and end positions, normalizing, fades, or removal of DC bias.