A topic near and dear to my heart these days.

The approach I am currently fine-tuning:
 
I have eleven instances of Kontakt, each has 20 outputs, 16 for instruments, 4 for auxes. Each is associated with a track folder for which I have built a track folder template. I don't think more than a couple of these have all 16 slots loaded, and the eleventh one starts out with just a couple of pianos, I reserve it for all the stuff I discover I need along the way. The rest have between 12 and 14 instruments loaded.

Almost every instrument has its own discrete output. There are a handful of cases, 8Dio Adagietto strings for one, where I will route more than one instrument to a single output because I won't be using them at the same time, and it  makes it easier to mix later, for example I have all the short articulations going to the same output.
 
All of the multis are saved fully purged. With background loading, SSDs, and a reasonably fast computer I almost never get a glitch, even the first time through. And obviously, I don't use all the instruments, but even when I loaded every instrument completely I was only up to around 28 GB of memory used.

I tried a separate, 8 output instance of Kontakt for each instrument, but that crushed my computer. It also caused problems for routing MIDI. I have been experimenting with using more than 16 instruments in a single instance, but routing audio and MIDI becomes a wee bit challenging, and confusing! It would provide some savings in system resources though.
 
My biggest problem now is routing MIDI! Every developer takes a slightly different approach to managing articulations. Key switches are almost always available, but since you can't "chase" key switches I avoid them. They also make a mess out of the notation output (I use Finale).
 
For the Cinesamples Brass and Winds I use a separate MIDI track for each instrument. Their "All Articulations" patches work really well that way.
 
For the Chris Hein Horns (compact) I have one MIDI track for trumpets, one for trombones, etc. I am using MIDI channels to switch between mutes or no mute, and that's working pretty well too.
 
I have not found an acceptable solution for the 8Dio Agitato and Adagietto strings! For the Adagietto ensemble patches I use a single MIDI track, and I'm trying to use a single MIDI track with multiple channels for the individual instruments, but it is not perfect. Oddly enough, that does work for the Agitato patches. Go figure!
 
I seldom use NI libraries for drums, like Bit I much prefer Toontrack Superior, and since I have the original DFH Superior libraries as well as the Avatar kits that came with Superior 2 I'm in really good shape. I keep meaning to buy the Custom & Vintage expansion, but haven't had the need yet. I drive Superior from Jamstix, which for some reason doesn't work as well using Sonar X3e and Jamstix 3 - not sure which, or maybe both is causing problems, but I've got it working at the moment, and I just keep my fingers crossed.

If I can figure out a way to load up more than 16 instruments into a single instance of Kontakt I will post the results.

@Wst3 - Please pleas please elaborate on how you are able to have that many outputs used for a given instance of Kontakt, as I have issues where the input names in the drop-down list for assigning an input for an audio track in Sonar get messed up after perhaps 7-8 instruments in a single Kontakt instance are loaded and then referenced in Sonar.
 
It starts displaying the available inputs from the Kontakt instance all jumbled up, with like 2 different channel numbers for the left and the right.
 
That was and has been an issue since forever that I can remember, and yet you seem to have many more than that present in each of your instances.
 
So - please if you don't mind explain how you get the above to work properly.
 
Thanks, 
 
Bob Bone
 

Tripecac
The disadvantage of one Kontact instance per instrument is the increased CPU and memory usage, correct?  Has anyone found out whether this is significant?  How much overhead is associated with each new instance of Kontakt?

Are there other pros and cons of using multiple instances vs a single instance?

Incorrect, there would actually be less cpu use for multiple instances of Kontakt since each instance would be processed on a different thread unlike the case when you have a single Kontakt instance. IOW multiple instances would benefit from SONAR's multi-core processing while a single instance would use only one core.

I have heard that separate instances can be more CPU efficient for multi-core CPUs, but there were a lot of variables so I'm not sure how valuable this information is. In fact, never mind!

Beagle
Kontakt's outputs are extremely configurable.  I would certainly (and this is what I do myself) recommend using 1 instance of kontakt and use kontakt's outputs and buses for any routing you need.

yes, using more than one instance of kontatk will be very taxing on your system.  I can't give you details because they're going to be specific to your machine, but every instance of kontakt will tax your CPU, your RAM and your hard drive access.

Here's a totally alternate point of view.  Use one instance per track. You can layer sounds in a multi on a track if you're looking for a combo sound.  But per track you can use one instance per track of Kontakt.  Then after you've laid down your track, just freeze it.  It will take 0 CPU at that point.  Unfreeze it any time you need to work with the midi again.
 
This approach is also very flexible and fast and requires a lot less configuration.
 
Just an alternate idea.  I use it.

Lawajava , so what you're doing is making multi's by taking a set of sounds with the same midi file and running them all through a bus?or are you using Kontakt to build your multi and freezing those tracks? I can see doing that either way.

This is basically what I've been doing and my CPU / memory hit is next to nothing. I had 10 individual instances going today which worked fine unfrozen , but when I froze them my memory and CPU cores all went way down.
I think in this way I could probably run at least 50 or more instances with minimal RAM use. Frozen tracks are simply audio files.

The only thing that would greatly help is if we could have a track name and then a sub name......for example, an
Instance of Kontakt might be automatically labeled Kontakt 512 but I might want to rename the track "saxophone" .The combination name in the synth rack would read Kontakt 512/saxophone.Unfortunately naming tracks in the console views doesn't carry over to the synth browser.

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

Tripecac
The disadvantage of one Kontact instance per instrument is the increased CPU and memory usage, correct?  Has anyone found out whether this is significant?  How much overhead is associated with each new instance of Kontakt

Incorrect, there would actually be less cpu use for multiple instances of Kontakt since each instance would be processed on a different thread unlike the case when you have a single Kontakt instance. IOW multiple instances would benefit from SONAR's multi-core processing while a single instance would use only one core.

Hello Noel!
 
Always nice to see you here, and Happy New Year.

But, I am going to take a tiny exception to your post... the last time I tried this experiment multiple instances of Kontakt took up a much larger memory footprint, which was a problem.

Now I may be using Kontakt and Sonar in an atypical manner, or my data may be outdated...
 
I am running a template that includes a little over 100 Kontakt instruments. Not all of them play all the time (in fact many are mutually exclusive). The idea here is to have all my 'tools' at my disposal. And this is not a large template by any stretch of the imagination, although it is probably reaching the point where a second computer will be necessary.
 
But right now, except for loading time, it works brilliantly. And I've tried several tricks (short of purchasing VSL VEPro5) to let Kontakt run outside Sonar. (BTW, track templates really are an amazingly useful feature!!)
 
So, since you know a thing or two about Sonar, should I revisit the one instance of Kontakt per instrument model now that I am using Sonar X3e and Kontakt 5?
 
Thanks much,
 
Bill

Bill, per the PM I sent you, I will be running some tests of Kontakt instance-loading using 20 instruments, and will publish my results here when finished.
 
I would myself never consider creating such a gigantic Kontakt-kitchen-sink instance of 100 loaded instruments - and even if my testing shows a single instance of 20 instruments is better than splitting those 20 across 3 instances, I would likely only create what I needed for a particular project.
 
Anyways, I will post those results in about 3 hours, best guess.
 
Bob Bone
 

robert_e_bone
I would myself never consider creating such a gigantic Kontakt-kitchen-sink instance of 100 loaded instruments - and even if my testing shows a single instance of 20 instruments is better than splitting those 20 across 3 instances, I would likely only create what I needed for a particular project.

Hi Bob,
 
Saw the PM, good test I think.
 
So yeah, if loading times were miniscule I think I'd love to start every project with a blank slate. But even with SSDs and a faster CPU I haven't reached the point where that is practical. Of course the whole loading time thing is multi-faceted... I find waiting for the project to load almost as annoying as waiting for libraries to load.

My compromise for now is to load my bigger libraries at the start:

• 8Dio Adagietto Violins, Violas, Cellos, Basses, and Ensembles tie up five instances of Kontakt. I do not always use the ensembles, but they do sound lovely. I just tend to think in terms of the sections, and can't get my head around working with the ensembles.
• 8Dio Agitato ties up one more instance, but it could easily tie up a second one if I decide to ditch the keyswitching.
• I have two more instances for Cinesamples Core Winds and Core Brass (one each - I LOVE the way they organize their articulations.)
• Project Sam Orchestral Essentials ties up four more instances - I do not always load this one, but I'm loading it more and more often lately as I learn to think in terms of ensembles.
• Chris Hein Horns (Compact) ties up four more instances (trumpets, trombones, winds, and low brass and winds)
• I have one instance of Kontakt for pianos, upright basses, and spare slots for oddball instruments like prepared pianos, guitars and the like.
• I have another multi and template that I can load quickly for choirs, but at the moment I'm not doing much with choirs.
• I have one instance of Kontakt for a bunch of percussion libraries, and I'm about to add a second one.

Turns out I'm using quite a bit more than I realized when I first posted, or they are just creeping in when I'm not looking.
 
So why do it this way?
 
Lets say I'm trying to write a string chart and I'm cooking along in Adagietto, but the legato sections just aren't working for me. If Agitato is already loaded it's a simple matter to switch folders and start playing. I don't have to instantiate Kontakt and then load the patches... they are already there. I find that really handy. Same applies to brass and winds - although I really need to beef up those sections.
 
And then there is the ear candy... odd percussion, tuned percussion, harps, etc. Those I do tend to load as I need them, although I have several SoundIron and 8Dio percussion libraries loaded in that percussion instance because I use them all the time. But 16 slots is not as many as it might seem.
 
So that's why I have so many instances of Kontakt, and load them up the way I do. Make sense?
 
My goal, now that I've built up my libraries to the point where is to move a lot of this (all of it?) onto slave computers so that I need only build track folders to address the various instruments via VEPro. Several folks have warned me that Sonar X3 does not play well with VEPro, so I need to carve out some time to test it.
 
Take care, and I will be looking out for your results.
 
And Noel - it you are listening - any thoughts on the best way to do what I'm doing? Thanks!

Starise
Lawajava , so what you're doing is making multi's by taking a set of sounds with the same midi file and running them all through a bus?or are you using Kontakt to build your multi and freezing those tracks? I can see doing that either way.

This is basically what I've been doing and my CPU / memory hit is next to nothing. I had 10 individual instances going today which worked fine unfrozen , but when I froze them my memory and CPU cores all went way down.
I think in this way I could probably run at least 50 or more instances with minimal RAM use. Frozen tracks are simply audio files.

The only thing that would greatly help is if we could have a track name and then a sub name......for example, an
Instance of Kontakt might be automatically labeled Kontakt 512 but I might want to rename the track "saxophone" .The combination name in the synth rack would read Kontakt 512/saxophone.Unfortunately naming tracks in the console views doesn't carry over to the synth browser.

Starise - yes I guess we're approaching it in a similar way. If I have a multi running in Kontakt I am generally outputting it to a single track (not a bunch of them going to a bus).

I can see from this post there are uses of tens and tens of Kontakt tracks which is kind of mind blowing. For me anyway freezing and 0 CPU hits seems quite tidy.

I actually do the following. Where it makes sense (which is often) I have an audio track also present. I simply copy the frozen track to the audio track. I have my effects and automations (like track or clip automations) all on the audio track. I mute the frozen track. I have the audio track named as makes sense for the Console View.

Now all that goodness is on the audio track. We are all probably aware that if you unfreeze a synth the various edits to that frozen track go away. With the method I'm using, where the edits are on a separate audio track copy, whenever I unfreeze the Kontakt track the audio track remains and is stable. I can tweak Kontakt and re freeze that track. If I again copy and paste the frozen audio to the extra audio track all of the effects, clip automation, track automation remain intact.

On my Console View I do not display muted tracks.

This works quite well for me anyway.