Now, though, you can also optionally tempo-sync that – so it can sound rhythmic, not random. (I first saw this feature on the original Lemur hardware.) It’s basically creating your own LFO with a gesture.

With the “friction” setting, drag and release your finger, and a parameter can “bounce” up and down. In the first release of Komplete Kontrol, you could already use physics on the touch strip. The coolest feature in the update is for the touch strips. (So, for example, you might play a bass line on the keyboard on one Maschine instance, while a Maschine Studio triggers drums on a second instance.) Unfortunately, you can’t use both the drum pads and the keyboard to control a single Maschine instance, though as before, you can load a couple of instances and route the controllers separately.

So, for instance, you can use the transport controls on the keyboard and not just the Maschine hardware. There’s also new integration with Maschine. (Previously, these were invisible to your host.)Īnd now, you can use your own plug-ins inside Komplete Kontrol, for features like the keyboard’s color-coded splits. Finally, the arpeggiator and chord mode on the keyboard transmit MIDI back to the host – so you can record those patterns and chords directly, or route them to other instruments. Because Komplete Kontrol software didn’t originally support plug-ins, and because you couldn’t capture MIDI events from features like the arpeggiator and chords, it didn’t fit into our workflow.Īn updated version of Komplete Kontrol changes that experience – and in an event last night here in Frankfurt, the future of the keyboard looks like it will realize some of its original potential.įirst, there are some subtle fixes coming in updates. The problem is, most of us don’t live in a world where we only use Komplete. And yes, it works seamlessly with Native Instruments’ own instruments and effects – particularly in that it makes it easy to dial up presets and to map parameters to the encoders and display their values.

So how did it wind up on the shelf in the first place? Yes, this is one of the nicest-looking, nicest-feeling keyboards around. But I believe that’s about to change in a big way. I’ll be honest: my Komplete Kontrol keyboard has been sitting on a shelf.

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