Discuss Notion Music Composition Software here.
4 posts
Page 1 of 1
[EDIT: I figured this out...thanks.]

I'm currently learning how to use Notion and Kontakt together (thanks again to everyone who has been helping me).

I've figured out (using a Surf Whammy video) how to import Kontakt library sounds into Notion, which is important to know.

But I'm encountering a hiccup with importing a third-party library. Specifically: I purchased the choir simulator Olympus Elements, and loaded it onto my computer. In stand-alone mode Kontakt recognizes the library and lets me play with it; but when I try to import sounds from it into my Notion score (i.e. using Kontakt as a plug-in), I don't see Olympus Elements in the library list at all--it's just not showing.

No doubt there is some difference between Kontakt's stand-alone and plug-in modes, where the library is visible in one but not in the other--I'm sure I must be omitting some simple step.

Thanks for your help.

[EDIT: I figured this out...thanks.]

Currently using Notion 4 on a 2008 Mac Pro (desktop - OS X 10.9.2, 32GB RAM) and 2010 MacBook Pro (OS X 10.9.1).
User avatar
by Surf.Whammy on Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:19 am
I was going to reply, but I see that you discovered how to solve the problem, although you provided no information on how you solved the problem . . .

The Kontakt 5 interface is a bit strange with respect to finding sampled sound libraries and loading them, but my best guess is that it makes sense after a while . . .

Some things are "libraries" as Kontakt 5 defines them, but other things are "instruments", which typically are files with ".nki" extensions, and these are the things that most third-party sampled sound libraries provide, along with the actually sampled sound data, of course, where the strategy is to navigate to the folder where the ".nki" is located and then in the lower-left section of the Kontakt 5 graphic user interface to click or double-click on it, which then causes it and its sampled sounds to load . . .

It is a bit different for a "library", where the Discover Series "Cuba" Collection for Kontakt 5 (Native Instruments) is a library, apparently since it is a Native Instruments product . . .

In contrast, the Crystal Glasses sampled sound library and instrument from Bolder Sounds is an "instrument", so instead of searching for it as a "library", I have to search for it as a "file" and then click on the ".nki" to load it . . .

Nevertheless, I think the key is that once you get a few third-party instruments and their sampled sounds loaded, you can save it as a "Multi" and then later you only need to load the "Multi" . . .

THOUGHTS

There probably are other--and perhaps smarter--ways to get third-party sampled sounds and instruments loaded into Kontakt 5, and I am starting to suspect that devoting a bit of attention actually to reading the Kontakt 5 Application Reference might provide a few clues, but I try to avoid reading user guides whenever possible . . .

It also is important to understand that some types of third-party instruments and sampled sound libraries require the full version of Kontakt 5+, and they will not load into the free Kontakt 5+ Player, which is another aspect to consider, where for reference this usually is the case with the instrument uses advanced scripting and has other types of advanced features . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

P. S. By the time I saw the post, I was too tired from working on the basic rhythm section for a new Surf Whammys song in the Melodic Death Metal Hip Hop Rap Skiffle genre; so I was falling asleep and decided it was better to get some sleep, plus I was a bit annoyed at the time, since the original plan was to do a Dubstep song to enhance my "street cred", but then it started sounding like a Paul McCartney and Wings song, which has about as much "street cred" as Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, which is fabulous . . .

phpBB [video]


Fabulous! :P

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
User avatar
by jasonchildress on Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:19 am
LOL great post, Whammy. ;)

How did I solve the problem...let's see....

I was trying to load Olympus Elements into Notion via "Score Setup," using a method you demonstrated in one of your YouTube videos. At first I couldn't get it to work--I think maybe I just wasn't clicking it properly or something.

I now realize the procedure is quite simple:

1. Enter "Score Setup".
2. Click on VST Instruments.
3. Click on Kontakt.
4. Among the Kontakt libraries on the left is Olympus Elements (I'm not sure why it wasn't showing the first time I tried).
5. Double-click to load it--the new stave in the score is now a choral stave.

I realize this doesn't fully explain what I did differently. All I know is that it suddenly started working, which suggests maybe I stopped doing whatever I was doing wrong, and started doing it right.

P. S. Looking forward to hearing that "Wings" song. ;)

Currently using Notion 4 on a 2008 Mac Pro (desktop - OS X 10.9.2, 32GB RAM) and 2010 MacBook Pro (OS X 10.9.1).
User avatar
by Surf.Whammy on Sat Sep 20, 2014 2:56 pm
jasonchildress wroteP. S. Looking forward to hearing that "Wings" song. ;)


I worked on the "Wings" song for another 20 or so hours, with a pause in the middle because the second version needed something different, specifically a bridge or interlude . . .

Based on the idea that there are a few bits which remind me of a Paul McCartney and Wings song--specifically the synthesizers on "Band On The Run"--I thought it might help to listen to some of those songs on YouTube, which in a roundabout way led to discovering another song that is like a Timex® watch in the sense that it keeps on ticking, where for reference the definitive classic Timex song is what most folks recognize as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", which in the late-18th century inspired Mozart to have a bit of FUN ("Twelve Variations on 'Ah vous dirai-je, Maman'") and then about a century and a half later inspired "When You Wish Upon a Star"(Leigh Harline and Ned Washington), followed a decade or so later by "Surfer Girl" (Beach Boys) and a few months later by "This Boy" (Beatles) . . .

In this instance, I noticed that there was a KISS concert at Budokan (Tokyo) in 2013 on YouTube, so I watched it; and about 16 minutes into the full concert, KISS played "I Love It Loud", which is an intriguing song that happens to have a bridge or interlude which looked to fit the concept nicely--but something about the melody immediately reminded me of an Aerosmith song, which after doing a bit more research clearly is "Rag Doll" . . .

I did not recall the release dates, so for a while I thought that KISS "borrowed" a few ideas from Aerosmith; but after checking original release dates the reality is quite the opposite to the point that "Rag Doll" (Aerosmith, 1987) basically is a not so dissimilar version of "I Love It Loud" (KISS, 1982), at least for the music part and a good bit of the melody phrasing, although the lyrics are different . . .

[NOTE: This is a live version of "I Love It Loud" (KISS) from 2012 . . . ]

phpBB [video]


[NOTE: This is the official music video for "Rag Doll" (Aerosmith). It starts the same and has the same syncopated melody phrasing, so it's not difficult to determine the origin for this song . . . ]

phpBB [video]


Continuing the "borrowing" tradition, I did a third set of revisions to "bleep" (The Surf Whammys); and now it's starting to sound like a complete song in terms of basic rhythm section and structure or pattern (ABC-ABC-ABC) for purposes of shifting focus to the lyrics and melody, which is fabulous . . .

[CAUTION: This is headphone mix and it's pumped and hot, so start listening at a significantly lower volume--unless you are in a car with a billion-watts sound system and want to let everyone in L.A. know that you are heading into Hollywood with your home boys to get some hot dogs and soda pop at Pink's. It's fine for listening with headphones, but the Cyclop (Sugar Bytes) bass goes subsonic, so mixing for loudspeaker listening is a bit different, and I have not done that part, yet . . . :P ]

Image

[NOTE: With the exceptions of the kick drum, tambourine, and Cyclop bass, these are the raw tracks without any signal processing, which was necessary because adding three more percussion instruments pushed the processing beyond what NOTION 4 can handle in a single score, where the solution is to turn-OFF all the VST effects plug-ins, which is fine with me because this is the way I record the raw audio in the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application, where once I have recorded soundbites of the NOTION 4 generated audio, I switch to the DAW application and focus on producing and mixing. So the best way to get a sense of the way the instruments sound is to listen to it with studio quality headphones at a higher volume, which is the way headphone mixing works. The curious aspect is that a loudspeaker mix sounds better when you listen with headphones than a headphone mix, but at this step in developing a song it is easier to work with headphones, since the left and right channels are separate and independent when you listen with headphones, which makes it easier to check instrument locations and so forth with respect to the stereo image, since you are listening in the "middle" regardless of where your head is pointing, which among other things is not the way it works when doing loudspeaker mixing, hence the importance of doing loudspeaker mixing and then perhaps doing a tiny bit of subtle fine-tuning when listening with headphones . . ]

phpBB [video]


Fabulous! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!

4 posts
Page 1 of 1

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests